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
Stocks opened sharply lower, bounced a bit and then traded flat the rest of the day. The major index ETFs spent the entire day in negative territory and closed with modest losses. Dow futures are down around 100 points at 4:30AM ET on reports that Greece will not submit... READ MORE
Two stocks associated with the Golden State Warriors are showing promise as Step Curry leads his team to a 3-2 lead in the series. The Warriors play in the Oracle Arena and Oracle (ORCL) is making waves with an ascending triangle. Admittedly, the pattern is a little long and the... READ MORE
Stocks moved up at the beginning of the week and down towards the end of the week. The end result was mixed for the major index ETFs as QQQ fell around .50% and IWM gained .42%. The sectors were mixed with finance showing strength and energy showing weakness. Strength in... READ MORE
Stocks were flat on Thursday as the market digested Wednesday's big gain. The major index ETFs closed slightly higher with IWM gaining .25% and MDY leading with a .60% advance. The sectors were mixed with modest gains in industrials, materials and healthcare. Energy weakened as the USO Oil... READ MORE
Stocks surged with the major index ETFs opening strong and finishing strong. We did not see a pop and drop, and this is positive. The gains were relatively even with IWM gaining 1.25%, QQQ advancing 1.37% and SPY surging 1.20%. All sectors were up with technology and... READ MORE
Eight of the nine sector SPDRs are down month-to-date and the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) is also down (as of the 9-June close). One sector, however, is bucking the trend with a small gain. The Finance SPDR (XLF) is up around a half percent and easily outperforming the... READ MORE
Trading was rather quiet on Tuesday as the S&P 500 dipped in early trading, rebounded into positive territory by noon and then traded flat. The major index ETFs finished flat with fractional losses in IWM (-.30%) and SPY (-.01%). The sectors were mixed with small gains... READ MORE
Stocks opened weak and remained weak as the S&P 500 extended its two week slide. This slide started with the gap down on Tuesday, May 26th, the day after Memorial Day. Tech stocks led the way lower as QQQ lost around 1%. Small-caps held up relatively well as... READ MORE
Chartists looking for the "relative strength" movers and shakers of the day can focus on the stocks and ETFs with the biggest changes in their StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR). Small tables can be found in the bottom half of the home page and full listings can be found... READ MORE
Stocks were mixed most of the week and the major index ETFs finished mixed. The S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) and Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) edged lower, while the Russell 2000 iShares (IWM), S&P MidCap SPDR (MDY) and S&P SmallCap iShares (IJR) closed modestly higher... READ MORE
There have been four big surges in the 10-year Treasury Yield since the bull market for the S&P 500 began in 2009. These big moves certainly sent shock waves through the bond market, but the stock market was not rattled because the S&P 500 produced double... READ MORE
Stocks just couldn't bear the pressure any longer and sold off on Thursday. The S&P 500 opened weak and finished weak for a .86% decline on the day. Overall, the decline is not that big and the index is still less than 2% from an all... READ MORE
Stocks chopped around again on Wednesday, but managed to hold their early gains and close positive. The S&P 500 surged to 2121 in the first hour, fell back to 2112 around lunchtime and then finished at 2114 for a small gain. The Russell 2000 iShares (IWM) and the... READ MORE
May was a strong month for big tech stocks, small caps and mid caps. It was such a big month that the Russell 2000 iShares, S&P SmallCap iShares and S&P MidCap SPDR are in the top third of the SCTR table below. Notice that the Russell... READ MORE
Stocks chopped around again on Tuesday with the S&P 500 falling to 2100 on the open, bouncing back to 2117 in the early afternoon and settling around 2110 by the close. Overall, the major index ETFs ended the day mixed. DIA and QQQ edged lower, while IWM and... READ MORE
Stocks chopped around on Monday with the S&P 500 trading in an 18 point range the entire day. The major index ETFs finished with small gains led by the Russell MicroCap iShares (+.40%). The sectors were mixed with energy, materials and consumer staples showing some weakness. Healthcare, industrials... READ MORE
The Home Construction iShares (ITB) is showing some improvement in relative performance with a move from the improving quadrant to the leading quadrant over the last few days. The image below shows a daily Relative Rotation Graph (RRG) with ten industry group ETFs and the Equal-Weight S&P 500... READ MORE
Stocks were all over the place last week. The S&P 500 plunged on Tuesday, rebounded on Wednesday and fell back on Thursday-Friday. For the week, the major index ETFs ended lower by around 1%. All sectors were lower with energy and industrials leading the way down. The healthcare... READ MORE
Stocks sank on the open, but quickly firmed and rebounded somewhat in the afternoon. For the day, the major index ETFs finished fractionally lower, but the S&P SmallCap iShares (IJR) bucked a little with a fractional gain. The sectors were mostly lower with energy and industrials leading the... READ MORE
Stocks swooned on Tuesday and then recovered most of their losses on Wednesday. Techs led the way as the Technology SPDR (XLK) hit a new high and QQQ closed at a new closing high. Semiconductors led the rebound as the Semiconductor SPDR (XSD) surged over 3% and hit a new... READ MORE
The Palladium ETF (PALL) caught my eye on Tuesday because it held up quite well when other metals were getting hit hard. Gold was down around 1.5%, while platinum and silver fell around 2%. PALL was down just .26% and the ETF is edging higher in early trading on... READ MORE
Stocks fell with selling pressure across the board. The major index ETFs were all down around 1% and the declines were pretty even. All sector SPDRs and equal-weight sector ETFs were down. The Consumer Discretionary SPDR (-.71%) and the Utilities SPDR (-.63%) were down the least and held... READ MORE