Market Recap for Friday, May 19, 2017 Industrials (XLI, +1.32%) and energy (XLE, +1.23%) were the two clear leaders on Friday. The XLI represents one of the four aggressive sectors in the market so it's always nice to see strength there. Commercial vehicles ($DJUSHR) had a... READ MORE
Northrop Grumman (NOC) has risen ten fold since this bull market began in 2009 and its current bullish pattern suggests that this defense company is not ready to roll over just yet. It's been a struggle to clear 250 price resistance the past 6-7 months, but the rising... READ MORE
We saw the first significant selling pressure in months last week, especially on Wednesday. Financials (XLF) led the rout to the downside, but the sector did bounce back later in the week and, in the process, held key neckline price support within two key industry groups - banks ($DJUSBK) and... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, May 18, 2017 Technology (XLK, +0.59%) and consumer discretionary (XLY, +0.58%) led the market's rally on Thursday after mobile telecom ($DJUSWC) managed to hang onto 20 week EMA support after a drubbing on Wednesday. The bad news is that there remains an... READ MORE
Caterpillar (CAT) was one of many beneficiaries of the latest quarterly earnings season. With its revenues and EPS topping Wall Street estimates, CAT surged higher on April 25 from its April 24 close of 96.81. The recent market weakness enabled CAT to pull back to test key price support... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, May 17, 2017 It was a brutal day of selling for U.S. equities. The selling began at the open and continued right through the close. The selling also cleared price support levels and that likely will result in further selling in the days and possibly... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, May 16, 2017 Technology (XLK, +0.47%) and financials (XLF, +0.29%) were the two best performing sectors on Tuesday and the former was the primary reason that the NASDAQ was able to outperform on a day when the U.S. market was bifurcated. The Dow... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, May 15, 2017 It was another solid day for U.S. equities with index leadership coming from the small caps as the Russell 2000 posted a nice 0.81% rise while the other major indices were just below the +0.50% level. Monday marked only the... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, May 12, 2017 The NASDAQ finished higher on Friday, but that was not the case for the Dow Jones and S&P 500, which both finished fractionally lower. The Russell 2000 was hit hardest as this small cap index again threatened a short-term breakdown beneath... READ MORE
Intel (INTC) has been trading in bullish sideways fashion since topping in October. The Dow Jones U.S. Semiconductor Index ($DJUSSC) has continued to rise and lead the benchmark S&P 500 on a relative basis - even while INTC consolidates. A breakout in Intel would measure to 42... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, May 11, 2017 Consumer staples (XLP, +0.15%) and utilities (XLU, +0.14%) were beneficiaries of money rotating more defensively on Thursday. While the end result at the close wasn't bad overall (the Dow Jones and S&P 500 lost 0.11% and... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, May 10, 2017 The energy sector (XLE, +1.32%) was very strong on Wednesday as crude oil ($WTIC) bounced more than 3%. With crude oil up nicely again this morning, we should see more strength and leadership from the XLE today. Technology (XLK, +0.38%) and... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, May 9, 2017 Consumer discretionary stocks (XLY, +0.58%) were easily the leading group on Tuesday as hotels ($DJUSLG) and gambling ($DJUSCA) stocks were outperformers. Automobiles ($DJUSAU), recreational products ($DJUSRP) and home construction ($DJUSHB) also performed quite well. The latter group held recent price support and... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, May 8, 2017 The small cap Russell 2000 lagged on Monday with the other major indices tacking on minor gains. Energy (XLE, +0.71%) was the leader with coal ($DJUSCL) jumping 3.50%. The DJUSCL, however, is hitting major trendline resistance after kick-saving at price support.... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, May 5, 2017 The headline news from Friday is that the Dow Jones was able to clear psychological overhead resistance at 21000 for only the second time in history (March 1st was the other) and that the S&P 500 managed to clear its all-time... READ MORE
As technicians, we look for prior price resistance to act as solid support once the resistance has been broken. That principle came into play on Nike, Inc. (NKE) as it tested a major price support just beneath 54.00 on Friday. NKE gapped down in the latter part of March... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, May 4, 2017 Happy Cinco De Mayo! Cuatro De Mayo turned out to be a very flat day, with bifurcated action throughout the market. Even global markets were bifurcated. I counted 13 international ETFs higher yesterday with 10 lower. Markets everywhere are consolidating after mostly higher... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, May 3, 2017 Financials (XLF, +0.80%) were easily the best performing sector on Wednesday as banks ($DJUSBK) led the rebound in interest-sensitive stocks. After gapping lower yesterday, the 10 year treasury yield ($TNX) climbed throughout the session and finished back above the 2.30% level.... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, May 2, 2017 Traders weren't overly impressed with Apple's (AAPL) quarterly report last night and NASDAQ futures are suffering this morning. However, the NASDAQ 100 ($NDX) has been significantly outperforming the benchmark S&P 500 for months and a bit of... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, May 1, 2017 The NASDAQ and Russell 2000 outperformed in a big, big way on Monday and that's always a very positive sign for equities. In addition, strength came from technology (XLK, +0.75%) and financials (XLF, +0.64%), two of the aggressive sectors.... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, April 28, 2017 Equities sold off throughout the day on Friday, but no significant levels of support were lost. Starbucks (SBUX) jolted the market a bit, gapping down to test its rising 20 day EMA, but that support level held and while the internet group ($DJUSNS)... READ MORE
On Thursday morning, Exact Sciences Corp (EXAS) was the #1 percentage gainer on the NASDAQ, rising nearly 26%. While that's a massive move by any measure, I doubt that the move higher in EXAS has ended. If you look at a weekly chart, you'll see that... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, April 27, 2017 Consumer discretionary (XLY, +0.53%) led the bifurcated action on Thursday as travel & tourism ($DJUSTT), gambling ($DJUSCA) and toys ($DJUSTY) all broke to fresh new highs helping to lead the sector higher. The XLY has broken out and is leading once again... READ MORE
Market Recap for April 26, 2017 A late day selloff on Wednesday left the small cap Russell 2000 as the only major index left standing with gains. The Dow Jones penetrated 21000 for a second consecutive session after not doing so for nearly two months. The S&P 500... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, April 25, 2017 U.S. indices closed significantly higher for a second consecutive session, this time with materials (XLB, +1.61%) leading eight of the nine sectors higher. Only utilities (XLU, -0.13%) failed to gain on the session. We are seeing breakouts one at a... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, April 24, 2017 Global markets rallied on the heels of French election results and U.S. markets were no exception. We surged right out of the gate and didn't look back. The NASDAQ flirted with the 6000 level before settling for an all-time high... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, April 21, 2017 The S&P 500 trended lower from midday Thursday through Friday's close and that extended a much longer downtrend that began after the gap higher back on March 1st. Futures are very bright green this morning, however, so we could... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, April 20, 2017 We've yet to see the breakouts in our major indices that we're looking for, but yesterday's rally was quite bullish with leadership coming from the small cap Russell 2000 ($RUT, +1.24%), financials (XLF, +1.69%) and... READ MORE
Our major indices have been consolidating for many weeks and that's enabled many individual stocks to consolidate in bullish continuation patterns. Dycom Industries (DY) is one such stock as it formed a long-term cup from early-August to late-February before printing a handle throughout March. The right side of... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, April 19, 2017 The U.S. equity market enjoyed strong early gains on Wednesday only to see them mostly evaporate throughout the balance of the session. The Dow Jones lagged badly all day as one of its components - IBM (-4.92%) - disappointed Wall Street... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, April 18, 2017 The Dow Jones U.S. Industrial Suppliers Index ($DJUSDS) tumbled more than 6% on Tuesday as the group absorbed its second earnings shock in the past week. W.W. Grainger (GWW) came up short of its earnings expectations, then lowered guidance and traders... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, April 17, 2017 If you're in the bullish camp, you have to be breathing a sigh of relief following yesterday's action. It was only one day, but after the bulls' grip on the market really seemed to be slipping at the... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, April 13, 2017 The big news on Thursday - at least technically - was the breakdown in the 10 year treasury yield ($TNX) to its lowest close since early November. Most traders have been expecting continuing economic strength based on wisdom from the Federal Reserve. However,... READ MORE
At the time of the last ChartWatchers article, I didn't really see a whole lot to be nervous about. However, the bullish picture certainly is getting a bit murkier based on developments since then. After a very strong ADP employment report on April 5th, most everyone was expecting... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, April 13, 2017 It was another day of not-so-great action in the U.S. stock market on Wednesday as our major indices finished lower as this lengthy period of frustrating consolidation continues. A problem is definitely brewing, though, as the Volatility Index ($VIX) pushes higher and... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, April 11, 2017 The Volatility Index ($VIX) hit its lowest level since mid-November on Tuesday, nearly reaching 16 before backing off and closing at 15.07 and up 7.26% on the session. That development is significant because the S&P 500 has remained above... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, April 10, 2017 It was a back and forth kinda day on Wall Street with the finish coming up fairly flat with minor gains across the board. Tesla (TSLA) and Harley Davidson (HOG) were winners and helped lead automobiles ($DJUSAU) to leadership in the consumer discretionary... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, April 7, 2017 Consumer staples (XLP, +0.27%) and healthcare (XLV, +0.18%) were the sector leaders on Friday as our major indices finished near the flat line. Money rotated a bit towards defensive stocks, although utilities (XLU, -0.43%) failed to follow its defensive counterparts... READ MORE
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS) has been in a steady uptrend for the past 15 months and its SCTR (StockCharts Technical Rank) has risen back above 70, suggesting that KTOS is becoming more attractive relative to its peers. It does still have plenty of technical work to do as... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, April 6, 2017 Yesterday, we saw better relative action on the Russell 2000, a positive for equities. However, that has not been the case over the past week as you can see from the chart below: There's been a slight uptrend in Dow stocks... READ MORE