Markets gained back where they traded at the highs just one session before, and the bulls were certainly elated to witness no afternoon selloff. It was good to see the Nasdaq and Russell 2000 act the firmest as they were higher in the 2% neighborhood. Adding to the positives the Nasdaq did not shy away from the 7100 number which was posing problems as of late. Peering at the Russell 2000 it recouped its 50 day SMA by a slim margin, and it is often a good leading indicator, and the other big three are all about 1% away from their own 50 days. “Old tech” giants INTC, HPQ and CSCO rose between 3-4%. It was a broad rally and hard to find much that was underwater for the day with the exception of utilities, REITs and airlines. The VIX has to be watch closely as it trades somewhat taut between 20-25 the last 12 days. A pierce either way will give valuable directional clues. And keep in mind we still have to see how the markets react to the impending Syria news some point this week.
Looking at individual sectors it was the energy space that had plenty of it today as the XLE up 3.3%. The ETF had been showing signs it wanted to move higher as it scored 2% gains or more three times in the last 3 weeks before Tuesdays session. Their was a tug of war between the bulls and bears the last 8 weeks along the 200 day SMA, and today certainly was propelled somewhat by short covering, but keep in mind their is still work to do. The last 8 weeks have all traded within the weekly range ending 2/9 which slumped 8%, and that was preceded the week before with a 6.5% slashing. Both of those horrific weeks were accompanied by the largest weekly volume in the last 10 months, and perhaps that was a washout giving way to new shareholders to bring the group upward. Backing up the energy group was technology, a bright spot with the XLK advancing 2.4%. Lagging Tuesday were the staples and utilities with the XLU recording the only loss of the major S&P sectors (still not used to calling real estate a sector).
Energy has been displaying nice strength recently, and today both the XLE and OIH reclaimed their 50 day SMAs. There have been winners and losers with CLR among our favorites, but you can include APC and EC in there too. Below is the chart of HAL and how it appeared in our in our Thursday 4/5 Game Plan. This has been a bit of a laggard still 16% off most recent 52 week highs, but like the previously mentioned ETFs it did not demonstrate to much volatility as the overall markets were swinging wildly in February and March. It made a stand at its 200 day SMA, a line that was resistance last November and December, as it did repair on its chart. After Tuesdays action, its cup base is taking on a better visual and it looks like the chart has some wind behind it and is ready to drill higher, pun intended.