In my morning note I implied that one day’s action should never be construed as the stuff of trends. 

This morning’s action is no exception, but I have to say that it so reflects the broader underlying messy messaging from equity markets these days that I’m compelled to elaborate.


As I type the Dow’s up 125 points, the S&P 500 is up the same %-wise, and the Nasdaq is seeing a nice .80% rally. So, the market’s up! Well, actually, it’s not.


Tech and utility stocks are up (talk about opposites attracting), and with tech carrying more weight in the major averages than we’ve seen since 1999 (not a comfortable reference btw), well, that explains it this morning. Materials, communications, industrials, financials, healthcare, staples and energy, on the other hand, are all presently trading lower (materials and communications a little, the rest a lot). In fact the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (treats every component the same) is down the equivalent of 114 Dow points.


In fact, right now half of the Dow components are lower on the morning, same for half of the S&P 500’s members, and more than half of the stocks in the Nasdaq comp are in the red as well. 54% of NYSE volume so far today is down volume.


I should also note that gold and treasuries are presently in the green (gold nicely so). Which, on top of the terrible breadth outlined above says the signal today is clearly not a good one… but, again, it’s just one day…