The S&P 500 gained 0.07% and the Dow rose 0.14%. Trading was very quiet with attendance on the floor very light in observance of Veteran’s Day.
European markets had a strong day, posting an advance of 0.60%. Basic industries led the advance in Europe. In trading in the U.S., homebuilders, media, and semis underperformed while retail and transports outperformed. Discount retailers like Costco and Wal-Mart outperformed. Wal-Mart broke out to a new cycle high today.
Financials were flat on the day. Discount brokers were strong with E*Trade and T.D. Ameritrade both breaking out to new highs. Investment bank Morgan Stanley broke above recent resistance and gained more than 2%. Traditional asset managers outperformed also. The banking sector saw some slight profit taking after a huge spike higher Friday.
The transports were led by the rails and truckers. Truckers have bounced back from some earnings disappointments in the space. Lower fuel prices and stronger than expected economic reports have helped the truckers. Positive analyst comments had a positive impact on the rails today.
Energy stocks were helped by higher crude prices. Transocean spiked higher by more than 3% after the company announced they were going to pay a special dividend of $3 a share. Shippers were higher after a favorable Barron’s article came out over the weekend. The article focused on better than expected day rates for the shippers.
Internet stocks sold off today after Morgan Stanley downgraded the Internet space from overweight to neutral. Some of the momentum names in the space sold off significantly on the downgrade. More established companies performed well on positive company specific news. Amazon gained more than 1% as they announced they will ship packages on Sunday. Some of the leaders in the space like Netflix and Priceline.com bucked the trend and posted solid gains.
Retailers were the leaders in the discretionary space with department stores, dollar stores, and specialty retailers doing well. JC Penney and Macy’s were standouts in the department store space and Deckers and Best Buy were standouts in the specialty space.
Source: PFS Group
