"Successful trading is about finding the rules that work and then sticking to those rules." — William O'Neil
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.
Investors grappled today with reactions to the Fed meeting minutes released late on Wednesday. The minutes showed several officials in the Fed see the possibility that a key employment goal may be met before year-end and would allow tapering to begin. The result was a dip at open followed by a volatile day as the market priced in the impact .
Stocks slid after the Fed release meeting minutes from last month, raising fears that tapering support for the economy could come earlier than previously thought. Most sectors declined, with only Consumer Discretionary holding onto a gain for the day.
Disappointing retail sales data confirmed fears that the rising cases of the Delta variant are slowing down the economic recovery. That sent major indexes lower on Tuesday.
Investors sold off equities in the morning and then seemingly decided there was nowhere else to put the money and bought back assets in the afternoon. Capital moved back into the market, mostly into defensive sectors, sending the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial (DJI) to another set of records.
