March 19, 2024

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…

Energy leads while healthcare lags

The Market: Overall a consolidation session in the markets as the Dow (DIA) finished higher while the S&P 500 (SPY), NASDAQ (QQQ), and Russell 2000 (IWM) finished lower . Energy stocks continue to remain in vogue as the XLE finished 2.22% higher on the session and marked the 5th straight day of higher closes.  Materials (XLB) was the next closest outperformer finishing up 1.3% and Technology (XLK) was the only other sector to finish up. Lagging in today’s session was HealthCare (XLV) which finished down -2.35% and saw all components finish the day lower except for Mallinckrodt (MNK) and Dentsply…

Weak ADP data helps market gap

The Market: The market gapped and continued higher for the first hour of trading which the news attributed to a weak ADP number which could keep the Fed from raising interest rates anytime soon.  After the first hour of trading the major indices began to lose ground and, while they all finished up on the day, they were all also well off their highs. Leading on the WSC Scoreboard was Retail (XRT) which was the only sector to finish up by over 1% followed closely by Technology (XLK) which closed up 0.97%.  The only two losing sectors on the day…

Dollar ralley continues as Market slides

Index & Sector performance 3/10/15 The Market: A strong down session across the board with no index or sector spared.  We noted yesterday that the action to the upside appeared to not have conviction and today the lack of buying turned into selling.  Traders pointed to concerns over the eventual rate hike from the Fed and the strength in the Dollar as reasons for concern. We expect to see some form of a bounce as we have started to see positive divergence set-up on the shorter term intraday charts of the S&P 500 (SPY) and NASDAQ (QQQ) but any moves…

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…

Market continues higher on low volume

Index & Sector performance 8/13/14 The Market: Monday was a solid up day to follow-up on Friday’s move but one concerning aspect was how the indices finished noticeably off the intraday highs.  That trend continued taking the indices lower in Tuesday’s session but the losses were contained and today it was back up as all 4 indices on the WSC Scoreboard finished higher with the NASDAQ (QQQ) leading the charge. In individual sectors there were three standouts with HealthCare (XLV) the biggest winner finishing the day up 1.21% followed by a tie for second with both the Industrials (XLI) and…

S&P finds support at 20 day SMA

Index & Sector performance 3/12/14 The Market: Overnight trading took the S&P 500 futures index down to our target region of $1857-50 with the low of the session printing $1853.75ES right near the open which correlated with the S&P 500 cash index touching the 20 day SMA.  From there we bounced and then spend the rest of the day consolidating in a flag which has broken to the upside in after hours but with not much gusto.  Until the index clears the $1870-72.50ES area we will consider the potential for more downside. Tomorrow is the heaviest day of the week…

Lots of movement, little results

Index & Sector performance 3/10/14 The Market: Today was a yet another choppy session but for day traders there was a great deal of opportunity.  The S&P 500 emini ultimately moved 40 points between support and resistance while the S&P 500 cash index only managed to close down roughly a point for the day.  Starting with Sunday evening’s trading the ES contract lost ground over night finding support at the $1868ES pivot and then rallied pre-market to the $1878ES pivot.  Playing Pivot Pinball the ES tested the $1868ES support after the open to yet again hold and rally back toward…