March 19, 2024

The NightCap

The Market: We expected to see a tight trading range until the FOMC statement but instead we saw buyers in advance of the statement as the S&P 500 (SPY) pressed higher.  The the announcement came and there was a sharp sell-off but buyers came right back and all 4 major market indices on the WSC Scoreboard finished above the pre-FOMC announcement highs. As was expected by many, the FOMC left the Fed Fund Rates unchanged but, based on the comments, it appears a rate hike is on the table for December if the data warrants.  We also saw the committee…

Will the recent Volatility continue?

The Market: No comments tonight except to say that, after a volatile beginning, the market quieted down and consolidated to finish the week but we do not think the violent swings are over and expect more volatility next week. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!       Reporting EPS 8/17/15 After the Close:   Reporting EPS 8/17/15 Pre-Market: The only name we are currently tracking is The Estee Lauder Companies (EL) with an estimate of $0.34.   Analyst Comments:

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…

Off the 200 Day and up

Index & Sector performance 2/2/15 The Market: The S&P 500 (SPY) started the session lower but found support just slightly above the 200 day SMA which has not been visited since October 2014.  After an initial pop and then pullback the index rallied the remainder of the session to finish over 30 points off the lows.  So far in the after hours the index is holding the gains and consolidating.  Today’s action should be very promising for long traders and you know your stops — below today’s lows. The leading sector on the WSC Scoreboard was Energy (XLE) finishing up…

Overnight loses quicky negated

Index & Sector performance 10/30/14 The Market: In the overnight session the S&P 500 futures lost roughly 20 points and it appeared to be signaling for a rough Thursday but then recouped nearly all the loses by the open and managed to rally for the majority of the day.  All 4 indices from the WSC Scoreboard finished higher with the Dow (DIA) leading the charge helped immensely by Visa (V) which finished the session up 10.24% after reporting better than expected EPS and a new $5B Share Repurchase program yesterday after the close. In Individual sectors the clear standout was…

SPY is sitting on the 50 day SMA

Index & Sector performance 9/23/14 The Market: U.S. led airstrikes in Syria and weaker than expected European manufacturing data helped continued weakness in the broad markets with the Russell 2000 (IWM) again leading the way to the downside.  After peaking back positive YTD in late August and into early this month, the IWM is now down 3.46%.  The NASDAQ (QQQ) was the clear winner, on a relative basis, and was helped by a strong showing in Apple (AAPL) which closed up 1.56%.  The S&P 500 (SPY) is now near, essentially at, its 50 day SMA and we are very interested…

Early dip finds buyers

Index & Sector performance 6/26/14 The Market: Just before the open the major indices started spiking lower and continued through the bells until roughly 10 am ET before finding a bottom.  Then as if nothing happened the market spend the rest of the day climbing back toward even on the day with the S&P 500 (SPY) finishing slightly higher while the other major indices on the WSC Scoreboard finished slightly lower. Just like the broad indices, the individual sectors from the WSC Scoreboard were mixed but all hovering near flat on the day.  The Financials (XLF) and Consumer Staples (XLP)…

Early optimism wanes

Index & Sector performance 6/24/14 The Market: After a very tight trading range in the overnight session, the market moved higher after the New Home Sales and Consumer Confidence data was released at 10 am ET.  Both handily beat estimates rising to their best levels in 6 years, however, this optimism proved to be short lived as the S&P 500 topped in midday trading and spent the remainder of the day losing ground finally finishing 12 points lower in the S&P 500 cash index and roughly 20 points off the intraday highs. In individual sectors, Energy (XLE) clearly led all…

Market follows up gap with more gains

Index & Sector performance 9/17/13 The Market: The majority of today’s action was in the first half hour of trading when the S&P gaped slightly higher and then ran up seeing the majority of the days gains.  The remainder of the day the market was able to hold those gains and drift higher on what looked to be an overall light volume day. In economic news, Core CPI came in as expected while headline CPI  was actually less than expected with a 0.1% increase when 0.2% was expected.  Remember headline reflects food and energy while core strips it out.  Tomorrow…

Daily Wrap

DJIA +65.36 (+0.44%) to 15,112.19;S&P 500 +8.68 (+0.54%) to 1,628.93;NASDAQ +31.24 (+0.92%) to 2,959.50 Monday’s action start hot with a gap higher and a rally in the markets which lasted until roughly noon when we started to dip lower and then the decline started gaining some steam into late day trading.  The highs of the day in the S&P 500 correlated with a first touch of the 50 day SMA which would be expected to be resistance.  Today’s high now should become a key level to watch and if taken out the bulls may be back in control. Merger Monday was in affect…