The S&P 500 has closed weakly six of the last seven days now, and has had losses on five of those days. The selling has not been energetic, but it has been consistent. Strong tends to close strong and that has not been the case lately.
The action today was another example of a good start that melted away as the day progresses. There were some positive responses to earnings that helped sentiment, but the indexes danced around a little to the rumors of a fiscal stimulus deal and then ended up with closing breadth of about 3,000 advancers to 4,400 decliners.
One illustration of the loss of momentum lately is that the number of new 12-month highs was down to around 150 today. There just isn't much chasing, although there are a few standouts like PayPal (PYPL) and Snap (SNAP) .
Market players are growing quite tired of the stimulus negotiations and are increasingly likely to "sell the news" if and when it does occur. With election uncertainty looming, there is a good chance that a rally on a stimulus bill before the election would be used for some repositioning, but there is no guarantee that anything will be finalized soon.
Earnings continue to roll out. Tesla (TSLA) is trading up on an earnings per share beat, but Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) is taking a hit due to a lack of guidance.
Have a good evening. I'll see you tomorrow.
