Courtesy of Blain.
It was quite a volatile week and indexes closed it off on a sour note as the S&P 500 fell 0.63% and NASDAQ 0.55%. For the month of May the S&P 500 gained 1.05% while the NASDAQ added 2.6%. Greece was again the focus – perhaps next week some eyes will return to economic data as the first week of the month is chock full of reports. Consumer sentiment showed a final read of 90.7 for May, the lowest since November and below April’s 95.9 print. A gauge today showed Chicago-area manufacturing activity contracted this month to its lowest level since February, raising concerns that the rebound from a weak first quarter lacks vitality.
Tuesday’s selloff led to a bull flag failure and despite the immediate bounce back Wednesday, this failure has stayed intact.
The NYSE McClellan Oscillator has remained in the red this week and gives us a secondary reason to stay in a cautionary mode.
Transports have been flashing negative in a divergent manner for quite a while now.
Emerging markets (ETF: EEM) have also been selling off behind the scenes.
European stocks were hit as the continued daily circus with Greece continues.
Shares of health insurer Humana (HUM) surged amid reports the company had received takeover interest from potential buyers.
Big Lots (BIG) reported quarterly profit of 60 cents per share, one cent above estimates, with revenue in line with forecasts. However, the discount retailer’s current quarter earnings forecast is below estimates, with comparable store sales expected to grow by two to three percent.
Eli Lilly (LLY) surged as it decided to partner with AstraZeneca (AZN) to test a new cancer drug combination.
Have a good early summer weekend and we’ll see you back here Monday.
