March 19, 2024

The Nightcap

The Market: A very strong session which was led by the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Dow (DIA) which the S&P 500 (SPY) not far behind.  It was interesting to see the Guggenheim S&P 500 Equal Weight index lag the S&P pointing to the gains being in the higher weighted stocks in the S&P 500 index.  Additionally the Russell 2000 (IWM) underperformed posting half the gains of the SPY. In individual sectors the day session was led by the Industrials (XLI) followed closely by the Materials (XLB).  Also closing up over 2% on the session was Technology (XLK) and that move looks…

Oil gets crushes while market dips

The Market: A small down day which could have looked worse if not for a late day rally off the lows.  Interesting to see the leaders to the downside were the Dow (DIA) and Russell 2000 (IWM).  We were looking for the market to close just off the lows and then gap down tomorrow for a short-term long opportunity but today’s end of day rally has changed that set-up. Overall we remain cautious on the broad market and believe the choppy trading of late will continue. Energy (XLE) led to the downside, again, as crude oil continues to slide reaching…

Flat session with no catalysts

Index & Sector performance 3/23/15 The Market: A flat start to the week as the market appeared happy to meander without a strong catalyst to tip the balance one way or the other.  In an otherwise boring tape, the Transportation Index (IYT) is worth noting as it closed down 1.83%.  Most of the big names in the index were lower but Kansas City Southern (KSU) was the clear leader to the downside finishing 7.96% lower on the session after announcing reduced FY15 revenue guidance. Existing Home Sales came in weaker than expected and we will be watching to see if…

Oil trades below $50 & leads market lower

Index & Sector performance 1/5/15 The Market: The market was again led by Oil’s decline as we closed below $50 per barrel for the first time since 2009.  In the Analyst Comments below you will see a downgrade for Caterpillar (CAT) by JP Morgan.  In the note the analyst commented that up to 30% of CAT’s revenue could be under pressure due to lower oil prices.  Similarly, Evercore downgraded Terex (TEX) to Hold with an $26 target and United Rentals (URI) to Sell with a $87 target citing concerns that oil’s sharp decline will hurt energy investments and thus construction…

Nasdaq & Russell lead indices lower

Index & Sector performance 4/25/14 The Market: All the major indices were down in Friday’s action with the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) leading the way lower.  In individual sectors the Transportation index (IYT) and Consumer Discretionary (XLY) were  the biggest losers. The transports are an interesting case as they were one of the sectors making new highs recently but after an outside day yesterday the index followed through strongly to the downside today.  Leading the index lower was JetBlue (JBLU) closing down 5.38%.  After missing EPS yesterday, Reuters announced today that the Flight attendants will be looking…

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…

Do you buy the dip?

Index & Sector performance 1/28/14 The Market: In the overnight session the futures managed to recover gaining nearly 20 points from Monday’s lows.  When the Durables number was announced and came in much worse than expected the market puled back challenging support but that support held and by the open the market was back near the pre-market highs.  The remainder of the day the S&P 500 stayed in a relatively tight trading range with all of the major indices closing higher. In Economic news the Durable Goods numbers came in much worse than expected with Core Durable Goods Orders posting…

Icahn comments spark late day sell off

Index & Sector performance 11/18/13 The Market: It was a fairly quiet day in the markets until a comment from Carl Icahn appears to have started a late day sell off after noting that he could see the markets have a “big drop”.  This sent the S&P 500 down roughly 12 points in the final hour of trading In economic date the NAHB Housing Market Index fell slightly short of estimates posting a 54 when 56 was expected.  Today also some a mix of Fed speak and that continues tomorrow including Fed Chairman Bernanke at 7pm EST and President Obama…

AAPL outshines BBRY buyout

Index & Sector performance 9/23/13 The Market: The market picked up early Monday where it left off Friday gaping lower on the open and continuing lower until roughly 11:30 am EST when the S&P 500 was able to bottom and turn with unfortunately what seems to be not much support or enthusiasm from traders. From the WSC Scoreboard, the largest drag on the Market today was the Financials (XLF) and leading them down was Regions Financial (RF) which closed down 2.27%.  RF closed right at the 150 day SMA and if it cannot find support there the upward sloping 200…

Daily Wrap

DJIA -106.59 (-0.69%) to 15,302.80;S&P 500 -11.70 (-0.70%) to 1,648.36;NASDAQ -17.12 (-0.57%) to 2,994.82 The markets spend the entire day down and started off with a 10+ point drop.  After finally finding a bottom around 11am EST down over 17 the S&P 500 rallied into the 2:30 pm EST time frame and finally drifted lower the remainder of the day giving up some of those midday gains.  The market did not breach the 5/23-5/24 lows and has also remained above the 20 day SMA.  Overall I still view the market as bullish and deciding whether it will consolidate as a triangle with the short term lows…