Attention Traders: Sell Before Next Friday

Advertisement

Small- and mid-cap stocks gained on Monday, but oil prices fell to an eight-month low, dragging the Dow industrials and S&P 500 into the red. Along with lower oil prices, investors seemed unsettled by the poor jobs report for August. But that report takes the pressure off of the Federal Reserve to raise rates sooner than expected, and analysts suggest stocks will eventually reflect that.

The weakness in crude led to declines in the major oil stocks. Chevron (CVX) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) fell 0.9% and 1.5%, respectively. A strong U.S. dollar against the British pound and euro added to pressure on the multinationals.

Technology stocks outperformed, with the sector up 0.2%. Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT) and Intel (INTC) rose. Apple (AAPL) gained 0.6% ahead of today’s expected unveiling of the iPhone 6.

At Monday’s close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 26 points to 17,111, the S&P 500 lost 6 points at 2002, the Nasdaq gained 9 points at 4,592, and the Russell 2000 was up 2 points at 1,172. Volume was again light with the NYSE trading a total of 2.8 billion shares, and the Nasdaq crossed 1.7 billion shares. On the Big Board, decliners outpaced advancers by 1.6-to-1, but on the Nasdaq, advancers led by 1.3-to-1.

Nasdaq Chart
Click to Enlarge

Chart Key

As noted, small- and mid-cap stocks had a strong day on Monday with both the Nasdaq and Russell 2000 posting gains. Most technicians are dismissing Wednesday’s reversal as an anomaly and attribute it to the high volatility that results from extremely low-volume markets.

Conclusion

For those traders and investors who believe that small- and mid-cap stocks (the soldiers) lead strong markets, for them, Monday was just what the generals (large-cap stocks) ordered. Despite a mildly negative day, the Dow industrials and S&P 500 are still within striking distance of new highs.

As for September usually being a negative month, if you discard the final week’s end-of-quarter institutional evening up, September is average.

But don’t be long the week following options triple-witching day, which occurs Friday, Sept. 19 this year. According to the Stock Trader’s Almanac, since 1991, only five of those weeks ended up and 17 were down. And in 2011, that week ended with a Dow loss of 737.61 points. It is time to plan ahead.

Today’s Trading Landscape

To see a list of the companies reporting earnings today, click here.

For a list of this week’s economic reports due out, click here.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2014/09/daily-stock-market-news-sell-next-friday/.

©2024 InvestorPlace Media, LLC