The market managed a little better action today as it stayed in positive territory and even managed several "higher highs" intraday. However those positives were offset by steady selling most of the afternoon and a close at the lows of the day.
Breadth was solid with around 5,200 gainers to 2,000 decliners and the number of stocks hitting a new 12-month low shrunk to around 290. There was a little better stock picking average but if you are looking for pockets of strong positive momentum you really need to dig deep.
Overall the market action can be summed up as nervous and uncertain. Although there is talk about a year-end rally, there isn't much fear of missing out at this point. Good news on trade and other issues is not creating much, if any, optimism.
While I've been looking for some positive action there just aren't many setups to buy. It is easy to formulate a thesis for some upside but it isn't possible to find vehicles in which to implement that thesis. That is a positive consequence of maintaining discipline when it comes to stock picking but it doesn't produce much in the way of gains.
If you are looking for a rally to start it might be better for the indices to dap down in the morning. These big gap-up opens aren't doing the job.
Have a good evening. I'll see you tomorrow.
