OPINION

Volatile Markets Looking For Momentum Boost

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The market continues to edge higher with the three major equity indices in the plus column for 2020.

  • NASDAQ +30.08%
  • S&P 500 +7.83%
  • Dow Jones +0.24%
  • Gold +25.19%
  • Oil -33.38%

On Friday, the session ended with a big belly flop by Amazon (AMZN), which slipped in scuttlebutt Prime Day was a dud.  Retail insiders and Wall Street analysts all agreed that this was the perfect time and place for the two-day event. Perhaps there was too much consensus and cheerleading.  The stock also formed a double top, which is the most accurate (bearish) chart formation.


Message of the Market

It was a bookend week that saw the market rise on Monday and Friday, but each session had its share of anxiety.  There were times it zigged when you thought it would zag and rebounded when it was on the cusp of falling apart and falling apart when it was on the cusp of breaking out.  There was a compelling pullback in tech going into the close, as Apple (AAPL) lost altitude, but money went to other sectors instead of the sidelines.

S&P 500 Index

+0.01%

 

Communication Services XLC

+0.02%

 

Consumer Discretionary XLY

 

-0.91%

Consumer Staples XLP

+0.03%

 

Energy XLE

 

-2.27%

Financials XLF

+0.08%

 

Health Care XLV

+0.99%

 

Industrials XLI

+0.73%

 

Materials XLB

+0.70%

 

Real Estate XLRE

 

-0.36%

Technology XLK

 

-0.29%

Utilities XLU

+1.07%

 

For the week, there were substantially more losers than winners although up volume suggests the intensity of buyers was more significant.

There are still more losers than winners in the S&P 500, and those losers are down a lot more than the winners.  This fact is, attractive to many investors is the lingering question of when will the broadening of the rally speed up?  Or what will get the broadening to speed up?

Week Breadth

NYSE

NASDAQ

Advancing

1,141

1,629

Declining

1,987

1,981

52 Week High

308

389

52 Week Low

60

82

Up Volume

9.9 billion

8.9 billion

Down Volume

9.4 billion

8.1 billion

 S&P 500 Winners 

  • 245 average gain: +25.24%
  • Top twenty average gain: +90.97%       

S&P 500 Losers 

  • 257 average loss: -24.08%
  • Bottom twenty losers’ average decline: -63.03

Hotline Model Portfolio Approach


Today’s Session

Equity futures are higher, but there is a long week ahead with an uptick in earnings releases and the Presidential debate on Thursday. 

I like the action in transportation names. Keep an eye on those stocks, and semiconductors, which got a bunch of upgrades at Mizuho.