March 19, 2024

The NightCap

The Market: We expected to see a tight trading range until the FOMC statement but instead we saw buyers in advance of the statement as the S&P 500 (SPY) pressed higher.  The the announcement came and there was a sharp sell-off but buyers came right back and all 4 major market indices on the WSC Scoreboard finished above the pre-FOMC announcement highs. As was expected by many, the FOMC left the Fed Fund Rates unchanged but, based on the comments, it appears a rate hike is on the table for December if the data warrants.  We also saw the committee…

The NightCap

The Market: Overall a dull session as the markets remainder in a tight range for the entire day but we expect to see volatility in many individual names as this will be a very active earnings week with many big names reporting.  As always we will highlight the names that reported after the close as well as those scheduled to report pre-market tomorrow but please remember that you can often  look ahead a few days under the Events Calendar section. If an active earnings wasn’t enough, we also have an active Economic Calendar with the FOMC Statement and Rate decision…

Energy leads while healthcare lags

The Market: Overall a consolidation session in the markets as the Dow (DIA) finished higher while the S&P 500 (SPY), NASDAQ (QQQ), and Russell 2000 (IWM) finished lower . Energy stocks continue to remain in vogue as the XLE finished 2.22% higher on the session and marked the 5th straight day of higher closes.  Materials (XLB) was the next closest outperformer finishing up 1.3% and Technology (XLK) was the only other sector to finish up. Lagging in today’s session was HealthCare (XLV) which finished down -2.35% and saw all components finish the day lower except for Mallinckrodt (MNK) and Dentsply…

Strong start to the week led by Tech

The Market:     Reporting EPS 7/14/15 Pre-Market:   Reporting EPS 7/14/15 After the Close:   Analyst Comments:

Low Volume Slow grind Higher

Index & Sector performance 2/17/15 The Market: Monday the markets were closed in observance of President’s Day.  As trading started back Monday evening, the futures traded lower but by the open Tuesday all the loses were recouped and after an early session consolidation the index pressed toward new closing highs.  Volume was light but this could be due to the winter storms around the nation.  All broad indices on the WSC Scoreboard are noticeably higher YTD with the Dow (DIA) lagging and the NASDAQ (QQQ) leading. In individual sectors it a little more mixed.  HealthCare (XLV) was the clear leading…

SPY is sitting on the 50 day SMA

Index & Sector performance 9/23/14 The Market: U.S. led airstrikes in Syria and weaker than expected European manufacturing data helped continued weakness in the broad markets with the Russell 2000 (IWM) again leading the way to the downside.  After peaking back positive YTD in late August and into early this month, the IWM is now down 3.46%.  The NASDAQ (QQQ) was the clear winner, on a relative basis, and was helped by a strong showing in Apple (AAPL) which closed up 1.56%.  The S&P 500 (SPY) is now near, essentially at, its 50 day SMA and we are very interested…

US Government shuts down and gains open up

Index & Sector performance 10/01/13 The Market: The old market adage Buy the rumor and Sell the news is somewhat in affect here today with the markets reaction to the Government shutdown.  As we noted in last night’s Game Plan, with the realization of the shutdown now in affect and the worry of the shutdown gone, short term longs would look for opportunity to trade a bounce.  A gap up was quickly consolidated after roughly 30 minutes of trading and then pressed higher until 12:30 pm EST. After 12:30 there was a roll over which took the index down until…

Small gains break 5 day slide

Index & Sector performance 9/26/13 The Market: An early push higher on the S&P 500 was short lived and topped around 10 am EST falling all the way back to the open and even drifting into negative territory.  The market then bounced, failed and after retesting the days lows used the last hour to rally into the close. In economic news the Unemployment Claims data came in better than expected posting a 305K number when expectations were of 319K.  Unfortunately the remainder of the news was not as good with GDP coming in below expectations printing a 2.5% number when…