Stocks have been ripe for a rest or correction for weeks, and yet the current advance continues to broaden and buying pressure continues to outpace selling pressure. We already know that SPY and QQQ are hitting new highs and leading.
After a breather the last few weeks, the stock market rally appears to be broadening again. Small-caps were lagging the last few weeks as the Russell traded flat. Small-caps got back into gear this week with breakouts and fresh 52-week highs in the Russell 2000 ETF and S&P SmallCap 600 SPDR.
This article will explain the methodology behind the ranking table that uses the Weighted Average Stochastic Score (Score). ETFs trading near their highs on multiple timeframes are typically in uptrends and have high scores, while ETFs trading near their lows
SPY hit a new high for the week and gained 1.02%, which is not considered an outsized advance for one week. The weekly gain exceeded 2% twice in January 2018 and these were outsized advances.
Ten of the eleven sector SPDRs are positive over the last three months. The Real Estate SPDR (XLRE) is the only sector sporting a loss (~.75%), but I am not concerned with relative weakness because the price chart looks bullish overall.
Stocks turned a bit mixed the last two weeks, but the bulk of the evidence remains bullish, both long-term and short-term. Looking at the five biggest equal-weight sectors, we saw new highs in the EW Technology ETF (RYT), EW Industrials ETF (RGI) and EW Healthcare ETF (RYH) this week. Technology led in 2019 and continues to lead in 2020.
Tech-related ETFs are leading the charge here in 2019 with fresh 52-week highs in the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ), Technology SPDR (XLK), Cloud Computing ETF (SKYY), Cyber Security ETF (HACK), Software ETF (IGV) and Mobile Payments ETF (IPAY).
2019 was quite the year with many stocks moving sharply higher from January to July or August. In particular, several Technology stocks moved higher during this period and then corrected into October. We can see this pattern reflected in the Equal-Weight Technology ETF (RYT) as it advanced over 40% and then corrected for three months.
Today’s setups feature an array of stocks from an array of industry groups. The common thread is that the industry groups are strong. These groups include Insurance, Communication Services, Electronic Payments, Medical Devices, Technology and Industrials.
There were plenty of 52-week highs this week. SPY (large-caps), QQQ (large-cap techs), MDY (mid-caps) and IJR (small-caps) hit new highs. Five of the eleven sector SPDRs hit new highs this week, while just two equal-weight sectors hit new highs.
It’s just the second trading day of 2020 and already the markets are setting up for a test. Stock futures are sharply lower as the S&P 500 looks set to open down around 1%. Gold, the Dollar and Treasury bonds are sharply higher as money looks for alternatives. A sharp decline in the S&P 500 could reverse the short-term uptrend and herald the much awaited correction.
There are plenty of strong uptrends in the core ETF list. In fact, 50 of the 60 ETFs in this core list are in uptrends of some sort. The S&P 500 SPDR (SPY), Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) and Technology SPDR (XLK) are in group 1 and in the strongest uptrends. Large-caps and large-cap techs are still the strongest overall.
2019 was a year with lots of distractions, and yet the S&P 500 recorded 52-week highs in six of the last nine months. The index surged 17.7% the first four months and recorded its first 52-week high in late April.
The strong continue to strengthen and the laggards are leading short-term. Overall, this suggest that the bull market continues to broaden and pick up more converts. The S&P 500 SPDR, Nasdaq 100 ETF and Technology SPDR were leading all year and they simply extended their leads with fresh new highs this week. The energy-related ETFs were lagging all year and then surged over the last five weeks.
There is not much change in the broad market picture. The S&P 500 SPDR hit a new high again this week and extended its uptrend. The long-term trend has been up since February and SPY has been on a tear since early October. Barring a 2.22 point decline today (Friday), the S&P 500 SPDR is set to close higher for 11 of the last 12 weeks. It is an extraordinary run (+9.71% since early October), and shows no signs of slowing.
A theme is a fundamental trend that could influence a stock’s price in the coming months, or even years. As powerful as themes seem, they are still secondary to price action. There are many forces driving price movements and we cannot be expected to know them all.
As you can see from the lists above, there were plenty of 52-week highs this week. SPY (large-caps), QQQ (large-cap techs), MDY (mid-caps) and IWM (small-caps) hit new highs. Six of the eleven sector SPDRs hit new highs this week, while seven equal-weight sectors hit new highs.
Today’s setups feature long-term charts and some big trends to watch as we head into 2020. I am also noting themes on some of the charts. In particular, the Amazon theme is AWS, cloud and its growing delivery business, which is expected to be bigger than UPS or FDX by 2022.
Today’s report will focus on the S&P 500, the current advance and a future scenario. I am focused on the S&P 500, and SPY by extension, because this index is the driving force in the stock market. It accounts for some 80% of the US equity market and is the most widely followed benchmark for US stocks. Small-caps and mid-caps are more likely to follow the S&P 500, not the other way around.
Strength in the US stock market is broad-based with 25 of the 46 (53%) equity-related ETFs hitting new highs over the last five days (including EFA). Of the 21 ETFs that did not hit new highs, several led the stock market over the last two weeks with big counter-trend bounces. Four energy-related ETFs were up double digits the last 11 days and XLE (+5.83%) is the leading sector over this time period.
The Gold SPDR (GLD) and the Gold Miners ETF (GDX) have been trending lower and lagging the broader market since September, but the breadth indicators show signs of strength within the Gold Miners ETF. Today we will examine four breadth indicators and analyze the price chart for GDX.