March 19, 2024

Russell 2000 lags all other Indices

The Market: The Russell 2000 (IWM) was the only index on the WSC Scoreboard to finish lower on the session which was led by the Dow (DIA). Most of the indices on the WSC Scoreboard finished the session higher but HeathCare (XLV) was hit hard finishing –1.33% lower.  XLV remains only one of two sectors still up YTD but was hurt today by comments from Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton who, after a privately held company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, announced a 5,000% price increase in its treatment for toxoplasmosis, called specialty drug prices “outrageous” and vowed to lay out a plan to…

Volatility & Chop continues

The Market: Volatility continues to be the name of the game which is why you can have a 40+ point day like today and still have the S&P 500 within a range/wedge.  While it is possible that we extend today’s rally by gaping higher tomorrow, it is not our expectation and if we do open higher tomorrow we would watch the downward sloping 20 day SMA as resistance. Overall, a light Economic Calendar this week Thursday and Friday having the most significant data points (Unemployment Claims, PPI, and Consumer Sentiment).       Reported EPS 9/8/15 After the Close:  …

Eurozone fears trigger late day sell-off

Index & Sector performance 2/4/15 The Market: Monday’s reversal in the S&P 500 (SPY) of the 200 day SMA continued Tuesday and was extending in today’s session, even with Oil trading lower, until later in the trading day when the index dropped sharply.  Traders pointed to news our of Europe that the ECB will not allow Banks to use Greek government debt as collateral for loans as the catalyst.  The Dow (DIA) was the only index on the WSC Scoreboard which managed to finish higher but that was greatly due to Disney (DIS) beating EPS and finishing up 7.63% on…

Early dip finds interested buyers

Index & Sector performance 7/28/14 The Market: Early moves lower in the broad market indices soon found buyers and managed to finish the day near flat on the session with the Russell 2000 (IWM) continuing to lag.  The DOW (DIA) played MA pinball with the lows in the early session touching the 50 day EMA while the highs of the session back tested the 20 day EMA. The stand out sector from the WSC Scoreboard was the Utilities (XLU) finishing up X% higher on the session.  Every name in the sector ETF was higher and that vast majority were up…

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…

S&P finds support at 20 day SMA

Index & Sector performance 3/12/14 The Market: Overnight trading took the S&P 500 futures index down to our target region of $1857-50 with the low of the session printing $1853.75ES right near the open which correlated with the S&P 500 cash index touching the 20 day SMA.  From there we bounced and then spend the rest of the day consolidating in a flag which has broken to the upside in after hours but with not much gusto.  Until the index clears the $1870-72.50ES area we will consider the potential for more downside. Tomorrow is the heaviest day of the week…

Reason or Excuse?

Index & Sector performance 3/3/14 The Market: Depending on your bias you likely either believe the events transpiring with Russia “scared” the market causing it to drop today or you believe the drop was already in the cards based on the technicals and the Russian incident just gives the news something concrete to point to as the cause.  While we tend to be much more in the latter than former camp, we also subscribe to the believe it doesn’t really matter as in either case we are left with what happened and the decision what to do now. The S&P…

Analyst Comments

Today’s featured analyst comment is by Goldman Sachs who upgraded Gartner, Inc. (IT) to Buy with an $85 price target.  IT has been on a strong run up over 38% the trailing 12 months and Goldman believes there is more in the tank.  Looking at the chart there is some work needed but we think they may be right. If IT can continue to digest under the recent highs while the MACD continues to recycle then this could lay the ground work for another leg higher.  What we are watching specifically on the stock is the MACD and the 50…