STTG Market Recap: A Steady Move Higher?

Stocks followed up Thursday's sharp reversal with a positive add on session. If the pattern of the past two corrections / rallies plays out, we'll see a period of 2-3 weeks of near vertical move up in the market with nearly no rest. That is not to say history has to repeat itself, but that has been the recent pattern. If so, today would only be day 2 of this vertical move. The S&P 500 gained 0.63% and the NASDAQ 0.83%. At this point most think there will be a budget deal soon that includes kicking the can down the road to January 2015 - so one big wrench in the spoke would be if that does not happen obviously. In economic data, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment fell in October to its weakest in nine months and was below expectations.

The moves on the indexes are self apparent; it has been quite a week - at the close Tuesday the S&P 500 had already been down 2% for the week, but within 3 days it finished up 1% on the week.



The volatility index continued to crumble, a positive for the bullish case.

The NYSE McClellan Oscillator; at -60 mid week is now positive!

Gold and silver had rough weeks.




Looking at sectors the first groups to come out of this correction in the best shape appear to be industrials (XLI), technology (XLK), and energy (XLE). That is a quite positive group of sectors that would favor a 'pro-growth'/cyclical outlook.







Keep in mind the heart of earnings season begins next week and a lot of big names will report in the coming 2 weeks.

An interesting story to highlight from CNBC that estimates using cash rather than plastic / electronic costs Americans about $1700 per family

But there is a cost to using cash, in both time and money, that's not always considered. Those costs include fees to use a check-cashing service, withdraw from a non-network ATM or access wages loaded onto a payroll card. A new study by Tufts University, The Cost of Cash in the United States, puts the price tag at $200 billion a year for consumers and businesses. The cost of cash is about $1,739 a year for the average family.

Original post