US equity markets yet again tacked on some serious gains led by Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) (Grandpa Russell) which was up more than 8% for the week. It reduced its YTD loss to just- 9.355 while the S&P 500 is now basically flat. The Dow Jones Industrials, the S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 all gapped higher and continued to close strong. Risk-off / safety plays got left in the dust and there was not one country fund that was down on the week.
This monster rally was all on the heels of a robust jobs report (released Friday morning) that showed unemployment is just 13.3%. Ok, not really because the Labor Bureau decided that you are employed if you received a stimulus check due to being laid off. You have to love the creativity. Even after adjusting the unemployment rate up to a more realistic 16%, the numbers still look better than expected. Considering the unprecedented amount of bailout money, it is possible that Mr. Market has it right. Maybe the second wave of the virus will only be ankle deep.
This Past Week's Highlights:
- Risk Gauges improved significantly from their already bullish reading
- Risk-off plays such as Gold, Gold Miners, and Bonds got hit hard
- The NASDAQ 100 made new all-time highs
- IWM cleared its 200 daily moving average and could be setting up for longer-term leadership
- Volume patterns continue to show accumulation across all key US equity benchmarks
- Semi’s broke out to all-time highs
- Oil and the energy sector roared, up + 15.7% for the week
- Value and Small Caps outperformed
- Volume has picked up, showing bullish accumulation
- Volatility ($vix.x) broke down and closed under it 200 DMA for the first time since mid-February
- Market Internals and Short-Term Sentiment are both running rich with the number of stocks trading above both their 10- and 50-day moving averages showing overbought