Markets went on a roller coaster ride Thursday courtesy of Mario and the benchmarks put in a respectable day finishing decently off session lows. The Nasdaq which was lower by 1.4% around 1pm rallied to close lower by .3%. The S&P 500 just CLOSED above the UNCH line in the last minutes of the day after swimming lower by 1% in the afternoon hours. Heading into Friday the indexes are looking at their first weekly losses in the last 4 with the Nasdaq down 1.2 and the S&P 500 by .5%. On a weekly basis overall the utilities are acting best. The XLU is up 2.1% this week and looks poised to challenge the very round 50 figure, which would equate to all time highs, that began more than a year ago the week ending 1/30/15 (longer bases offer better prospects of success once a breakout occurs). One aspect of todays comeback that impressed me the most however, perhaps lessening the impact of the XLU strength, was the action in high yield. When it performs well it is an indication that there is a healthy appetite of risk, and the HYG Thursday eased above a bull flag trigger of 81 that found support at the round 80 number. Follow through in todays breakout going forward could give vital clues to the direction of the markets. None of the major S&P sector groups rose or fell by more than 1%. Below is the chart of SCSS, a mattress play, that was profiled in our Monday Game Plan this week, and fitting after today as who will “sleep” comfortably after Thursday’s rocky session, pun intended. The round 20 number which was comfortable support last month has now become resistance as it has slipped more than 10% the last 3 sessions.
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