March 19, 2024

$50 is the new $5….

The Market: As expected, volatility continues and $50 point swings are becoming as common as $5 point swings use to be.  We expect volatility to remain high but would not be surprised to see the magnitude of the swing start to temper. Today was important because after two straight days of gap ups that sold off into the close, today managed to hold and extend on the gap after an intraday pullback.  As we noted in Monday’s write-up,  the market is very short-term oversold and we would expect a bounce so today’s action is not surprising but we will be…

Huge intraday swings

The Market: As expected, volatility continues and while we would not expect 100 point S&P days to become a common occurrence we do expect to see sharp swings both up and down. Our current expectation is that the market will ultimately revisit this morning’s lows is not make new lows but in the short-term the market is very oversold and should stage some sort of rally — not just intraday like today but on a closing basis over a few days.  That rally will be very telling and if weak we could be setting up for much much lower and…

Market shakes off Greece

Index & Sector performance 2/5/15 The Market: Sorry, no comments at this time but please check back later.     Reporting EPS 2/5/15 After the Close:   Reporting EPS 2/6/15 Pre-Market: Analyst Comments:

Eurozone fears trigger late day sell-off

Index & Sector performance 2/4/15 The Market: Monday’s reversal in the S&P 500 (SPY) of the 200 day SMA continued Tuesday and was extending in today’s session, even with Oil trading lower, until later in the trading day when the index dropped sharply.  Traders pointed to news our of Europe that the ECB will not allow Banks to use Greek government debt as collateral for loans as the catalyst.  The Dow (DIA) was the only index on the WSC Scoreboard which managed to finish higher but that was greatly due to Disney (DIS) beating EPS and finishing up 7.63% on…

Russell leads overall dull session

Index & Sector performance 11/24/14 The Market: An overall dull session with the S&P 500 (SPY) and Dow (DIA) barely moving while the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) led.  As is expected for the remainder of this shortened holiday week, volume was very light. In individual sectors it was Retail (XRT) posting another great session up 1.32%.  Today the index was greatly helped by Outerwall (OUTR), operators of Coinstar and Redbox, which finished up 12.32%.  Also chipping in was Best Buy (BBY) up 2.29% and Foot Locker (FL) up 3.45%.  After spending much of the year down, the XRT…

Global economic growth concerns weigh on market

Index & Sector performance 11/4/14 The Market: Today’s session ultimately finished narrowly lower with the Dow (DIA) managing to close ever so slightly higher.  Midday the damage was worse as traders pointed to the European Commissions cutting growth and inflation forecasts but after the European exchanges closed the U.S. found a bottom and drifted higher into the close. In individual sectors it was again Energy (XLE) which led the way lower finishing down 2.06% as crude oil traded as low as $75.84/ barrel after Saudi Arabia announced it was cutting prices on oil exports to the U.S.  Traders are cautious…

Russell outperforms in ugly session

Index & Sector performance 10/13/14 The Market: Another 1+% down day across the major indices on the WSC Scoreboard except for the Russell 2000 (IWM) which finished the session down only 0.42%.  YTD the IWM is still the clear loser down 9.55% but today’s outperformance is interesting and something to watch.  IWM’s underperformance starting earlier in the year was a warning so if it begins to outperform on a consistent basis going forward it should be noted. It does not feel like very long ago when the only down sector on the WSC Scoreboard Was Retail (XRT) but now we…

Tech stocks lead sell-off

Index & Sector performance 5/6/14 The Market: Last night we noted 1872ES as a key level to watch.  If it held as overnight support then the index could look to target Friday’s 1886ES highs but if lost then we could see Monday’s lows of 1860.50ES tested and then 1850ES.   In overnight trading the S&P was only able to reach 1881.50ES falling short of Friday’s highs and by the open the futures were sitting at our key 1872ES level.  After some initial jostling around the 1872ES level, the index started to roll over in midday trading reaching as low as…

Market reaches target, now what?

Index & Sector performance 2/10/14 The Market: A light volume start to the week and a very tight trading range with the S&P 500 cash trading in an 8 point range and even including early trading in the futures the entire day stayed within a 9.25 point range.     The following noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings before tomorrow’s open: CVS, S, REGN, RAI, MMC, OMC, PCG, HCP, IR, ETR, GWR   Analyst Comments:         The Game Plan: The S&P 500 (SPY) 60 minute chart has a potential inverse Head & Shoulder pattern which counts…