Market push and pull continues
The Market: With concerns over volatility in China, weak Economic data, and the FOMC statement, the market gapped down and continued lower throughout the early trading session before marking another big intraday reversal. After dipping below the 200 day SMA, the S&P managed to rally from over 25 points down to slightly up on the session in intraday trading but then couldn’t hold the gains and sold off into the close. Today’s action is actually a good micro representation of the push and pull in the market this year. As we noted last week, we expect volatility to continue and…
Market continues to rebound
The Market: Stocks continue to chug along after last week’s impressive reversal on Wednesday. Today was another turn around session which saw the S&P 500 gap down roughly 12 points before firming up in very early trading and then rallying the rest of the session to finish up over 9 points. Above 2080 in the S&P 500 and it looks like the good times can continue. HealthCare (XLV) was the leader in individual sectors finishing up 1.01% followed closely by Consumer Discretionary (XLY) which closed up 0.96%. Today’s underperformer was Consumer Staples (XLP) which finished flat on the session hurt…
Week starts slow – GS grounds BA
Index & Sector performance 2/23/15 The Market: Overall a flat session with the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) finishing slightly higher while the Dow (DIA) and S&P 500 (SPY) finished lower. The main drag on the DIA today was Boeing (BA) which finished down 2.26% after Goldman downgraded the name to Sell with a $132 price target. In individual sectors it was a mixed bag with the Industrials (XLI) leading to the downside finishing down 0.43% while the Utilities (XLU) led to the upside finishing up 0.68%. As we posted tonight in the Charts section, the XLU held a…
The 20’s support today’s drop
Index & Sector performance 12/8/14 The Market: The S&P opened lower but like every other recent micro pullback it found a bottom and started to rally higher. The market again looked like it wouldn’t be denied a higher close but then after the initial morning pop the indices started to roll and continued lower until roughly 2pm ET when they found a bottom for the session and moved off the lows into the close. The lows on the S&P 500 (SPY) and NASDAQ (QQQ) correspond with the 20 day SMA and we will be looking to see if those lows…
Merger Monday doesn’t help market
Index & Sector performance 11/17/14 The Market: Despite a very active M&A session, it was yet another very tight trading range in the S&P 500 while the NASDAQ (QQQ) lagged and the Russell 2000 (IWM) led to the downside. In deals we saw Allergan (AGN) agree to be acquired by Actavis (ACT) for a combination of cash and ACT stock which totaled $219 per share. Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) who had also been trying to buy AGN stepped aside not feeling comfortable they could justify the valuation to shareholders. Two more big names in M&A news as Halliburton (HAL) announced it…
Low volume drift higher
Index & Sector performance 11/10/14 The Market: Without any key news or economic data the market was happy to drift with the trend which is higher. This drift higher in the markets has created some negative divergence on the intraday charts so we would not be surprised to see downside action early in the week. However, at this time we would expect the losses to be contained and ultimately for that initial dip to be a buying opportunity for short term traders. Stand out sector to the upside was Transportation (IYT) which finished the day 1.34% higher followed by HealthCare…
S&P 500 makes new closing highs
Index & Sector performance 8/20/14 The Market: A respectable session for the Dow (DIA) and S&P 500 (SPY) as the SPY finished at a new closing high and the DIA is not all that far off. The NASDAQ (QQQ) managed to finish slightly up on the session and while not as strong as the DIA or SPY, the QQQ has been the clear leader on the year. The Russell 2000 (IWM) continues to lag and was unable to finish the session higher like the other broad indices however the index did manage to rally well off the earlier lows. In…
Ceasefire helps stocks higher
Index & Sector performance 8/18/14 The Market: Strong strong session with the Dow (DIA) and Russell 2000 (IWM) closing up over 1% while the S&P 500 (SPY) and NASDAQ (QQQ) were not too far behind. It appears the markets were able to build on Friday’s late day move off the lows being helped by optimism of a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire. The IWM, which has spent the majority of the year in the red, is not only down 0.23% on the year. Multiple sectors posted strong performances including the Transportation (IYT), Retail (XRT), Industrials (XLI), and Financials (XLF) all up over 1%…