March 19, 2024

The NightCap

The Market: We expected to see a tight trading range until the FOMC statement but instead we saw buyers in advance of the statement as the S&P 500 (SPY) pressed higher.  The the announcement came and there was a sharp sell-off but buyers came right back and all 4 major market indices on the WSC Scoreboard finished above the pre-FOMC announcement highs. As was expected by many, the FOMC left the Fed Fund Rates unchanged but, based on the comments, it appears a rate hike is on the table for December if the data warrants.  We also saw the committee…

Early dip is bought, finishes flat

The Market: Overall a quiet day in the markets following yesterday’s FOMC statement as an early dip in the S&P 500 found buyers and the index finished flat on the session while the NASDAQ (QQQ) led. The S&P 500 looks to need at least a short term pullback to regroup before any longer term move higher but we will be interested to watch that first pullback as we are from from believing the coast is all clear and that the market is off to new highs. In individual sections, Utilities (XLU) led finishing up 0.74% on the session followed by…

Market Shrugs off initial gap down

Index & Sector performance 5/28/15 The Market: Today started with a gap down but the major indices on the WSC Scoreboard were able to rally back to near flat on the session with the NASDAQ (QQQ) leading to the downside.  After two very volatile session, it appeared the market used today to take a breather.  FYI, tomorrow is the last trading day of the month. Transportation (IYT) was the clear loser on the WSC Scoreboard as it finished nearly 1% lower on the session.  We generally do not look to catch falling knifes and YTD the IYT has not been…

Early gap up fades, XLE leads lower

Index & Sector performance 4/21/15 The Market: The Nasdaq (QQQ) was the only sector that managed to finish the session higher while the Blue Chip Dow (DIA) was the leader to the downside. After spending the majority of the year down, Energy (XLE) has recently rallied to up YTD but there was no optimism today as the sector finished over 1% lower.  Also finishing lower was Utilities (XLU) down 0.89%, Materials (XLB) down 0.74%, and Financials (XLF) down 0.50%.  Today’s clear leader was HeathCare (XLV) which managed to close up 0.68% on the session. No tracked Economic data yesterday or today…

Weak Data & Earnings help drive stocks lower

Index & Sector performance 1/27/15 The Market: While the Dow (DIA) and S&P 500 (SPY) finished down over 1%, it was the NASDAQ (QQQ) which led the session to the downside finishing 2.59% lower.  Microsoft (MSFT) was the biggest drain on the QQQ as it finished down 9.25% after a disappointing EPS report and even managed to pull down Apple (AAPL) which finished 3.5% lower on the session.  Things may look a little better for the tech sector tomorrow as AAPL is up after hours after reporting EPS. The Russell 2000 (IWM) managed to be the relative winner finishing down…

Revisiting December’s lows

Index & Sector performance 1/6/15 The Market: Oil appears to still be affecting the broad market and causing caution in investors as crude, which lost the psychological $50 level yesterday, traded down over $2 in today’s session. Yesterday we remarked that a gap down in the morning could be a short term trading opportunity to the long side but unfortunately we opened flat to slightly up, negative the set-up, and then continue to crawl higher in the first hour of trading before the indices began to sharply lose ground.  Today’s sharp drop eventually found support at the mid-December trading lows…

Oil trades below $50 & leads market lower

Index & Sector performance 1/5/15 The Market: The market was again led by Oil’s decline as we closed below $50 per barrel for the first time since 2009.  In the Analyst Comments below you will see a downgrade for Caterpillar (CAT) by JP Morgan.  In the note the analyst commented that up to 30% of CAT’s revenue could be under pressure due to lower oil prices.  Similarly, Evercore downgraded Terex (TEX) to Hold with an $26 target and United Rentals (URI) to Sell with a $87 target citing concerns that oil’s sharp decline will hurt energy investments and thus construction…

Farewell QE3

Index & Sector performance 10/29/14 The Market: It was a relatively quiet session the majority of the day as traders were awaiting the 2pm FOMC rate decisions and statement.  As was expected, the Fed ended QE3 but continued to note that rates would remain low for a “considerable period”.  The initial reaction after the release was a move lower but the market had already been trending that way since the open and, after the initial drop, buyers stepped in and ultimately the indices closed only slightly lower. It was a mixed session across the WSC Scoreboard sectors with Materials (XLB)…

XLE hit hard on overall mixed session

Index & Sector performance 10/27/14 The Market: A rumor Thursday of a doctor infected with the Ebola virus being rushed to an NYC hospital helped take the market off the highs and then in Thursday’s overnight session it was confirmed that the doctor indeed had Ebola which sent the futures spiking lower but by Friday morning they were off the lows from the overnight session and marched higher closing near Thursday’s intraday highs. Today was much more of a muted consolidation session with the S&P 500 cash index remaining within a roughly 13 point range which while not historically small…

Utilities shine amidst sea of red

Index & Sector performance 10/1/14 The Market: All four of the main indices on the WSC Scoreboard finished well into negative territory with the NASDAQ (QQQ) leading the charge down 1.60%. In individual sectors it was the Utilities (XLU) that stood out closing 0.57% higher while the rest of the list was well into negative territory.  It was a broad rally across the XLU with many stocks participating but some noteworthy gainers were Exelon (EXC) up 1.41%, Southern (SO) up 1.01%, and NRG Energy (NRG) up 2.33%.  EXC has been a favorite of ours but we would also watch SO…