Stocks were hit with selling pressure on Thursday with QQQ leading the way lower. Actually, the Nasdaq 100 Equal-Weight ETF (QQEW) led with a 2% decline because selling pressure in the technology sector was quite broad. Healthcare and consumer discretionary, which have been leaders, also came under selling pressure. The... READ MORE
Stocks caught an early bid and even held their gains to close positive. There was no follow through to the morning pop so traders can read into this as they please. The bears will point to no follow through, while the bulls will point to the ability to hold gains.... READ MORE
The S&P 1500 can be divided into the S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400 and the S&P SmallCap 600. These three ETFs can be further divided into their growth and value components to create six different index styles (small-growth, small-value, mid-growth, mid-value, large-growth,... READ MORE
Stocks were all mixed up with no place to go on Tuesday. The Nasdaq 100 Equal-Weight ETF (QQEW), which treats Apple as a mere mortal, managed a small gain to lead the major index ETFs. The rest were down fractionally. The sectors were mixed with fractional gains and fractional losses.... READ MORE
Let the choppiness begin. Or rather, let the choppiness continue. Stocks started flat, moved lower around noon and then bounced in the final hour. The major index ETFs still finished down on the day, but the declines were fractional and they managed to close off their lows. Even so, note... READ MORE
Stocks were mostly lower in afternoon trading, but a few airlines bucked the trend with gains and big moves in their StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR). The table below shows the SCTRs for large-caps and the table is sorted by "change". Just click the column heading to sort. Notice... READ MORE
It was a choppy week, but the major index ETFs managed to finish with small gains. The S&P MidCap SPDR (MDY) led with a 1.85% advance and QQQ lagged with a .77% gain. The sectors were mostly higher with industrials, materials and healthcare leading. Healthcare has been... READ MORE
The S&P 500 is locked in a 100 point trading range (2040-2140) since March because of a serious split in sector performance. At less than 5% this is the narrowest range in several years. Note that Bollinger Bandwidth on the weekly chart reached a 20+ year low in... READ MORE
The major index ETFs closed fractionally higher in listless trading. QQQ led with a .48% bounce. MSFT and GILD lifted QQQ and have bullish looking charts. The sectors were mixed with energy and consumer staples losing ground. The consumer discretionary, finance and materials sectors gained. Of note, the Home Construction... READ MORE
Stocks moved higher on Wednesday, but the bounce was rather lopsided. Large-cap techs weighed on QQQ as the ETF gained .38%. The Nasdaq 100 Equal-Weight ETF (QQEW), in contrast, gained .93% on the day. The Russell 2000 iShares (IWM) gained just .28% and continues to lag. The S&P... READ MORE
The HealthCare SPDR (XLV) has been one of the strongest sectors in 2015, but Merck (MRK) has lagged both the market and the sector. The first chart shows the HealthCare SPDR (XLV) relative to the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) using the price relative (XLV:SPY ratio). This ratio... READ MORE
Stocks bounced with gains across the board. Most of the major index ETFs gained over 1%, but the Russell 2000 iShares (IWM) lagged with a .85% gain. All sectors were up with the oversold sectors getting the biggest bounces (energy, materials and industrials). The finance, consumer discretionary and technology sectors... READ MORE
Stocks were hit with further selling pressure on Monday, but selling pressure was rather contained. IWM, QQQ and SPY declined between .50% and 1%. Eight of the nine sectors were down with utilities bucking the selling pressure. Healthcare and consumer staples also held up relatively well with fractional declines. The... READ MORE
The Social Media Global ETF (SOCL) fell sharply on Monday to signal a continuation of the prior decline. The chart below shows SOCL breaking support with a sharp decline in late June and early July. This is the break that broke the bull's back. Notice how the ETF... READ MORE
Stocks were hit with selling pressure last week as the Russell 2000 iShares (IWM) fell 3.32% and the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) declined 2.11%. IWM is in a short-term downtrend because it is already testing the early July low. QQQ is holding up the best and... READ MORE
Stocks were hit with selling pressure on Thursday as the major index ETFs fell across the board. The Russell 2000 iShares (IWM) led the way with a 1.1% decline. All sector SPDRs were down and eight of the nine equal-weight sector ETFs were down. The EW Energy ETF was... READ MORE
Stocks were mixed on Wednesday with QQQ taking a big hit and IWM getting a small bounce. The S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) finished modestly lower and the S&P MidCap SPDR (MDY) managed a small gain. It is pretty amazing that small and mid caps were lagging... READ MORE
The Airline Index ($XAL) has been a real dog in 2015, but the index is showing signs of support and a double bottom could be emerging. The chart below shows $XAL peaking in January and moving lower the last six months. The 10-day EMA is below the 100-day EMA and... READ MORE
Stocks were weak across the board with the Dow Industrials leading the way lower. Big declines in IBM and UTX weighed on the senior Average. Both stocks are above $100 and the Dow is a price weighted average. This means the stocks with the highest price carry the most weight.... READ MORE
Stocks were mixed on Monday with small gains and small losses in the major index ETFs. DIA and QQQ edged higher, while IWM and MDY edged lower. Small-caps and mid-caps continue to show relative weakness. Note that QQQ hit a new high and SPY is challenging its May high, but... READ MORE
With a gap and big surge, the Dow Diamonds (DIA) triggered a series of bullish signals that remain valid until proven otherwise. First, let's look at the bullish signals. DIA bounced off support in the 174-175 area in early July and broke resistance with a surge above 178.... READ MORE
Stocks surged last week with a rather lopsided advance. QQQ surged over 5% and SPY was up around 2.45%. IWM lagged with a 1.31% gain and MDY gained just .35%. Small-caps and mid-caps lagged as large-caps led. Among the sectors, technology and healthcare led as energy and materials... READ MORE
The mixed performance of ten key industry group ETFs reflects the flat performance in the S&P 500 since early May. Note that the S&P 500 is virtually unchanged since April 30. As the PerfChart below shows, six of the industry group ETFs are up and four... READ MORE
A look at performance for the top holdings in the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) explains a lot about performance since March. The PerfChart below shows the percentage change for QQQ and its top nine holdings. Note that this chart does not include Wednesday's price data, which is still... READ MORE
Stocks managed to firm after Monday's rout and several ETFs formed inside days, which signal indecision. The Russell 2000 Growth iShares (IWO) and Russell MicroCap iShares (IWC) led the rebound and gained around .90% each. The sectors were mixed with energy, consumer discretionary and finance finishing with modest... READ MORE
Stocks were hit with broad selling pressure as the major index ETFs fell sharply and all sectors moved lower. The declines in the major index ETFs were pretty even with each losing around 2%. DIA held up the best with a 1.95% decline and IJR fared the worst with... READ MORE
Today's post is for our UK traders because it focuses on the FTSE and three of the biggest banks in the UK. Shares in Europe were sharply lower in early trading on Monday with the German DAX Index ($DAX) and French CAC Index ($CAC) losing around 3%. The... READ MORE
Last week was almost the week that wasn't. There wasn't much change in the major index ETFs and there was no solution for Greece. There were some other significant moves though. The Home Construction iShares (ITB) and the Regional Bank SPDR (KRE) had a good week... READ MORE
The S&P 500 surged on Monday morning with a move from 2110 to 2130. That was it for the buying pressure. The index peaked late Morning on Monday and fell the next three and a half days. $SPX closed near 2102.5 on Thursday and is down slightly... READ MORE
Stocks opened weak and closed with with the S&P 500 losing around .74% on the day. Selling pressure was contained, but across the board as all sectors declined and most industry-group ETFs lost ground. The Materials SPDR (XLB) led the sectors lower with a 1.27% decline. It... READ MORE
StockCharts users have access to the McClellan Oscillators and Summation Indices for the nine sector SDDRs and the major stock indices. Before showing how to find these symbols, let's take a look at the McClellan Oscillator and McClellan Summation Index for the Consumer Discretionary SPDR (XLY). The chart... READ MORE
Stocks meandered on Tuesday with the major index ETFs finishing mixed. The Nasdaq 100 Equal-Weight ETF (QQEW) and Equal-Weight S&P 500 ETF (RSP) edged lower, while the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) and S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) edged higher. The sectors were also mixed with weakness in... READ MORE
Stocks surged out of the gate and then settled into a trading range the rest of the day. The gains were modest, but they held with QQQ and IWM leading the way. Note that the Nasdaq and Russell 2000 both hit new highs again on Monday. It is hard to... READ MORE
Vertex (VRTX) is part of the healthcare sector, which is one of the strongest sectors in the market. It is also part of the biotech industry, which is one of the strongest industry groups in the healthcare sector. This puts strong sector and industry group performance in its favor. On... READ MORE
There sure was a lot of noise last week, but this noise was not enough to affect small-caps and techs. The Russell 2000 and Nasdaq hit new highs and this is bullish for the market overall. Despite a mixed week, the Russell 2000 iShares (IWM) and the Nasdaq 100 Equal-Weight... READ MORE
Oil surged in early June and looked poised to break flag resistance. A little follow through last week was all that was needed. US stocks did their part as the Russell 2000 and Nasdaq hit new highs. The Dollar did its part as the US Dollar Index fell 2.8%... READ MORE
Stocks surged with the major index ETFs gaining over 1% on the day. IWM and QQQ led with 1.5% advances. DIA and SPY gained around 1%. Eight of the nine sectors were up with solid gains coming from consumer discretionary, finance and healthcare. Energy lagged as oil remained in... READ MORE
Stocks were mixed on Wednesday with QQQ and SPY posting small gains, and IWM and MDY posting small losses. The sectors were mixed with small gains coming in consumer discretionary, materials and consumer staples. The beaten down utilities sector got the biggest bounce, but it remains in a downtrend overall.... READ MORE
Many of us remember the financial crisis in 2008 when Lehman collapsed and the credit markets froze. The S&P 500 plunged some 40% and the 20+ YR T-Bond ETF (TLT) surged over 30% in a flight to quality. This was a true financial crisis and the markets reflected... READ MORE
June has been anything but dull for the stock market, on a short-term basis at least. SPY sports three swings of at least 2% over the last ten days. After gapping down on Monday, stocks firmed and rallied from Monday morning to Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday's bounce was enough... READ MORE