March 19, 2024

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…

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…

EPS should lead trading

Index & Sector performance 7/21/14 The Market: Slow start to the week saw the S&P futures down over 10 points in early trading only to rally back and finish the day relatively flat on the session.  The best performer of the 4 broad indices was the NASDAQ (QQQ) but all-in-all it was a low volume relatively uneventful start to the week. With not much scheduled in terms of Economic data this week (see schedule below), eyes will be firmly fixed on the slew of earnings coming out.  Below is the list of confirmed pre-market reports for 7/22/14 and the remainder…

Russell leads Indices lower

Index & Sector performance 3/24/14 The Market: The Bull missed a great opportunity in our opinion when a late day rally stalled and failed to get above the 1856.50ES resistance and they even had the opportunity to close up on the day.  Now the 1852-56.50ES region should act as resistance and leaves the door open for an overnight drop toward 1840ES and then further 1827ES. In Economic Data we had Manufacturing PMI come in lighter than expected but the previous number was revised higher .  Tomorrow the market will be watching Consumer Confidence and New Home Sales.   Reporting EPS…

The Taper begins…

Index & Sector performance 12/18/13 The Market: A strong day in the market with the gains all coming after the 2 pm EST FOMC report.   The S&P 500 was in a holding pattern until just before the report when it started to drop lower.  After the report there was a quick spike lower (likely on the headline of bond buying decreasing) and the S&P 500 tagged the 50 day SMA where the index then bottomed and ripped higher. From Peak to Trough the S&P 500 gained rouhgly43 points! In economic news today we saw Housing Starts handily beat expectations (1.09M…

Daily Wrap

DJIA +180.85 (+1.21%) to 15,176.08; S&P 500 +23.84 (+1.48%) to 1,636.36; NASDAQ +36.76 (+1.26%) to 2,962.90 An second retest of the 50 day Moving Average proved to be a spring board sending the S&P 500 screaming higher on the day and of the major indices only second to the Russell 2000.  Helping today’s cause was two positive data point in economic news.  First the retail sales rose 0.6% when consensus expectations were 0.4% and then initial Unemployment claims came in at 334K when I had 354K as the estimate or a 20K beat.  What I am watching now is the 20 day SMA…