It was one of those days that the bulls will call positive and the bears will call negative. It was a mixed bag with a little something for everyone. On the negative side of the ledger, the indices were down, we had little energy and breadth was poor. On the positive side, we held key support levels, saw some much-needed consolidation and closed well off the lows.
Although it wasn't as active as on Friday, there continued to be some speculative action in junk names and there were a few good breakouts as well. Lumentum Holdings (LITE) , Fabrinet (FN) and Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR) were good examples. Biotechnology also bounced a bit, but big-cap FANG names struggled and oil was a problem for the bulls. Buyers are still hunting for exposure but aren't as aggressive in going after it.
We have a slew of earnings reports coming up, which should help turn the focus to individual stock picking. It has been a very odd environment lately with so many dramatic headlines but none of them really having any impact on the market action. We seem to quickly shrug off all the significant news, especially when it's negative.
Overall, the price action in individual stocks is still supportive of the bulls. It may seem a bit slow and plenty of things could use a rest, but the underlying support remains strong. We'll see how earnings news impacts the mood, but these bulls are not easily discouraged.
Have a good evening. I'll see you tomorrow.
