Today saw a strong snap-back rally after yesterday’s beating. So — apart from the whopping 6% move — while I’ll certainly take it, was today worth writing home about?
Well, not so much, if, that is, you’re praying the worst is over.
Things that jumped out at me:
1. Utilities and Consumer Staples led the way; up 12.8% and 8.4% respectively (our top 2 sector weights, by the way). Not your typical bull market leaders.
2. NYSE up volume amounted to only 65% of today’s total. To put that in perspective, 93% of yesterday’s rout’s total volume was “down volume;” that denotes conviction on the part of sellers, today’s volume stats definitely don’t scream passion among the buyers.
3. While breadth wasn’t horrible on the NYSE 1263 gainers/604 decliners, 45% (847) of its members hit 52-week lows, while 0.36% (7) hit new highs.
So today looks to be your classic bear market rally.
We’ll keep you posted…