BIIB helps XLV finish up over 26% YTD
Index & Sector performance 12/2/14 The Market: It was a solid session following Monday’s drop with the Russell 2000 (IWM) clearly leading and with advancers leading decliners by roughly 2:1. In Individual sectors it was Transportation (IYT) leading up 1.18% followed closely by Energy (XLE), which is still trying to recover from Friday’s big gap down, up 1.16%, and lastly HealthCare (XLV) which finished 1.12% higher and is now up over 26% year-to-date. Helping the XLV today was Biogen Idec (BIIB) which gained 6.43% on positive results from an early-stage Alzheimer’s drug trial. BIIB is a name to watch. Above…
Low volume drift higher
Index & Sector performance 11/10/14 The Market: Without any key news or economic data the market was happy to drift with the trend which is higher. This drift higher in the markets has created some negative divergence on the intraday charts so we would not be surprised to see downside action early in the week. However, at this time we would expect the losses to be contained and ultimately for that initial dip to be a buying opportunity for short term traders. Stand out sector to the upside was Transportation (IYT) which finished the day 1.34% higher followed by HealthCare…
Tech leads quiet up session
Index & Sector performance 9/10/14 The Market: Administrative note: we will be traveling the remainder of the week so there will be no updates after tonight. A nice bounce back in the markets after yesterday’s late day sell off. The leader in the broad indices was the NASDAQ (QQQ) keying, again, off Apple (AAPL) which finished the session up 3.07%. After being a relative outperformer yesterday in a bad tape, HeathCare (XLV) was the leader on the WSC Scoreboard today finishing the session up 0.70%. Utilities (XLU), yesterday’s biggest loser, saw more downside follow-through finishing the session 0.44% lower. Also…
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…
Market awaits Jobs number
Index & Sector performance DATE The Market: Today’s action started off higher after the ECB lowered rates and took added measures to try and stimulate the economy but the gains were short lived peaking about an hour after the open and faced selling pressure the remainder of the session. It was not surprising to see follow-through to the downside after yesterday’s Bearish Engulfing candles but so far the downside has been contained. In individual sectors, the Transports (IYT) led gaining 0.72% while the Retail (XRT) was a close second finishing up 0.59% on the day and after spending a majority…
Tech & Small cap trend change?
Index & Sector performance 9/3/14 The Market: While the Dow (DIA) and S&P 500 (SPY) closed essentially flat, the Nasdaq (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) both finished decisively lower. In addition the technical action in both the QQQ and IWM is concerning as both started the day gaping above the previous day’s highs to only then sell off the remainder of the day finishing below the previous day’s lows. Those into candlestick charting will recognize this as an Engulfing pattern and can signal a change in trend. In individual sectors it the Utilities (XLU) leading the charge finishing the day…
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…
Strong start with new highs
Index & Sector performance 5/12/14 The Market: A strong start to the week as a broad based rally in the market was led by the Russell 2000 (IWM) up 2.27% and the NASDAQ 100 (QQQ) up 1.65% while the Dow and S&P reached new closing highs. The two stand out sectors were Retail (XRT) and the Transportation (IYT) while the Utilities (XLU) lagged closing down 0.92% but remain the largest gainer YTD. We have much more economic data this week and tomorrow all eyes will be on Retail Sales which is released before the open. Headline sales are expected up…
Next target the 50 day SMA?
Index & Sector performance 3/13/14 The Market: A strong down day in the market but coming into the day people may have thought that would be a result of a poor Unemployment Claims number but we actually saw a better than expected 315K (334K est). After the report the index meandered higher into the open and then after peaking out above trend line resistance, turned and started what proved to be a day long decline. At 11:30 am we posted on StockTwits that the decline in the ES looked like it had lower to go especially due to the slope…
Buy the rumor – Sell the news?
Index & Sector performance 10/16/13 The Market: Another strong day in the market sent the S&P 500 index over 23 points higher after a brief consolidation day yesterday. What started as a small gap quickly ran in the first hour of trading eventually topping at 11:15 am EST. The market then consolidated until 2:30 pm EST when it bottom and started a rally back toward the highs of the day. Amidst a light economic data week, the news of Washington and the pending debt deal have continued to drive attention and trader reaction. Ahead of tomorrow’s Unemployment data (357K Consensus)…