The NightCap
The Market: An initial gap higher was immediately sold but an afternoon surge helped the Dow, S&P and NASDAQ finish higher while greatly paring losses in the Russell 2000. Downside momentum seems to be waning and today’s mixed session is likely pointing to a bottom. In all likelihood that bottom will only be short-term but we will have to see how the action takes place. Ideally, for the start of a move higher, we would like to see a gap down (or strong move lower in early trading) tomorrow which takes us near or below today’s lows which is again…
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: A late day rally helped the market close well off the midday lows but all 4 major indices on the WSC Scorobard still finished down near or over 1%. Based on the recent action, we expect to see lower levels in the short-term. In individual sectors, Retail (XRT) was the hardest hit sector on the WSC Scorboard with Priceline (PCLN) finishing down over 9% on the session after reporting EPS which beat expectations but guidance that fell short. We will be watching Ctrip.com (CTRP) which is scheduled to report EPS tomorrow, November 10th, after the close — CTRP…
Tech closes at new 52 week high
The Market: Stocks continue to rebound strongly after a rough week of trading last week. The NASDAQ (QQQ) led today’s charge finishing at a new 52 week closing high followed by the S&P 500 (SPY) while the Russell 2000 (IWM) and Dow (DIA) lagged. Many individual sectors outperformed in the session with Utilities (XLU), Reatil (XRT), Technology (XLK), and Consumer Staples (XLP) all finishing up over 1%. Reporting EPS 7/16/15 After the Close: Reporting EPS 7/17/15 Pre-Market: Analyst Comments:
XLU stands out in today’s action
Index & Sector performance 2/18/15 The Market: A choppy session overall which ended up finishing flat. Some negative divergence is building on the S&P 500 60 minute chart but, even when it leads to a pullback, the divergence can exist for many day. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the index continue to meander and drift higher for the remainder of the week into Options expiration. In individual sectors it was the Utilities (XLU) leading the way and by a wide margin finishing up 2.37%. We would be watching the XLU closely here to see if it can build on…
Yellen to the rescue
Index & Sector performance 12/17/14 The Market: Fueled by continued caution from the Fed in raising rates and a rebound in Oil prices, the broad indices roared higher with the Russell 2000 (IWM) leading the charge finishing up over 3%. We noted in Monday’s comments that a gap lower Tuesday could be a great trading opportunity. For anyone that did not just day trade Tuesday’s gap down and are still holding, we would be using relatively tight stops to manage the position as there is still some concern lower levels could be seen before this decline is over. …
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…
How will traders position for weekend?
Index & Sector performance 4/10/14 The Market: Today the market not only took back the gains realized yesterday off the FOMC minutes but also the gains from Tuesday’s session leaving fresh closing lows for the week on a roughly 40 point down day in the S&P 500. With only one day remaining in the week, it will be very interesting to see how trader’s position tomorrow ahead of the weekend. We have a hard time believing that traders will be anxious to position long going into the weekend after today. We will be increasingly suspect of any early morning to…
Triple witching tomorrrow
Index & Sector performance 12/19/13 The Market: Today trading range was rather tight after yesterday’s explosion with the entire day’s range in the S&P 500 only about 9 points. Tomorrow will be options expiration and a Triple Witching which can come with some volatility. In economic data today we sub a much worse than expected Unemployment claims number come in at 379K when 366K was expected. Other key data also underperformed expectations with Existing Home Sales missing expectations (4.9M vs. 5.04M) and Philly Fed Manufacturing Index (7 vs. 10.3). Tomorrow we get GDP and Monday 12/23 we have Core PCE,…
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)…