Market Recap for Tuesday, October 24, 2017 The Dow Jones powered to another record high close on Tuesday, finishing the session higher by 167.80 points. Gains on the other major indices were much more modest as the Dow Jones pushed to record levels behind the strength of two components,... READ MORE
The Dow Jones U.S. Biotechnology Index ($DJUSBK) broke out of serious longer-term consolidation when it cleared 1800 price resistance in mid-June. Since then, we've seen a nice uptrend, characterized by rapid advances and steady pullbacks. The group lost nearly 120 points from Friday's intraday high... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, October 23, 2017 After early strength, Monday was a seller's market. As you might expect on one of the more bearish days of late, defensive sectors showed renewed relative strength with utilities (XLU, +0.05%) and consumer staples (XLP, -0.07%) the two top... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, October 20, 2017 Friday was a day of more all-time high closes. It's been quite redundant, but the bulls certainly don't mind. This time we saw leadership from aggressive areas of the market - a very bullish sign indeed. Financials (XLF, +1.... READ MORE
Let me start by stating that the NASDAQ 100 has earned 61.9% of its gains over the past 20 years during the fourth quarter. Yep, October through December has accounted for nearly two thirds of the gains on the NASDAQ 100. So you would think that most of its... READ MORE
There are different ways to view best seasonal stocks depending on whether you're interested solely in average returns for a particular month or time period or if you're interested in the percentage times that a security rises for a particular month or time period. Thus, is... READ MORE
Reminder: If you enjoy my blog, please look for the green "Notify Me" button at the bottom of this article and subscribe! Simply type in your email address and hit that button and VOILA! You'll receive my articles the moment they're published. And don&... READ MORE
Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) was one of the darlings of Wall Street in 2017.....until early August. Since that time, AAOI has declined nearly 60% in less than three months and has shown no signs of a reversal. The most recent drop a little over a week ago was as a... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, October 18, 2017 The Dow Jones sliced through 23000 like a hot knife through butter. Many times, these round numbers represent a psychological challenge for traders, but that was not an issue for this bull market. Instead, the Dow Jones soared 160 points to yet another... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, October 17, 2017 Healthcare stocks (XLV, +1.34%) led the Dow Jones to yet another all-time high close as the Dow traded above 23000 on an intraday basis for the first time in its history, closing just beneath that psychological level at 22997. It was really... READ MORE
Over the past twenty years, Mettler Toledo Intl (MTD) has averaged gaining 23% per year, but that's not the most impressive performance stat for the company. During the months of October and November, MTD has risen 85% and 95% of the time, gaining an average of 3.3%... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, October 16, 2017 In true bull market fashion, U.S. stocks rose once again in rather boring action. The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ gained 0.37%, 0.18% and 0.28%, respectively, to each finish at all-time closing highs. The record levels... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, October 13, 2017 There are plenty of superstitious folks out there, but apparently the majority of stock traders don't fall under that umbrella. U.S. equities again rose on Friday with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ all climbing to all-time... READ MORE
Juniper Networks (JNPR) was under heavy selling pressure last week to open October, a seasonally bullish month for JNPR as the stock has averaged gaining more than 13% each October over the past two decades. The irony here is that we've seen JNPR twice in recent years open... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, October 12, 2017 It was certainly a bifurcated day among sectors. Four sectors advanced, including industrials (XLI, +0.53%) and utilities (XLU, +0.52%), while five declined. Financials (XLF, -0.76%) were hardest hit as the 10 year treasury yield ($TNX) has struggled to gain any... READ MORE
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) spent over a year with its SCTR among the highest of all individual stocks. It was an impressive rally for sure as its stock price rose from below $2 to above $15 in 13 months. But even the hottest stocks need to evenually consolidate to unwind... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, October 11, 2017 A strange pair - utilities (XLU, +0.43%) and technology (XLK, +0.33%) - combined to lead our major indices higher on Wednesday with the NASDAQ rising 0.25% to close at another all-time high. Seven of the nine sectors ended the day... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, October 10, 2017 The Dow Jones finished 69 points higher on Tuesday to close at yet another all-time high. It's an illustration of how equities can remain overbought for an extended period of time. The Dow Jones moved into overbought territory (RSI 70+) 7-8... READ MORE
F5 Networks (FFIV) has a seasonal history of performing extremely well in October and November, but technically the stock has been a wreck since topping in March 2017 and the early October returns haven't been very good either. There is hope, however, in the form of upcoming price... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, October 9, 2017 The U.S. major stock market indices took a breather - if you want to call it that - on Monday as the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ all fell less than 0.25%. Only the Russell 2000 lost more... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, October 9, 2017 Extremely overbought and extended conditions. Complacency in the form of a very low Volatility Index ($VIX) reading. Geopolitical tensions. Then a negative jobs report. The market was surely doomed on Friday, right? Wrong. That complacency, as evidenced by near record low readings in... READ MORE
While we've seen many indices, ETFs and individual stocks break out over the past several weeks, there are still many that are consolidating in bullish fashion and those, upon breakout, provide solid trading opportunities. Enter DXC Technology Company (DXC). Over the past two months, the S&P... READ MORE
I've been following the stock market for a long time and I'm always searching for that perfect signal that never fails. I still haven't found it and there are never any guarantees in the stock market, BUT following the rotation of money to aggressive... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, October 5, 2017 Well, if you were worried about an underperforming technology sector and the inability of the NASDAQ 100 ($NDX) to reach new highs, you can stop worrying. Both broke out on Thursday with emphatic moves to clear highs established over the summer. First, check... READ MORE
Blackberry's (BBRY) demise from 2008 through 2012 has been well documented and I'm not really interested in dwelling in that past. More recently, however, BBRY has attempted on multiple occasions to clear price resistance in the 11-12 range. Clearing such resistance would be technically significant and... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, October 4, 2017 This bull market advance continues to be about rotation. Index rotation. Sector rotation. Individual stock rotation. Few areas of the market are breaking down. It's mostly about gains, consolidation, then more gains. On Wednesday, the red hot Russell 2000 took a... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, October 3, 2017 It didn't take long for the seasonal tailwinds to kick in for airlines ($DJUSAR). I posted last Friday that airlines were poised to breakout technically and highlighted Alaska Air Group (ALK) as one airline that has performed extremely well during the... READ MORE
Airlines ($DJUSAR) absolutely "took off" in today's action as buyers emerged to drive nearly every airline higher. Spirit Airlines (SAVE) surged 7.10%. JetBlue Airways (JBLU) popped 7.08%. Delta Air Lines (DAL) jumped 6.62%. One fundamental reason for the group's strength was... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, October 2, 2017 It was another record day on Wall Street. The Dow Jones, S&P 500, NASDAQ and Russell 2000 all closed at fresh all-time highs. Wide participation is a hallmark of a bull market rally and, make no mistake, there's been... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, September 29, 2017 We wrapped up the third quarter on Friday with all-time highs showing up everywhere. There was a big buying push into the close on Friday, likely in anticipation of more strength during the fourth quarter. There was strength in most aggressive areas of... READ MORE
Delivery services ($DJUSAF) broke out of a bullish continuation cup with handle pattern a few weeks ago and appears poised for a further fourth quarter rally, albeit with some profit taking along the way. Bullish continuation patterns require a prior uptrend and the DJUSAF certainly had that. Check out the... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, September 28, 2017 After early selling on Thursday, U.S. indices mostly rebounded throughout the balance of the day resulting in mostly slight gains by day's end. Materials (XLB, +0.71%) performed quite well after nearly testing its rising 20 day EMA on Wednesday.... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, September 27, 2017 U.S. stocks were lifted at least in part by rising treasury yields. The 10 year treasury yield ($TNX) spiked 8 basis points and that represents a significant selloff in treasuries. Those proceeds tend to be reinvested in equities and that was certainly... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, September 26, 2017 Late day selling created a bifurcated U.S. market on Tuesday as small caps performed quite well ($RUT, +0.34%), while the Dow Jones finished slightly in negative territory. Technology (XLK, +0.36%) rebounded after Monday's selling to lead most of... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, September 25, 2017 Technology (XLK, -1.18%) was the only real problem on Monday, but it was a big problem. Mobile telecommunications ($DJUSWC) and internet stocks ($DJUSNS) were the big losers with the latter slammed by Facebook (FB), which dropped nearly 5% on extremely heavy volume.... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, September 22, 2017 Friday was a bifurcated kind of day on Wall Street. We saw a small loss on the Dow Jones, while there were slight gains on the other major indices. The Russell 2000, in particular, saw relative strength and gained nearly 7 points to... READ MORE
Tesla (TSLA) remains a crowd favorite as the stock's 2017 advance has been accompanied by extremely heavy volume. I see major accumulation when I look at TSLA's chart. But like every other stock, momentum can become an issue from time to time and TSLA appears to... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, September 21, 2017 We are in one of the most bearish historical periods of the year and I've provided a bit more information about it in the Historical Tendencies section below. I'm pointing this out because equities took a break on Thursday... READ MORE
Fed Chair Janet Yellen suggested there'd be another interest rate hike in 2017 and the Fed's overall tone was a bit more hawkish than was anticipated by Wall Street. That resulted in a big spike in the 10 year treasury yield at 2pm EST yesterday, the... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, September 20, 2017 It was another stellar day for industrials (XLI, +0.73%) as this sector led the Dow Jones to a 6th consecutive record closing high. The gains have been fairly slow and methodical, but that's how bull market advances work. They tend... READ MORE