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…

Week starts slow – GS grounds BA

Index & Sector performance 2/23/15 The Market: Overall a flat session with the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) finishing slightly higher while the Dow (DIA) and S&P 500 (SPY) finished lower.  The main drag on the DIA today was Boeing (BA) which finished down 2.26% after Goldman downgraded the name to Sell with a $132 price target. In individual sectors it was a mixed bag with the Industrials (XLI) leading to the downside finishing down 0.43% while the Utilities (XLU) led to the upside finishing up 0.68%.  As we posted tonight in the Charts section, the XLU held a…

Weak Data & Earnings help drive stocks lower

Index & Sector performance 1/27/15 The Market: While the Dow (DIA) and S&P 500 (SPY) finished down over 1%, it was the NASDAQ (QQQ) which led the session to the downside finishing 2.59% lower.  Microsoft (MSFT) was the biggest drain on the QQQ as it finished down 9.25% after a disappointing EPS report and even managed to pull down Apple (AAPL) which finished 3.5% lower on the session.  Things may look a little better for the tech sector tomorrow as AAPL is up after hours after reporting EPS. The Russell 2000 (IWM) managed to be the relative winner finishing down…

Russell leads overall dull session

Index & Sector performance 11/24/14 The Market: An overall dull session with the S&P 500 (SPY) and Dow (DIA) barely moving while the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) led.  As is expected for the remainder of this shortened holiday week, volume was very light. In individual sectors it was Retail (XRT) posting another great session up 1.32%.  Today the index was greatly helped by Outerwall (OUTR), operators of Coinstar and Redbox, which finished up 12.32%.  Also chipping in was Best Buy (BBY) up 2.29% and Foot Locker (FL) up 3.45%.  After spending much of the year down, the XRT…

AAPL helps drive late day sell off

Index & Sector performance 9/9/14 The Market: All major indices on the WSC Scoreboard finished the session lower with the Russell 2000 (IWM) leading the charge down 1.18%.  The S&P 500 (SPY) started the session weak but found a bottom in early trading and then managed to rally until 2pm ET when the index turned and sold off making new lows for the session.   The NASDAQ (QQQ) held in well during early trading as traders were likely waiting for the Apple (AAPL) product announcement.  The initial reaction to AAPL’s news (new/bigger phones, watch, payment system) was positive and the…

Fed helps S&P to new highs

Index & Sector performance 6/18/14 The Market: After what amounted to a roughly 1.5% correction from the 6/9/14 highs to the 6/12/14 lows, the S&P 500 has since rallied and as of today’s close made a new intraday and closing all time high.  The majority of the gains were realized after the FOMC statement and rate decision where the Fed left the rate unchanged and lowered monthly bond purchases by $10B. We have taken a cautious stance on the broad market since 6/6/14 due to multiple overbought conditions across multiple time frames.  While the pullback from 6/9 – 6/12/14 helped…

Retail sales beat, Unemployment drags

Index & Sector performance 12/12/13 The Market: The market continued picked up where it left losing more ground but not as dramatic as the 1% down yesterday.  The majority of the losses where in the beginning part of the day with the market making the lows for the day around 12:30 pm EST and starting to rally.  That rally halted around 3pm EST and the market used the last hour to sell off not quite making it back to the midday lows. In economic data, Retail Sales number beat expectations and with Core Sales doubling expectations posting a 0.4% and…

AA kicks off a new earnings season…tomorrow

Index & Sector performance 10/07/13 The Market: The markets started down strong but found early support and rallied into midday but couldn’t hold and press toward Friday’s close and instead sold off during the last hour of trading closing near the early morning slows but just slightly above. Hard to believe we are kicking off another earnings season but Alcoa (AA) will start tings off again Wednesday 10/8/13 after the close.  While AA no longer has the significance it once did, it still is known for ushering in the season and many larger more impactful names will then be reporting….

Daily Wrap

DJIA +157.58 (+1.08%) to 14,756.78; S&P 500 +22.21 (+1.43%) to 1,574.57; NASDAQ +40.94 (+1.46%) to 2,838.41 Someone sounded an “all clear” notice today and the major indices all had nice gains including the S&P 500 which closed up over 1.4% for the day and at the day’s highs.  The bottom was actually made in the futures yesterday not long after the close.  Sometimes when you see bounces like this you will see an index like the Dow lead which I am always a skeptic of but today the S&P 500, Russell 2000 and Nasdaq Composite all outpaced the Dow to the upside with the…