Weak ADP data helps market gap
The Market: The market gapped and continued higher for the first hour of trading which the news attributed to a weak ADP number which could keep the Fed from raising interest rates anytime soon. After the first hour of trading the major indices began to lose ground and, while they all finished up on the day, they were all also well off their highs. Leading on the WSC Scoreboard was Retail (XRT) which was the only sector to finish up by over 1% followed closely by Technology (XLK) which closed up 0.97%. The only two losing sectors on the day…
QQQ & IWM reach new highs
Index & Sector performance 2/26/15 The Market: More churn today in the markets but again the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) showed more strength than the S&P 500 (SPY) with the QQQ and IWM reaching new 52-week closing highs on the session. Crude oil lost over 5% today which helped send the Energy (XLE) sector 1.88% lower. We noted in our 2/18/15 nightly recap when the XLE was trading above $81 that we would look for a pullback toward $78 as a buying opportunity. Closing today at $79.35, we would ideally like to see lower levels before dipping into…
Off the 200 Day and up
Index & Sector performance 2/2/15 The Market: The S&P 500 (SPY) started the session lower but found support just slightly above the 200 day SMA which has not been visited since October 2014. After an initial pop and then pullback the index rallied the remainder of the session to finish over 30 points off the lows. So far in the after hours the index is holding the gains and consolidating. Today’s action should be very promising for long traders and you know your stops — below today’s lows. The leading sector on the WSC Scoreboard was Energy (XLE) finishing up…
Can EPS decouple market from Oil?
Index & Sector performance 1/12/15 The Market: We noted in the Thursday end-of-day write-up that the strong gains had to do with positive comments from Mario Draghi as well as Oil prices managing to stabilize for the second straight session. Unfortunately after managing to hold in Friday, Oil prices resumed their recent slide today finishing below $46/per barrel. As we have noted in other write-ups and you can see elsewhere, Oil’s sharp decline brings in concern over global growth and particularly U.S. earnings. Speaking of earnings, Aloca (AA) is scheduled to kick off the earnings season tonight and below you…
S&P finds support at 20 day SMA
Index & Sector performance 3/12/14 The Market: Overnight trading took the S&P 500 futures index down to our target region of $1857-50 with the low of the session printing $1853.75ES right near the open which correlated with the S&P 500 cash index touching the 20 day SMA. From there we bounced and then spend the rest of the day consolidating in a flag which has broken to the upside in after hours but with not much gusto. Until the index clears the $1870-72.50ES area we will consider the potential for more downside. Tomorrow is the heaviest day of the week…
Small Caps lead move lower
Index & Sector performance 12/11/13 The Market: Strong down day in the market with the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Russell 2000 closing down over 1%. The Russell 2000 has been leading the charge for the year but has underperformed of late including today posting the largest loss at 1.64%. After remaining relatively unchanged in overnight and early morning trading, the market started to slip in the pre-market about an hour before the open. Losses built the remainder of the day with the S&P 500 closing near the lows of the day and through the 20 Day SMA. In economic news…