Holiday Fed combo = low vol
The Market: A combination of the Rosh Hashanah (from sunset Sept 13th to nightfall Sept 15th) and traders waiting to see what the FOMC will say Thursday yielded a low volume choppy session which saw the markets finish slightly lower. There are not many earnings reports scheduled for this week but there are some noteworthy names including Oracle (ORCL), Adobe (ADBE), FedEx (FDX), and Rite Aid (RAD). No Economic data today but the remainder of the week is fairly packed with the aforementioned FOMC Rate decision and Statement scheduled for Thursday. Reported EPS After the Close this…
Volatility & Chop continues
The Market: Volatility continues to be the name of the game which is why you can have a 40+ point day like today and still have the S&P 500 within a range/wedge. While it is possible that we extend today’s rally by gaping higher tomorrow, it is not our expectation and if we do open higher tomorrow we would watch the downward sloping 20 day SMA as resistance. Overall, a light Economic Calendar this week Thursday and Friday having the most significant data points (Unemployment Claims, PPI, and Consumer Sentiment). Reported EPS 9/8/15 After the Close: …
Huge intraday swings
The Market: As expected, volatility continues and while we would not expect 100 point S&P days to become a common occurrence we do expect to see sharp swings both up and down. Our current expectation is that the market will ultimately revisit this morning’s lows is not make new lows but in the short-term the market is very oversold and should stage some sort of rally — not just intraday like today but on a closing basis over a few days. That rally will be very telling and if weak we could be setting up for much much lower and…
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…
Quiet start to the month
Index & Sector performance 11/3/14 The Market: The market started the day slightly higher building on last week’s extremely strong session but the market ran out of steam in the short term and the S&P 500 started pulling back in afternoon trading finishing flat on the session. All in all it was a low volume quiet session but the Bulls can point to the fact that they didn’t give ground after reaching new highs. We do not expect the remainder of the month to be as quiet as today and would plan for swings in both directions much like October…
Farewell QE3
Index & Sector performance 10/29/14 The Market: It was a relatively quiet session the majority of the day as traders were awaiting the 2pm FOMC rate decisions and statement. As was expected, the Fed ended QE3 but continued to note that rates would remain low for a “considerable period”. The initial reaction after the release was a move lower but the market had already been trending that way since the open and, after the initial drop, buyers stepped in and ultimately the indices closed only slightly lower. It was a mixed session across the WSC Scoreboard sectors with Materials (XLB)…
Early momentum fades
Index & Sector performance 8/11/14 The Market: Stocks started off the day building on Friday’s gains but near midday the S&P 500 topped out and then spent the rest of the day moving lower. All 4 indices on the WSC Scoreboard finished the day higher but the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) were the clear winners with the IWM gaining nearly 1%. The leading sector on the day was the Consumer Staples (XLP) but the stock in the index that stood out the most was to the downside and that is Dean Foods (DF). DF finished the day down…
GDP disappoints but market ignores
Index & Sector performance 4/30/14 The Market: As you can see in the table below, the U.S. Q1 GDP number came in well below expectations. While Q1 was not expected to be a high growth quarter, clearly analysts did not expect a near negative number. Certainly the colder than expected weather could have and likely did play a role but on our opinion you cannot completely blame a miss like this on the weather. So why might traders and investors be willing to look past this data besides the weather? Possibly because a number like this allows the Fed to…
A day of rest after 4 up
Index & Sector performance 2/12/14 The Market: This morning at StockTwits we noted that after four solid days higher traders should expect a consolidation day which is ultimately what ended up happening but not before the S&P rallied to the pivot at $1823.25ES. Traders should watch that level now as upside resistance and look to 1805-10 as support. The following noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings before tomorrow’s open: PEP, APA, DISCA, NLSN, HOT, TAP, BKW, AVP, NGLS, CAB, GNC, SON, AFSI, OWW Analyst Comments: The Game Plan: