The Market Today

Are the Elliott Wavers onto something? Once again, the Dow couldn’t break through 10940, which is one of those pesky Fibonacci numbers. Today, the Dow got to 10940.34 before backing off. The high for the year is 10950.55, reached back in March. Coincidence? Not bloody likely!
The overall market dropped for the second straight day. The S&P 500 gave back 0.28% and our Buy List fell 0.15%. However only seven of our stocks were up, 17 were down and one was unchanged. Our big winner today was Frontier Airlines (FRNT) which jumped 46 cents, or 5.6%. The airline sector was particularly strong today. Medtronic (MDT) is another stock that’s been strong recently. The stock is very close to a new 52-week high.
Volume was heavy for today’s session. Today was a “quadruple witching” day when futures and options on stock indexes and individual stocks expire.
Oil dropped nearly $2 a barrel today. That’s very good news. I’m still holding to my thesis that we’re in a bear market for risk-taking. The VIX (^VIX) fell to 10.15 today, which is very close to a 12-year low. The index was slightly lower this past summer.
I’ve also been talking about the “dual market,” energy and everything else. Today was a perfect example. Look at the performance of the sector spyders for today:
Health Care…………0.25%
Financials…………….0.25%
Industrials…………..0.19%
Utilities……………….0.00%
Staples………………-0.04%
Technology…………-0.14%
Discretionary……….-0.21%
Materials…………….-0.37%
Energy………………..-2.43%
Everyone is not only bunched together, but barely moving, and then there’s energy at the extreme. There’s just so little volatility in this market.
Outside our Buy List, Oracle (ORCL) fell 1.09%. I expect that next week will be slow. We’ll get another update on third-quarter GDP. I’m rooting for another upward revision. Also, Biomet (BMET) reports earnings, as do two other stocks I like Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBBY) and FactSet Research Systems (FDS).
Today’s link: The Stock Bandit. Enjoy.

Posted by on December 16th, 2005 at 5:34 pm


The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.