Market Recap for Thursday, June 29, 2017 That's exactly what it's felt like recently. Financials (XLF) have easily been the best performing sector over the past week, rising nearly 3%, while energy (XLE) is the only other sector in positive territory as crude oil ($WTIC) has... READ MORE
The stubbornness of treasury buyers has kept a lid on treasury yields and, as a result, banks ($DJUSBK) have struggled to determine which direction they should move. Well.....this morning's reaction to an upwardly-revised GDP number (TNX up 7 basis points to 2.29% at last check) for... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, June 28, 2017 All of our major indices finished higher on Wednesday with the small cap Russell 2000 and tech-laden NASDAQ indices leading the charge with 1.55% and 1.43% gains, respectively. We saw solid participation across the board, however, with the Dow Jones ending... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, June 27, 2017 The relative sector leader for over a year - technology (XLK, -1.64%) - took another beating on Tuesday as selling ramped up for a second consecutive session. All industry groups within technology took a hit, but semiconductors ($DJUSSC) and internet stocks ($DJUSNS)... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, June 26, 2017 The Volatility Index ($VIX) is a signal of what the market expects in terms of volatility over the near-term (1 to 2 months). While some look at the current reading below 10 as a signal of extreme complacency that will result in a... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, June 23, 2017 It's been a rough ride for crude oil ($WTIC) over the past several months and the steady march lower has taken oil back to test its November low just above $42 per barrel. It hasn't been a robust advance... READ MORE
Biotechnology stocks ($DJUSBT) were the second best performing industry group last week, trailing on renewable energy ($DWCREE). Both groups appear poised to continue their rally based on their longer-term weekly technical outlook. Therefore, it's probably not a bad idea to look at stocks in these groups that pull... READ MORE
BioMarin Pharmaceutical (BMRN), like the overall biotech industry ($DJUSBT), has struggled for the past 18 months to clear overhead price resistance. But over the past couple trading sessions, we have seen one biotech company after another clear resistance on strong volume and accelerate. It appears that BMRN is awaiting its... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, June 21, 2017 Biotechs ($DJUSBT) are the "semiconductors of healthcare". When they move, they move! Healthcare (XLV, +1.27%) was easily the best performing sector on Wednesday as the DJUSBT soared 3.43%. Unless we see a major reversal between today and tomorrow, we&... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, June 20, 2017 Healthcare (XLV, +0.33%) was one of just two sectors - utilities (XLU, +0.06%) was the other - to rise on Tuesday as much of Monday's gains was relinquished. The good news, however, is that biotechs ($DJUSBT) made a significant... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, June 19, 2017 Technology (XLK, +1.48%), healthcare (XLV, +1.04%) and financials (XLF, +1.03%) led a broad-based rally on Monday that included seven of the nine sectors. Only energy (XLE, -0.63%) and the defensive utilities (XLU, -0.33%) failed to participate in the... READ MORE
Special Announcement At 4:30pm EST this afternoon, just after the U.S. stock market closes, I'll be joining John Hopkins, President of EarningsBeats.com, for a special 90 minute presentation. John will discuss the benefits of trading companies that have reported strong quarterly revenues and earnings (ahead... READ MORE
It's always nice to go back to the basics of technical analysis. Broken resistance becomes support. That's currently the case with Cerner Corp (CERN) where the stock recently cleared price resistance just above 65.00 and, with recent profit taking, we've seen a return... READ MORE
History tells us many things. One of the lessons is that making money on the long side is much more difficult during the summer months. Why? It's rather simple. On the S&P 500 since 1950, here are the annualized returns by calendar months over the summer:... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, June 15, 2017 There's been marked improvement in the relative strength of industrials (XLI, +0.60%) in recent weeks and that was on full display Thursday. Despite all of our major indices finishing lower, the XLI managed to end the session in positive territory... READ MORE
One look at the 10 year treasury yield's ($TNX) decline the past several months provides proof that the bond market isn't exactly agreeing with the Federal Reserve's stated position that they see economic improvement in the months ahead. The Fed announced on Wednesday that... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, June 14, 2017 The FOMC concluded its two day meeting on Wednesday afternoon and, for the most part, followed its prior script. They stuck to their previous plan to raise interest rates for a third time in six months and maintain their forecast for another rate... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, June 13, 2017 Technology (XLK, +0.72%) rebounded after two days of brutal selling. It occurred after a hammer printed off a 50 day SMA test on Monday. That was a relief for many market participants as the XLK has been the undisputed sector leader for... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, June 12, 2017 U.S. indices fell in unison on Monday and the tech-laden NASDAQ led the action, but after Friday's bloodbath, it certainly could have been worse. Based on overall action Friday and Monday, it appears to be a healthy rotation from the... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, June 9, 2017 They say a picture can say a thousand words so before I further discuss the carnage from Friday, take a look at this performance chart of NASDAQ 100 components: Several of the best performing stocks (based on SCTR scores) were absolutely hammered on... READ MORE
If you're someone that finds great investments among the high SCTR (StockCharts Technical Rank) stocks, you probably enjoy better than average returns most of the time. However, Friday was not one of those times. The NASDAQ 100, clearly the best performing index among our major indices in 2017,... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, June 8, 2017 Small caps were the clear and undeniable leader on Thursday as the Russell 2000 gained 1.36% while the NASDAQ was the second best performing index at +0.39%. I posted yesterday in this blog that the Russell 2000 needed to clear 1420... READ MORE
Over the past week, it's been about an even split among sectors in terms of winners and losers. Industrials (XLI) is one sector that's been slightly lower over the past week, but technically things still look very bright in this space. Broken price resistance generally becomes... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, June 7, 2017 Crude oil ($WTIC) took a dive on Wednesday as inventories rose unexpectedly, causing a bit of panic among traders. Inventory supplies had fallen for eight straight weeks and traders were anticipating another drop of 3.5 million barrels. Instead, at 10:30am EST,... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, June 6, 2017 Energy (XLE, +1.18) was easily the best performing sector on Tuesday as materials (XLB, +0.06%) was the only other sector to finish in positive territory - barely. Over the last five trading days, the XLE has printed a hollow candle (closing... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, June 5, 2017 It wasn't a horrible day on Wall Street. After all, we've been in a strong advance since mid-May with the S&P 500 rising nearly 4% during that span. So a little bit of profit taking shouldn'... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, June 2, 2017 Technology (XLK, +0.92%) led U.S. equities higher on Friday and that's been the case for several months now. The XLK has been the best performing sector with a current SCTR (StockCharts Technical Rank) reading of 92 further validating that.... READ MORE
Fortinet (FTNT) is down roughly 5% from its recent price high as money rotates within the software industry ($DJUSSW). It's up close to 30% year-to-date, however, so a little profit taking in the short-term is likely providing an opportunity. FTNT looks to be approaching and testing a key... READ MORE
Internet stocks ($DJUSNS) have climbed roughly 44% since their bottom in late June 2016. But there are now negative divergences appearing across various time frames and that suggests the summer time could be a period of consolidation, or even a correction. First, let's take a look at the... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, June 1, 2017 U.S. equities had a very strong day on Thursday, with the small cap Russell 2000 leading the charge with a solid 1.89% gain. The move was also widely participated in, with all nine sectors finishing higher. Financials (XLF, +1.25%), a... READ MORE
The Dow Jones U.S. Coal Index ($DJUSCL) spent 2016 bouncing from the ashes after a disastrous 2015 in which the DJUSCL lost 90% of its value. The "dead cat bounce" looks as though it may have ended as price action has rolled over and the weekly MACD... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, May 31, 2017 Utilities (XLU, +0.50%) and healthcare (XLV, +0.40%) led a defensive-oriented market on Wednesday with the latter nearing a significant bullish ascending triangle breakout. Materials (XLB, +0.30%) and consumer staples (XLP, +0.28%) also performed well. The aggressive sectors were mixed... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, May 30, 2017 Technology (XLK, +0.43%) remains the heart of this current bull market. The XLK was the sector leader on Tuesday, with utilities (XLU, +0.32%) a close second. Over the past week, utilities and consumer discretionary (XLY) hold a slight edge over technology.... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, May 26, 2017 Friday's action was slightly bullish overall, but there was little difference between the best performing sectors and the worst performing sectors. Consumer stocks performed well with consumer staples (XLP, +0.37%) and consumer discretionary (XLY, +0.30%) leading all sectors. On... READ MORE
Infinera (INFN) gapped higher in February on massive volume, but has been falling in a descending channel ever since. Volume accelerated on Friday as INFN clearly broke this down channel. The reversal also is taking place after a key gap support level was filled and tested. Take a look at... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, May 25, 2017 Retailers led another U.S. market rally on Thursday and helped provide leadership for the consumer discretionary sector (XLY, +0.88%), which outperformed the benchmark S&P 500 for one of the few times over the past 2-3 weeks. There had been... READ MORE
Recently, competitor Cisco Systems (CSCO) broke out to a 15 year high. While Juniper Networks (JNPR) hasn't seen its price move to decade and a half highs, it is on the verge of breaking to a six year high amid very heavy volume. JNPR traded more than 25... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, May 24, 2017 Seven of nine sectors finished higher to lead the S&P 500 to a record high close on Wednesday. Materials (XLB, +0.67%) and utilities (XLU, +0.57%) led the advance as gold mining ($DJUSPM) and mining ($DJUSMG) both performed extremely well,... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, May 23, 2017 Eight of nine sectors finished in positive territory on Tuesday as only consumer discretionary (XLY, -0.38%) failed to do so. 18 of 23 industry groups within the discretionary sector finished lower, with retail and home construction stocks clearly the weakest links. After... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, May 22, 2017 Utilities (XLU, +0.86%), technology (XLK, +0.80%) and industrials (XLI, +0.77%) were the sector leaders on Monday, aiding our major indices as they mostly have erased the big losses from last Wednesday. The XLI has been a leader of late and... READ MORE