Market Recap for Tuesday, July 12, 2016 Energy (XLE, +2.48%) resumed its leadership role in a big way on Tuesday as rising crude oil prices ($WTIC) and a bullish pattern on the U.S. dollar provided energy bulls all they needed to send the XLE to its highest close... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, July 11, 2016 Despite all the reasons for being cautious at this stage of the current seven year bull market rally, nothing is more important than simple price action and yesterday the S&P 500 did what it had never done before - it closed above... READ MORE
Special Notes Beginning today, I will be providing a "Monday setups" section every Monday, offering up potential trading candidates and technical reasons for possible entry. Please do your own due diligence - both technically and fundamentally - before you decide to trade any of these candidates. They will be provided... READ MORE
Devry, Inc. (DV) topped at close to 50.00 during the fourth quarter of 2014 and it has spent the last 18 months declining steadily until reaching what now appears to be a bottom just above 15.00. A positive divergence has emerged on its weekly MACD and volume trends... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, July 7, 2016 Energy (XLE, -1.02%) was weak on Thursday as crude oil prices ($WTIC) tumbled 5.64% to lose near-term price support in the 46.00-46.50 range. Crude oil also lost both 20 day EMA and 50 day SMA support, both... READ MORE
Over the past year, United Parcel Service (UPS) has gained 13.77% while FedEx Corporation (FDX) has lost 9.80%. Relative strength between these two air delivery and freight services companies has gone back and forth over the last decade, but currently UPS has the upper hand and is the... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, July 6, 2016 Bulls do not give up easy. Yesterday was a perfect example. Global indices have rolled over and have been struggling mightily this week, especially the key German DAX ($DAX). Brexit fears seemed to be building once again and the S&P 500... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, July 5, 2016 Tuesday represented a down day and a much-needed day of profit taking after the post-Brexit rebound, right? Well maybe. But if my pattern-seeking eyes are correct, the Russell 2000 may have just printed the right shoulder in a bearish topping... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, July 1, 2016 Bull markets do the unthinkable and last week was a perfect example. After Brexit, which seemed to confirm global stock markets' worst fear, we saw a very sudden drop in equity prices around the world and a surge in the Volatility Index... READ MORE
Over the past six months, the Dow Jones U.S. Pipelines Index ($DJUSPL) has gained 25.03% and has been among the best performing industry groups. But it hasn't been favorable for all pipeline stocks as Williams Companies (WMB) can attest. While its peers have risen 25%, WMB... READ MORE
Here we go again. It seems as though every time the S&P 500 challenges the 2100 level and its all-time high close (2131), another aggressive area of the market falls apart and the rally is not sustainable. Below is a two year weekly chart of the S&... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, June 30, 2016 Over the past week - since Brexit - the S&P 500 has lost a mere 15 points because of the sizable rally enjoyed over the past three trading days. That's roughly a 0.75% loss. The NASDAQ, on the other hand,... READ MORE
There's a potential bottoming reverse head & shoulders pattern in play on Western Digital's (WDC) three year weekly chart as it attempts to clear its downtrend on its SCTR. All of this comes on the heels of printing a positive divergence on its MACD. This alone... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, June 29, 2016 U.S. equities rallied strongly on Wednesday, following the lead of global indices as the shock of Brexit begins to wear off. The German DAX ($DAX) was able to close at its highest level since Brexit, clearing the 9557 close the day after... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, June 28, 2016 Much technical damage has been inflicted over the past few trading days. So the obvious question is "how long might this current rally last?" We cleared the first technical hurdle when the S&P 500 yesterday closed back above 2025... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, June 27, 2016 The U.S. bond market closed sharply higher on Monday, sending treasury yields tumbling to lows not seen since the post-QE (quantitative easing) days of 2012. Everyone is seeking safety and it was evident throughout trading on Monday. Money rotated into safety... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, June 24, 2016 The market has spoken and we need to listen. Volume on the S&P 500 totaled 4.5 billion shares and the index dropped a hefty 3.59% on Friday. The Brexit vote clearly caught global markets by surprise with most market... READ MORE
After the stock market closed on May 23rd, Nordson Corp (NDSN) reported quarterly earnings results that absolutely blew away Wall Street's consensus estimates. The next morning, as you might expect, NDSN shareholders were rewarded with a huge gap higher and continuing interest throughout the trading day. Volume was... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, June 23, 2016 The Britons have voted and it's to exit the European Union. It's almost pointless to discuss what happened yesterday because any gains from Thursday will likely be long gone at the open this morning, unless you're holding... READ MORE
Broadcom (AVGO) posted quarterly EPS in early June that topped Wall Street forecasts and the stock gapped higher from 155 to above 165. Now, just a few weeks later, AVGO has returned to the scene of the crime, testing gap support and its rising 20 day EMA. Volume has been... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, June 22, 2016 Volatile action continued as the UK referendum day approached. Today, Britons are voting to determine whether Britain remains in or leaves the European Union. There has been lots of back and forth action this week, although trading has been contained within a fairly... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, June 21, 2016 Small cap stocks did not participate in Tuesday's rally as the Russell 2000 finished lower by 0.33%. But our other major indices all gained, led by the S&P 500's 0.27% rise. Energy (XLE, +1.19%... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, June 20, 2016 Over the weekend, a poll indicated that the "remain" camp was winning the Brexit war, helping to relieve a bit of market anxiety that has been building as the UK referendum on whether the British will remain or leave the European... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, June 17, 2016 It was more of the same on Friday. Our major indices fell despite a rally that took place late in the morning session. Early losses were cut, but overall the bulls weren't able to totally recover from the morning weakness. The... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, June 16, 2016 Okay, this really is getting old. Early in the session, it appeared as if the U.S. would follow the lead of global markets and sell....and sell....and sell. Volatility ($VIX) hit an intraday high of nearly 23, its highest level since... READ MORE
The Volatility Index ($VIX) is often times referred to as the fear index and fear is a necessary component of bear markets. So the recent surge in the VIX should not be taken lightly. We can and do see the VIX spike quickly during bull markets - only to settle down... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, June 16, 2016 The much-awaited FOMC policy statement was released at 2pm EST on Wednesday afternoon and the market collectively yawned for an hour before selling kicked in during the final hour. Beneficiaries on the session included basic materials (XLB, +0.45%) and the defensive... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, June 14, 2016 It was more of the same on Tuesday. Most of the selling took place in the first hour and then our major indices rallied. The problem, once again, was that leadership came in the form of utilities (XLU, +0.53%) and consumer staples... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, June 13, 2016 It was not a good day for the bulls. Global markets were weak and that set the stage for selling here in the U.S. Losses were fairly contained throughout the early part of the day, but the final hour saw the losses... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, June 10, 2016 Consumer staples (XLP, +0.07%) eked out a tiny gain on Friday, but otherwise sector performance was weak. The eight remaining sectors all finished in the red with energy (XLE, -2.16%) leading the pack. The weekly candle on crude oil prices ($WTIC)... READ MORE
Ligand Pharmaceutical (LGND) broke out above price resistance in April with solid volume confirmation. But the stock was extremely overbought and in need of a pullback to unwind its momentum oscillators. RSI had touched the 80s with stochastic elevated in the 90s. LGND has lost approximately 12%-13% over the... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, June 9, 2016 Utilities (XLU, +0.86%) and consumer staples (XLP, +0.39%) - two defensive sectors - led the action on Thursday and contributed heavily to the reversal in U.S. equities after a weak opening hour. Unfortunately, we want to see traders turn more aggressive when... READ MORE
Amazon.com (AMZN) has been one of the strongest performers in 2016 and just recently broke out on a relative basis vs. the S&P 500 when it impressed Wall Street with its latest quarterly earnings results. But there are now a couple warning signs that indicate AMZN may... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, June 8, 2016 Our major indices pushed higher once again on Wednesday with the S&P 500 climbing within 12 points of its all-time high close of 2131. But the strongest index was clearly the small cap index, or Russell 2000, which gained 0.... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, June 7, 2016 Our major indices were strong throughout much of the day on Tuesday, only to see most of those gains vanish by the close. The NASDAQ was the target of most of the selling as this tech-influenced index finished in negative territory. The... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, June 7, 2016 The benchmark S&P 500 closed at 2109.41 on Monday, it's highest close since November 3, 2015 when it finished at 2109.79. This finish is just 1% away from its all-time high close of 2130.82 on... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, June 3, 2016 The nonfarm payrolls report on Friday was horrid. Wall Street was expecting 158,000 jobs and the government reported 38,000. It was the lowest number in six years and futures immediately dropped on the news at 8:30am EST Friday morning. The... READ MORE
Sina (SINA) has just seen its SCTR rank break above 70 as its price has broken above multiple tops near 52. Volume on the breakout was very strong, topping 3 million shares for the first time since July 2015. Any period of selling or consolidation should hold support that now... READ MORE
Over the past month, the Dow Jones U.S. Semiconductor Index ($DJUSSC) has risen more than 8% and helped to strengthen the technology sector (XLK) relative to the S&P 500. The XLK has been very strong on a relative basis since the middle of 2013 and just recently... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, June 2, 2016 It was mostly a broad based rally on Thursday as all of our major indices finished higher. Seven of nine sectors ended the day higher as well, with technology (XLK, -0.09%) and energy (XLE, -0.13%) the two weak links. Key areas... READ MORE