March 19, 2024

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…

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)…

Daily Wrap

Today the markets Started with a gap down over 10 points on the S&P 500 but quickly bottomed and started to rebound.  That rebound took the index all the way back to positive territory resulting in a nearly 20 point rally off the lows.  The index also retook the 200 Day MA but around 11:15 am EST the rally peaked and the midday slowly drifted back down morphing into a hard sell off into the close and leaving us at 1374.53 on the S&P 500.  This marks the 3rd day closing below the 200 Day SMA.  The 60 minute SPY…