The Time Has Come

All good things must end. And as it turns out, even some of the mediocre things must end at some time too.

After a few minutes of careful consideration (ok, maybe longer), I have decided that the upcoming Fourth of July holiday will mark the end of regular updates here at BMB.

I could go through a long list of reasons (and there is a list) — but the biggest reason of all is that after nearly 10 years of doing this, I simply don’t have much interest in doing it any longer. Nor do I have any real compelling reason to continue. As most of you can probably tell, I’ve really only been going through the motions and doing the bare minimum for quite some time now. Times change and people change, and I think the time has come for me to move on and do other things.

I will still be keeping an eye on the markets and making a trade now and then, but I will no longer be posting daily wraps and weekend updates. Quite frankly, I don’t even pay that much attention to them anymore, and would have stopped doing them some time ago if the process hadn’t been significantly automated.

I want to thank my small circle of regular readers over the years, especially those who have taken the time to leave comments. The blog has been an experience, for sure — mostly good, some not so good. I’ve learned a lot, and it has put me in cyber-touch with some of the big names in the business — I’d like to thank a few of those folks for their kindness as well: great guys like Gary Kaltbaum, Dave Landry, and Scott Bleier.

Thank you all for your support over the past nine-plus years — you can find contact info on my ‘about’ page.

Market Wrap

Dow Industrials 17068.26 +92.02 +0.54%
S&P 500 1985.44 +10.82 +0.55%
Nasdaq Comp. 4485.92 +28.19 +0.63%
Russell 2000 1208.15 +8.65 +0.72%
NYSE Comp. 11104.73 +54.39 +0.49%
Nasdaq 100 3923.01 +23.74 +0.61%
Dow Transports 8294.74 +62.15 +0.75%
Dow Utilities 554.27 -5.92 -1.06%

View Major Index charts

Internals were positive on lighter half-day holiday volume. Advances/declines were 7 to 5 on the NYSE and 2 to 1 on the Nasdaq, with up/down volume 7 to 3 on the NYSE and 11 to 5 on the Nasdaq. New highs/lows were 191/6 on the NYSE and 120/18 on the Nasdaq.

Leaders — Metals (+1.36%), Broker Dealers (+1.34%), Retailers (+1.25%), Banks (+1.02%), Paper (+1.01%), Homebuilders (+0.92%), Disk Drives (+0.88%), Semis (+0.74%)
Laggards — Utilities (-1.11%), REITs (-0.37%), Natural Gas (-0.31%), Gold/Silver (+0.14%), Drugs (+0.14%), Transport (+0.22%), Oil (+0.28%), Network (+0.37%)

An extensive visual representation of the day’s winners and losers can be found at Finviz.com.

Treasury Yields — 6 Month: 0.05 %,  2 Year: 0.48 %,  5 Year: 1.69 %,  10 Year: 2.62 %,  30 Year: 3.46 %

Energy Prices — Crude oil: $103.77/barrel,  Gasoline: $3.02/gallon,  Natural Gas: $4.37/mmBTU

US Dollar Index — 80.205

Precious Metals — Gold: $1319.70/ounce,  Silver: $21.10/ounce,  Platinum: $1496.00/ounce

BMB Note:  

Notice

Hey! Look over there — I think I see Elvis leaving the building…

 

Market Wrap

Dow Industrials 16976.24 +20.17 +0.12%
S&P 500 1974.62 +1.30 +0.07%
Nasdaq Comp. 4457.73 -0.92 -0.02%
Russell 2000 1199.55 -6.40 -0.53%
NYSE Comp. 11050.38 +3.77 +0.03%
Nasdaq 100 3899.27 +4.94 +0.13%
Dow Transports 8232.59 -29.11 -0.35%
Dow Utilities 560.19 -10.66 -1.87%

View Major Index charts

Internals were mixed on lighter volume. Advances/declines were 3 to 5 on the NYSE and 4 to 5 on the Nasdaq, with up/down just better than flat on the NYSE and just worse than flat on the Nasdaq. New highs/lows were 194/8 on the NYSE and 108/17 on the Nasdaq.

Leaders — Gold/Silver (+1.40%), Comp. Hardware (+0.87%), Metals (+0.76%), Commodities (+0.75%), Network (+0.60%), Drugs (+0.56%), Disk Drives (+0.55%), Biotechs (+0.26%)
Laggards — Airlines (-2.33%), Utilities (-2.03%), Transport (-1.64%), Paper (-1.06%), Homebuilders (-0.94%), Defense (-0.84%), Insurance (-0.76%), Natural Gas (-0.56%)

An extensive visual representation of the day’s winners and losers can be found at Finviz.com.

Treasury Yields — 6 Month: 0.05 %,  2 Year: 0.48 %,  5 Year: 1.69 %,  10 Year: 2.63 %,  30 Year: 3.46 %

Energy Prices — Crude oil: $104.16/barrel,  Gasoline: $3.02/gallon,  Natural Gas: $4.37/mmBTU

US Dollar Index — 79.958

Precious Metals — Gold: $1325.70/ounce,  Silver: $21.13/ounce,  Platinum: $1502.00/ounce

BMB Note:  

Notice

…1…

Half-day of trading tomorrow before the flag-waving holiday — jobs number out in the morning.

Market Wrap

Dow Industrials 16956.07 +129.47 +0.77%
S&P 500 1973.32 +13.09 +0.67%
Nasdaq Comp. 4458.65 +50.47 +1.14%
Russell 2000 1205.94 +12.98 +1.09%
NYSE Comp. 11046.64 +67.21 +0.61%
Nasdaq 100 3894.33 +44.85 +1.17%
Dow Transports 8261.70 +59.40 +0.72%
Dow Utilities 570.85 -5.13 -0.89%

View Major Index charts

Internals were positive, with volume better than yesterday. Advances/declines were 2 to 1 on the NYSE and 7 to 3 on the Nasdaq, with up/down volume 2 to 1 on the NYSE and 7 to 2 on the Nasdaq. New highs/lows were 365/6 on the NYSE and 203/17 on the Nasdaq.

Leaders — Airlines (+2.39%), Biotechs (+2.17%), Comp. Hardware (+1.87%), Semis (+1.38%), Software (+1.15%), Defense (+1.15%), Transport (+1.13%), Insurance (+1.03%)
Laggards — Utilities (-0.98%), Gold/Silver (-0.91%), Natural Gas (-0.44%), Oil Services (-0.09%), Commodities (+0.01%), Telecoms (+0.14%), Metals (+0.19%), Chemicals (+0.25%)

An extensive visual representation of the day’s winners and losers can be found at Finviz.com.

Treasury Yields — 6 Month: 0.05 %,  2 Year: 0.46 %,  5 Year: 1.64 %,  10 Year: 2.56 %,  30 Year: 3.40 %

Energy Prices — Crude oil: $105.40/barrel,  Gasoline: $3.04/gallon,  Natural Gas: $4.45/mmBTU

US Dollar Index — 79.809

Precious Metals — Gold: $1326.00/ounce,  Silver: $20.97/ounce,  Platinum: $1507.00/ounce

BMB Note:  

Notice

…2…

Market Wrap

Dow Industrials 16826.60 -25.24 -0.15%
S&P 500 1960.23 -0.73 -0.04%
Nasdaq Comp. 4408.18 +10.25 +0.23%
Russell 2000 1192.96 +3.46 +0.29%
NYSE Comp. 10970.25 -4.18 -0.04%
Nasdaq 100 3849.48 +5.04 +0.13%
Dow Transports 8202.30 +26.78 +0.33%
Dow Utilities 575.98 +4.27 +0.75%

View Major Index charts

Internals were positive, with volume lighter than Friday. Advances/declines were 3 to 2 on the NYSE and 9 to 7 on the Nasdaq, with up/down volume 5 to 4 on the NYSE and 5 to 3 on the Nasdaq. New highs/lows were 273/9 on the NYSE and 107/21 on the Nasdaq.

Leaders — Paper (+2.22%), Gold/Silver (+1.78%), Semis (+1.06%), Utilities (+0.84%), Metals (+0.74%), Comp. Hardware (+0.70%), Oil Services (+0.70%), Natural Gas (+0.69%)
Laggards — Defense (-0.74%), Airlines (-0.48%), Transport (-0.38%), Drugs (-0.31%), Oil (-0.16%), Network (-0.16%), REITs (-0.09%), Banks (+0.01%)

An extensive visual representation of the day’s winners and losers can be found at Finviz.com.

Treasury Yields — 6 Month: 0.04 %,  2 Year: 0.45 %,  5 Year: 1.61 %,  10 Year: 2.52 %,  30 Year: 3.35 %

Energy Prices — Crude oil: $105.34/barrel,  Gasoline: $3.07/gallon,  Natural Gas: $4.46/mmBTU

US Dollar Index — 79.792

Precious Metals — Gold: $1327.20/ounce,  Silver: $21.00/ounce,  Platinum: $1483.00/ounce

BMB Note:  

Notice

In 3…

What’s Hot, What’s Not

 

Best Performing Industries
Last Week Last 4 Weeks Last 8 Weeks Year To Date
Housing ($HGX) +1.9% Gold & Silver ($XAU) +16.5% Biotech ($BTK) +10.8% Airlines ($XAL) +22.4%
Comp. Tech. ($XCI) +1.3% Disk Drives ($DDX) +11.4% Disk Drives +9.7% Biotech +18.6%
Commodities ($CRX) +1.2% Metals & Mining (XME) +6.9% Semiconductors ($SOX) +9.3% Gold & Silver +17.8%
Utilities ($UTY) +0.9% Biotech +6.9% Transportation ($TRANQ) +9.2% Semiconductors +17.6%
Disk Drives +0.8% Oil Services ($OSX) +6.1% Software ($GSO) +8.1% Natural Gas ($XNG) +16.7%

 

 

Worst Performing Industries
Last Week Last 4 Weeks Last 8 Weeks Year To Date
Oil ($XOI) -1.9% Telecom ($XTC) -1.6% Steel ($DJUSST) -3.0% Steel -7.4%
Defense ($DFX) -1.9% Networking ($NWX) -0.4% Metals & Mining -1.2% Retail (XRT) -1.7%
Brokers ($XBD) -1.1% Chemicals ($DJUSCH) +0.1% Defense +1.5% Brokers -1.0%
Chemicals -1.0% Airlines +0.6% Insurance ($INSR) +1.7% Paper ($DJUSPP) -0.6%
Semiconductors -1.0% REITs ($DJR) +0.7% Brokers +1.9% Metals & Mining -0.3%

 

Weekend Sector Scan

Notice

With the Fourth of July holiday fast approaching, this will the the final weekend of summary posts here at BMB. Thank you again for taking the time to visit over the years.

A mixed bag for the sector SPDRs this week, but many are still hanging around the highs:

 


 

The numbers as we put the first half of the year behind us:

 

Sector Symbol 8 Wk % Chg 4 Wk % Chg 1 Wk % Chg YTD % Chg
Energy XLE +6.7% +4.9% -0.9% +13.1%
Health Care XLV +5.7% +2.1% +0.6% +10.1%
Technology XLK +5.4% +1.4% +0.7% +7.2%
Basic Materials XLB +4.0% +0.8% -0.3% +7.1%
Consumer Discretionary XLY +3.9% +1.7% +1.0% -0.1%
Financials XLF +3.5% +2.1% -0.3% +4.2%
Utilities XLU +3.3% +2.7% +1.0% +15.6%
Industrials XLI +2.8% +0.4% -1.3% +4.0%
Consumer Staples XLP +1.0% -0.9% -1.3% +4.0%

 

Charts courtesy of StockCharts.com

Market Wrap

Dow Industrials 16851.84 +5.71 +0.03%
S&P 500 1960.96 +3.74 +0.19%
Nasdaq Comp. 4397.93 +18.88 +0.43%
Russell 2000 1189.49 +8.78 +0.74%
NYSE Comp. 10974.44 +24.99 +0.23%
Nasdaq 100 3844.44 +17.53 +0.46%
Dow Transports 8175.40 +25.43 +0.31%
Dow Utilities 571.71 +1.72 +0.30%

View Major Index charts

Internals were positive, volume was much heavier — Russell index rebalancing. Advances/declines were 2 to 1 on the NYSE and 2 to 1 on the Nasdaq, with up/down volume 4 to 3 on the NYSE and 3 to 2 on the Nasdaq. New highs/lows were 215/10 on the NYSE and 82/31 on the Nasdaq.

Leaders — Oil Services (+1.16%), Disk Drives (+1.06%), Network (+1.02%), Telecoms (+0.76%), Airlines (+0.65%), Paper (+0.64%), REITs (+0.64%), Comp. Tech (+0.63%)
Laggards — Chemicals (-0.49%), Oil (-0.22%), Drugs (-0.09%), Transport (-0.05%), Metals (-0.02%), Natural Gas (+0.05%), Gold/Silver (+0.13%), Broker Dealers (+0.15%)

An extensive visual representation of the day’s winners and losers can be found at Finviz.com.

Treasury Yields — 6 Month: 0.03 %,  2 Year: 0.46 %,  5 Year: 1.62 %,  10 Year: 2.53 %,  30 Year: 3.35 %

Energy Prices — Crude oil: $105.72/barrel,  Gasoline: $3.07/gallon,  Natural Gas: $4.41/mmBTU

US Dollar Index — 80.022

Precious Metals — Gold: $1316.60/ounce,  Silver: $20.93/ounce,  Platinum: $1473.00/ounce

BMB Note:  

Notice

Market Wrap

Dow Industrials 16846.13 -21.38 -0.13%
S&P 500 1957.22 -2.31 -0.12%
Nasdaq Comp. 4379.05 -0.71 -0.02%
Russell 2000 1180.71 -1.97 -0.17%
NYSE Comp. 10949.43 -13.44 -0.12%
Nasdaq 100 3826.91 -0.42 -0.01%
Dow Transports 8149.97 -14.50 -0.18%
Dow Utilities 569.99 +0.82 +0.14%

View Major Index charts

Internals were mixed on a bit lighter volume. Advances/declines were 10 to 9 on the NYSE but 9 to 10 on the Nasdaq, with up/down volume flat on the NYSE and 10 to 9 on the Nasdaq. New highs/lows were 166/18 on the NYSE and 48/31 on the Nasdaq.

Leaders — Metals (+0.87%), Gold/Silver (+0.83%), Oil Services (+0.58%), Commodities (+0.57%), Transport (+0.29%), Network (+0.24%), Utilities (+0.20%), Comp. Hardware (+0.17%)
Laggards — Disk Drives (-0.73%), Insurance (-0.45%), Semis (-0.41%), Chemicals (-0.41%), Homebuilders (-0.34%), Telecoms (-0.31%), REITs (-0.31%), Banks (-0.31%)

An extensive visual representation of the day’s winners and losers can be found at Finviz.com.

Treasury Yields — 6 Month: 0.03 %,  2 Year: 0.46 %,  5 Year: 1.63 %,  10 Year: 2.53 %,  30 Year: 3.35 %

Energy Prices — Crude oil: $105.62/barrel,  Gasoline: $3.08/gallon,  Natural Gas: $4.43/mmBTU

US Dollar Index — 80.224

Precious Metals — Gold: $1316.70/ounce,  Silver: $21.11/ounce,  Platinum: $1464.00/ounce

BMB Note:  

Notice

Market Wrap

Dow Industrials 16867.51 +49.38 +0.29%
S&P 500 1959.53 +9.55 +0.49%
Nasdaq Comp. 4379.76 +29.40 +0.68%
Russell 2000 1182.68 +9.44 +0.80%
NYSE Comp. 10962.53 +40.54 +0.37%
Nasdaq 100 3827.33 +27.80 +0.73%
Dow Transports 8164.47 +71.39 +0.88%
Dow Utilities 569.17 +3.31 +0.58%

View Major Index charts

Internals were positive on a little lighter volume. Advances/declines were 11 to 5 on the NYSE and 12 to 7 on the Nasdaq, with up/down volume 2 to 1 on the NYSE and 7 to 3 on the Nasdaq. New highs/lows were 156/26 on the NYSE and 52/32 on the Nasdaq.

Leaders — Metals (+1.04%), Commodities (+1.00%), Natural Gas (+0.99%), Airlines (+0.98%), Drugs (+0.98%), Oil Services (+0.94%), Chemicals (+0.91%), Transport (+0.91%)
Laggards — Oil (-0.34%), REITs (-0.07%), Biotechs (+0.01%), Insurance (+0.05%), Paper (+0.19%), Defense (+0.22%), Network (+0.25%), Comp. Hardware (+0.26%)

An extensive visual representation of the day’s winners and losers can be found at Finviz.com.

Treasury Yields — 6 Month: 0.02 %,  2 Year: 0.42 %,  5 Year: 1.65 %,  10 Year: 2.56 %,  30 Year: 3.38 %

Energy Prices — Crude oil: $106.62/barrel,  Gasoline: $3.10/gallon,  Natural Gas: $4.56/mmBTU

US Dollar Index — 80.214

Precious Metals — Gold: $1319.60/ounce,  Silver: $21.05/ounce,  Platinum: $1467.00/ounce

BMB Note:  

Notice