It should not come as a big surprise that market action is choppy and lighter in front of the Christmas holiday. The markets close at 1 pm ET tomorrow and plenty of folks are already heading for the exits.
The DJIA is leading to the upside this morning primarily because of Boeing (BA) which is trading up over 2% after the departure of its CEO. The DJIA is a 'price-weighted' index which means that the highest priced stock is given the most weight. Boeing currently is the highest priced stock in the index and therefore has the most impact although other stocks such as Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) have substantially larger market capitalization.
Small-cap stocks (IWM) are lagging, which is reflected in negative breadth of about 3200 gainers to 3800 decliners. New 12-month highs are down some to a little over 500.
Much of the action right now is positioning and tax moves that have little to do with fundamentals or technical conditions. Market players are trying to finish out the year on a positive note and be ready for 2020.
One group I'm watching this morning is gold and silver miners. The gold (GLD) and gold mining (GDX) charts are developing well and many of the individual stocks are doing even better. I've added to my position in SSR Mining (SSRM) which was a recent Stock of the Week, and watching for Barrick Gold (GOLD) to show better relative strength.
There are a few tax loss selling plays I'm watching to buy on weakness. Personalis (PSNL) is one example especially after the gene therapy deal announced today by Sarepta (SRPT) .
