Off the 200 Day and up
Index & Sector performance 2/2/15 The Market: The S&P 500 (SPY) started the session lower but found support just slightly above the 200 day SMA which has not been visited since October 2014. After an initial pop and then pullback the index rallied the remainder of the session to finish over 30 points off the lows. So far in the after hours the index is holding the gains and consolidating. Today’s action should be very promising for long traders and you know your stops — below today’s lows. The leading sector on the WSC Scoreboard was Energy (XLE) finishing up…
EPS should lead trading
Index & Sector performance 7/21/14 The Market: Slow start to the week saw the S&P futures down over 10 points in early trading only to rally back and finish the day relatively flat on the session. The best performer of the 4 broad indices was the NASDAQ (QQQ) but all-in-all it was a low volume relatively uneventful start to the week. With not much scheduled in terms of Economic data this week (see schedule below), eyes will be firmly fixed on the slew of earnings coming out. Below is the list of confirmed pre-market reports for 7/22/14 and the remainder…
S&P on 5 day win streak
Index & Sector performance 4/21/14 The Market: The S&P 500 has been on an impressive 5 day winning streak but much like the “V” bottom we say back in February this year, this rally is coming on lower than average volume with today being by far the lowest in the S&P 500 sector ETF “SPY”. We stated in our 4/14 write-up that we would not be surprised to see the market used short term oversold levels and the shortened holiday Op-Ex week to rally. The question now is as traders get back to the desk in both the U.S….
FOMC minutes ease market concerns
Index & Sector performance 4/9/14 The Market: After bottoming and bouncing in yesterday’s session, the S&P 500 futures spend the majority of the overnight session consolidating in a tight range. This lead to an early breakout, retest, and continuation higher but it was after the FOMC minutes were released at 2pm ET when the strongest gains were realized. Concern the Fed would be aggressive with rate hikes subsided and traders rewarded the market with 1+% gains across the board with the Nasdaq leading the charge up 1.7%. Next on the economic data schedule is Unemployment Claims which are released at…
Charts to Watch
Apache (APA): The rally has continued to the 200 day SMA which would be expected first resistance. Now watch for a pullback and how it acts to see if the bottom is in of if the stock has more work to do. The MACD might be hinting to more work. Arch Coal (ACI): Consolidating well and holding the recent gains well. More action like this and it looks like there will be a strong base for a move toward the 200 day SMA. Apple (AAPL): Continues to consolidate but without much downside action. Watch above $514 with volume. Devon Energy (DVN):…
Charts to Watch
Let’s start tonight with the McClellan Oscillator and a look at the reading from yesterday’s close. We see that a -100 reading is very uncommon but can lead to snap back rallies. What has to be seen is whether that extreme level leads to a more sustained bottom or like we saw in June will there be multiple extreme readings before a more sustained bottom occurs. Arch Coal (ACI): After a strong rally this stock has held initial support on the pullback. I will be watching to see if the stock can continue to consolidate on low volume to set-up…
Charts to Watch
What ended up being a tough week for the market left many names I was following pulling back m0re than I would have desired but still intact. While I believe it is always prudent to be looking at stocks from the short side, the longer term trend is still higher. I think that it is VERY likely that we see the markets continue to consolidate and even lose ground but I think people tend to lose tract of their long ideas during these times and this is when you want to be watching them as if they hold in during…
Charts to Watch
Today was a tough day for the Bulls but there are still some charts on the long side which interest me. They may not all be ready to go here and now but represent a mix of sectors and situations. Expeditors International (EXPD) could be setting up a longer term trade opportunity but first I want to see the 200 day SMA hold as support. Amgen (AMGN) acts well in what looks to be a longer consolidation pattern. Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) Potential Inverse Head & Shoulders pattern but wants to see 200 Day SMA hold Apache (APA) Still…