Stocks struggled to build on Monday's late-day momentum, but all the major indexes ended up with minor gains. Breadth was good at around 5,500 gainers to 2,600 decliners, and the most notable action was that new 12-month lows fell to around 350, after hitting over 1,600 recently.
Much of the action is positioning in front of the Fed interest rate decision at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Many traders are looking for the anticipated hike of a half-point to be a "buy the bad news" opportunity. The hike is extremely well anticipated, and there actually may be a sign of relief to have an actual hike, rather than just talk about the hikes that are coming.
Pre-Fed trading is generally pretty quiet, but we are going to have some big moves when the news hits at 2 p.m. The news may not be at all surprising, but traders will use the event to make some moves.
I've often written that the market loves to love the Fed, and there is likely to be a positive bias on the Fed announcement.
Keep in mind that this market still has substantial technical hurdles, before it will return to health. A good reaction to the Fed interest rate hikes will just be one step in the process to a better market.
Have a good evening. I'll see you tomorrow.
