March 19, 2024

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…

Small Caps lag as market rallies

Index & Sector performance 3/16/15 The Market: A strong performance day as the S&P 500 (SPY), Dow (DIA), and NASDAQ (QQQ) finished up over 1% while the Russell 2000 (IWM) was the laggard finishing up 0.60%.  One of the positive noted on this recent decline in the broad markets was the resilience of the IWM which is close to a new all-time high.  Today could just be the other broad indices catching up to the already outperforming IWM but we cannot help but feel as though today was a perfect set-up for the IWM to lead all names higher and…

Market closes highe but no conviction

Index & Sector performance 3/9/15 The Market: Overall it was a quiet session with not much news or Economic data.  The market was able to bounce back today after Friday’s strong sell-off led by the Dow (DIA) but volume was on the light side showing that market participants are not necessarily convinced the decline is over. In individual sectors Industrials (XLI) was the clear leader as names like Boeing (BA), 3M (MMM), and Caterpillar (CAT) put in strong sessions finishing up 1.06%, 1.22% and 0.94% respectively.  Energy (XLE) was the lone loser on the session finishing -0.72%.  One bright spot,…

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:

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…

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%…

Fed helps S&P to new highs

Index & Sector performance 6/18/14 The Market: After what amounted to a roughly 1.5% correction from the 6/9/14 highs to the 6/12/14 lows, the S&P 500 has since rallied and as of today’s close made a new intraday and closing all time high.  The majority of the gains were realized after the FOMC statement and rate decision where the Fed left the rate unchanged and lowered monthly bond purchases by $10B. We have taken a cautious stance on the broad market since 6/6/14 due to multiple overbought conditions across multiple time frames.  While the pullback from 6/9 – 6/12/14 helped…