Category: Equity Leaders Weekly

While investors have been patiently waiting for the start of earnings season, equities have continued to be well supported. Just about every day in the last week, one or both of the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the S&P 500 has closed at an all-time record, while the NASDAQ Composite has started to rebound from a late winter correction. In this issue of Equity Leaders Weekly, we look at recent action in the NASDAQ Composite Index and the iShares US Financials ETF for insights into the state of investor sentiment.

It’s a relatively quiet week for equity markets in what could be the calm before the storm as investors mark time waiting for the start of earnings season which kicks off next Wednesday-Thursday with results from several big banks and brokerages in the US, plus some of Canada’s media companies. In this issue of Equity Leaders Weekly, we take a look at two commodity markets which don’t usually attract attention from investors but have started to recently, steel and uranium.

A flurry of news is due over the next few days including more manufacturing PMI reports today. US nonfarm payrolls come out on tomorrow’s Good Friday holiday so their impact may influence trading more on Monday, and service PMI reports are due early next week. Earnings season doesn’t start for another couple of weeks, but we are into confession season which has been quiet so far. In this issue of Equity Leaders Weekly, we take a look at two sectors which have been on the rebound lately, real estate and semiconductors.

In this issue of Equity Leaders Weekly, we look at the relationship between small cap and large cap stocks as an indicator of market sentiment, and at recent swings in the price of crude oil as a proxy for commodities and their implications for interest rates and equity markets.

Some of the fear that gripped certain equity market sectors appears to have eased over the last few days. Although the rise in traded interest rates which rattled some traders earlier this month has continued, statements from central bankers in recent days have indicated that they expect inflation to remain contained, and their current stimulus programs to continue at current levels in North America and to increase in Europe. In this issue of Equity Leaders Weekly, we take a look at what the Sector Scopes feature in SIA Charts is telling us about investor confidence and capital rotation between equity market sectors, and at a recent breakout by the homebuilding sector.

Trading action across equity markets has been choppy this week as investors grapple with the implications of increased speculation that the easy money party of the last year could start to wind down, and what a potentially reopening economy over the next 6-9 months could mean for the relative outlook of varying sectors. In this issue of Equity Leaders Weekly, we look at energy and technology ETFs as indicators of changing relative strength and tactical capital rotation between sectors as leadership changes.

It has been a choppy week for equity markets. Earnings season has come to an end, reducing the amount of corporate news out there for investors to consider. Instead, investors have turned their focus to rising traded US interest rates, particularly the 10-year treasury yield climbing above 10%, as a sign that the massive central bank liquidity party may not go on forever. In this week’s issue of Equity Leaders Weekly, we look at yesterday’s downturn in the NASDAQ Composite Index and at a shift in the capital flows between Growth and Value stocks.

Overall, stock market indices appear to be regaining their footing from a choppy few days. The last week has seen the tech-sensitive NASDAQ struggle relative to broader indices, while commodities and related stocks have continued to do well. In this week’s issue of Equity Leaders Weekly, we look at the causes and implications of the recent rise in the US 10-year treasury note yield, and at action in the price of sugar as an example of renewed interest in commodities.

It has been an odd week for world markets, disrupted by Asia Pacific and North American holidays. Although several major North American indices have managed to nudge their way to new all-time highs, there doesn’t appear to be much of a tailwind behind them, perhaps because earnings and economic news flow has subsided for the time being. In this week’s issue of Equity Leaders Weekly, we look current strength in US Energy stocks and at the factors influencing recent weakness in Gold.

Equities and commodities continue to climb, driven by a combination of continuing easy money from central back asset purchases, a new fiscal stimulus package working its way through Congress in the US, combined with continuing vaccine rollouts and falling case counts. In this week’s issue of Equity Leaders Weekly, we look at the S&P/TSX Composite Index and the copper price as examples of recent gains in equity and commodity markets.