It was a short week, but there was a wide variety of action to keep traders entertained.
Meme trading attracted the most attention, but there was also rotational action between value and growth again, cryptocurrencies bounced around, individual stock-picking was better, and the indices look technically ready to move higher.
The meme trading sucked up a lot of energy and caused some messy action in other areas of the market, but that cooled off on Thursday and Friday when investors focused more on inflation and jobs news.
The jobs news was a "Goldilocks" report -- not too hot or too cold. That boosted bonds, and equities jumped higher to finish the week. Breadth was around 2 to 1 positive, and new highs moved to over 700 at the end of the day on Friday.
While many small traders focused on a handful of meme stocks, there was also better stock-picking in many other small-caps as well. Biotechnology looked much better, and even some SPACs and EVs are looking good.
More conservative traders were happy to see the FATMAAN names all finish in the green, and both the DJIA and S&P 500 are within spitting distance of new closing highs. The Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) and ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) were negative for the week, but it was healthy consolidation rather than a run for the exits.
Many charts are developing, and there is a better appetite for stock-picking, which is making me optimistic about trading in the near term. Stock-picking is better, but that doesn't mean it is easy.
Have a great weekend. I'll see you on Monday.
