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

8/6/2005

Weekend Sector Scan

A rough week for most of the sectors, and just as BMB suspected, we’re starting to see a few sectors slip into the red over the longer periods. Only two sectors managed to put up green numbers this week, with tech stocks edging above the flat line for the year. Utilities and Financials struggled with higher interest rates, and Consumer Discretionary stocks got hurt by poor performance in the retail sector.

XLE chart Energy stocks - well, they just keep on going.
XLK chart Tech stocks, as a group, have staged a heckuva comeback on the year to get back to even, and are holding their own right now.
XLU chart Utilities had a bad day Friday, and remain susceptible to interest rate worries, but haven’t exactly begun to roll over yet.
XLV chart Health care stocks haven’t been terribly impressive from a momentum standpoint, but as a group, they remain strong.
XLY chart The Consumer Discretionary stocks is an area I’d be careful with. If the current weakness in retail stocks gathers steam, this group could see some trouble.
XLF chart Ditto the Financials. If interest rates continue to climb, this sector will feel the pain. Friday’s selloff has already brought the XLF just below its 50-day moving average.

 

Here are this week’s numbers:

 

Sector Symbol 8 Week % Chg. 4 Week % Chg. 1 Week % Chg. YTD % Chg.
Energy XLE +10.9 +4.7 +1.7 +33.2
Technology XLK +4.9 +3.5 +0.5 +0.2
Utilities XLU +3.9 -0.3 -1.1 +14.6
Consumer Discretionary XLY +3.0 +1.9 -1.5 -3.3
Basic Materials XLB +1.6 +3.3 -0.2 -3.8
Health Care XLV +1.4 +0.9 -0.6 +4.5
Financials XLF +1.0 -0.8 -1.0 -2.9
Industrials XLI -0.4 +0.7 -1.6 -3.4
Consumer Staples XLP -1.0 +0.6 -1.5 +0.3

 

Charts courtesy of StockCharts.com

Posted: 10:34 am