Defensive Aspirations:
They say in sports defense wins championships. Well inside the industrials defense is best in breed and leading the way thus far in 2022. Below is the ratio chart of the ITA compared to the S&P 500 and it demonstrates its superiority. The ITA is down 6% YTD, while the XLI is 9% lower, and it is acting a tad bit better as it trades 9% from most recent 52-week highs and the XLI is 11% off its annual peak. The top holding in RTX just bounced off the very round 90 number which doubled as 200-day SMA support. The second-largest component in LMT Friday just broke above a double bottom pivot of 449.68. Both of these stocks gained ground every day last week. Now contrast that with the 3rd largest holding in BA which is still 49% off heights made last June. In April the stock advanced just 4 sessions. Others in the group that are lagging include KTOS, whose chart sports a bear flag. AXON has been holding the very round par number recently and has roughly traded between 100-200.