March 19, 2024

The NightCap

The Market: Stocks had another tough session following a second day where the Chinese market was halted.  Chinese officials have removed the circuit breaker restrictions for tomorrow’s session and traders appear to be preparing for a volatile session but it will be interesting to see if allowing the index to freely trade will ultimately help it bottom — even if only for the short-term. Another session where no Sector saw gains but the relative outperformers were Retail (XRT), which was helped by Wal-Mart (WMT) after gaining 2.3% on the session, and Monday’s leader Utilities (XLU). Along with what happens overnight…

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…

Early gap up fades, XLE leads lower

Index & Sector performance 4/21/15 The Market: The Nasdaq (QQQ) was the only sector that managed to finish the session higher while the Blue Chip Dow (DIA) was the leader to the downside. After spending the majority of the year down, Energy (XLE) has recently rallied to up YTD but there was no optimism today as the sector finished over 1% lower.  Also finishing lower was Utilities (XLU) down 0.89%, Materials (XLB) down 0.74%, and Financials (XLF) down 0.50%.  Today’s clear leader was HeathCare (XLV) which managed to close up 0.68% on the session. No tracked Economic data yesterday or today…

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…

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…

Another flat session overall

Index & Sector performance 7/24/14 The Market: Another relatively flat session across the broad major indices as earnings continue to drive most individual stock movements. The NASDAQ (QQQ) and S&P 500 (SPY) have both managed to breakout to new 52 week highs this week and hold those breakouts so far but the S&P 500 Equal Weight index (RSP) and Dow (DIA) have yet to follow.  The Russell 2000 (IWM) is up on the week but far from new 52 week highs and also seems vulnerable to fill the downside gap left from Tuesday. Speaking of the IWM, we noted in…

S&P Futures play MA pinball

Index & Sector performance 12/16/13 The Market: The made strong gains today after what looked like a horrible start to the week.  In overnight trading Sunday the S&P 500 dropped t0 $1754 (March 2014 emini contract) tagging the 50 day SMA and then built a rally off that support.  Surprisingly by the morning the futures had not only regained everything that was lost from Sunday evening’s open but also but in some gains.  Those who do not look at the futures may have never even known of the rough start.  The futures then rallied pre-market to the 20 day SMA…

All quiet before jobs data

Index & Sector performance 10/21/13 The Market: Not too much to report as it was a quiet down day in the S&P 500 and Dow with the Nasdaq making small gains much on the back of a strong performance from Apple (AAPL) closing up nearly 2.5% on the day. In economic news we had Existing Home Sales with came in light posting a 5.29M when 5.31M was expected.  Tomorrow will be a much bigger day as we get the jobs report that was delayed due to the government shutdown.  Current forecast is for 182K and Unemployment rate of 7.3% Story…

Daily Wrap

DJIA -44.23 (-0.32%) to 13,910.19; S&P 500 -5.89 (-0.39%) to 1,501.95; NASDAQ -11.35 (-0.36%) to 3,142.31 Today the markets moved lower and more decisively so compared to that other down day this.  What was also interesting is that the Small Caps lead the way down and generally I like to see the Small Caps lead (along with the Techs if I can get them).  This still has to be taken in stride based on the current trend in place but the recent action definitely does highlight the need for a consolidation as I have been calling for and also that…