Market Recap for Monday, March 27, 2017 It was yet another bifurcated day in the market with the Dow Jones losing ground for the eighth straight session and the S&P 500 joining the Dow in negative territory. For the second consecutive session, the NASDAQ and Russell 2000 bucked... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, March 24, 2017 Friday was another day of bifurcated action with both the NASDAQ and Russell 2000 higher while the Dow Jones and S&P 500 lagged and finished lower. Sector performance wasn't any better with four sectors higher and five lower. To... READ MORE
Stocks that combine poor fundamentals, technicals and seasonal weakness are probably stocks to avoid. QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) is one such stock as it was hit in January with multiple lawsuits and Apple's (AAPL) suit against QCOM really damaged the QCOM chart technically. Here's a look at... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, March 23, 2017 The Russell 2000 gained on Thursday while the other major indices declined slightly due to a selloff in the final three hours. Six of nine sectors finished in negative territory, led by energy (XLE, -0.41%). Oil & equipment services ($DJUSOI) led the... READ MORE
The Russell 2000 has been under selling pressure but is now testing key support on both its daily and weekly charts. There is a slight negative divergence that's present on its weekly chart, so that would be a signal of possible weakness ahead. The good news is that... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, March 22, 2017 A strong technology sector (XLK, +0.63%) helped to lift the NASDAQ to moderate gains while the other major U.S. indices waffled near the flat line on Wednesday, a day after equities experienced their sharpest selling of 2017. From a bullish perspective,... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, March 21, 2017 After months of steady gains, Tuesday's action was painful with eight of nine sectors lower - the utilities sector (XLU, +1.39%) was the lone exception. Further, our major indices were led to the downside by the more aggressive Russell 2000,... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, March 20, 2017 Financials (XLF, -0.73%) led the market lower on Monday as short-term price and gap support was lost on one of the best performing sectors since the early November run. While I don't view this as a big technical development in... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, March 17, 2017 It was another bifurcated day in the market on Friday as rotation continued. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 both posted minor losses while the Russell 2000 led with a 0.40% gain. Utilities (XLU, +0.60%) and industrials (XLI, +0.... READ MORE
Over the past year, the Dow Jones U.S. Apparel Retailers Index ($DJUSRA) has been one of only four industry groups in the consumer discretionary space that has posted a loss. And over the past three months the DJUSRA is the worst performing area of consumer discretionary. But keep in... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, March 16, 2017 Home construction ($DJUSHB) continued its torrid pace of recent gains, rising another 2% on Thursday. Since January 23rd, the DJUSHB has jumped roughly 20%. That's a great year by any measure, yet we're only talking the past two months... READ MORE
Oracle Corp (ORCL) needed a solid earnings report last night after the closing bell to reach all-time highs and it delivered exactly that. ORCL posted both top line and bottom line (.63 vs .57) results that exceeded Wall Street consensus estimates and this morning's open cleared price resistance... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, March 15, 2017 The Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting has come and gone. As expected, the FOMC announcement at 2pm EST indicated that rates would be hiked another quarter point. But the real question was whether the Fed would turn more hawkish on future... READ MORE
Special Webinar Announcement Please join me at noon EST for my Bowley Briefing webinar. It'll be a special one hour format and I'll be joined by Erin Heim. Many of you may know Erin from all of her Decision Point work here at StockCharts.com. We&... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, March 13, 2017 There really was very little movement in our major indices or in our sectors on Monday - which for Monday isn't really a bad day. But my guess is that traders are a bit cautious ahead of what many perceive will... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, March 10, 2017 U.S. equities posted mostly strong results on Friday with a bit of relative strength from the more aggressive NASDAQ and Russell 2000. The NASDAQ 100 ($NDX) posted the best percentage gain of all, but keep in mind that the NDX does not... READ MORE
The Dow Jones U.S. Heavy Construction Index ($DJUSHV) is currently testing its rising 20 week EMA and is near key support in its four month sideways consolidation range from 440-480. Friday's close was 447 and the weekly RSI is now at 43, typically a solid level on... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, March 9, 2017 The March 6th to 9th period once again produced not-so-good S&P 500 results. The S&P 500 did break its recent string of losses, gaining two points on Thursday. Technically, it bounced exactly where we would expect - off the... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, March 8, 2017 The S&P 500 fell for a third consecutive day and it could have been five days in a row if not for a very small gain last Friday. The culprit yesterday was quite clearly the oil patch. The U.S. crude... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, March 7, 2017 Next Tuesday, another FOMC meeting begins with their policy decision announced next Wednesday. Expectations are that we'll see another quarter point rate hike. It's not a slam dunk and there are some who believe we should wait to see... READ MORE
I just wanted to send out a quick reminder about a webinar that I'll be conducting with EarningsBeats.com President and CEO John Hopkins. It starts in roughly an hour with the webinar doors opening as the stock market closes. I will be discussing trading strategies during earnings... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, March 6, 2017 U.S. equities experienced a little profit taking on Monday, nothing technically damaging, but all our major indices did finish lower. The only sector to escape damage was energy (XLE, +0.22%), while all the others declined. On a relative basis, the XLE... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, March 3, 2017 We saw bifurcated action on Friday with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ all posting minor gains while the Russell 2000 fell slightly. Sector action behaved similarly as about half the sectors climbed fractionally while the rest finished in negative... READ MORE
The FOMC will be meeting to discuss a potential rate hike in less than two weeks. A hike would continue the hawkish tone that began when the FOMC increased interest rates in December 2015 for the first time in nine years. It was about six months later that the 10... READ MORE
I'm providing this special Saturday edition of Trading Places as a result of a very significant breakout in the home construction index ($DJUSHB). One way to participate in this breakout is to buy an ETF that tracks home construction stocks. One example is the ITB. The latest disclosure... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, March 2, 2017 Thursday was a day of profit taking as all of our major indices retreated with the small cap Russell 2000 taking the biggest hit, falling 1.27%. Every sector finished lower with the exception of the defensive utilities sector (XLU), which actually gained... READ MORE
The London Financial Times Index ($FTSE) had sideways consolidated for 17 years after topping back in 2000. That consolidation period has ended in a big way in 2017 and this index appears poised for a very significant rise. Despite how you might feel about Brexit, the market has casted its... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, March 1, 2017 U.S. equities surged on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 gaining 1.46% and 1.37%, respectively. The small cap Russell 2000 rebounded big time after its Tuesday drubbing, spiking 27 points, or 1.94%, to 1413 -... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, February 28, 2017 It was a day of profit taking on Tuesday. All of our major indices declined, although the selling was certainly contained. The S&P 500, for instance, dropped just 0.26% and remains near its all-time high. Weakness in consumer discretionary (XLY,... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, February 27, 2017 Energy (XLE, +0.86%) led the market advance on Monday and that hasn't happened much over the past few months. But as I have shown below in the Sector/Industry Watch section, I believe there are several technical signs that we... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, February 24, 2017 The 10 year treasury yield ($TNX) tumbled 7 basis points on Friday and that continued the recent string of solid days for utilities (XLU, +1.52%). Healthcare (XLV, +0.48%) is also benefiting from the rotation to defensive areas of the market as... READ MORE
Oclaro Inc (OCLR) is printing several warning signals as it appears to be topping after a stellar advance. OCLR has nearly quadrupled since the beginning of 2016, but it's difficult to ignore the heavy volume reversal last week - especially when you consider that a negative divergence has... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, February 23, 2017 The action on Thursday was not bullish at all. Yes, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 rose again with the Dow setting another all-time high. Great action, right? Wrong. The more aggressive NASDAQ and Russell 2000 both fell again by .43%... READ MORE
Eli Lilly (LLY) printed an exhaustion gap in November on massive volume, marking a significant bottom and over recent trading days broke a downtrend line that spanned 18 months of action. Based on this combination and improving momentum, it certainly appears that LLY has seen its worst and has begun... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, February 22, 2017 Utilities (XLU, +0.42%) showed relative strength again on Wednesday, leading the charge on an otherwise bifurcated kinda day. The Dow Jones was able to finish the session with a gain, but the benchmark S&P 500, NASDAQ and Russell 2000 were... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, February 21, 2017 Our major indices saw another solid day of gains with the Dow Jones, S&P 500, NASDAQ, NASDAQ 100 and Russell 2000 all breaking out to all-time highs once again. All nine sectors advanced and small caps led on a relative basis.... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, February 17, 2017 Consumer staples (XLP, +0.50%) led the market action on Friday as personal products ($DJUSCM) jumped 3.39%. Brewers ($DJUSDB) continued their recent surge and now appear to have clearly broken their downtrend that began in October. Take a look: The trendline break... READ MORE
Mondelez International (MDLZ) had a rough week, tumbling over 5.5% after Kraft Heinz (KHC) made a bid for Unilever (UL). That suggested to many investors that the likelihood of a MDLZ acquisition was significantly reduced and the stock was priced lower accordingly. The technical pattern on MDLZ remains quite... READ MORE
About a month ago, I wrote a ChartWatchers article detailing the bullish historical tendencies of retailers during the months of February, March and April. In particular, apparel retailers ($DJUSRA) have shown tremendous bullishness during the months of February, March and April. In addition, the DJUSRA was approaching a key price... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, February 16, 2017 U.S. indices finished in bifurcated fashion on Thursday as the Dow Jones logged gains, the S&P 500 finished flat and the NASDAQ and Russell 2000 both finished with minor losses. We could see some additional weakness in coming days based... READ MORE