March 19, 2024

Sellers appear on slow news day

The Market: An initial gap down in the morning found buyers but only to roughly flat on the session when the seller stepped back in and controlled the remainder of the day with all 4 of the WSC Scoreboard main indices finishing lower led by the Dow (DIA) while closed down nearly 1%. All of the WSC Scoreboard sectors were lower on the session with the largest losses realized in Transportation (IYT), Matierials (XLB) and Heath Care (XLV). Not many comments tonight but we would be cautious here.  The market looks to be oversold in the short term and due…

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…

Slow grind higher to start Holiday week

Index & Sector performance 12/22/14 The Market We expected even lighter volume today then we saw but it was still much lighter than the previous sessions.  We would not be surprised to see the market continue to drift higher in a choppy manner throughout the holiday trading session and into the New Year. Tomorrow is the heaviest day for Economic data but we are not expecting fireworks.  If we do see a pullback we would expect it to be a buying opportunity for short term traders.       Reporting EPS 12/23/14 Pre-Market: Big name reporting tomorrow before the open…

Watch out for traps

Index & Sector performance 12/9/14 The Market: The S&P 500 found itself down over 20 points within the first hour plus of trading  as traders pointed to concerns over China and Greece.  Throughout the early drop the Russell 2000 (IWM) remained strong down only a fraction of the other indices and then was the first to turn positive on the day.  The IWM’s resilience continued throughout the remainder of the trading session and finished the clear leader. Today’s action certainly feels like another Bear trap where the market looks as though it is about to start a major prolonged slide…

QQQs lose 2% – now sit on 50 day SMA

Index & Sector performance 9/25/14 The Market: Strong down session across the board which saw the NASDAQ (QQQ) lead the way lower finishing down over 2%.  QQQ was hurt by Apple (AAPL) which is reportedly facing consumer issue regarding its new iPhone6 and iOS but some media outlets also pointed to concerns over rates and Russia as causes for trader pessimism. The Dow (DIA) and QQQ are now sitting on their 50 day SMA’s while the S&P 500 (SPY) lost its 50 as of today.  With one day left in the trading week it will be interesting to see how…

A low volume flat session

Index & Sector performance 11/25/13 The Market: Monday’s trading started with some optimism but that was sold in early trading and the market started climbing back toward the highs of the day after a pullback.  The rally efforts topped around 2:30 pm EST and the market then declined into the close but after the dust settled it was a flat day.  Again volumes were on the light side. Today’s economic calendar was light with only Pending Home Sales on the docket and came in worse than expected posting a -0.6% when 2.2% was expected.  Tomorrow we get more housing data…

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)…

S&P 500 narrowly escapes with a gain

Index & Sector performance 10/9/13 The Market: Rumors out of Washington have helped drive the indices of late as investors are looking for more information regarding the government shutdown as well as who may be replacing Ben Bernanke.  News today broke that Janet Yellen will be the next Federal Reserve chairperson taking the place of Ben Bernanke at the end of January 2014.  Initial opinions seemed to be that Yellen will continue on with a more dovish stance for the Fed. Today looked as though the market could not gain traction but at 11:30 am EST the market bottomed and…