Sunday, June 29, 2008

Technical Strength of a Weak Market

My measure of technical strength quantifies the trending behavior of five highly weighted stocks for each of eight S&P 500 Index ($SPX) sectors. The technical strength measure varies from +500 (very strong uptrend) to -500 (very strong downtrend), with readings near zero indicating a lack of trend.

Here are how the sector readings are looking for the eight sectors:

MATERIALS: -460
INDUSTRIALS: -500
CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY: -440
CONSUMER STAPLES: -420
ENERGY: -80
HEALTH CARE: -160
FINANCIAL: -460
TECHNOLOGY: -400

This is one of the weakest set of technical strength readings I've encountered; it's typical of markets in which all stocks and sectors--the good with the bad--are being punished. I will be publishing a review of market indicators here on the blog tomorrow; I'm also starting to keep track of stocks and themes *not* making new lows here with the broad market.
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