[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets Last Monday, I wrote how the direction of bond yields affects the performance of low volatility ETFs, such as SPLV, compared to the underlying index. Here’s what I said: Case in point is the S&P 500, represented by SPY, which managed to eke out a gain of +0.10% during today’s session. It’s conservative …
Upside Breakout
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets When markets get stuck in a tight sideways trading range, as we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks, a breakout, either to the downside or upside, will transpire sooner or later. It may not always be clear what causes such a breakout, but it occurred today with the bulls taking charge and …
Stuck In A Sideways Pattern
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets The major indexes took an early dive before slowly rebounding in an attempt to crawl back above their respective unchanged lines. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq succeeded in that effort by a tiny margin, while the Dow just fell short. It was a repeat performance of what we saw all last week with …
Nearing Record Highs—On The Lowest Volume In Months
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets The major indexes, led by the Dow, made another attempt at breaking into record territory but failed with upward momentum lacking. Trading volume was the lowest in months meaning there was not much conviction to drive the markets higher. The theme was a repeat of what we’ve seen over the past five trading …
Directionless Wavering
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets It was a weak Wednesday with the major indexes wandering aimlessly after the release of the Fed’s Beige book showed that “economic activity grew at a slight-to-moderate pace” in March and early April. Upward pressure on wages indicated a tight labor market, however, retail and auto sales were sluggish. Speaking of the former, …
Stumbling Towards Record Highs
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets An early rally petered out as the S&P 500 slowly but surely drifted towards its unchanged line and suddenly dropped below it. However, thanks to a last minute levitation, the index managed to crawl back above it to close fractionally in the green. The other two major indexes showed a little more staying …