For weeks now the easy trade has been to buy morning weakness and sell afternoon strength. The pattern has been so consistent for so long it is self-fulfilling at this point.
In the early going it is quite poor with breadth running 17-to-44 negative and less than 50 stocks hitting new 12-month highs. We actually have more new lows than new highs at the moment, which I don't recall seeing since before the election in November.
Biotechnology, which has been the leading sector recently, is seeing pressure on another tweet by President Trump about drug pricing. There are no details, but it's a convenient reason to cut back some names in the sector.
Despite pressure on biotechnology in general, there are still some good movers in the group. Kite Pharmaceuticals (KITE) and Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (AUPH) are at the top of my list.
Another name I like on solid earnings today is Momo (MOMO) . It has a nice-looking cup-and-handle chart and very good early volume. Builders FirstSource (BLDR) , my Stock of the Week, is developing well and may pick up if the market bounces.
One of these days this market is going to trap the morning buyers who are so confident of strength later in the day. Right now no one looks very worried and the underlying action isn't very good, but these afternoon bounces are routine these days.
