March 19, 2024

Global economic growth concerns weigh on market

Index & Sector performance 11/4/14 The Market: Today’s session ultimately finished narrowly lower with the Dow (DIA) managing to close ever so slightly higher.  Midday the damage was worse as traders pointed to the European Commissions cutting growth and inflation forecasts but after the European exchanges closed the U.S. found a bottom and drifted higher into the close. In individual sectors it was again Energy (XLE) which led the way lower finishing down 2.06% as crude oil traded as low as $75.84/ barrel after Saudi Arabia announced it was cutting prices on oil exports to the U.S.  Traders are cautious…

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)…

FOMC rate decision highlights big data week

Index & Sector performance 9/15/14 The Market: The Dow (DIA) was the only index on the WSC Scoreboard to finish higher on the session while the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) took a hit losing 0.97% and 1.15% respectively.  Baring any unforeseen news, we would not be surprised to see the markets get quiet until the FOMC rate decision and Statement later in the trading day Wednesday. In individual sectors, Retail (XRT) was the biggest loser on the session finishing down nearly 1% and remains the laggard on the year.  On the upside, Energy (XLE) started off strong after…

Energy green in a sea of red

Index & Sector performance 6/11/14 The Market: As we noted late last week and reiterated in Monday’s report, the S&P 500 closed outside of its Weekly (20, 2, -2) Bollinger Bands which has previously lead to counter trend moves for a few weeks to months.  While we respect the strong uptrend in the market, we also believe this is time to exercise caution on the long side, at least for the broad market. One additional note.  While many market pundits in the media have been looking for pull back and becoming cautious recently, they also seem very willing to step…

Small Caps lead move lower

Index & Sector performance 12/11/13 The Market: Strong down day in the market with the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Russell 2000 closing down over 1%.  The Russell 2000 has been leading the charge for the year but has underperformed of late including today posting the largest loss at 1.64%.  After remaining relatively unchanged in overnight and early morning trading, the market started to slip in the pre-market about an hour before the open.  Losses built the remainder of the day with the S&P 500 closing near the lows of the day and through the 20 Day SMA. In economic news…

No Summers….Yee Haw!

The Market: After Larry Summers took himself off the Fed Chair block, the markets baked in expectations of Janet Yellen who many feel will be more accommodating than Summer may have been.  The possibility of more stimulus from the fed or at least the likelihood that stimulus would persist was enough to send S&P 500 futures gaping higher Sunday evening and showing strength early in the trading session but the open marked the highs and the S&P 500 lost ground the remainder of the day closing 7 points off the highs. Economic data was light today but also ignored due…