Yellen sends stocks screaming, dollar dropping
Index & Sector performance 3/18/15 The Market: After the FOMC rate decision at 2pm ET, the S&P 500 cash index rallied nearly 40 points from the lows to the highs and did so, astonishingly, in less than 2 hours but the more impressive move may have been in the U.S. Dollar which moved strongly lower and continued its decline in the after hours tagging 1.10 in the EUR/USD exchange after trading below 1.05 Monday. The U.S. Dollar has shown remarkable strength on late so it is not surprising to see a give back and considering how far how fast we…
Watch out for traps
Index & Sector performance 12/9/14 The Market: The S&P 500 found itself down over 20 points within the first hour plus of trading as traders pointed to concerns over China and Greece. Throughout the early drop the Russell 2000 (IWM) remained strong down only a fraction of the other indices and then was the first to turn positive on the day. The IWM’s resilience continued throughout the remainder of the trading session and finished the clear leader. Today’s action certainly feels like another Bear trap where the market looks as though it is about to start a major prolonged slide…
Low vol drift higher
Index & Sector performance 12/3/14 The Market: Another low volume drift higher today which saw the Russell 2000 (IWM) lead and the NASDAQ (QQQ) lag even spending some time down on the session. In individual sectors, Consumer Staples (XLP) and Utilities (XLU) were the only two from the WSC Scoreboard to finish lower which Materials (XLB), Industrials (XLI), and Energy (XLE) finished up over 1%. One name helping materials have such a strong session was LyondellBasell (LYB) which has been down significantly since September but finished today up over 2% and was up more than 3% intraday. LYB is a…
Financials lead strong session
Index & Sector performance 9/18/14 The Market: Fairly broad rally across all the WSC Scoreboard indices. Interesting that the Guggenheim equal weight S&P 500 index (RSP) noticeably underperformed the S&P 500 (SPY) showing that the rally was not as much broad based and instead focused in the higher weighted industries & stocks. In individual sectors it was the Financials (XLF) that led all sectors on the WSC Scoreboard finishing the session up 0.98%. As would be expected the rally was broad throughout the components but highlighted by Citigroup (C) and Prudential (PRU) which finished the session up 2.42% and 2.35%…
Market awaits Jobs number
Index & Sector performance DATE The Market: Today’s action started off higher after the ECB lowered rates and took added measures to try and stimulate the economy but the gains were short lived peaking about an hour after the open and faced selling pressure the remainder of the session. It was not surprising to see follow-through to the downside after yesterday’s Bearish Engulfing candles but so far the downside has been contained. In individual sectors, the Transports (IYT) led gaining 0.72% while the Retail (XRT) was a close second finishing up 0.59% on the day and after spending a majority…
S&P 500 pullback coming soon?
Index & Sector performance 6/6/14 The Market: Yet again the Russell 2000 led in today’s trading as all 4 broad indices from the WSC Scoreboard closed higher. Also after spending much of 2014 in the red, the Russell 2000 (IWM) is now ever so slightly higher on the year. Healthcare (XLV) and Utilities (XLU) were the lone laggards in the individual sectors while Energy (XLE), Industrials (XLI), and Transportation (IYT) were the notable leaders. Taking a peak further at the Industrials, which were the overall leader, we see Fluor (FLR) posted a 2.77% gain today following up on a strong…
FOMC statement & new Chair tomorrow
Index & Sector performance 3/18/14 The Market: We would not be shocked to see the market meander overnight and into tomorrow until the FOMC statement and Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s first press conference. While we do not expect there to be a great difference in message or tone from the Fed, do not be surprised if the market uses this opportunity to send a message to Yellen if there is something that is not liked. In the meantime, traders should watch today’s high of 1867ES as a break could be signaling a move to 1880ES and the index should see…