Stocks Looking For Reasons To Rally; None To Be Found

This has not been a very good week for stocks, but it's nothing a few days of rallies can't fix. Through Wednesday, the Dow Industrials are off 203 points, the NASDAQ has shed 253 points, has spent the past two days trading below its 50-day moving average and is once again approaching correction territory.

Another rough session will send the NAZ into the red for the year (12,888.28) and it doesn't even have to be that bad. A little more than -0.5% would do it.

While the NASDAQ appears to be a troubling index highlighted by weakness in tech stocks, the rest of the market isn't nearly as ugly. The aforementioned Dow Jone Industrial Average marked a new all-tine high just last week (33,015.37, 3/17), though it has suffered losses four of the past five sessions. Wednesday's late-day collapse knocked off a 365-point gain intraday, a turnaround that portends ill for the remainder of the week.

The Dow is still sporting healthy gains for the year, up more than 1700 points (30,606.48, 12/31/20) or roughly five percent.

A mixed bag for the S&P 500, which, like the Dow, has been down four of the past five days. On March 17, it got to within 17 points of 4,000 before closing slightly off the highs of the day, at 3,974.12. It's lost 50 points since Monday and is clinging to a gain of less than four percent for 2021 (3,756.07, 12/31/20).

On the NYSE Composite, five straight losses have it resting just above the 50-day moving average.It too made a record closing high on the 17th (15,731.15), and is up 5.17% on the year (14,524.80, 12/31/20), the best of all the major indices. The Composite is down 286 points so far this week.

It would be presumptive to suggest that all the main averages should go negative for the year, though that prospect is rearing its ugly head this morning. Just prior to the release of two key data points (final 4Q GDP and weekly unemployment claims), futures took a severe turn to the downside, wiping out modest overnight gains.

Oddly enough, both releases were somewhat positive, as GDP came in at 4.3%, revised 0.2% higher than last month's estimate, and just 684,000 people filed initial unemployment claims, a post-pandemic low. The total number of individuals claiming some form of unemployment relief rose, however, back above 19 million, a discouraging sign for the "recovery" boosters.

Stocks aren't the only things falling off the wagon this week. Gold, silver, and cryptocurrencies have all been driven down. Bitcoin fell to $50,305.00 just moments ago. Silver is bid at 24.54, and is down for 2021, as is gold, though it is holding up well at $1731 per ounce.

The opening bell is just minutes away. Futures are indicating a slow start to Thursday's session.

(Post 3003)

At the Close, Wednesday, March 23, 2021:
Dow: 32,420.06, -3.09 (-0.01%)
NASDAQ: 12,961.89, -265.81 (-2.01%)
S&P 500: 3,889.14, -21.38 (-0.55%)
NYSE: 15,276.56, -69.96 (-0.46%)