March 19, 2024

Market rollercoaster continues

Index & Sector performance 4/1/15 The Market: For those who do not track the futures you would think that today started off with a small gap that then snowballed into something much larger but the first shot lower was actually yesterday evening when the S&P futures dropped nearly 30 points in roughly an hour.  Amazingly the index recouped nearly all the losses by the open but then started to make its way back toward those overnight lows which is the action we saw today. Monday’s Wrap noted that we were looking for a pullback in the markets and that the…

Market closes highe but no conviction

Index & Sector performance 3/9/15 The Market: Overall it was a quiet session with not much news or Economic data.  The market was able to bounce back today after Friday’s strong sell-off led by the Dow (DIA) but volume was on the light side showing that market participants are not necessarily convinced the decline is over. In individual sectors Industrials (XLI) was the clear leader as names like Boeing (BA), 3M (MMM), and Caterpillar (CAT) put in strong sessions finishing up 1.06%, 1.22% and 0.94% respectively.  Energy (XLE) was the lone loser on the session finishing -0.72%.  One bright spot,…

Tech & Small cap trend change?

Index & Sector performance 9/3/14 The Market: While the Dow (DIA) and S&P 500 (SPY) closed essentially flat, the Nasdaq (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) both finished decisively lower.  In addition the technical action in both the QQQ and IWM is concerning as both started the day gaping above the previous day’s highs to only then sell off the remainder of the day finishing below the previous day’s lows.  Those into candlestick charting will recognize this as an Engulfing pattern and can signal a change in trend. In individual sectors it the Utilities (XLU) leading the charge finishing the day…

Beige Book helps market off lows

Index & Sector performance 12/4/13 The Market: The S&P 500 started with a gap down which was quickly bought and rallied to slightly positive on the day but that rally topped at 11am EST and made its way back down to and through the earlier lows.  The market found a bottom prior to the Beige Book coming out but the release did not hurt the rally and the S&P 500 finished near flat on the day and above the 20 day SMA. In economic news we saw ADP Non-Farm Employment Change come in much better than expected posting a 215K…

Shhh, Jobs data tomorrow

The Market: Not much in the way of action today as early gains met resistance in the previously highlighted areas around 1660-1663 which coincided with the 20 & 50 day SMA’s respectively.  Utilities again were the under performer of the tracked sectors and retail sector leading on the upside with Sears (SHLD) and JC Penny (JCP) putting in strong showing with gains of 6.27% and 5.33%.  Doesn’t it feel like all JCP needed was some big investor to bail to bottom? Today had a great deal of economic data including ISM Non-Man PMI which came in better than expected (as…

Daily Wrap

DJIA -33.49 (-0.23%) to 14,526.16; S&P 500 -0.92 (-0.06%) to 1,562.85; NASDAQ +4.04 (+0.12%) to 3,256.52 Today the markets started lower gaping down over 10 point in the S&P but the first 10 minuted of trading proved to set the lows and we remarkable rallied to positive for the day before finally closing ever so slightly lower.  This had made a few occasions where the market has given the Bears a head fake and has continued to show resilience.  I have been expecting this week to be up or at least neutral and with tomorrow being the last day of the trading week…

Daily Wrap

DJIA  +82.71 (+0.64%) to 13,034.49; S&P 500  +2.23 (+0.16%) to 1,409.28; NASDAQ  -22.99 (-0.77%) to 2,973.70; Today’s action was somehow boring and choppy all at the same time.  While we had some moves back and forth it didn’t encompass the entire day and the other times the S&P 500 showed relatively tight action.  More exciting was the Dow and Nasdaq which had moves more that 4 times the S&P although both closed within 1% of the previous day’s close. Weighing on the Nasdaq today was Apple Computers (AAPL).  More trading than news drove today’s action.  I even saw a note…