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

3/19/2005

Weekend Sector Scan

It was a pretty lousy week in the major averages, with the Nasdaq moving to match its January lows and threatening its 200-day moving average, and both the S&P 500 and the Dow Industrials breaking back below their 50-day MAs. But how did the individual sectors hold up? As you should know by now, not all stocks behave the same while the major indices are moving around. The key to investing in a difficult market environment is to go where the strength is (if you can find any!), and stay away from the weak areas.

XLE chart Energy stocks were the only group to move higher this week. While the big move has stalled for now, so far the XLE has managed to hold support around 42 as it tries to consolidate.
XLF chart Financial stocks have broken down…
XLK chart …as have the Technology stocks.
XLY chart Consumer Discretionary stocks are in danger of breaking down…
XLP chart …and it looks like the run could be over for Consumer Staples.

Here’s a look at this week’s numbers:

 

Sector Symbol 8 Week % Chg. 4 Week % Chg. 1 Week % Chg. YTD % Chg.
Energy XLE +20.3 +4.1 +2.3 +20.5
Basic Materials XLB +8.0 +0.8 -1.8 +3.7
Utilities XLU +6.2 +0.5 -0.3 +4.7
Industrials XLI +3.6 +0.3 -1.4 -1.6
Health Care XLV +0.7 -2.5 -2.1 -2.0
Consumer Staples XLP -0.6 -1.9 -1.0 -0.2
Consumer Discretionary XLY -0.9 -1.7 -1.0 -5.3
Technology XLK -1.4 -2.2 -2.2 -7.9
Financials XLF -1.9 -2.8 -2.4 -5.1

 

Charts courtesy of StockCharts.com

Posted: 12:57 pm