March 19, 2024

China, Icahn, & IBB lead market lower

The Market: A gap-and-go day to the downside as the S&P 500 finished nearly 50 points lower on the session as media pointed to renewed concerns over China’s economy and cautious comments from Carl Icahn on high yield bonds and the stock market.  The Dow (DIA) was the relative outperformer today finishing down only -1.9% while the NASDAQ (QQQ) finished down the most at -2.85% on the session but YTD that is reversed with the DIA down slightly over –10% while the QQQ is only down slightly over -3%. Short-term the market appears to be very oversold here and we…

Huge intraday rally as Volatility continues

The Market: It is not uncommon when the S&P is down 25+ points intraday for their to be a rally but to see the index trade down over 30 points and then finish the session slightly up is surprising.  Even with the recent volatility, we remain within a range from, roughly, 2130 to 2050 in the S&P.  We are interested to see if the Bulls can build on today’s move off the low and gap higher tomorrow.  If not, we would not rule out the S&P revisiting today’s lows in the short-term.  Expect the volatility to continue. Leading sectors today…

China & Buffett support stong session

The Market: A strong overnight session in China which was triggered by changes to the latest monetary policy report and also on reports that China will overhaul state-owned enterprises helped get the market started and then Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) helped fan the fire by first purchasing Precision Cast Part (PCP) for $235/share in cash and then during an interview noted that he likes IBM (IBM) and answered a question about if he is buying that people should check the SEC filings in the coming days.  The Dow (DIA) led today’s rally. Energy (XLE) was the biggest…

China’s action spills into global markets

The Market: Stocks opened lower after China suffered its worst losing day in over 8 years but the S&P managed to find a bottom right at the 200 day SMA and has so far rallied off the lows with upside action continuing into the after market.  It will be interesting to see how China’s market reacts today and if the S&P can keep the momentum going through the overnight trading and into tomorrow’s open. Also don’t forget we have the FOMC Rate decision and Statement on Wednesday the 29th (full Economic Calendar below). Leading to the downside in today’s session…

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…

Choppy trading leaves the indices flat

Index & Sector performance 2/26/14 The Market: A choppy trading session to saw a sell off toward the open which ultimately was bought until midday when the S&P started to make its way back down toward and below the previous intraday lows.  Again buyers stepped in and were able to close the S&P 500 essentially flat on the day.     Companies scheduled to report earnings pre-market:     Analyst Comments: