March 19, 2024

The NightCap

The Market: A lower close for all 4 main indices on the WSC Scoreboard as the Russell 2000 (IWM) led to the downside while the NASDAQ (QQQ) was the relative outperformer. The Retail (XRT) sector was the biggest loser on the WSC Scoreboard followed closely by Energy (XLE).  Unlike some other sectors, the XRT is not heavily weighted in a few stocks and, as of 11/10/15, has no stock weighted more than 1.27% so when you see strong moves up or down, like today, it is due to a majority of the names trading in that direction.  Bucking the trend…

The NightCap

The Market: A late day rally helped the market close well off the midday lows but all 4 major indices on the WSC Scorobard still finished down near or over 1%.  Based on the recent action, we expect to see lower levels in the short-term. In individual sectors, Retail (XRT) was the hardest hit sector on the WSC Scorboard with Priceline (PCLN) finishing down over 9% on the session after reporting EPS which beat expectations but guidance that fell short.  We will be watching Ctrip.com (CTRP) which is scheduled to report EPS tomorrow, November 10th, after the close — CTRP…

The NightCap

The Market: The market continues to grind higher with the Russell 2000 (IWM) trying to play catch-up of late. Energy (XLE) led all sectors in today’s trading, again, and has been one of the hottest sectors of late although still down nearly -10% YTD. A relatively big data week with ISM Monday, Fed speak & ADP tomorrow, Unemployment Claims Thursday, and official Jobs data on Friday.  Traders concerned about the Fed and if we will see a December rate hike should be paying attention to this week’s data.       Reported EPS 11/3/15 After the Close:   Reporting EPS…

$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…

Market continues to rebound

The Market: Stocks continue to chug along after last week’s impressive reversal on Wednesday.  Today was another turn around session which saw the S&P 500 gap down roughly 12 points before firming up in very early trading and then rallying the rest of the session to finish up over 9 points.  Above 2080 in the S&P 500 and it looks like the good times can continue. HealthCare (XLV) was the leader in individual sectors finishing up 1.01% followed closely by Consumer Discretionary (XLY) which closed up 0.96%.  Today’s underperformer was Consumer Staples (XLP) which finished flat on the session hurt…

Early dip is bought, finishes flat

The Market: Overall a quiet day in the markets following yesterday’s FOMC statement as an early dip in the S&P 500 found buyers and the index finished flat on the session while the NASDAQ (QQQ) led. The S&P 500 looks to need at least a short term pullback to regroup before any longer term move higher but we will be interested to watch that first pullback as we are from from believing the coast is all clear and that the market is off to new highs. In individual sections, Utilities (XLU) led finishing up 0.74% on the session followed by…

XLU stands out in today’s action

Index & Sector performance 2/18/15 The Market: A choppy session overall which ended up finishing flat.  Some negative divergence is building on the S&P 500 60 minute chart but, even when it leads to a pullback, the divergence can exist for many day.  We wouldn’t be surprised to see the index continue to meander and drift higher for the remainder of the week into Options expiration. In individual sectors it was the Utilities (XLU) leading the way and by a wide margin finishing up 2.37%.  We would be watching the XLU closely here to see if it can build on…

BIIB helps XLV finish up over 26% YTD

Index & Sector performance 12/2/14 The Market: It was a solid session following Monday’s drop with the Russell 2000 (IWM) clearly leading and with advancers leading decliners by roughly 2:1. In Individual sectors it was Transportation (IYT) leading up 1.18% followed closely by Energy (XLE), which is still trying to recover from Friday’s big gap down, up 1.16%, and lastly HealthCare (XLV) which finished 1.12% higher and is now up over 26% year-to-date.  Helping the XLV today was Biogen Idec (BIIB) which gained 6.43% on positive results from an early-stage Alzheimer’s drug trial.  BIIB is a name to watch.  Above…

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…

ECB helps U.S. Dollar & market higher

Index & Sector performance 11/6/14 The Market: Comments from ECB President Mario Draghi suggesting that the central bank is committed to stimulating the region’s economy helped send the S&P 500 (SPY) and the U.S. Dollar higher on the session.  As would be expected the Euro/Dollar cross was under pressure finishing the U.S. trading session at new 2 year lows. A strong dollar is not a bad thing and increases global purchasing power of U.S. companies and individuals.  However, as we saw recently with the Trade Balance, a strong dollar can hurt exports.  Coupled with concerns over crude oil’s recent decline…