March 19, 2024

The NightCap

The Market: Stocks had another tough session following a second day where the Chinese market was halted.  Chinese officials have removed the circuit breaker restrictions for tomorrow’s session and traders appear to be preparing for a volatile session but it will be interesting to see if allowing the index to freely trade will ultimately help it bottom — even if only for the short-term. Another session where no Sector saw gains but the relative outperformers were Retail (XRT), which was helped by Wal-Mart (WMT) after gaining 2.3% on the session, and Monday’s leader Utilities (XLU). Along with what happens overnight…

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…

Sharp snap back rally — SPY up YTD

Index & Sector performance 3/12/15 The Market: Strong performance today with the Russell 2000 (IWM) leading the charge for the 2nd straight day followed by the Dow (DIA) and S&P 500 (SPY).  Friday will be an interesting session as traders will have to decide how they want to end the week.  In the very short term the SPY looks stretched so we would consider using a gap up tomorrow morning as a (very) short-term selling opportunity. In individual sectors it was the Financials (XLF) which led the way finishing up 2.13% followed closely by Consumer Discretionary (XLY) which ended up…

Low Volume Slow grind Higher

Index & Sector performance 2/17/15 The Market: Monday the markets were closed in observance of President’s Day.  As trading started back Monday evening, the futures traded lower but by the open Tuesday all the loses were recouped and after an early session consolidation the index pressed toward new closing highs.  Volume was light but this could be due to the winter storms around the nation.  All broad indices on the WSC Scoreboard are noticeably higher YTD with the Dow (DIA) lagging and the NASDAQ (QQQ) leading. In individual sectors it a little more mixed.  HealthCare (XLV) was the clear leading…

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)…

EoD gains mask intraday swing

Index & Sector performance 9/17/14 The Market: Early in the session the markets were quiet as traders awaited the FOMC statement and speculated if the wording of the statement would be changed.  The answer was that not much changed and specifically the Fed continues to state that they will keep key interest rates near zero for a “considerable time”.  The initial reaction to the release was a sharp decline but buyers quickly stepped in and the S&P 500 recovered and then rallied to fresh highs on the day before finishing the session back where it started. The leading sector on…

Early momentum fades

Index & Sector performance 8/11/14 The Market: Stocks started off the day building on Friday’s gains but near midday the S&P 500 topped out and then spent the rest of the day moving lower.  All 4 indices on the WSC Scoreboard finished the day higher but the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) were the clear winners with the IWM gaining nearly 1%. The leading sector on the day was the Consumer Staples (XLP) but the stock in the index that stood out the most was to the downside and that is Dean Foods (DF).  DF finished the day down…

Early dip finds interested buyers

Index & Sector performance 7/28/14 The Market: Early moves lower in the broad market indices soon found buyers and managed to finish the day near flat on the session with the Russell 2000 (IWM) continuing to lag.  The DOW (DIA) played MA pinball with the lows in the early session touching the 50 day EMA while the highs of the session back tested the 20 day EMA. The stand out sector from the WSC Scoreboard was the Utilities (XLU) finishing up X% higher on the session.  Every name in the sector ETF was higher and that vast majority were up…

Global unrest helps fuel market decline

Index & Sector performance 7/17/14 The Market: Broad based sell off today saw all 5 (S&P 500 equal weight index (RSP) added today) major indices from the WSC Scoreboard finish over 1% lower except the Dow (DIA) which managed to only lose 0.85%.  No surprise leading the way to the downside was again the Russell 2000 (IWM) which is now solidly down for the year and underperforming the S&P 500 (SPY) by 8.5% and the NASDAQ (QQQ) by 10%. The double top in the IWM which we started discussing over a week ago is now more pronounced and as a…

Fed helps S&P to new highs

Index & Sector performance 6/18/14 The Market: After what amounted to a roughly 1.5% correction from the 6/9/14 highs to the 6/12/14 lows, the S&P 500 has since rallied and as of today’s close made a new intraday and closing all time high.  The majority of the gains were realized after the FOMC statement and rate decision where the Fed left the rate unchanged and lowered monthly bond purchases by $10B. We have taken a cautious stance on the broad market since 6/6/14 due to multiple overbought conditions across multiple time frames.  While the pullback from 6/9 – 6/12/14 helped…