The banks and other financial stocks continued to lead the broader market lower. Today the BKX broke to a new all-time(!!) low by dropping below the 1993 low of 24.69. There’s really not much more to say besides “all-time lows” and “the trend is your friend”.
The XLF also made a new all-time low today, as it’s been doing since last July. The volume here caught my eye though because it’s lighter than it was at the January and November lows. I’d certainly be suspect of new highs on lighter volume so I must be equally suspect of these new lows on lighter volume.
*Somehow* the Dow closed just 31 cents above its November closing low. Darn those technical traders… Note the same volume non-confirmation here in the Dow as in the XLF.
The way the indices are positioned now reminds me of last September when the S&P and Nasdaq had taken out their July lows but the Russell 2000 was still hanging tough. Back then I wondered if the small caps would be able to withstand the broader market’s weakness or not. It turned out that we didn’t (couldn’t?) get a bounce until all the major indices were dragged to new lows. Now I’m wondering if we can bounce without the S&P 500 and Nasdaq joining the Dow at the November lows. The S&P is 5% above its November low and the Nasdaq is about 11% above its low.
All down once again
| Trend | Nasdaq | S&P 500 | Russell 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long-Term | Down | Down | Down |
| Intermediate | Down(-) | Down | Down |
| Short-term | Down(-) | Down | Down |
(+) Indicates an upward reclassification today
(-) Indicates a downward reclassification today
Lat Indicates a Lateral trend
*** I’m simply using the indices’ relations to their 200, 50 and 10-day moving averages to tell me the long, intermediate and short-term trends, respectively.
