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…

The NightCap

The Market: Overall it was another tight trading range session but the Russell 2000 (IWM) continued its underperformance and finished down over –1%.  It appears that traders may be on hold until the FOMC statement and rate decision tomorrow. Transportation (IYT) sector was the hardest hit on the WSC Scoreboard as the sector ETF finished down -2.65% followed by yesterday’s biggest loser, Energy (XLE), which closed down -1.2%.  The biggest gaining sector on the session was HealthCare (XLV) which finished up 1.84% and was helped by Allergan (AGN), Biogen Inc (BIIB), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (VRTX), and Mylan NV (MYL) which all…

Pop off support as FOMC looms

The Market: A nice snap back rally today as the S&P 500 continues to hold the 200 day SMA.  We would not be surprised to see limited action overnight and in early trading tomorrow as traders wait to see what the Fed says at 2pm ET. Yesterday’s laggard, Energy (XLE), is today’s leader finishing up 2.86% followed closely by Transportation (IYT) which finished up 2.75%.  Also posting strong sessions was Materials (XLB), Industrials (XLI), and HeathCare (XLV) finishing up 2.09%, 1.94% and 1.81% respectively. FOMC statement tomorrow and remember we are still in the thick of earnings reports which will…

Tech closes at new 52 week high

The Market: Stocks continue to rebound strongly after a rough week of trading last week.  The NASDAQ (QQQ) led today’s charge finishing at a new 52 week closing high followed by the S&P 500 (SPY) while the Russell 2000 (IWM) and Dow (DIA) lagged. Many individual sectors outperformed in the session with Utilities (XLU), Reatil (XRT), Technology (XLK), and Consumer Staples (XLP) all finishing up over 1%.       Reporting EPS 7/16/15 After the Close:   Reporting EPS 7/17/15 Pre-Market:   Analyst Comments:

Lots of data yields flat finish

Index & Sector performance 7/30/14 The Market: Lots of Economic Data/announcements in today’s session but when the dust settled it was surprisingly a flat session with the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) leading while the Dow (DIA) finished slightly lower and the S&P 500 (SPY) finished slightly higher. The leading sector on the WSC Scoreboard was Retail (XRT) finishing the day up 1% however Retail remains the only individual sector on the WSC Scoreboard that is down for the year.  The laggard was the Utilities (XLU) and decisively so finishing the day down 1.69%.  We remain interested in some…

Market follows up gap with more gains

Index & Sector performance 9/17/13 The Market: The majority of today’s action was in the first half hour of trading when the S&P gaped slightly higher and then ran up seeing the majority of the days gains.  The remainder of the day the market was able to hold those gains and drift higher on what looked to be an overall light volume day. In economic news, Core CPI came in as expected while headline CPI  was actually less than expected with a 0.1% increase when 0.2% was expected.  Remember headline reflects food and energy while core strips it out.  Tomorrow…