It is a dreary Friday of action after a fairly good week for the market. Option expiry isn't doing much to liven things up and there is limited news flow.
Some of the economic data out of China were weak but that was not unexpected. There are several earnings reports but nothing very significant. The primary catalyst for the action today is comments from a number of Fed members that are mixed. There doesn't seem to be much support for two more rate hikes this year and there is still a high level of confidence that a recession will not occur. Several Fed members are considering monetary policy other than simply cutting rates more aggressively.
Breadth is running about 3 gainers to 4 losers and there are 122 new 12-month highs to 44 new lows. Apple AAPL is staying in positive territory and seems to act as a safe harbor defensive stock lately. If you have substantial cash to park someplace then Apple seems like a safe bet.
My scans of the market for stocks that are moving on increased volume isn't producing much. There are no outstanding sectors or groups. There are a few random names with momentum like PDF Solutions (PDFS) and Francesca's Holding (FRAN) , but mostly there is just a lot of churning action.
I'm doing a little bottom fishing in SmileDirect (SDC) which has been pounded as it battles the orthodontist industry, primarily in California, and has been shorted aggressively. It is looking like it is close to washed out and may see a boost as shorts lock in some pretty hefty gains.
(Apple is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS member club. Want to be alerted before Jim Cramer buys or sells AAPL? Learn more now.)
