The downturns are beginning to be concerning; not only did stocks decline today for a fourth day in a row…we also had another late downside acceleration. All four major indices fell back today: the Dow lost 40, the S&P 500 dropped 4, the Nasdaq slipped 13, and the Russell 2000 declined by 2.
If things do not improve in the final few days of this month, then the Dow’s streak of consecutive quarterly gains at eight will be broken. This would be the longest streak since 1998 if the index is able to make it nine quarterly gains in a row.
Breadth numbers were negative at a 12/19 downside ratio. The VIX finished higher by .40 up to 15.84.
Some technology stocks showed a pulse today despite the profit warnings and large selloff in SNDK. This group includes today’s gainers: AAPL, INTC, IBM and MU.
We will start the official season for first-quarter reports soon. There is the danger that we will receive the kind of profit warning similar to SNDK this morning. The economic calendar finishes the week with: Friday – final estimate of fourth-quarter G.D.P. and the final March University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey.
Donald M. Selkin
These are excerpts from Don Selkin’s Daily Market Notes. Donald Selkin is the Chief Market Strategist at National Securities Corporation, member FINRA/SIPC, (NSC) and provides the Fair Value analysis for CNBC each morning. The commentary provided in this Market Letter is intended to provide our customers with 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, Associated Press.