March 19, 2024

The Nightcap

The Market: A very strong session which was led by the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Dow (DIA) which the S&P 500 (SPY) not far behind.  It was interesting to see the Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight index lag the S&P pointing to the gains being in the higher weighted stocks in the S&P 500 index.  Additionally the Russell 2000 (IWM) underperformed posting half the gains of the SPY. In individual sectors the day session was led by the Industrials (XLI) followed closely by the Materials (XLB).  Also closing up over 2% on the session was Technology (XLK) and that move looks…

Farewell QE3

Index & Sector performance 10/29/14 The Market: It was a relatively quiet session the majority of the day as traders were awaiting the 2pm FOMC rate decisions and statement.  As was expected, the Fed ended QE3 but continued to note that rates would remain low for a “considerable period”.  The initial reaction after the release was a move lower but the market had already been trending that way since the open and, after the initial drop, buyers stepped in and ultimately the indices closed only slightly lower. It was a mixed session across the WSC Scoreboard sectors with Materials (XLB)…

New Ebola scare helps market off highs

Index & Sector performance 10/23/14 The Market: The market was cruising along today until roughly 2pm ET when the market turned and then started quickly losing ground.  Traders pointed to news that a doctor who had treated Ebola patients was rushed to the hospital in New York City.  The sell off was not enough to give back all the days gains but we closed well off the intraday highs. Many sectors from the WSC Scoreboard participated in the rally with the biggest gainer the Industrials (XLI) finishing up over 2% helped greatly by Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) and 3M (MMM)…

Another flat session overall

Index & Sector performance 7/24/14 The Market: Another relatively flat session across the broad major indices as earnings continue to drive most individual stock movements. The NASDAQ (QQQ) and S&P 500 (SPY) have both managed to breakout to new 52 week highs this week and hold those breakouts so far but the S&P 500 Equal Weight index (RSP) and Dow (DIA) have yet to follow.  The Russell 2000 (IWM) is up on the week but far from new 52 week highs and also seems vulnerable to fill the downside gap left from Tuesday. Speaking of the IWM, we noted in…

Window dressing or more to come?

Index & Sector performance 3/31/14 The Market: The Quarter ends with a nice up session which has some throwing around the term “window dressing”.  While we do not necessarily disagree with the sentiment, we also believe price is the ultimate indicator and therefore today’s action has to be respected.  Otherwise it is ultimately a continuation of the short term consolidation between the highs on the S&P 500 cash at $1883.97 and the 3/14/14 lows of $1839.57. In the very short term the futures appear to be flagging overnight and could look to next target the 1875ES region.  Support is 1862ES…

Early dip met with strong buying

Index & Sector performance 2/13/14 The Market: The markets began to dip overnight and into early morning trading.  Weaker than expected economic data didn’t help but just as the market officially opened the bottom was put in and the S&P 500 spent the remainder of the day rallying only taking a short midday break before continuing on to made the highs of the day near the close.   The following noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings before tomorrow’s open: ALE, BAM, COTY, CPB, DTE, H, IPG, IPGP, ITT, JMP, LECO, LPNT, MINI, POR, RRGB, SJM, SNI, TRW, VFC, VTR,…

Daily Wrap

DJIA +24.50 (+0.17%) to 14,700.80; S&P 500 +6.37 (+0.40%) to 1,585.16; NASDAQ +14.54 (+0.51%) to 2,848.66 The S&P 500 started with a small gap higher after a better than expected Unemployment claims number (339K vs 352K) which then waffled for the initial trading and then started to press higher.  After an intraday consolidation, the S&P 500 again until around 2:30 pm EST when the index started to fade and continued lower until roughly the end of the day.  While still closing higher, the S&P was roughly 7 points off the high. As we are in the thick of the earnings reports, each day…