Material Drowsiness:
The materials group has been a laggard during 2021 as we head into the last quarter of the year. The XLB is still higher by more than 12%, but compared to the other major S&P sector groups it is just the 9th best of 11, beating just the utilities and consumer staples. Taking a more recent look over the last one and three-month time frames it is the 8th and 10th best actor, respectively. It has been weighed down by gold and miners, but buoyed by aluminum, steel, and chemicals during 2021. However, over the last one-month time frame steel has been an anchor on the space. NUE is now well below its 111.07 cup base pivot taken out on 8/10 and now sits 24% off the peak made on 8/13. It is on a 5-week losing streak and has continued its drop after filling in an upside gap fill on 9/29 from the 9/17 session. Some uranium plays have come in hard recently as well. Is it time to take a long look at some of those names that have, or focus on leaders in the specialty chemicals arena? Let’s dive into it.