Commentary:
Stocks tumbled sharply on Thursday on increased trade. All five major indices closed down for the session. The small-cap Russell 2000 demonstrated the most weakness as it slumped 3.1%. The S&P MidCap 400 dropped 2.6% while the S&P 500 slid by just over 2.1%. After showing relative strength to the S&P early in the session, the Nasdaq ended the day down 2.0%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fared the best on the day, as it contained losses at 1.6%.
Market internals cast a bearish shadow over the market yesterday. Volume expanded by 10.3% on the Nasdaq and 1.0% on the NYSE. On the NYSE Declining volume overwhelmed advancing volume by a whopping 34.0 to 1, while the Nasdaq saw declining volume fare better than advancing volume by 6.1 to 1. The uptick in volume combined with the strong declining volume points directly to institutional selling. Therefore, we would classify yesterday as a distribution day for the broad market.
Yesterday, on an increase in volume, the iShares MSCI Mexico Investable Market ETF (EWW) gapped down and sold off to close at session lows. EWW is now testing support of its 20-day EMA. A move below yesterday’s low of $54.18 could present a short entry trigger for this ETF.
The S&P Select Consumer Staples SPDR ETF (XLP) sold off yesterday on declining volume, and is now testing support of the November 30th low ($31.62). XLP has been one of the strongest ETFs in the market and a pullback to the 20-day EMA could provide a buy entry for this ETF.
We covered our short position in GDXJ yesterday for a solid gain. We made the decision to exit the trade early in large part due to the recent whipsaw action in the market. Thursday brought another strange day of trading, as a large proportion of ETFs that had reversed to close near session highs on Wednesday, gapped down sharply yesterday and closed near session lows. Many ETFs also broke below key support levels. As we’ve pointed out quite often lately, there is a clear lack of follow through in the market and this has made for very challenging trading.
Today’s Watchlist:
There are no new setups today. As always, we will send an intraday alert if any new trades are made.
Daily Performance Report:
Below is an overview of all open positions, as well as a performance report on all positions that were closed only since the previous day’s newsletter. Net P/L figures are based on the $50,000 Wagner Daily model account size. Changes to open positions since the previous report are listed in red text below. Please review the Wagner Daily Subscriber Guide for important, automatic rules on trigger and stop prices
- Per intraday alert, covered GDXJ into the close to lock in a quick gain. AGA buy setup triggered.
- Reminder to subscribers – Intraday Trade Alerts to your e-mail and/or mobile phone are normally only sent to indicate a CHANGE to the pre-market plan that is detailed in each morning’s Wagner Daily. We sometimes send a courtesy alert just to confirm action that was already detailed in the pre-market newsletter, but this is not always the case. If no alert is received to the contrary, one should always assume we’re honoring all stops and trigger prices listed in each morning’s Wagner Daily. But whenever CHANGES to the pre-market stops or trigger prices are necessary, alerts are sent on an AS-NEEDED basis. Just a reminder of the purpose of Intraday Trade Alerts.
- For those of you whose ISPs occasionally deliver your e-mail with a delay, make sure you’re signed up to receive our free text message alerts sent to your mobile phone. This provides a great way to have redundancy on all Intraday Trade Alerts. Send your request to [email protected] if not already set up for this value-added feature we provide to subscribers.
Having trouble seeing the position summary graphic above?
Click here to view it directly on your Internet browser instead.
Notes:
Edited by Deron Wagner,
MTG Founder and
Head Trader