Services Unease:
With all the negative action in the regional banks, other subsectors within the financials have been pulled down by the crisis. The traditional banks via the XLF are now down 13% off their most recent 52-week highs, and the broker-dealers via the IAI have fallen 17% from their annual peak which was surprising to me. Stocks like GS which retested a bearish descending triangle in the 340 area and continued its descent is not helping the space (the breakdown carries a measured move to 290). MS has the look of breaking below a bearish head and shoulder pivot of 84 after a rejection at par this February. Below is the WEEKLY chart of the IAI and it too sports a bearish head and shoulders and the two aforementioned names are the top 2 holdings in the fund, but the action in SCHW, now 41% off its annual peak is not helping. Although this top 10 component could be ready to break above a bearish descending triangle just above the very round 50 number and we know from FALSE moves come fast ones in the opposite direction. Stay tuned and buckle up, for this space, the rest of 2023 should be a volatile one.