[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets An early rally turned into a beating with the major indexes heading south all session long. The culprit was identified as downright ugly manufacturing information that had stocks and bond yields plunging. The ISM manufacturing report came in at its worst level since 2009, as the index dropped to 47.8 in September from …
Finding Some Bullish Meat On The Trade Bone
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets I mentioned last Friday that we would need a good trade headline to give stocks a boost. That is exactly what happened but not the way you think. There was no news in US-China trade arena, so the Trump administration came out and played down or disputed reports that they were considering blocking …
Headline Ping Pong
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets The markets were trading in the red for most of the session, as the latest trade headlines pushed equities further south and then gave traders hope that optimism is warranted. When things looked bleak at mid-day, Reuters managed to provide the algos with some ammo to drive the indexes out of the doldrums …
Triple Whammy Smashes Equities
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets Early hopes, that successful trade talks might be on deck during October, were dashed today when Trump criticized China in no uncertain terms during his UN speech. The result was that the early rally shifted in reverse with the pullback accelerating and pushing the major indexes deeper in the red. Things worsened when …
Stuck In A Rut
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets Early aimless meandering turned into a modest rally mid-day, but positive momentum faded in the end with the major indexes diving into the close with nothing to show for. It came as no surprise that defensive sectors, such as consumer staples, led for most of the day, as the ‘weaker growth’ meme was …
Slipping And Sliding Into The Close
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets Yesterday’s “feel good” closing ramp carried over into today’s opening, as the major indexes were getting close to test new record highs. Better-than-expected housing and manufacturing data contribute to the bullish sentiment. While the S&P 500 is within 1% of its record closing high, it may not get there until next week due …