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

4/16/2005

Weekend Sector Scan

XLV chart You’ve gotta hand it to the health care stocks, the only sector that managed to hold up under the extreme pressure of a horrible week in the market. The drug stocks helped hold the sector up this week, with good news coming from Merck on the earnings front and from Eli Lilly on a victory in a patent lawsuit. Looks like the big pharmas have finally put in a bottom that may hold for a while - the question remains as to whether they will continue to move higher.
XLU chart Utilities are hanging tough, helped by another retreat in interest rates.
XLE chart Energy stocks finally gave up the top spot in the 8-week rankings, with a big breakdown on Friday.
XLK chart Technology stocks continue to melt down, and are now approaching their lows of last August.

 

Here’s where we stand after this week’s blowup:

 

Sector Symbol 8 Week % Chg. 4 Week % Chg. 1 Week % Chg. YTD % Chg.
Health Care XLV +1.6 +4.1 +1.1 +2.0
Utilities XLU 0.0 -0.5 -1.5 +4.2
Consumer Staples XLP -2.6 -0.7 -1.0 -1.0
Industrials XLI -5.1 -5.3 -4.2 -6.8
Energy XLE -5.5 -9.3 -7.0 +9.4
Financials XLF -6.9 -4.3 -2.1 -9.2
Technology XLK -7.1 -5.0 -5.7 -12.5
Consumer Discretionary XLY -7.5 -5.8 -4.5 -10.8
Basic Materials XLB -10.0 -10.7 -8.2 -7.4

 

Charts courtesy of StockCharts.com

Posted: 11:08 am