“Material” Gains, Pun Intended:
The materials have been quietly making a name for themselves, as gold and silver miners have been acting well, but other sub sectors within the space are pulling their weight as well. Steel names are beginning to perk up with the letter X, which I frankly never thought I would write something positive about again, recording two straight CLOSES above its 200 day SMA (had been below that line for well more than a year), and the very round 10 number. FCX also shed its single digit status just last week as it too vaulted above its 200 day SMA. AA in the aluminum arena surged above the 10 figure last week as well, and it begs the question. Are the big laggards attempting to play catch up, and is it a bad sign? Monday the XLB was the “worst” performing major S&P sector up two pennies, but on both a one and three month look back period it is the fourth best actor of eleven. The chemical names, very important to the economic cycle have been acting well, and even the paper names are showing green shoots.