March 19, 2024

The NightCap

The Market: Not a great start to 2016 for the Bulls but could have been much worse if not for a late end-of-day rally.   So far in after-hours trading the market has continued higher but we will need to see if these gains hold over-night as well as into early trading tomorrow. No Sector was spared in today’s trading but the XLU was the clear relative outperformer finishing down only 0.21% followed by the worst performer for 2015, XLE, finishing down 0.41%. Tomorrow is a light Economic Data session with only Vehicle Sales being reported but later in the week…

The NightCap

The Market: The market continues to grind higher with the Russell 2000 (IWM) trying to play catch-up of late. Energy (XLE) led all sectors in today’s trading, again, and has been one of the hottest sectors of late although still down nearly -10% YTD. A relatively big data week with ISM Monday, Fed speak & ADP tomorrow, Unemployment Claims Thursday, and official Jobs data on Friday.  Traders concerned about the Fed and if we will see a December rate hike should be paying attention to this week’s data.       Reported EPS 11/3/15 After the Close:   Reporting EPS…

Holiday Fed combo = low vol

The Market: A combination of the Rosh Hashanah (from sunset Sept 13th to nightfall Sept 15th) and traders waiting to see what the FOMC will say Thursday yielded a low volume choppy session which saw the markets finish slightly lower. There are not many earnings reports scheduled for this week but there are some noteworthy names including Oracle (ORCL), Adobe (ADBE), FedEx (FDX), and Rite Aid (RAD). No Economic data today but the remainder of the week is fairly packed with the aforementioned FOMC Rate decision and Statement scheduled for Thursday.       Reported EPS After the Close this…

Pop off support as FOMC looms

The Market: A nice snap back rally today as the S&P 500 continues to hold the 200 day SMA.  We would not be surprised to see limited action overnight and in early trading tomorrow as traders wait to see what the Fed says at 2pm ET. Yesterday’s laggard, Energy (XLE), is today’s leader finishing up 2.86% followed closely by Transportation (IYT) which finished up 2.75%.  Also posting strong sessions was Materials (XLB), Industrials (XLI), and HeathCare (XLV) finishing up 2.09%, 1.94% and 1.81% respectively. FOMC statement tomorrow and remember we are still in the thick of earnings reports which will…

Tech closes at new 52 week high

The Market: Stocks continue to rebound strongly after a rough week of trading last week.  The NASDAQ (QQQ) led today’s charge finishing at a new 52 week closing high followed by the S&P 500 (SPY) while the Russell 2000 (IWM) and Dow (DIA) lagged. Many individual sectors outperformed in the session with Utilities (XLU), Reatil (XRT), Technology (XLK), and Consumer Staples (XLP) all finishing up over 1%.       Reporting EPS 7/16/15 After the Close:   Reporting EPS 7/17/15 Pre-Market:   Analyst Comments:

Greece today, FOMC tomorrow

Index & Sector performance 6/15/15 The Market: An early gap down was attributed to their being no Greece bail-out deal over the weekend but the market found a bottom in early trading and drifted higher the remainder of the session.  If the market can hold today’s low then it can start to build a base but below and it looks like it could target 2050 quickly. Healthcare (XLV) was the only sector on the WSC Scoreboard to finish higher for the session and is still holding its 50 day SMA.  The biggest laggards were Industrials (XLI), Materials (XLB), and Technology…

S&P snaps 2 day losing streak

Index & Sector performance 2/10/15 The Market: The S&P 500 snapped a 2 day losing streak with a solid rally closing up over 1% on the session while the NASDAQ led the charge finishing up over 1.50% helped by Apple (AAPL) which closed at a fresh all time highs.  The Russell 2000 (IWM) was the laggard but still managed to finish up 0.67%. All the sectors on the WSC Scoreboard were higher with the exception of Energy (XLE) which was taking its cue from Crude’s slide today after running into the 50 day SMA.  Utilities (XLU) was the biggest gainer…

Market recovers after weak GDP

Index & Sector performance 6/25/14 The Market: After a quiet overnight session, the S&P 500 futures spiked lower after the Government announced worse than expected GDP estimates for the first quarter of the year but, after the open, buyers stepped in and all four main indices from the WSC Scoreboard closed higher. In individual sectors HeathCare (XLV) and Transportation (IYT) outperformed closing up 1.06% and 0.99% respectively.  The only sector closing lower on the WSC Scoreboard was Consumer Staples (XLP) finishing down 0.16%.  The leader in the XLV was Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) finishing up 2.96% after announcing positive Phase III…

Off the 150 day and up

Index & Sector performance 2/5/14 The Market:   In the News:     The following noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings before tomorrow’s open: PM, AET, EXC, CMI, NBL, K, PPL, PRGO, ADS, SIAL, WEC, TW, AAP, VMC, DO, TDC, KKR, SNA, CSL, NUS, ODFL, AOL, PTEN, USG, NYT, FSC, HCLP, NILE   Analyst Comments:       The Game Plan:

Today the quiet before the storm?

Index & Sector performance 10/31/13 The Market: Second straight down day for the S&P 500.  The day was slightly more active than the closing prices might suggest as a very early up open was quickly sold down to the 1756 levels where the market bottomed around 10:30am EST and then rallied to 1768 by 2:30 pm EST.  What took almost all day to gain was then lost in that last hour of trading with the S&P closing back near the earlier lows for the day at 1756.  What needs to be seen is if this relatively quiet day is the…