Stocks were hit with selling pressure on the first trading day of the year. A little profit taking after a sharp eleven day advance is pretty normal. While this decline could extend further and retrace a portion of the December surge, I am viewing it as a small correction and... READ MORE
2009-2014 $SPX ON SAME SLOPE AS 1995-2000 ... Year-end is always a good place to review the big picture. The current slope of the $SPX advance is the same as in the 5 year run from 1995-2000. As long as we stay above the multi year trend line in Chart 1,... READ MORE
Bank of America (BAC) is starting the New Year with a breakout on the price chart and surge in the StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR). The SCTR is up over 15 points and back above 70, which made it easy to spot on the SCTR table when sorted by change. On... READ MORE
COP Firms on Good Volume. FLSR Continues to Show Relative Weakness. Plus GPS, LUB, PG, TSM Individual charts are below video. Sorry but your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. **This chart analysis is for educational purposes only, and should not be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell... READ MORE
Seasonality worked quite well over the last two weeks as the major index ETFs surged from December 16th to yearend. All were up 4% or more over the last eleven trading days. The Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) and Dow Diamonds (DIA) led with gains exceeding 5%. All sectors moved higher... READ MORE
The Consumer Discretionary SPDR (XLY) and the HealthCare SPDR (XLV) are the top performing sectors year-to-date. Both are up over 40% and easily outperforming the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY), which is up a mere 29%. The Industrials SPDR (XLI) will take third place and the Finance SPDR (XLF)... READ MORE
Baker Hughes (BHI) perked up over the last few weeks by establishing support in the lows 50s and triggering three bullish P&F signals. First, notice that the stock forged a Triple Top Breakout at 53.7. Second, BHI triggered a bullish Catapult with a move above 54. Third,... READ MORE
METALS & MINING ETF TURNS UP ... Another sign of growing economic strength is recent buying of metals and mining stocks. These stocks usually do better when demand for industrial metals increases which is tied to a stronger economy. The weekly bars in Chart 1 show the S&P Metals... READ MORE
Jesse Livermore pointed out that stock market experience is the result of mistakes and that those mistakes have many brothers and sisters. My take is that it’s not until you’ve met the bigger extended family can you be confident that you’ve actually built a broad enough reference... READ MORE
The Nasdaq AD Line extended its year long uptrend with a surge and new high in December. The chart below shows the AD Line with a series of rising peaks and rising troughs (higher highs and higher lows). Also note that this new high in the AD Line confirms the... READ MORE
The Copper ETN (JJC) is poised to challenge resistance after a channel breakout this month. Notice that the ETF successfully tested the spring-summer lows with a 5+ percent bounce this month. A break above the spring-summer highs would forge a higher high and argue for the start of an uptrend.... READ MORE
TICKER CLOUD HIGHLIGHTS RECENT IPO'S ... The ticker cloud can offer some unique clues on a quiet day. Today GOGO, VJET and TWTR are all recent IPO's that are showing up in the ticker cloud.Chart 1 shows the ticker cloud earlier this morning, while Chart 2... READ MORE
The PerfChart below shows one-month performance for ten industry group ETFs. Even though I am concerned with relative weakness in the Retail SPDR (XRT), this concern is offset by relative strength in three other groups. It has been a good month for stocks with the Home Construction SPDR (ITB) and... READ MORE
With a strong open on Monday, the pre-defined technical alerts page is showing lots of green for the stock market. Notice that five sector SPDRs hit new highs, three major indices hit new highs and the S&P 500 Bullish Percent Index surged above 80. The table below today&... READ MORE
FIVE OF NINE SECTOR SPDRS HIT NEW HIGHS... Link for today's video. The bulk of the evidence remains bullish for stocks as we close one year and head into another. The long-term uptrends were affirmed with new highs in most of the major indices this month. The AD... READ MORE
Programming Note: I will be taking time off between Christmas Eve and New Years. The next commentary for Art's Charts will be on Thursday, January 2nd. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas season and a Happy New Year! Stocks finished the week on a strong note as... READ MORE
Hello Fellow ChartWatchers! Well, 2013 is almost over - this is the last ChartWatchers newsletter until 2014 - and I thought now would be a good time to review some of the key technical developments during the past year. Things got off to a good start as stocks surged higher... READ MORE
When a stock is above a moving average it is considered bullish, and the stock can be considered to be in a rising trend for that time frame. A good way to determine the market's condition (overbought/oversold) across a range of time frames is to analyze the... READ MORE
Wednesday's Fed announcement that it would finally begin a modest tapering of bond purchases in January gave a slight boost to bond yields during the second half of the week. The daily bars in Chart 1 show the 10-Year Treasury Note Yield (TNX) backing off Friday from its... READ MORE
It's quite easy to look at the S&P 500 and see if it's rallying or not. But not every rally is created equal. Many rallies carry significant warning signs that should have you running for cover. Others simply invite you to jump on the... READ MORE
Key industry group ETFs within the technology sector are leading the market. This shows a healthy appetite for risk and bodes well for the economy. The PerfChart below shows one-month performance for the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and six tech-related ETFs. The Nasdaq 100 ETF and the Nasdaq... READ MORE
POSSIBLE UPSIDE TARGET FOR 10-YEAR BOND YIELD IS 3.75%... Wednesday's Fed announcement that it would finally begin a modest tapering of bond purchases in January gave a slight boost to bond yields during the second half of the week. The daily bars in Chart 1 show the... READ MORE
HOUSING STARTS AND BUILDING PERMITS HIT MULTI-YEAR HIGHS... Link for today's video. Data from the St Louis Fed database (FRED) shows Housing Starts (HOUST) and Building Permits (PERMIT) surging in the fourth quarter and hitting multi-year highs. Chart 1 shows Housing Starts moving to its highest level since... READ MORE
Seventeen thousand money managers around the globe pay to use BlackRock’s Aladdin risk assessment platform to manage $15 Trillion. Therefore, nearly 7% of the world’s $225 Trillion in financial assets are being managed by people who all ponder the markets using the same tools. As a result, 30,... READ MORE
After correcting the first two weeks of December, stocks caught a big bid after the FOMC policy statement and the major index ETFs recouped their prior losses. SPY fell from 182 to 178 and then surged to 182 on Wednesday. These moves were enough to propel the Nasdaq AD Line... READ MORE
After big gains on Wednesday, stocks corrected a bit to digest these gains on Thursday. The Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) and the S&P MidCap 400 ETF (MDY) fell back with losses around .75% on the day. DIA edged higher with a fractional gain, while SPY edged lower. Eight... READ MORE
A top-down browse through the sector summary shows that steel stocks are up in a down market on Thursday. Starting with the sector overall, chartists can see which sectors are leading and which are lagging. After clicking "materials sector", chartists will be taken to the industry groups within... READ MORE
THE FED DAY SHOWS OUT OF CHARACTER HIGH VOLUMES.... The stock market roared to life on Wednesday with the Fed announcement of some tapering. Chart 1 shows the QQQ hitting the highest volume since January 2, 2013. While December 2012 average volumes were higher, this was a huge volume day... READ MORE
The Fed finally decided to taper and the markets are reacted in a big way. Note that the Fed merely reduced its quantitative easing from $85 billion per month to $75 billion. It is, however, a start that marks a change in Fed policy. I think stocks were just waiting... READ MORE
BAX Surges to Wedge Trend Line on Good Volume. DHI Affirms Support with Big Bounce. Plus MXIM, NVDA, TIBX, XLNX Individual charts are below video. Sorry but your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. **This chart analysis is for educational purposes only, and should not be construed as a... READ MORE
The Dow is making a bold statement as it holds the resistance breakout from November and exceeds flag resistance. The Dow broke to new high with a move above 15700 in early November and the 15600-15700 area turns support. This level held on the throwback, which formed a falling flag.... READ MORE
FED REDUCES BOND PURCHASES BY 10 BILLION IN JANUARY... Well, it finally happened. The Fed today announced that it would start reducing its monthly bond purchases from $85 to $75 billion starting in January. It also reassured investors, however, that short-term rates would still stay near current levels for the... READ MORE
Today looks like a big day. First, we get housing starts and building permits before the open. Second, we get the Fed policy statement at 2PM ET. This is also Chairman Bernanke's last Fed meeting and last press conference, which will be at 2:30PM. Trading is likely... READ MORE
Reports of the death of the PC have been greatly exaggerated. Though not PC makers, the hard drive makers are strong with two hitting 52-week highs this week. Seagate (STX) and Western Digital (WDC) hit new highs and stand out on the predefined scans page. A search for STX shows... READ MORE
SEMICONDUCTOR SPDR CHALLENGES OCTOBER HIGH... Link for today's video. The broad market was weak in early trading on Tuesday, but there were pockets of strength in the tech sector. In particular, the Semiconductor SPDR (XSD) was up around 1% and trading near its October high. Chart 1 shows... READ MORE
Stocks got a bounce on Monday with the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) leading the way. The entire bounce, however, occurred in the first twenty minutes of trading. Even though there was no follow thru to the opening surge, the major index ETFs did hold their gains and finished the day... READ MORE
CRM Stalls at Support Zone. CVC Forms Continuation Pattern after Breakout. Plus CY, IBM, KSS and NNA Individual charts are below video. Sorry but your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. **This chart analysis is for educational purposes only, and should not be construed as a recommendation to buy,... READ MORE
The PHLX Gold & Silver Index ($XAU) is actually showing some strength with a small gain over the last six days. Perhaps this is because most other industry group indices are down and XAU is a contrarian play. The PerfChart below shows John Murphy's eight industry groups since... READ MORE
TELECOM ETF CORRECTS WITH FALLING CHANNEL... Link for today's video. The Telecom iShares (IYZ) has underperformed the broader market over the last five weeks, but the ETF hit a support zone and firmed the last few days. Chart 1 shows IYZ in a long-term uptrend as the ETF... READ MORE
Stocks extended their correction as the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) saw its biggest weekly decline since August. The Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) led the major index ETFs lower with a 2% decline last week. In an interesting twist, the defensive sectors showed the biggest losses. The Healthcare SPDR... READ MORE