OPINION

Market Waves Red Flags In Oil And Tech

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

Market weakness continues today, and while oil continues to grab the headlines, the bigger red flag is weakness in Technology. 

S&P 500 Index

-2.90%

Communication Services XLC

-3.21%

Consumer Discretionary XLY

-2.72%

Consumer Staples XLP

-2.04%

Energy XLE

-2.34%

Financials XLF

-2.75%

Health Care XLV

-2.58%

Industrials XLI

-2.23%

Materials XLB

-2.26%

Real Estate XLRE

-2.13%

Technology XLK

-4.03%

Utilities XLU

-2.13%

I guess it’s easy to forget these names come down from time to time and aren’t completely impervious to broad economic weakness. 

IBM set the tone when management discussed growing contract postponements after posting financial results that were impressive given the backdrop.  Now all eyes are on Texas Instruments (TXN), which post results after the close today.  The company was on a roll until its earnings report in October 2018. Since then, it’s been hit or miss, but mostly the latter.  The shares have rallied five of the last six sessions its reported, but the following week has been tough sledding.

TXN One -Week After Reporting:

  • Jan 2019 -6.0%
  • Apr 2019 +1.6%
  • Jul 2019 +7.3%
  • Oct 2019 -6.6%
  • Jan 2020 -5.6%

We took profits on two recent names with pretty good gains, but we would have held them in a normal market.  I still think it’s important to ring the register when you can and have cash.  I anticipate being aggressive on the next dip.  If you are not a current subscriber to our Hotline service, email your account representative or research@wstreet.com to get started today.