March 19, 2024

The NightCap

The Market: The market continues to grind higher with the Russell 2000 (IWM) trying to play catch-up of late. Energy (XLE) led all sectors in today’s trading, again, and has been one of the hottest sectors of late although still down nearly -10% YTD. A relatively big data week with ISM Monday, Fed speak & ADP tomorrow, Unemployment Claims Thursday, and official Jobs data on Friday.  Traders concerned about the Fed and if we will see a December rate hike should be paying attention to this week’s data.       Reported EPS 11/3/15 After the Close:   Reporting EPS…

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…

Russell 2000 lags all other Indices

The Market: The Russell 2000 (IWM) was the only index on the WSC Scoreboard to finish lower on the session which was led by the Dow (DIA). Most of the indices on the WSC Scoreboard finished the session higher but HeathCare (XLV) was hit hard finishing –1.33% lower.  XLV remains only one of two sectors still up YTD but was hurt today by comments from Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton who, after a privately held company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, announced a 5,000% price increase in its treatment for toxoplasmosis, called specialty drug prices “outrageous” and vowed to lay out a plan to…

Flat session with no catalysts

Index & Sector performance 3/23/15 The Market: A flat start to the week as the market appeared happy to meander without a strong catalyst to tip the balance one way or the other.  In an otherwise boring tape, the Transportation Index (IYT) is worth noting as it closed down 1.83%.  Most of the big names in the index were lower but Kansas City Southern (KSU) was the clear leader to the downside finishing 7.96% lower on the session after announcing reduced FY15 revenue guidance. Existing Home Sales came in weaker than expected and we will be watching to see if…

Dollar giveth and taketh away

Index & Sector performance 3/19/15 The Market: It was noted in last night’s write-up that where the S&P 500 (SPY) decided to stop yesterday gave us pause and left the door open for a pullback.  We still see risk in the S&P in the short-term but a move back over yesterday’s high would force us to revisit that view. Oil reversed much of yesterday’s gains but has managed to remain above yesterday’s lows.  We noted in last night’s commentary that the risk/reward in the USO looked favorable with a stop below $15.61 and we would continue to use that as…

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)…

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…

Lots of data yields flat finish

Index & Sector performance 7/30/14 The Market: Lots of Economic Data/announcements in today’s session but when the dust settled it was surprisingly a flat session with the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) leading while the Dow (DIA) finished slightly lower and the S&P 500 (SPY) finished slightly higher. The leading sector on the WSC Scoreboard was Retail (XRT) finishing the day up 1% however Retail remains the only individual sector on the WSC Scoreboard that is down for the year.  The laggard was the Utilities (XLU) and decisively so finishing the day down 1.69%.  We remain interested in some…

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…

Fed day snaps S&P 4 day win streak

Index & Sector performance 10/30/13 The Market: A small gap up on the open was quickly sold and the market pulled back but losses were relatively contained until the Fed announcement which sent the S&P spiking lower.  Buyers did then step in and used the last hour of trading to help close the index off the lows but not enough to keep from snapping the S&P 500’s 4 day win streak. In economic news, ADP Non-Farm came in lower than expected printing a 130K with 151K the expectation.  Core CPI was also light coming in at 0.1% when 0.2% was…