March 19, 2024

Earnings should take center stage

The Market: Not much movement in today’s action as we saw a drop in volume across all the major Indices.  The overnight session saw futures move lower which seemed primarily due to some exhaustion in the markets but not helping was China’s GDP numbers which met expectations but slowed compared to the prior quarter.  With this being a light Economic Data week, we expect focus to be on individual stocks as they report earnings.  Below is a list of names that reported tonight after the close and that will report tomorrow with even more listed in the Events Calendar. In…

China, Icahn, & IBB lead market lower

The Market: A gap-and-go day to the downside as the S&P 500 finished nearly 50 points lower on the session as media pointed to renewed concerns over China’s economy and cautious comments from Carl Icahn on high yield bonds and the stock market.  The Dow (DIA) was the relative outperformer today finishing down only -1.9% while the NASDAQ (QQQ) finished down the most at -2.85% on the session but YTD that is reversed with the DIA down slightly over –10% while the QQQ is only down slightly over -3%. Short-term the market appears to be very oversold here and we…

$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…

Major Market Indices down near or over 2%!

  The Market: We warned in last week’s update that we viewed the pattern in the market as one that warranted caution.  In the short term we view the market as very oversold and due for a bounce.  Ideally we would like to see a failed rally in the Futures overnight that results in a gap down in the cash index which provides an opportunity to get long in early trading.  It is also worth noting that the SPY closed right at the 200 day SMA & EMA which should act as support — even if only short term. Looking…

Sellers appear on slow news day

The Market: An initial gap down in the morning found buyers but only to roughly flat on the session when the seller stepped back in and controlled the remainder of the day with all 4 of the WSC Scoreboard main indices finishing lower led by the Dow (DIA) while closed down nearly 1%. All of the WSC Scoreboard sectors were lower on the session with the largest losses realized in Transportation (IYT), Matierials (XLB) and Heath Care (XLV). Not many comments tonight but we would be cautious here.  The market looks to be oversold in the short term and due…

Shortened week but already big moves

Index & Sector performance 3/30/15 The Market: Very strong rally across the board today with the Dow (DIA) leading the charge followed by the Russell 2000 (IWM) and then the S&P (SPY).  In the very short-term these indices are overbought and likely due for a consolidation.  The nature of the pullback will be telling if more upside is forthcoming or if we are heading back down toward the lows. Energy (XLE) led the Sectors today closing up over 2% followed by Financial (XLF), Materials (XLB), and Industrials (XLI) all finishing up over 1.5%.  It was green across the board. Please…

Dollar giveth and taketh away

Index & Sector performance 3/19/15 The Market: It was noted in last night’s write-up that where the S&P 500 (SPY) decided to stop yesterday gave us pause and left the door open for a pullback.  We still see risk in the S&P in the short-term but a move back over yesterday’s high would force us to revisit that view. Oil reversed much of yesterday’s gains but has managed to remain above yesterday’s lows.  We noted in last night’s commentary that the risk/reward in the USO looked favorable with a stop below $15.61 and we would continue to use that as…

Slow grind higher to start Holiday week

Index & Sector performance 12/22/14 The Market We expected even lighter volume today then we saw but it was still much lighter than the previous sessions.  We would not be surprised to see the market continue to drift higher in a choppy manner throughout the holiday trading session and into the New Year. Tomorrow is the heaviest day for Economic data but we are not expecting fireworks.  If we do see a pullback we would expect it to be a buying opportunity for short term traders.       Reporting EPS 12/23/14 Pre-Market: Big name reporting tomorrow before the open…

Down but much better than the start

Index & Sector performance 9/29/14 The Market: All 4 broad market indices closed lower however all also closed well off their lows of the session. The standout sector in today’s trading is clearly the Utilities (XLU) which finished up 0.65% and is currently in 4th place amongst the WSC Scoreboard sectors for largest YTD gain.  The biggest laggard was Consumer Discretionary (XLY) followed by Materials (XLB). In Economic data, Pending Home Sales was a big disappointment coming in at -1% when -0.4% was expected while last months reading was adjusted slightly lower to 3.2% from 3.3%.     Reporting EPS…

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…