Market Recap for Wednesday, May 18, 2016 It was an interesting day on Wall Street on Wednesday. Once the FOMC minutes were released at 2pm EST, traders panicked as the Fed signaled the possibility of a June interest rate hike. They said what they've been saying, that a... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, May 17, 2016 The wishy-washy, back and forth, yo-yo action continued on Tuesday as Monday's gains were completely erased by Tuesday's close. The culprits? Well, eight of the nine sectors finished lower after all nine rose on Monday, but the primary weakness... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, May 16, 2016 Monday saw a very solid advance across the board, but clearly was led once again by materials (XLB, +1.72%) and energy (XLE, +1.69%). These two sectors were not only the leaders yesterday, but they also represent the top two performing sectors... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, May 13, 2016 I suppose it's only fitting that all of our major indices close beneath their 50 day SMAs simultaneously for the first time on Friday the 13th. The NASDAQ has been trading beneath its 50 day SMA for the past several trading... READ MORE
Not many stocks have been spared the past few weeks as our major indices have trended lower. Huntsman Corp (HUN) doubled in a little more than two months, but became very overbought in late April. Since that time, HUN has fallen 15% and its overbought oscillators have seen relief with... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, May 12, 2016 Defensive. That's the best way to describe it. With consumer stocks, traders are choosing staples. If it's a question of transportation vs. utilities, it's really not a question. Utilities rule. Small caps or the S&P... READ MORE
Overbought stocks frequently move above RSI 70, but during periods of selling or consolidation, it's fairly routine to see the RSI dip back to the 40-45 area. Here's a simple scan from the Standard Scan Workbench to find stocks that could be great trading candidates (from... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, May 11, 2016 It was a bad day for consumer discretionary (XLY, -2.01%) and, in particular, retail stocks (XRT, -4.44%). Macy's (M) delivered an opening blow when their latest quarterly earnings report disappointed Wall Street. On the surface, it didn't... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, May 10, 2016 Energy (XLE, +1.76%), industrials (XLI, +1.72%) and basic materials (XLB, +1.67%) led a wide participation rally on Tuesday that finished with all of our major indices up at least 1% (the Russell 2000 was the lone exception at +0.95%... READ MORE
Market Recap for May 9, 2016 Biotechnology stocks ($DJUSBT) gained more than 2% on Monday, leading the healthcare sector (XLV, +1.14%) to the top of the sector leaderboard, doubling the one day return of the next best sector, utilities (XLU, +0.57%). While Monday's strength was a... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, May 6, 2016 We saw several successful tests of key price, gap and moving average support on Friday. The price action into the close was bullish with our major indices finishing on or near their highs of the session. Money rotated much more aggressively as well... READ MORE
Children's Place (PLCE) printed a reversing hammer on Friday just after touching gap support at 70.51. This comes off a lengthy downtrend that began in mid-April after a negative divergence had developed. Take a look at the technical picture on a daily chart first: Adding further bullishness... READ MORE
2016 has been a very good year thus far for the energy sector (XLE) as it's gained 17.51% in just the last three months alone. Unlike many of the other sectors that have been battling slowing momentum in the form of negative divergences, momentum remains very strong... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, May 5, 2016 The energy sector (XLE) was back on top on Thursday, once again leading the market. The XLE gained .82% as four sectors advanced while five declined. Consumer discretionary (XLY) was the weakest link, dropping .64%. Apparel retailers ($DJUSRA) fell 3.0%, led by... READ MORE
Apple (AAPL) is the most influential stock considering all its branches and its psychological effect, not to mention its $510 billion market cap. But all is not well technically for AAPL and we're going to soon find out if it can hold support and resume its uptrend or... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, May 4, 2016 Wednesday's theme was defense. In many sports circles, defense wins championships. That's not the case with the stock market. Strong "defense" here means skepticism, fear and generally a downtrending stock market. So I'm not a... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, May 3, 2016 Energy (XLE) was hit hard on Tuesday as all nine sectors retreated. But the XLE's drop of 2.36% was notable as it nears a key short-term price support level and its rising 20 day EMA, both generally strong areas during... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, May 2, 2016 Consumer discretionary (XLY) and consumer staples (XLP) were the sector leaders on Monday as they posted gains of 1.40% and 1.15%, respectively. But like so many areas of the market, even sizable gains and market leadership come with warning signs and... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, April 29, 2016 The U.S. stock market suffered further damage on Friday as all of our major indices ended lower. There were a few bright spots despite the NASDAQ losing more than its fair share and closing at its lowest level in more than a... READ MORE
You have to keep in mind that when everyone wants to buy a stock (or sell a stock), it's the market makers job to provide liquidity and take the other side of the trade. That's why so often we see stocks gap higher or lower from... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, April 28, 2016 U.S. indices tumbled on Thursday, the day after central bankers temporarily closed the candy store. Neither the Federal Reserve here in the U.S. nor Bank of Japan offered up any stimulus that traders could wrap their arms around and amid signs... READ MORE
When a stock breaks out to fresh highs with light volume, a negative divergence and overbought oscillators, you need to be on high alert for a period of selling. That's exactly the signal that ORBCOMM (ORBC) provided astute traders as we entered April. Since that time ORBC has... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, April 27, 2016 Well another FOMC meeting has come and gone. Not much has changed really. The Fed still seems adamant about raising rates, but they're not sure as to the timing. The next meeting in June is a real possibility, but they'... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, April 26, 2016 April has not been kind to technology stocks (XLK). We've seen several key earnings disappointments from the group, including Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Apple (AAPL), and investors in those three are not happy. We've seen bifurcated action throughout... READ MORE
Market Recap for April 25, 2016 Energy (XLE) was very weak on Monday, losing 1.12% to finish 9th out of 9 sectors. Technically, the sector is still very strong and has essentially "reset" its hourly MACD to centerline support. A negative divergence on the hourly chart suggested... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, April 22, 2016 The technology world (-1.74%) was rocked on Friday with disappointing earnings announcements from a host of NASDAQ names, particularly a couple large technology companies. Microsoft (MSFT) stumbled badly, losing 7.17% after posting EPS that fell slightly below expectations. Revenue guidance in... READ MORE
Energy stocks have been strengthening throughout 2016 and Helix Energy Solutions (HLX) is a small $900 million market cap company that just broke out his past week. Its SCTR rank has quickly soared to above 90 after recently printing SCTR readings in the single digits for several months. Check out... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, April 21, 2016 The Dow Jones dropped 114 points on Thursday, marking only the fourth time in the past two months it's lost more than 100 points during a session. The climb has been steady with few declines of any magnitude as energy (XLE)... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, April 20, 2016 Energy (XLE) once again found itself on top of the relative leaderboard in terms of sector performance. The XLE gained .90% on Wednesday. Oil equipment and services ($DJUSOI) gained over 1% and broke to fresh highs. Here's an update on that... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, April 19, 2016 Nothing seems to be able to slow down this market freight train. Not disappointing housing data. Not a continuing rush into treasuries. Not weak guidance from IBM and Netflix (NFLX). Not negative divergences across multiple time frames. Literally nothing. Yes, the market did... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, April 18, 2016 All nine sectors rallied on Monday to support the Dow Jones' breakout above the psychological 18000 barrier. Energy (XLE) and consumer discretionary (XLY) led the broad-based rally with gains of 1.65% and .94%, respectively. Healthcare (XLV) tacked on a .93% gain.... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, April 15, 2016 The last significant top on the Dow Jones occurred on November 3rd when it posted an intraday high of 17978 and closed at 17918. The action late last week challenged those two levels when the Dow Jones hit an intraday high of 17962... READ MORE
Negative divergences that appear on daily charts tend to take a couple weeks to play out before we see momentum potentially resume back to the upside. That seems to be where Progressive Corp (PGR) currently stands. On PGR's most recent price high, its MACD did not follow suit,... READ MORE
Based on April performance alone over the past 20 years, the best industry groups to invest in have been the following: $DJUSHL (Hotels & Lodging REITs) +12.4% $DJUSAU (Automobiles) +10.3% $DJUSRL (Retail REITs) +9.7% $DJUSES (Real Estate Services) +8.9% $DJUSTR (Tires) +7.9% All five of... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, April 14, 2016 Energy (XLE) and financials (XLF) led the market action on Thursday, although our major indices were bifurcated with slight gains in the Dow Jones and S&P 500 and minor losses on the more aggressive NASDAQ and Russell 2000. Crude oil ($WTIC)... READ MORE
The Dow Jones U.S. Banks Index ($DJUSBK) soared on Wednesday after JP Morgan Chase (JPM) delivered better than expected quarterly earnings results. The strength in JPM sent the DJUSBK to the doorstep of a significant price breakout above 300. However, Bank of America (BAC), PNC Bank (PNC) and Wells... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, April 13, 2016 Wednesday was arguably the best trading day of 2016 for U.S. equities. Volume increased to nearly 2 billion shares on the NASDAQ and the four offensive sectors - financials, industrials, consumer discretionary and technology - led the rally with gains of 2.... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, April 12, 2016 Just before Tuesday's open, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its forecast for world economic growth. Then shortly after the open, all of our major indices lost recent price support and rising 20 day EMA support. Short-term prospects were worsening and... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, April 11, 2016 It was a disappointing day on Wall Street Monday as nice early gains vanished by the close with all of our major indices at the door step of 20 day EMA support. The Dow Jones was higher by 155 points 30 minutes into... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, April 8, 2016 Our major indices gave up a big chunk of their earlier gains on Friday, but did manage to finish in positive territory. Crude oil ($WTIC) topped off a superb week (+8.27%) by rising 5.68% on Friday alone. The WTIC is now... READ MORE