April 26, 2024

GDP disappoints but market ignores

Index & Sector performance 4/30/14 The Market: As you can see in the table below, the U.S. Q1 GDP number came in well below expectations.  While Q1 was not expected to be a high growth quarter, clearly analysts did not expect a near negative number.  Certainly the colder than expected weather could have and likely did play a role but on our opinion you cannot completely blame a miss like this on the weather. So why might traders and investors be willing to look past this data besides the weather?  Possibly because a number like this allows the Fed to…

Daily Wrap

DJIA +59.98 (+0.41%) to 14,673.46; S&P 500 +5.54 (+0.35%) to 1,568.61; NASDAQ +18.54 (+0.67%) to 2,804.67 The markets opened today slightly higher and consolidating until just after noon EST when the market started to breakout and move strongly higher.  This rally lasted until around 3pm EST when the market topped and then started to sell of into the close. Stock of the day, or at least driving the headlines, was Herbalife (HLF) whose shares were halted which sparked discussion about Icahn and Ackman and what might be going on with the shares.  Ultimately the news was KPMG resigned as auditor amidst allegations of insider trading by one of…

Daily Wrap

DJIA +83.86 (+0.58%) to 14,539.14; S&P 500 +8.71 (+0.56%) to 1,563.23; NASDAQ +13.81 (+0.43%) to 3,258.93 Nothing much happened today, another day another Dow high, you know, the usual.  Today at the close actually would not have been a bad spot to try and take a small short as a spec trade into tomorrow.  Nothing big, nothing saying a top is in but just 10 straight days up in the Dow is somewhat extended. Economic data today included U.S. jobless claims which came in lower than expected at 332K. Stock of the day today was E-Trade Financial (ETFC) which lost over 8% after…

Daily Wrap

DJIA +125.95 (+0.89%) to 14,253.77; S&P 500 +14.59 (+0.96%) to 1,539.79; NASDAQ +42.10 (+1.32%) to 3,224.13 Up up and away the market went today with the Dow closing at record highs.  Starting the week I had the expectation that this week would be a consolidation week but then as Monday started, something bothered me.  The 4 hour emini S&P 500 chart.  It didn’t just look bullish it look destined to head higher.  I posted it over at StockTwits (WSConsensus) and again in my nightly recap.  The way the markets closed and also started the next day seemed to be confirming the pattern and…