8/1/2007 4:45 PM
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SPX
It is not often that I find myself at a loss for words when it comes to market action but I think today maybe one of those days. (Well, almost.) To see what I mean, check out the intraday chart of the S&P 500 (SPX) below...
Earlier I discussed the widening intraday range and that pattern continued into the close. With an hour until the bell the S&P 500 had ticked to new intraday low and then...bam...buy orders smacked the tape. The market made a straight up run to a new intraday high. I am not so much in awe of the fact that we closed higher but at the sheer volatility of the day. Just watching the back and forth was (emotionally) exhausting.
All of the broad market indices showed gains, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and SPX were clearly stronger than the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) and Russell 2000 (RUT).
The overall picture shows a somewhat mixed view. We have strength in networking, natural gas and the DJIA while biotech, brokers, oil, oil services and gold stocks lost one percent.
As far as my overall takeaway on the day, I actually find it somewhat, well, almost humorous. I started the day with talk about a possible whipsaw shakeout and in some ways that is how I would describe today. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way saying that this is what I was expected, I could not have been more wrong about the open. But, if you take the idea of shakeout open and expand it across the entire session, that could be one way to interpret the day.
I ended yesterday's session with the quote below and, based on today's closing levels, it still applies...
"today felt worse than it looks on the charts. The DJIA and COMP did tick below yesterday's lows but the broad market indices didn't really violate any chart levels."
And that is where I will pick up in the morning...
| Index |
Index Value |
Point Change |
Percent Change |
| S&P 500 (SPX) |
1465.8 |
10.5 points |
0.72 percent |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) |
13362.4 |
150 points |
1.10 percent |
| Nasdaq Composite (COMP) |
2553.9 |
7.6 points |
0.30 percent |
| Russell 2000 (RUT) |
777.9 |
1.8 points |
0.23 percent |
| CBOE Market Volatility Index (VXO) |
24.05 |
-1.13 points |
-4.5 percent |
Chart Courtesy of Thomson/ILX
8/1/2007 4:45 PM
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