Last week was horrible for financial stocks as the XLF tumbled 2.86%. Investment services ($DJUSSB) and asset managers ($DJUSAG) were at the bottom of the heap with losses of 6.00% and 3.94%, respectively. The losses were technically damaging for both industry groups as both now appear to... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, April 7, 2016 It was a rough day yesterday. All of our major indices were down. All nine sectors were lower. Unless you were trading gambling stocks or mining for gold, you probably saw red numbers. The selling was truly across the board. But there was... READ MORE
Kraft Heinz Co (KHC) has been uptrending for several years. On its high in August, however, a negative divergence appeared on its weekly chart and, as a result, KHC sideways consolidated for the past 8 months. The good news is that it appears to be consolidating in a bullish cup... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, April 6, 2016 Healthcare (XLV) and energy (XLE) had huge days on Wednesday as our major indices rose throughout the day and finished on its high. Strength was seen across nearly every sector with only the defensive utilities down slightly. The best performing aggressive sector -... READ MORE
Volume is triple its normal daily volume and Harley Davidson (HOG) is down more than 7% today, but technical analysis flashed many warning signs on both the daily and weekly charts. First, let's look at the daily chart where price and gap resistance and a negative divergence all... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, April 5, 2016 U.S. equities had a rough day from the opening bell on Tuesday. The Dow Jones fell more than 100 points in a session for the first time in nearly a month as the rally off the February 11th bottom has continued to... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, April 4, 2016 During my Monday webinar (CLICK HERE for recording), I highlighted a few red flags regarding a possible short-term market downturn. Among those were negative divergences across our major indices. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) is a momentum oscillator designed to track price... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, April 1, 2016 The market rally continues. While the majority of money seems to be flowing toward defense, which isn't a great sign of strength nor one of sustainability, it's difficult to argue with day after day of gains. So caution makes... READ MORE
The seasonality tool here at StockCharts.com provides an easy way to review historical results for indices, sectors, industry groups and individual stocks. I looked at financials and healthcare industry groups as these two sectors have performed the worst over the past three months. Perhaps seasonal strength can provide a... READ MORE
In order to determine the sustainability of market rallies, following the rotation between certain sectors or indices can be quite helpful. The chart below shows red shaded areas to highlight warning signs that appeared at the end of the prior bull market in 2007 and also warned of the 2011... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, March 31, 2016 Utilities (XLU) were the only sector to finish in positive territory on Thursday, rising .59%. The remaining eight sectors fell, led by materials' (XLB) .84% decline. While the loss on Thursday was a problem for the materials bulls, weakness in the U.... READ MORE
Earlier today, IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX) fell beneath its rising 20 day EMA but quickly recovered and is now on the verge of breaking above a quadruple top in the 79-80 range. Volume isn't huge, but it is increasing so a breakout should be respected. We've seen... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, March 30, 2016 U.S. equities jumped again, this time with most of the major indices climbing a similar percentage close to .50%. The Russell 2000 ($RUT) lagged a bit, but considering the huge outperformance on Tuesday, let's give the small caps a one... READ MORE
The rally in the S&P 500 has been impressive and truckers ($DJUSTK) have been among the best performing industry groups, rising 17% over the past three months. That actually places truckers as the leading industry group within the industrials over that time frame. C. H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW)... READ MORE
Reminders First, please subscribe to my blog at the bottom of this article. Simply click on "Yes" to the question, enter your email address and click "Subscribe". By doing so, my article will be sent directly your email as soon as it's published. It&... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, March 28, 2016 Monday was another day of market bifurcation with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Russell 2000 barely higher, while the NASDAQ suffered a minor loss. Few analysts expected the type of rally we've seen off the February 11th bottom,... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, March 24, 2016 Despite a rising dollar ($USD), energy (XLE) was the best performing sector on Thursday, posting a .49% gain, while financials (XLF) were the biggest loser, dropping .62%. Four sectors rose while four declined and materials (XLB) finished exactly where they started. The dollar... READ MORE
From a short- to intermediate-term trading perspective, slowing momentum to the upside is a warning sign if you're long. Slowing momentum can come in different forms, but I consider negative divergences on the MACD and weak volume on price breakouts to be two solid examples. Based on these... READ MORE
Priceline (PCLN) has seen lots of volatility over the past several months including sizable gaps higher and lower, but the technical picture remains bright. The near-term has turned dicey as a negative divergence has emerged, but that slowing momentum could be exactly what this bullish inverse head & shoulders pattern... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, March 23, 2016 Energy (XLE) was under heavy selling pressure on Wednesday for the first time in two weeks and that sector was primarily responsible for the weakness in the S&P 500. Seven of nine sectors finished lower, however, as only the defensive utilities... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, March 22, 2016 The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Russell 2000 all turned lower on Tuesday, but the NASDAQ managed to take over relative leadership and finish with fractional gains. Healthcare (XLV) has been the lagging sector over the past month, but led all... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, March 21, 2016 It was another day of mostly higher prices, albeit gains were modest. That's the hallmark of a bull market - day after day of almost boring gains where bears cannot gain any traction whatsoever. If there's one thing that... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, March 18, 2016 The Russell 2000 ($RUT) gained 0.95% on Friday and easily outpaced our other major indices. It also closed back above 1100 for the first time since closing below that number on January 6th. Given the successful tests of the rising 20 day... READ MORE
Despite all the market volatility and weakness over the past year, CHTR has held steady in its uptrend and has been consolidating throughout. It was awaiting a heavy volume breakout, but it's waiting no more. More than 15 million shares changed hands last week as CHTR closed above... READ MORE
Healthcare (XLV) has been the weakest sector over the past one and three month periods, but you'd never know it from looking at the Dow Jones U.S. Medical Supplies Index ($DJUSMS). The DJUSMS has gained over 8% during the past three months while the Dow Jones U.... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, March 17, 2016 All of our major indices continued their five week advance with one notable exception - the NASDAQ 100 ($NDX), which fell slightly despite strong gains elsewhere. In particular, healthcare stocks (XLV) were weak with the XLV the only sector in negative territory, falling... READ MORE
IBM had been under intense selling pressure and had lost more than 40% of its market cap from its March 2013 high to its early 2016 double bottom low near 117.00. Was that enough? Has it bottomed? Well, there was an exhaustion gap in mid-January followed by a double... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, March 16, 2016 Energy (XLE) closed at more than a three month high on Wednesday, gaining 1.73% on the session to lead all sectors. Utilities (XLU) were a strong second as they climbed 1.53%. The XLU clearly benefited from the reaction in treasuries to... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, March 15, 2016 Apple (AAPL) resumed its upward climb on Tuesday, breaking to its highest close since the first trading day of 2016. AAPL's strength led computer hardware ($DJUSCR) to outsized gains of 1.42%, technology (XLK) to the best finish among sectors and... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, March 14, 2016 There was weakness during the first 15 minutes of trading on Monday, then again during the last 15 minutes of trading. Prices meandered higher throughout much of the remaining session, however, and left our major indices bifurcated by the close. The Dow Jones... READ MORE
Special Note In the Sector/Industry Watch section below, I highlight the historical and current February to April strength in the Exploration & Production ($DJUSOS) industry group within the energy sector (XLE). I plan to discuss how you can research historical strength by sector and industry group in my Trading... READ MORE
Whole Foods Market (WFM) has been trading in sideways fashion for the past several months and its long-term weekly chart isn't one of the strongest. But there are signs that better fundamental days lie ahead based on technical signs of accumulation. Below is a daily chart of the... READ MORE
Market Recap for Thursday, March 10, 2016 We've had little economic news out this week so equity markets have been left to trade off technical indications. After the European Central Bank's (ECB) announcement of further quantitative measures triggered a very quick surge to the upside in... READ MORE
The European Central Bank (ECB) announced its latest quantitative easing measures and though they initially moved global markets higher, the focus now seems to have turned to ECB President Draghi's comment that further interest rate cuts aren't likely. There is weakness across the board in the... READ MORE
Market Recap for Wednesday, March 9, 2016 Energy (XLE) was back in the driver's seat on Wednesday as the XLE climbed 1.62% to easily outperform the other eight sectors. Weakness in the dollar (UUP) has contributed to recent strength in commodities and after an early gap higher... READ MORE
Market Recap for Tuesday, March 8, 2016 Investors and traders turned to treasuries (TLT) and utilities (XLU) on Tuesday as money rotated back toward defense. The rally off the February 11th low has been characterized by rotation away from defense. It's not unusual to see selling accompanied by... READ MORE
Market Recap for Monday, March 7, 2016 Monday was a strange day. First, there was bifurcated action where most of our major indices were able to tack on additional gains despite huge gains over the past few weeks and overhead price resistance at hand. The gains weren't big... READ MORE
Market Recap for Friday, March 4, 2016 All of our major indices ended last week on a high note as U.S. stocks finished with more gains. There's been very solid index and sector rotation to support the recent bullish action and a renewed selling effort in treasuries... READ MORE
2016 has not been a very good year, although the rally the past few weeks has alleviated some of the earlier pain. I guess we should party like it's 1999.99 because that's where the S&P 500 closed on Friday. Couldn't we... READ MORE
Yes. Does that mean the stock market is guaranteed to roll over and play dead? Absolutely not. Trading success is not always dependent on being right, as crazy as that might sound. It's about planning your trades to minimize risk in the event your call is incorrect. Many... READ MORE