March 19, 2024

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:  …

Market push and pull continues

The Market: With concerns over volatility in China, weak Economic data, and the FOMC statement, the market gapped down and continued lower throughout the early trading session before marking another big intraday reversal.  After dipping below the 200 day SMA, the S&P managed to rally from over 25 points down to slightly up on the session in intraday trading but then couldn’t hold the gains and sold off into the close. Today’s action is actually a good micro representation of the push and pull in the market this year. As we noted last week, we expect volatility to continue and…

Market closes highe but no conviction

Index & Sector performance 3/9/15 The Market: Overall it was a quiet session with not much news or Economic data.  The market was able to bounce back today after Friday’s strong sell-off led by the Dow (DIA) but volume was on the light side showing that market participants are not necessarily convinced the decline is over. In individual sectors Industrials (XLI) was the clear leader as names like Boeing (BA), 3M (MMM), and Caterpillar (CAT) put in strong sessions finishing up 1.06%, 1.22% and 0.94% respectively.  Energy (XLE) was the lone loser on the session finishing -0.72%.  One bright spot,…

Low vol narrow holiday trading range

Index & Sector performance 11/25/14 The Market: Another uneventful holiday trading session across all 4 major indices on the WSC Scoreboard.  Action was also muted across the individual sectors with the exception of Energy (XLE) which lost 1.63%.  For XLE traders our take is that the lows may hold but we would either be looking for an opportunity to buy lower or on a break above $89.25. In Economic data, estimated 3rd quarter GDP growth came in better than previously reported while Consumer Confidence and the Richmond Manufacturing Index both missed expectations.  Tomorrow there is a slew of data including…

Volatility the new norm

Index & Sector performance 10/16/14 The Market: A session like today may look uneventful when scanning the WSC Scoreboard and looking at the end of day changes but it masks the large intraday swings.  An example is the S&P 500 (SPY) had a roughly 50 point range from high to low today (5 points in the SPY) which represents nearly 3% based on today’s opening price.  Traders and investors need to be prepared for an environment with increased volatility which could last for an extended period. The Russell 2000 (IWM) remains the clear leader of late finishing up over 1%. …

EoD gains mask intraday swing

Index & Sector performance 9/17/14 The Market: Early in the session the markets were quiet as traders awaited the FOMC statement and speculated if the wording of the statement would be changed.  The answer was that not much changed and specifically the Fed continues to state that they will keep key interest rates near zero for a “considerable time”.  The initial reaction to the release was a sharp decline but buyers quickly stepped in and the S&P 500 recovered and then rallied to fresh highs on the day before finishing the session back where it started. The leading sector on…

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…

S&P 500 holds 1800

Index & Sector performance 12/10/13 The Market: On what amounted to only a small down day with the S&P 500 losing roughly 5 points, the index was able to hold the $1800 level as well as the 20 day SMA which it recently regained after a one day close below on 12/5/13. It was a light economic data day with the NFIB Small Business index coming in as expected posting a 92.5 with expectations at 92.7 and the previous reading 91.6.  Wholesale inventories were higher than expected with a 1.4% reading when consensus was 0.3%.  The previous month’s reading was…