Market-ETF Report – Large Techs Lead – Pennants/Flags Abound – XLU-XLP-KIE Set Up

Today’s report covers commodity ETFs and the Bitcoin ETF (IBIT), simply because they are leading in 2025. Year-to-date, nine of the top ten performing ETFs are commodity or crypto related. My focus list has 74 ETFs covering equities, commodities, bonds and crypto. The Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA) is the only equity ETF in the top ten right now. The table below shows the 20 ETFs with

SPY, QQQ and XLK are leading the surge as their gap-breakouts hold. The broader market, however, remains mixed as small-caps and mid-caps lag. New highs are starting to appear with cybersecurity, defense and telecom leading the way. We are also seeing relative strength in blockchain and software. Precious metals remain strong with platinum joining the breakout parade. Copper perked up and Bitcoin is trading near new highs.

The broad market environment is mixed, at best, and still bearish at worst. Keep in mind that SPY and QQQ are part of the broad market environment, but they are large-cap driven ETFs that do not always reflect conditions under the surface. Breadth indicators reflect conditions for the average stock. Just over 50% of S&P 500 stocks are above their 150 and 200 day SMAs. This

Here we go again. Negative tariff news on Friday weighed on stocks, and positive tariff news lifted stocks on Monday-Tuesday. Last week’s drop and today’s pop do not change the situation in the markets. SPY and QQQ broke out with gap-surges on May 12th. Even though May 12th represents another tariff-related event, these breakouts and gaps are holding, and bullish until proven otherwise. Short-term, stocks were

PGM stands for the platinum group of metals, which includes ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium and platinum. These metals have similar properties and are usually found together when mining. Palladium is a key metal for catalytic converters, and is also used in electronics and dental alloys. Platinum is mostly used for jewelry, and also for catalytic converters.

Stocks were hit as SPY fell 1.69%, its largest 1-day decline since April 21st, which was just before the Zweig Breadth Thrust. We do not need to look far for the reasons. First, stocks were short-term overbought after the surge from April 22nd to May 20th. SPY was up over 16% in 20 days. Second, the 30-yr Treasury Yield surged above 5% and hit a new high

Stocks started improving with the Zweig Breadth Thrust on April 24th and continued with a bullish 5/200 cross. Despite a strong advance, breadth has yet to expand to levels that signal a bull market. SPY and QQQ are holding their gaps and 200-day SMAs, but short-term overbought after big moves. We will show the key levels to watch. Elsewhere, year-to-date performance highlights the true leaders and metals are perking up.

It seems as if there are conflicting signals in the stock market. The Zweig Breadth Thrust triggered bullish on April 24th and the 5/200 Filter Cross triggered bullish on May 15th, but the long-term trend and breadth indicators remain decidedly bearish. NDX %Above 200-day SMA ($NDXA200R) is the only indicator (of 15) to trigger bullish.

The bullish evidence continues to build, but the long-term breadth indicators have yet to turn net bullish. SPY and QQQ showed signs of capitulation in early April and rebounded into mid April. A Zweig Breadth Thrust triggered on April 24th and several other thrust indicators turned bullish in May. We also saw SPY, QQQ and RSP break their 200-day SMAs. These are bullish indications for large-caps and, perhaps

SPY and QQQ hit their moment of truth in early May – and then powered through their March support breaks with gap-surges on Monday. These were the moves that reversed the long-term downtrends. Even though the long-term breadth indicators have yet to signal a bull market, SPY and QQQ are in uptrends, as our four big sectors. This is clearly positive for stocks, and

Stocks extended after the Zweig Breadth Thrust signals in late April with SPY and QQQ negating their March support breaks. Tech-related ETFs made sharp U-turns with leading moves over the last five weeks. Despite impressive gains, these ETFs are short-term overbought. Elsewhere, gold and silver are consolidating after big gains, IBIT extended on its breakout and ITA hit a new high.

Stocks plunged in historic fashion with long-term breadth indicators reaching extremes in early April. Stocks then surged in historic fashion with a Zweig Breadth Thrust and steep advance. The plunge is like stretching a rubber band and the rebound is the effect of letting go. The further the stretch, the bigger the snap back.

The thrust continued on Monday with SPY surging 3.3% and the percentage of S&P 1500 stocks above their 50-day SMA hitting its highest level since December 2nd. The chart below shows an update for the S&P 1500 Zweig Breadth Thrust strategy. A bullish thrust triggered on April 24th and SPY extended above

SPY and QQQ are in a short-term uptrend that include a Zweig Breadth Thrust on April 24th. Even though the long-term trends and breadth indicators remain bearish, this short-term uptrend remains in play as long as the wedges rise in SPY and QQQ. As noted in these first charts, I am looking for confirmation from S&P 1500 Percent Above 50-day SMA ($SUPA50R) as the

The weight of the evidence is mixed, at best for the stock market. Our long-term trend and breadth indicators are bearish, but we did get short-term thrust signals towards the end of April. These signals remain in play so we will update the key levels to watch. Despite a record rebound the last few weeks, the March breakdowns remain and the short-term upswings look like counter-trend bounces. Stocks are also short-term overbought. Strategically, the long-term downtrends and bear market are negative. Tactically, upside could be limited as resistance levels come into play and short-term conditions become overbought.

This market regime report weighs the evidence to determine the state of the stock market. Are we in a bull market or bear market? We start with the long-term trends for three major index ETFs (SPY,QQQ,RSP). Attention then turns to breadth indicators to measure the percentage of stocks in uptrends/downtrends and the percentage hitting new highs/lows. These indicators

The weight of the evidence is mixed, at best for the stock market. Our long-term trend and breadth indicators are bearish, but we did get short-term thrust signals towards the end of April. These signals remain in play so we will update the key levels to watch. Despite a record rebound the last few weeks, the March breakdowns remain and the short-term upswings look

Chartists can also use the 200-day SMA and the direction of the 200-day SMA to compare performance. ETFs trading above their rising 200-day SMAs are performing better than those trading below their falling 200-day SMAs. Overall, 23 of the 72 core ETFs are trading above their rising 200-day SMAs.

Today’s video starts with the long-term trend and breadth indicators to define the broad market environment. We then turn to the Zweig Breadth Thrust and show the key SPY levels to watch going forward. Stocks are all over the place in April, but a handful of leaders emerged with uptrends, relative strength and breakouts. Elsewhere, the Bitcoin ETF extended on its breakout and GLD is still looking extended.

After hitting oversold extremes in early April, breadth indicators bounced the last few weeks with the percentage of S&P 500 stocks above their 200-day SMA hitting 36%. This also means that 66% are below their 200-day SMAs and in long-term downtrends. You cannot have a bull market with