"Successful trading is about finding the rules that work and then sticking to those rules." — William O'Neil
Last week’s fears melted away to optimism. The Nasdaq rallied to a new all-time high and record weekly close. The S&P 500 marked yet another record close, which has become a common occurrence this year. Yet, the bigger story was with small-caps and the Russell 2000, leading the market higher and building some structural support in the market to continue the rally in the final quarter of the year.
A mix of growth and cyclical sectors topped the list this week. Defensive s all sectors declined for the week after topping the sector list last week.
A dovish stance from the Fed’s Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium sent stocks higher today. Gains were broadly shared across the market, with small caps leading the way. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs.
Indexes moved lower for the first time in several days as investors became defensive after slightly higher than expected jobless claims data.
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 had another set of record closes while the small-cap Russell 2000 continues to outperform as the market heads higher. Economic news was slightly bullish , with core durable goods and crude oil inventories showing more demand than expected.
Small-caps led the markets higher for another day, giving indexes their fourth day of gains after last week’s dip. Even meme stocks were back in play with huge gains from GME and AMC .
On Monday, the market turned optimistic after the FDA fully approved Pfizer’s vaccine, adding a third day of gains off of last week’s pivot low and ending with a record for the Nasdaq. Gains were broadly shared across stocks, and the defensive sectors dropped to the bottom of the sector list.
Fears of a slowing economic recovery among rising cases of the Delta variant drove investors through a volatile week in the stock market. To make things worse, the Fed meeting minutes indicated that tapering could begin within this year. Despite the bad news, investors stuck with equities but rotated into defensive sectors.
Defensive sectors led throughout this week as the Market absorbed data that showed a slowing economic recovery and meeting minutes from the Fed that indicated tapering could begin this year.
The market shrugged off worries about the Fed tapering of economic support to rally higher today. While the indexes were still below recent highs, the day was an excellent structural day, with gains shared broadly across the market.
