Picks of the Day, March 31,2017

Strong Q1 Ends with a Bang!

Stocks on Wall Street ended up on Thursday, led higher by financial stocks after the economic numbers released showed that the U.S. growth pace came out stronger than expected, supported by robust consumer spending. The tech leaning NASDAQ ended at an all-time closing high.

The energy sector (XLE) ended up for the third time in a row, supported by strong crude figures and gains of 8.8% in the stock of ConocoPhillips (COP), the biggest percentage winner on the S&P 500 after the powerhouse agreed to sell over $13 billion in oil sand assets. The S&P 500 rose for the third day in a row, after having recorded its worst week of losses for the year last week.

The U.S. economy recorded growth that came out less low than had been recorded in the prior Q4 2016 GDP reading, as consumer spending propped up the economy. The U.S. Department of Commerce reported yesterday that the Gross Domestic Product had risen 2.1% at an annually adjusted level, one-upping the previous reading of 1.9%.

In summary for the day, the Dow Jones rose 0.33%, the S&P 500 tacking on 0.29% and the NASDAQ advancing 0.28%.

On the S&P 500, 20 stocks rose to new 52-week highs, just one dipping to a new yearly low; on the NASDAQ, 99  stocks recorded new 52-week highs, 19 falling to new yearly lows.

About 6 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, beneath the 6.8 billion average over the last 20 trading days.

Friday: The American stock market is up nicely year to date, though some market strategists project that movement until the end of the year will be very inhibited. This forecast, when all is said and done, isn’t necessarily something bad. In fact, it’s a sign that there’s a discernable amount of skepticism at play. It’s clear as day that strategists aren’t head over heels with excitement about our market. Few people are! That though, could play into the market’s hand, i.e. a healthy amount of skepticism. When there are no doubts out and about, the market could see a rout! A lack of doubt can spell bad things for the market.

The S&P 500 rose 5.8% during the first quarter to 2,368 points – and is on track to record its 6^th straight quarter of gains and its best quarterly performance since Q3 2014. Analysts’ consensus points to a year-end target of 2,407 points for the index, just 1.6% over the market’s current level.

The first quarter of the year closes today and as of Thursday’s close, the Dow Jones was up 4.9% for the quarter. The NASDAQ traded significantly higher on the quarter with gains of 9.9% to present.

The market is trading in healthy fashion, in a step and stairway pattern. With every breakup to a new S&P 500 high, the last of which was on March 1, we’ve seen improved depth-metrics, with more and more individual stocks jumping on the bandwagon and recording new highs. In the event of a future deviation, one marked by new highs – but that isn’t simultaneously accompanied by a rise in the number of stocks reaching new highs – that will be a reason for worry.

The last day of this quarter brings with it a flood of economic figures, including numbers on private income and spending at 8:30 N.Y. time, the Chicago PMI at 9:45, and the University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index at 10:00.

Friday’s Hot Stocks: ZBRA

IPOs: None

Have a great trading day!

31.3.2017

Today’s Picks – Day Trading!

New York Strategy Swing

Today’s Picks – Swing “New-York Strategy

 No.1 –  ARNC

No.2 – SM