March 19, 2024

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…

Low vol narrow holiday trading range

Index & Sector performance 11/25/14 The Market: Another uneventful holiday trading session across all 4 major indices on the WSC Scoreboard.  Action was also muted across the individual sectors with the exception of Energy (XLE) which lost 1.63%.  For XLE traders our take is that the lows may hold but we would either be looking for an opportunity to buy lower or on a break above $89.25. In Economic data, estimated 3rd quarter GDP growth came in better than previously reported while Consumer Confidence and the Richmond Manufacturing Index both missed expectations.  Tomorrow there is a slew of data including…

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…

News & EPS will dominate week

Index & Sector performance 10/20/14 The Market: This is a very light Economic data week but don’t worry.  Earnings will more than make up for it with a Packed schedule all the way through to Friday. All the indices on the WSC Scoreboard were nicely higher but the Dow (DIA) was the clear laggard after IBM (IBM) lost over 7% due to a disappointing Q3 report which missed on revenues and EPS.  The company also announced that they would no longer be able to meet its goal of $20/share in operating EPS by 2015. Solid results across all the sectors…

S&P takes back overnight losses plus

Index & Sector performance 5/5/14 The Market: The S&P futures moved lower in the Sunday overnight session attributed to weak economic data out of China as well continued unrest in Ukraine.  The futures continued lower throughout early trading Monday but found a bottom right at the open on an initial spike lower to 1860.50ES which was quickly bought and the index started a march higher reaching 1880ES by 2:30 pm ET.  The index spent the last hour consolidating the near 20 point intraday rally.  If 1872ES holds in overnight trading it appears the index could look to make a move…

Off the 150 day and up

Index & Sector performance 2/5/14 The Market:   In the News:     The following noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings before tomorrow’s open: PM, AET, EXC, CMI, NBL, K, PPL, PRGO, ADS, SIAL, WEC, TW, AAP, VMC, DO, TDC, KKR, SNA, CSL, NUS, ODFL, AOL, PTEN, USG, NYT, FSC, HCLP, NILE   Analyst Comments:       The Game Plan:

Analyst Comments

Today’s featured analyst comment is by Goldman Sachs who upgraded Gartner, Inc. (IT) to Buy with an $85 price target.  IT has been on a strong run up over 38% the trailing 12 months and Goldman believes there is more in the tank.  Looking at the chart there is some work needed but we think they may be right. If IT can continue to digest under the recent highs while the MACD continues to recycle then this could lay the ground work for another leg higher.  What we are watching specifically on the stock is the MACD and the 50…

Decline….What Decline?

Index & Sector performance 1/15/14 The Market: The vast majority of today’s action was on the open where the S&P 500 gaped higher and ran until 11am EST which marked the highs of the day.  The remainder of the day stayed in a 5 point range from the 11am highs as the market digested the strong reversal rally which has gained roughly 35 S&P points since Monday’s lows. In Economic Data, Headline PPI slightly missed expectations while Core PPI beat.  The Beige Book reiterated an overall positive outlook on the economy showing moderate growth.  Tomorrow traders will be most focused…

Low volume day follows the trend

Index & Sector performance 11/22/13 The Market: The market made solid gains trending higher all day to close over $1800 in the S&P 500.  If there was anything concerning about today’s rally, it was the volume which seemed very light but seeing a market move in the direction of the trend on low volume days is not uncommon. There was not much on the Economic data front today besides some fed speak but Thursday the 21st was big.  Unemployment Claims came in better than expected posting 10K below (323K vs 333K) expectations while the previous week was adjusted slightly higher…

China fears helped send market lower

Index & Sector performance 10/23/13 The Market: Today was a gap own and meander day where the majority f the losses were seen in very early trading and the rest of the day was mostly choppy. News attributed the drop to tightening fears out of China which sent international markets lower but as we have discussed here the market seemed ripe for a pullback.  More lower.. In economic data there was not too much today with import prices coming in roughly as expected while the Home Price Index was well below expectations (0.3% vs 0.8%) .  Yesterday we had the…