Market Recap for Tuesday, November 6, 2018 All eleven sectors rose on Tuesday with materials (XLB, +1.64%) leading as the U.S. Dollar Index ($USD) closed at its lowest level in nearly two weeks. All of our major indices had similar gains, from 0.55% to 0.68%, as... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, November 5, 2018 Bifurcated market action dominated on Monday. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 gapped higher and traded higher throughout nearly all of the session. The NASDAQ and Russell 2000, on the other hand, struggled throughout most of the day with an afternoon... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, November 2, 2018 Traders were anxiously awaiting jobs data last week. First, it was a solid ADP employment report on Wednesday morning that helped to lift U.S. equities. But the biggie was on Friday and we all held our collective breath as the numbers were... READ MORE
I'm not a fan of buying (or short selling) stocks and holding them into quarterly earnings reports. It's simply too difficult to manage risk. Yes, there are options strategies that you can employ to reduce risk so we could debate back and forth the merits of... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, November 1, 2018 The U.S. Dollar Index ($USD) absorbed its largest decline in several months and that finally triggered buying in the materials sector (XLB, +2.81%). Gold ($GOLD) was a big beneficiary for sure as it climbed nearly 2%, one of its largest advances... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, October 31, 2018 Let's start with the positives from Wednesday's action. First, all of our major indices rebounded and finished higher on the session, led by the more aggressive NASDAQ and NASDAQ 100. These two indices had been crushed both on an... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, October 30, 2018 Today's article will be limited as I'm having technical difficulties sharing charts, but I'll give you my thoughts. Yesterday's action and reversal was important as our volatility measures - VIX and VXN - are at... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, October 29, 2018 Early on Monday morning, it looked like stocks were trying to carve out a bottom, but by the afternoon, big time selling resumed and prior support levels were lost - all with rapidly rising volatility. That is a recipe for short-term stock market... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, October 26, 2018 All of our major indices finished lower on Friday and all of our major sectors did the same. It's difficult to paint a bullish picture after such selling, but I'm going to do just that. On Friday, despite selling... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, October 25, 2018 Obviously, the numbers from Thursday tell us that we had a very strong day. But the "under the surface" signals really underscored that strength. Transports ($TRAN) gained 1.88% after nearly touching the February low. Technology (XLK, +3.44%), communication services... READ MORE
Market Recap for October 24, 2018 When the Volatility Index ($VIX, +21.83%) is elevated, like it's been throughout much of October, it should be no shock when Wall Street has a day like it did yesterday. There was a buyers strike and the Dow Jones lost 500... READ MORE
Market Recap For October 23, 2018 It was a crazy day on Wall Street which, quite honestly, we should expect with a Volatility Index ($VIX) in the 20s. Jitters in global markets saw U.S. futures plunge yesterday morning. Our major indices opened more than 2% lower and it appeared... READ MORE
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Special Note I will be joining John Hopkins, President of EarningsBeats.com, for a special webinar later this afternoon at 4:30pm EST. I will be discussing my trading strategy during a volatile market like the one we have now, including some tips and tricks to manage risk during these... READ MORE
There are plenty of reasons why we should be cautious given the current market environment, but I'm not in the camp that believes we've entered a bear market. It's simply too early to make that call, in my opinion. Most corrections and bear markets... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, October 18, 2018 Impulsive selling seemed to return to Wall Street on Thursday as the Dow Jones had a couple of intraday bouts where the index declined 200-300 points in just an hour or so. That sent the Volatility Index ($VIX, +15.29%) scurrying higher once... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, October 17, 2018 There was a lot of back and forth action in our major indices on Wednesday. For instance, in the span of just 2 1/2 hours, the Dow Jones lost more than 300 points, then recovered them all, moving slightly into positive territory.... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, October 16, 2018 Wall Street welcomed a trend day to at least temporarily pause the violent downtrend we've experienced the past couple weeks. A trend day typically starts with a gap higher and then gains are extended throughout the session. We clearly saw that... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, October 15, 2018 A late afternoon selling binge pushed our major indices into negative territory by the close, with the lone exception being the small cap Russell 2000 ($RUT), which avoided a relative breakdown vs. the benchmark S&P 500. Small caps have been languishing... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, October 12, 2018 Finally, Wall Street saw buying pressure to end a trading session. That certainly felt great psychologically, although as I point out below, I doubt that the short-term bottom is in. It's possible, but the odds favor another short-term plunge. For now,... READ MORE
Special Note I will be speaking to the Charlotte Chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) tomorrow Saturday, October 13th at 10:00am EST. I plan to discuss how to evaluate the sustainability of a bull market, relative strength and gap trading strategies. The first meeting is FREE... READ MORE
Special Note I will be speaking to the Charlotte Chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) this Saturday, October 13th at 10:00am EST. I plan to discuss how to evaluate the sustainability of a bull market, relative strength and gap trading strategies. The first meeting is FREE... READ MORE
Special Note I will be speaking to the Charlotte Chapter of the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) this Saturday, October 13th at 10:00am EST. I plan to discuss how to evaluate the sustainability of a bull market, relative strength and gap trading strategies. The first meeting is FREE... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, October 8, 2018 Consumer staples (XLP, +1.38%) and real estate (XLRE, +1.29%) helped to power Monday's reversal, but that was not enough to turn around the fortunes for the NASDAQ, which still dropped more than 50 points as technology (XLK, -1.13%... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, October 5, 2018 There was good news and bad news Friday on the volatility front. The Volatility Index ($VIX) hit 17.36 intraday on Friday, the highest level of expected volatility since the late-June swoon, and it closed another 4% higher after a big spike on... READ MORE
It was a brutal week for many areas of the stock market, but mostly those areas that have led the charge for so long. Stocks that for one to two years or more rarely saw a significant pullback suddenly couldn't find buyers this week. Unfortunately, that's... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, October 4, 2018 While we've seen plenty of market rotation over the past several months, there hasn't been much outright selling. Yesterday changed that. The NASDAQ recovered off of its intraday lows a bit to "only" close down 1.81%... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, October 3, 2018 The 10 year treasury yield ($TNX) did the inevitable - it closed above 3.11% and the TNX now resides at a level not seen since 2011. There will be those who say that higher interest rates will be the beginning of our... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, October 2, 2018 The Dow Jones rallied for a fourth consecutive day to close in all-time record high territory, eclipsing the previous high set on September 21st. Unfortunately, the rest of the market didn't get the memo as small cap stocks, in particular, were... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, October 1, 2018 The big news was the United States, Canada and Mexico agreeing to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and automobile manufacturers ($DJUSAU, +5.84%) were the clear winners. The group also benefited from a quick settlement between the SEC and Tesla&... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, September 28, 2018 Friday saw very choppy action to close out the 3rd quarter. The good news is that Q3 typically represents the U.S. market's weakest quarter in terms of performance. However, this year saw significant gains over the summer months as the... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, September 27, 2018 Utilities (XLU, +1.03%) rebounded solidly on Thursday after trending lower most of September. The group appeared to benefit from the failure of the 10 year treasury yield ($TNX) to break out. 3.11% is yield resistance on the TNX from the May... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, September 26, 2018 The FOMC raised its fed funds rate a quarter point at 2pm EST yesterday as expected, but as usual, it's not what the Fed does, it's what it says. Perhaps the most significant part of the Fed's... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, September 25, 2018 Almost. That's the word that came to mind while watching energy stocks into the close on Tuesday. Yes, the group is in the midst of a significant short-term rally, but when given the opportunity to clear multi-month price resistance, they came... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, September 24, 2018 Energy (XLE, +1.46%) had a very strong day on Monday, helping to offset what was otherwise a rather poor day for U.S. equities. Technology (XLK, +0.50%) was aided by its four key components - computer hardware ($DJUSCR, +1.17%), internet... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, September 21, 2018 Bifurcation was once again apparent on Wall Street to close out last week. The Dow Jones was able to finish higher and extend its trek into record high territory, while the S&P 500 was essentially flat. The NASDAQ and Russell 2000,... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, September 20, 2018 Dow Jones, welcome to the party! It's been eight months since the Dow Jones could say it closed in record all-time high territory, but that's what happened at yesterday's close. The Dow Jones joined the S&... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, September 19, 2018 The biggest news stories technically-speaking yesterday were the breakout in financials (XLF, +1.70%) and the rising 10 year treasury yield ($TNX), which closed at 3.08% and is just 3 basis points from testing a 7 year high. But September 19, 2018... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, September 18, 2018 It was a solid day on Wall Street. One day after seeing weakness in key areas like technology, consumer discretionary and tranportation stocks and the increasing historical likelihood of further downside action, stocks rebounded....in a big way. Leading the charge were our... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, September 17, 2018 Selling in technology (XLK, -1.25%) and consumer discretionary (XLY, -1.24%) resulted in losses across our major indices on Monday. The NASDAQ, understandably, felt the brunt of the selling as this tech-laden index dropped 1.43%. The Russell 2000 ($RUT) suffered the... READ MORE