After yesterday’s move to new all-time highs, the market decided that they liked the upside so much that they should try it again today. The DOW added 96 points, the S&P 500 gained 8, and the NASDAQ tacked on 18 by today’s closing bell.
As for the “explanations” for why things are so steadily higher…who cares? Most “experts” are attributing the rise in prices to the President’s comments yesterday that he has a “phenomenal” tax plan in the works.
The VIX was lower to close at 10.85. We should keep our eyes on the VIX in terms of its getting closer to the 10 level which should stop the upside in its tracks. In the meantime, investors should enjoy the upside ride.
Breadth numbers were strong again at almost a 2 to 1 upside ratio. The DOW was led by gains in industrials BA, CAT, 3M, UTX in addition to IBM, JNJ and TRV plus a rejuvenated NKE. In addition, the energy components CVX and XOM did nicely for a change as oil prices went above $54 a barrel and then closed at $53.79. The NASDAQ was helped by AMZN which seems to have forgotten how disappointing its earnings report was last week. PCLN is at a new high ahead of its report at the end of the month. YELP was selling off after its report.
On these higher days with better energy prices, bond yields are up with the 10-year Treasury Note now at 2.42% where it has been banging around between the 2.30’s and the 2.50’s area for many weeks now.
Economic reports out today showed that January import prices rose for the third time in four months with a gain of 0.4%, This is the result of energy prices creeping up. The preliminary February University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey fell back a little to 95.7 from 98.5…most likely due to the deep political divisions that currently exist in this country.
Donald M. Selkin
These are excerpts from Don Selkin’s Daily Market Notes, abbreviated and updated with permission from the author. Don Selkin is the Chief Market Strategist at Newbridge Securities Corporation, member FINRA/SIPC and provides the Fair Value analysis for CNBC each morning. The commentary provided in this Market Letter is intended to provide timely market analysis and should not be considered a research report. This Market Letter may contain, and is limited to: Discussions of broad based indices; Commentaries on economic, political or market conditions; Technical analyses concerning the demand and supply for a sector, index or industry based in trading volume and price; Statistical summaries of multiple companies’ financial data, including listings of current ratings; and, Recommendations regarding increasing or decreasing holdings in particular industries or securities. This Market Letter does not make a financial or investment recommendation or otherwise promotes a product or service of the firm. This Market Letter contains only news, facts, and commentary on information previously reported from a news source believed to be accurate and reliable by the author. These news sources include the following: Bloomberg Financial, Reuters, and the Associated Press.