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…
Merger Monday doesn’t help market
Index & Sector performance 11/17/14 The Market: Despite a very active M&A session, it was yet another very tight trading range in the S&P 500 while the NASDAQ (QQQ) lagged and the Russell 2000 (IWM) led to the downside. In deals we saw Allergan (AGN) agree to be acquired by Actavis (ACT) for a combination of cash and ACT stock which totaled $219 per share. Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) who had also been trying to buy AGN stepped aside not feeling comfortable they could justify the valuation to shareholders. Two more big names in M&A news as Halliburton (HAL) announced it…
Short week, low vol, mixed results
Index & Sector performance 6/30/14 The Market: An overall mixed session saw the Russell 2000 and NASDAQ finish higher while the Dow and S&P 500 finished slightly lower. Volume was down which will likely be a trend this shortened holiday trading week. In Individual sectors, the Utilities (XLU) led and earlier in the session the Transportation sector (IYT) was a relatively close second but a late day sell off put it just behind the Materials (XLB) and in-line with Retail (XRT). The largest gainer in the Utilities was Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (PNW) which finished up 2.41% and looks like…
Intraday swing leave only small gains
Index & Sector performance 4/28/14 The Market: After moving slightly higher in the overnight and early trading, the S&P 500 quickly dropped in the midday session before finding a bottom around 1:30 pm ET. While the S&P fell a few points short of making it back to the earlier intraday highs, it did manage to post a small gain on the day. The Dow led the major indices helped by a 4.2% gain from Pfizer (PFE) while the Russell 2000 closed slightly down on the day. Many big name stocks in the news including the aforementioned Pfizer (PFE) who…
Retail sales beat, Unemployment drags
Index & Sector performance 12/12/13 The Market: The market continued picked up where it left losing more ground but not as dramatic as the 1% down yesterday. The majority of the losses where in the beginning part of the day with the market making the lows for the day around 12:30 pm EST and starting to rally. That rally halted around 3pm EST and the market used the last hour to sell off not quite making it back to the midday lows. In economic data, Retail Sales number beat expectations and with Core Sales doubling expectations posting a 0.4% and…
Daily Wrap
DJIA +67.12 (+0.49%) to 13,779.33; S&P 500 +2.25 (+0.15%) to 1,494.81; NASDAQ +10.49 (+0.33%) to 3,153.67 All in all today was a nothing as we started around flat and stayed flat the majority of the day until we (again) rallied into the close after lunch. After the close we had Apple Computers (AAPL) report earnings which slightly beat EPS estimates but slightly missed on revenues. The futures dropped at the same time as AAPL reported and started to decline and now stand down about 7 points as I write. Apple (AAPL) clearly is driving discussion after the close and it…