On Break

11/16/2008

BMB On Break

It’s time again for a little BMB R&R, especially with the market behaving as bizarrely as it’s been. Maybe if we stop watching it start to behave a little better…

Posting will be very light and variable over the course of this week, but we’ll put up an open thread each market day for our readers to comment on the day’s market activity or to post any interesting links they might run across.

Check the space below for whatever the latest might be during this ‘off’ time, and please visit the various sites in the ‘Links’ and ‘Regular Stops’ for up-to-date market news and analysis.

BMB will be back in full swing by next weekend.

Posted: 1:00 pm

3/12/2005

Weekend Sector Scan

All of the sectors had rough weeks, particularly the energy stocks, which had a lot to give back. Industrials held up the best, and none of the sectors have really broken down yet. Financials, technology and consumer discretionary have held their trading ranges for now.

XLE chart Energy stocks had a tough week as investors took profits, although a pullback was expected and, quite frankly, necessary. Expect the XLE to spend some time trying to establish some sort of near-term bottom here.
XLB chart Materials stocks may try to hang on to their very near-term support here around 31.
XLU chart The utilities took a hit when higher interest rates came into play, but don’t appear to be in serious trouble just yet.

Here’s a look at this week’s numbers:

 

Sector Symbol 8 Week % Chg. 4 Week % Chg. 1 Week % Chg. YTD % Chg.
Energy XLE +17.4 +5.9 -4.7 +17.8
Basic Materials XLB +8.6 +5.5 -1.8 +5.7
Utilities XLU +6.2 +0.6 -1.6 +5.0
Industrials XLI +3.1 +1.3 -0.7 -0.2
Health Care XLV +1.8 +0.8 -1.5 0.0
Consumer Staples XLP +0.3 -1.2 -2.0 +0.7
Financials XLF -0.2 -2.9 -1.7 -2.8
Technology XLK -1.6 -1.4 -1.1 -5.8
Consumer Discretionary XLY -2.2 -1.0 -1.5 -4.4

 

Charts courtesy of StockCharts.com

Posted: 11:05 am