Category: Market Summary

The majority of global equity markets traded with little conviction in either direction as they continue to trade at their all time highs. After hitting fresh all time highs Friday, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed nearly unchanged for the week. The lack of direction in these indices can be attributed to the shorter trading week due to the US Thanksgiving holiday. Financial markets in the US were closed Thursday and closed early on Friday for the long weekend celebrations. The holiday did not help the daily trading ranges, which appear to be shrinking on an intraday basis. The Toronto Stock Exchange index, TSX, closed well into the negative on the week. The downturn in the TSX comes as the index traded at its highs for the year for over the past month. The TSX is predominantly made up of agricultural, metals and energy companies. As … Continue reading Recap: Week Ending November 29, 2013

It was a week for the books as both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 stock indices closed at record levels. The Dow Jones closed above the 16,000 for the first time, and the S&P closed about 1,800 for the first time in its history. Both the S&P and Dow have posted 7 straight weeks of gains. Despite starting the trading week off on a sour note, equities in both the United States and Canada pushed higher later in the week. It must be noted that the NASDAQ 100 was unable to fully recover from the early in the week selloff closing slightly negative on the week. The daily range of all the major indices continues to be the same, indicating that the rally still has some legs to the upside. The TSX has traded in a 200 point range for the past 18 trading days, unable to … Continue reading Recap: Week Ending November 22, 2013

US stocks rallied for the 6th consecutive week with both the S&P500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at all time highs. The rally comes as the NASDSAQ closes at a 13 year high Friday. This record close for the Dow marks the 38th time this year that it has closed in uncharted territory. It must be noted that all three major indices closed at or very close to their weekly highs. Closing at their weekly highs signals that buyers are still strong and active, showing that the potential for upside is still extremely high. This being said, the S&P has not had any profit taking in 5 weeks, making investors question how much longer this rally can be sustained. The rally can only be amplified by comments made by Janet Yellen. Yellen is expected to replace Ben Bernanke as the chairman of the US Federal Reserve. This week Yellen … Continue reading Recap: Week Ending November 15, 2013

Markets ended the week mixed on once again uncertain news of taper. The Dow Jones Industrials lead the way higher closing up 0.9% on the week; the S&P gained nearly half that up 0.4% on the week. The NASDAQ 100 index lagged on the week, closing in the red. The Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX, closed positive on the week. US stocks are experiencing very uncertain times regarding fed policy. It is believed by many that the most uncertain times are occurring in financial markets as the US Federal Reserve continues to threaten a possible slow down to their bond buying program, quantitative Easing (QE). Currently the Fed is buying bonds at a rate of $85B a month with the intention of keeping interest rates low. With interest rates at lows investors and businesses are able to refinance and expand their operations, in turn improving the economy. As the Fed threatens … Continue reading Recap: Week Ending November 8, 2013

As interest rates remain at record low rates, US stocks continue to push into new all time highs. This week both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 made fresh all time highs. The Dow has finally caught up to the pace of the S&P which has led the rally from the lows of October to new highs. On the other hand, the NASDAQ 100, representing for the most part the tech sector, stumbled around multiyear highs as it continues to trade in consolidation. For the past 9 trading sessions, the NASDAQ 100 has traded in a tight range. Meanwhile in Canada the Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX, made new year highs mid week but sold off Thursday and Friday. The tumble in the TSX can be attributed to a pullback in the price of gold. As the TSX has a strong presence of commodity securities, the sell off in … Continue reading Recap: Week Ending November 1, 2013

US stocks closed at all time highs this week, proving that the rally has no apparent limits. The S&P 500 hit all time highs to close the week out at 1759.77. With the close of today, the S&P has gained 23.4% for 2013. To the surprise of many, the Dow Jones Industrials rallied the hardest rising over 1% on the week following the S&P’s 0.835% gain on the week. The Dow has not been able to maintain the gains seen in both the NASDAQ and S&P as it is still 0.90% from making all time highs where the S&P which is currently in uncharted territory. The US markets were also rocked by historical economic figures released by the US government following the lockout. As the Government of the United States locked out workers, many of the economic releases were not broadcasted. This past week saw the release of the unemployment … Continue reading Recap: Week Ending October 25, 2013

For the first time in many weeks, all global equity markets followed my DeGroote MarketWatch closed higher! The positive close comes on the heels of news out of Washington DC that the debt ceiling talks are headed in the right direction. After pricing in what appeared to be a default by the US Federal Government, equities rallied hard. Buyers took control of the market and moved it to the upside, fast and aggressively. The strength of the buyers can be seen when the market closed on both Thursday and Friday at its daily highs. Despite gaining more than 300 points Thursday, the market continued to move higher Friday. The spike higher can be accredited mainly to a heavily oversold market. Hitting buy stocks, which push the market higher, can also take strong credit for the rapid move to the upside. It is believed by many traders that Goldman Sachs, a … Continue reading Recap: Week Ending October 11, 2013

US stocks closed mixed on the week following news driven markets brought upon through Washington. The NASDAQ 100 continued to lead the way higher with the Dow showing strong downside closing well into the red on the week. On the other hand, the S&P500 closed near breakeven as the lack of correlation between markets continue. As the correlation breaks down, the moves in stocks are expected to be muted. With the lack of in sync moves taking place, equities have stutter stepped for the past few weeks. The divergent situation is even stronger in Europe where the FTSE closed down 90 basis points of a percent on the week, and the Frankfurt DAX closed up nearly 0.70%. As this lack of direction continues across global markets, equities will trade in tight ranges with little conviction in either direction. The chop trade also carried across into the metals market where gold … Continue reading Recap: Week Ending October 4, 2013

US stocks finished lower on the week following hitting all time highs in weeks prior. All three major indices closed in the red, with the S&P 500 opening Monday on its high of the week and falling from there. A similar story was seen in the Dow Jones Industrials, where selling started early in the week, and continued pushing the index to close for the week near its lows. Meanwhile, the NASDAQ 100 Index barely slipped into the red on the week following a weak push to the upside. Despite downside seen in both the Dow and S&P, the NASDAQ appears to be resilient continuing to push further up. It appears that the lack of correlation between US equities is muting any move to the upside. The Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX, closed slightly in the positive on the week. The lack of movement in the TSX this week comes after … Continue reading Recap: Week Ending September 27, 2013

US equity markets rocketed to new highs this week following news out the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday that the current level of bond buying will remain constant until further notice. Following the news from the FED both the Dow Jones Industrials and S&P 500 hit all new time highs with the Dow peaking at 15,709 and the S&P topping out at 1,709. Global equity markets rallied on the news with both London and German markets closing in the green for the week. The news from the FED comes after months of rumors and possible hints from FED Chairman Ben Bernanke that the current $85B a month bond buying quantitative easing program may slow in September. During the course of the summer, US equities flip flopped in both directions unsure about the direction and further and intentions of the Federal Reserve. Both investors and traders are breathing a sigh of … Continue reading Recap: Week Ending September 20, 2013