March 29, 2024

4 days down and counting…..

Index & Sector performance 9/24/13 The Market: The S&P 500 came into the day trying to snap a 3 day losing streak with even the smallest of gains but was unable to and after spending some time in positive territory, eventually lost ground and closed down for the 4th day in a row. In economic news the Case Shiller Index showed prices come in at the expected 12.4% increase year over year and slightly above expectations with a 1% month over month reading.  Richmond Manufacturing was well below expectations but generally not considered significant to the market and Consumer Confidence…

AAPL outshines BBRY buyout

Index & Sector performance 9/23/13 The Market: The market picked up early Monday where it left off Friday gaping lower on the open and continuing lower until roughly 11:30 am EST when the S&P 500 was able to bottom and turn with unfortunately what seems to be not much support or enthusiasm from traders. From the WSC Scoreboard, the largest drag on the Market today was the Financials (XLF) and leading them down was Regions Financial (RF) which closed down 2.27%.  RF closed right at the 150 day SMA and if it cannot find support there the upward sloping 200…

Great Initial Claims data but….

The Market: The markets saw a small down day which after the recent bullish action only seems to be best described as a consolidation.  The leading sector of the day was technology which saw Apple (AAPL) Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T) lead but the next best sector was the Consumer Staples and the standout there was Walgreen (WAG) which caught an upgrade to Conviction Buy at Goldman Sachs. In economic data there was a great deal of data including the often watched Initial Jobless Claims which came in better than expected posting a 292K number vs the consensus estimate of…

Daily Wrap

DJIA -5.83 (-0.04%) to 15,419.68;S&P 500 -1.95 (-0.12%) to 1,689.47;NASDAQ +9.84 (+0.27%) to 3,669.95 Not too much action overall in the indices today.  A gap down open in the S&P 500 was quickly bought and rallied back toward Friday’s close only to fall back after reaching flat on the day.  The S&P fell until roughly 2pm est where it bottom and staged a late day rally which was unable to reach the highs of the day.  The Russell 2000 and Nasdaq managed to gain ground with the Nasdaq was helped by Apple (AAPL) which gained 2.77% on optimism for a new iPhone model to…

Daily Wrap

DJIA -206.04 (-1.35%) to 15,112.19;S&P 500 -22.88 (-1.39%) to 1,628.93;NASDAQ -36.59 (-1.22%) to 2,959.50 You are likely living under a rock if you were not aware that today was rate decision and FOMC minute day.  It was not about the rate decision itself as no one I heard was anticipating a move but it was all about the minutes and specifically the discussion of when the stimulus would end or the key word of recent times “tapered”.  The decision and comments sent the markets tumbling and closed down over 22 points in the S&P and 200 on the Dow.  In the grand scheme…

Daily Wrap

DJIA +180.85 (+1.21%) to 15,176.08; S&P 500 +23.84 (+1.48%) to 1,636.36; NASDAQ +36.76 (+1.26%) to 2,962.90 An second retest of the 50 day Moving Average proved to be a spring board sending the S&P 500 screaming higher on the day and of the major indices only second to the Russell 2000.  Helping today’s cause was two positive data point in economic news.  First the retail sales rose 0.6% when consensus expectations were 0.4% and then initial Unemployment claims came in at 334K when I had 354K as the estimate or a 20K beat.  What I am watching now is the 20 day SMA…

Daily Wrap

DJIA -80.41 (-0.52%) to 15,307.17; S&P 500 -13.81 (-0.83%) to 1,655.35; NASDAQ -27.32 (-0.90%) to 2,999.13 So the markets can have a substantial day down!  Today’s move lower was tied to Mr. Bernanke’s statement to congress as well as the release of the Fed minute which showed the willingness to decrease bond purchases.  In the grand scheme today was a solid down day but nothing in comparison to the recent rise.  The question is not of today’s move but whether or not it signifies a more significant realization being a top is in.  That is a common phrase but my answer is always “for…

Week in Review

DJIA +52.38 (+0.36%) to 14,578.54; S&P 500 +6.34 (+0.41%) to 1,569.19; NASDAQ +11.00 (+0.34%) to 3,267.52 Friday the markets were closed in observance of Good Friday.  Below is Thursday’s update and the weekly recap. Today the markets finished off the week higher and the idea that we will be rallying into the long weekend proved correct but not without a few attempts to take it lower.  This also allowed the S&P 500 to follow the Dow in closing at a new record closing high surpassing the previous closing high of 1565.15. In economic data, the U.S. jobless claims increased 16K from the prior…

Daily Wrap

DJIA -33.49 (-0.23%) to 14,526.16; S&P 500 -0.92 (-0.06%) to 1,562.85; NASDAQ +4.04 (+0.12%) to 3,256.52 Today the markets started lower gaping down over 10 point in the S&P but the first 10 minuted of trading proved to set the lows and we remarkable rallied to positive for the day before finally closing ever so slightly lower.  This had made a few occasions where the market has given the Bears a head fake and has continued to show resilience.  I have been expecting this week to be up or at least neutral and with tomorrow being the last day of the trading week…

Daily Wrap

DJIA -64.28 (-0.44%) to 14,447.75; S&P 500 -5.20 (-0.33%) to 1,551.69; NASDAQ -9.70 (-0.30%) to 3,235.30 Today the markets started higher with some early optimism on a Cyprus deal but that optimism was short lived and the markets began losing ground after some comments regarding how this could become a “template” for other troubled nations and that means depositor capital being at risk.  The lows for the day were eventually set around 1pm EST but unlike previous down days the market didn’t rally all the way into the close and instead today we bounced and mainly consolidated.  Today’s low in the SPY happened…