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Stock Market Momentum Slows Down: What This Means for Investors

The stronger-than-expected Services PMI reported on Monday injected optimism into the stock market. There was also some relief as news hit that the April 2 implementation of tariffs may be scaled back.

On Tuesday, however, the market hit the brakes and stalled the upside momentum. Consumer confidence fell by 7.2 points in March, a sign that U.S. consumers are worried about the economic outlook. This, along with uncertainty about tariffs and other policies, will likely remain the focus in investors’ minds.

The bigger focus should be on whether the recent upside move in the broader stock market indexes has legs. Let’s shift our attention to the charts of the broader markets.

The Technical Picture

In the daily chart of the S&P 500 below, the index crossed above its 200-day simple moving average (SMA) on Monday, a big hurdle for the index to overcome. Alas, the lack of follow-through on Tuesday could mean the 200-day may now act as a support level. The index could also bust through its January lows and start moving up toward its 50-day SMA.

FIGURE 1. S&P 500 INDEX BROKE ABOVE 200-DAY SIMPLE MOVING AVERAGE. Will the index break above its January lows? That would be the next big hurdle.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Market breadth is showing signs of expanding, with the S&P 500 Bullish Percent Index above 50, the NYSE Advance-Decline Line starting to trend higher, and the percentage of S&P 500 stocks trading above their 200-day SMA shy of 50%.

The picture isn’t as positive for the Nasdaq Composite as it is for the S&P 500. The Nasdaq is approaching its 200-day SMA, and market breadth is showing signs of improvement, although slight (see chart below).

FIGURE 2. DAILY CHART OF THE NASDAQ COMPOSITE. The index is approaching its 200-day SMA while its breadth is showing slight signs of expanding.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Of the three broader indexes, the Dow is the one showing the most promising upside move (see chart below). Like its close cousins, it crossed above its 200-day SMA, but its market breadth has expanded more than the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Its BPI is at 60 and the A-D Line is relatively high. The percentage of Dow stocks trading above their 200-day SMA is at 19%, but remember, the Dow has only 30 stocks in the index.

FIGURE 3. DAILY CHART OF THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE. The 200-day SMA is now a support level. All three breadth indicators are showing signs of rising.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Small-cap stocks have lagged the larger indexes and, even though the S&P 600 Small Cap Index ($SML) bounced off its March 13 low, there’s not enough follow-through to carry small caps higher. Replace the symbol in any of the above charts with $SML.

Bonds turned around on Tuesday in response to the weaker consumer confidence data. The 10-year U.S. Treasury Yield Index ($TNX) rose until the consumer confidence data was released, after which it slid lower. This was the move that should have raised eyebrows.

Bond Yields Also Teeter-Totter

Movements in Treasury yields are very telling about the state of the economy. To keep tabs on the movement in Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar, investors should monitor the Japanese yen. This may not be something you usually look at, but, given we’re in an environment where conditions change from one day to the next, it’s helpful to add a chart of the U.S. dollar relative to the yen in your ChartLists.

The daily chart of $USDJPY below has an overlay of the 21-day exponential moving average (EMA). The bottom panel monitors the performance of the 10-year yields.

FIGURE 4. DAILY CHART OF THE U.S. DOLLAR VS. JAPANESE YEN. The currency pair gives an idea of the overall health of the U.S. economy.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Generally, when U.S. Treasury yields fall, the U.S. dollar weakens relative to the yen. On Monday, the dollar rose relative to the yen when equities and Treasury yields rose, but fell on Tuesday, in conjunction with the fall in yields. You can see the close correlation between the two in the chart above.

On Monday, $USDJPY broke above the 21-day EMA. On Tuesday, the EMA acted as a support level. Can the dollar hold on to this support level and continue to strengthen relative to the yen? Yields generally rise when the economy is growing, so monitoring this chart regularly will give you a general idea of how the U.S. economy is performing.

Other Market Activity

Sector rotation was all over the place, moving back and forth from offensive to defensive. On Tuesday, Utilities, Health Care, and Real Estate were the worst-performing sectors. Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary, and Financials were the best-performing sectors. However, the change was modest, so there’s not enough to confirm a move from offensive to defensive or vice versa.

Closing Bell

Overall, the market isn’t showing convincing directional movement. Tuesday’s market activity was a bit like watching paint dry—not too exciting relative to what we have seen in the last few weeks. The upside move we saw since Friday seems to have slowed. The Cboe Volatility Index ($VIX) eased and closed at around 17, so today’s lackluster price movement didn’t do anything to make investors fearful.

The most important data this week will probably be the February PCE, which is released on Friday. Let’s see if that stirs things up.

Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.

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Nvidia’s CEO did a Q&A with analysts. What he said and what Wall Street thinks about it.

Investors have closely watched Nvidia’s week-long GPU Technology Conference (GTC) for news and updates from the dominant maker of chips that power artificial intelligence applications.

The event comes at a pivotal time for Nvidia shares. After two years of monster gains, the stock is down 15% over the past month and 22% below the January all-time high.

As part of the event, CEO Jensen Huang took questions from analysts on topics ranging from demand for its advanced Blackwell chips to the impact of Trump administration tariffs. Here’s a breakdown of how Huang responded — and what analysts homed in on — during some of the most important questions:

Huang said he “underrepresented” demand in a slide that showed 3.6 million in estimated Blackwell shipments to the top four cloud service providers this year. While Huang acknowledged speculation regarding shrinking demand, he said the amount of computation needed for AI has “exploded” and that the four biggest cloud service clients remain “fully invested.”

Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore noted that Huang’s commentary on Blackwell demand in data centers was the first-ever such disclosure.

“It was clear that the reason the company made the decision to give that data was to refocus the narrative on the strength of the demand profile, as they continue to field questions related to Open AI related spending shifting from 1 of the 4 to another of the 4, or the pressure of ASICs, which come from these 4 customers,” Moore wrote to clients, referring to application-specific integrated circuits.

Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar said the slide was “only scratching the surface” on demand. Beyond the four largest customers, he said others are also likely “all in line looking to get their hands on as much compute as their budgets allow.”

Another takeaway for Moore was the growth in physical AI, which refers to the use of the technology to power machines’ actions in the real world as opposed to within software.

At previous GTCs, Moore said physical AI “felt a little bit like speculative fiction.” But this year, “we are now hearing developers wrestling with tangible problems in the physical realm.”

Truist analyst William Stein, meanwhile, described physical AI as something that’s “starting to materialize.” The next wave for physical AI centers around robotics, he said, and presents a potential $50 trillion market for Nvidia.

Stein highliughted Jensen’s demonstration of Isaac GR00T N1, a customizable foundation model for humanoid robots.

Several analysts highlighted Huang’s explanation of what tariffs mean for Nvidia’s business.

“Management noted they have been preparing for such scenarios and are beginning to manufacture more onshore,” D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria said. “It was mentioned that Nvidia is already utilizing [Taiwan Semiconductor’s’] Arizona fab where it is manufacturing production silicon.”

Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said Huang’s answer made it seem like Nvidia’s push to relocate some manufacturing to the U.S. would limit the effect of higher tariffs.

Rasgon also noted that Huang brushed off concerns of a recession hurting customer spending. Huang argued that companies would first cut spending in the areas of their business that aren’t growing, Rasgon said.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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‘Eat now, pay later’? DoorDash-Klarna deal fuels concerns around loans for takeout

DoorDash and Klarna are joining forces to let users pay for meal deliveries with installment loans, calling it “essential to meeting our customers’ needs.” Not everyone sees it that way.

The announcement has drawn a flurry of criticism on social media, less directed at the companies themselves than questioning what the need to use a “buy now, pay later” service for food orders says about the increasingly debt-ridden economy.

“Eat now, pay later? A credit apocalypse is coming,” an X user wrote Thursday when the partnership was announced.

Another X poster used a photo of a forlorn-looking Dave Ramsey, the personal finance pundit, with the caption, “what do you mean you have $11k in ‘doordash debt’.”

Others whipped up “Sopranos” memes, quipping about “DoorDash debt collection outside your door because you missed a Chipotle payment.”

The economic commentator Kyla Scanlon said in a social media video that the deal was another example of the “gambling economy.”

“We have memecoins, sports betting — we love a good vice in the United States, and we can do it completely frictionless,” she said. “We don’t even have to put on pants. Just app it to you and worry about everything else later.” She added that “there are real winners and losers” in business models that monetize not just convenience but “impulsivity.”

Klarna, which is preparing for an initial public offering, is among the BNPL providers that have surged into virtually all corners of the consumer economy since the pandemic, such as Afterpay, Affirm and Sezzle.

The lightly regulated financial services give users a variety of ways to pay for purchases; among the most popular are short-term loans that can typically be repaid in several interest-free installments. The companies make money by charging users for late or missed payments and merchants for the ability to offer BNPL loans at checkouts.

DoorDash said customers will be able to use Klarna for many types of purchases on its platform, not just small-dollar food deliveries. They can pay in full up front, in four installments or else later on, “such as a date that aligns with their paycheck schedules.”

A Klarna spokesperson acknowledged the online pushback but said any form of borrowing for food purchases is potentially concerning, depending on the circumstances.

“If people are in a situation where they feel like they have to put their food on credit, that’s a bad indicator for society,” the spokesperson said.

Still, many people make “a rational decision” to use BNPL services to help manage their money, the spokesperson said, adding that the new features would be available only for DoorDash purchases of at least $35 — a few dollars more than the platform’s average order as of last March. “Wherever high-cost credit cards are accepted, consumers should be able to choose a zero-interest credit product, instead.”

Indeed, industrywide data shows the short-term loans have become a routine feature of many consumers’ wallets, particularly among young adults coping with inflation and with average credit card interest rates still near 20%.

The BNPL explosion coincides with record debt levels and mounting consumer pessimism. Total household debt exceeded $18 trillion at the end of last year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, with credit card balances comprising a record $1.2 trillion of that sum. Consumer sentiment fell this month to its lowest level since 2022, and borrowers’ expectations for missing debt payments in the next three months hit their highest level since 2020, the New York Fed found.

A spokesperson for DoorDash didn’t comment on the criticism of its partnership with Klarna, saying their collaboration “provides even more flexibility, control and options.” The delivery service noted that its users can already pay with Venmo and CashApp, as well as government aid, including SNAP benefits. Klarna is already available on the grocery delivery platform Instacart, and it recently replaced rival Affirm as Walmart’s exclusive BNPL partner.

Much of the concern over BNPL has focused on the potential effects on borrowers’ credit histories, which largely still don’t reflect use of the services despite years of discussions with credit-reporting bureaus to change that. Yet a study released last month by Affirm and the credit-scoring firm FICO showed most consumers with five or more Affirm loans saw no real downside to their credit scores, some of which actually increased. And consumers consistently rate BNPL products favorably in surveys. Last year, 89% of borrowers told TransUnion they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the services.

But personal finance experts and consumer advocates say the qualms kicked up by the DoorDash-Klarna deal reflect real financial risks.

“Making four payments to cover three tacos on Tuesday sounds complicated because it is,” said Adam Rust, director of financial services at the Consumer Federation of America, an advocacy group. “I wouldn’t characterize this as a solution. It is a fintech innovation that creates problems.”

Not only might users face Klarna’s own late fees, he said, but “once customers consent to repay with automatic debits, they risk additional overdraft fees” from their banks.

Rust also highlighted recent work by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that remains in jeopardy or has been stopped altogether as the Trump administration defangs the agency.

The CFPB recently granted BNPL customers more ability to dispute charges and get refunds, but with staffers ordered to stop all enforcement activity last month, former employees and consumer advocates believe the rule has been rendered moot. A trade group representing fintech businesses, including some BNPL lenders but not Klarna, asked the Trump administration this month for an exemption from a law scheduled to take effect next week requiring certain lenders to verify borrowers’ ability to repay loans before they front them money.

Financial planners have long cautioned clients against budgetary strains from BNPL overuse. Even some borrowers themselves who’ve spent heavily with the services have begun warning others of their risks, saying they make it easy for cash-strapped users to rack up debts that are tough to pay off.

“Eat now, pay later is an awful trap,” Douglas Boneparth, president of Bone Fide Wealth, an advisory firm focused on millennials, wrote on X last week. “If you need to borrow to have a burrito delivered to you, you are the product. Nothing more.”

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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Oscar-winning Palestinian director of ‘No Other Land’ assaulted by Israeli settlers in the West Bank

The Palestinian co-director of Oscar-winning film “No Other Land” Hamdan Ballal was beaten up by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank and taken away by Israeli soldiers, his colleagues and eyewitnesses said.

Outside Ballal’s home was a group of Israeli settlers, some of whom were throwing stones. Israeli police and military were also outside the home and Israeli soldiers were firing at anyone who tried to get close, he said.

Yuval Abraham, another co-director of the film, who is Israeli, said Ballal had sustained injuries to his head and abdomen in the attack and had not been heard from since. Abraham did not witness the incident himself.

Five American activists from the Center for Jewish Nonviolence (CJNV) who were also at the scene said they too had been assaulted by Israeli settlers. They said more than a dozen settlers had attacked the village, wielding batons, knives and at least one assault rifle, following a dispute involving an Israeli settler who was shepherding near a Palestinian home.

Jenna, an activist who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said she and her colleagues were attacked by around 20 masked settlers when they approached Susya that night. Her group did not witness Ballal’s arrest.

Josh Kimelman, who was in the same group, said Israeli soldiers witnessed the incident but did nothing to prevent it.

Earlier this month, Ballal, Adra and Abraham had all stood alongside each other to accept the Oscar for best documentary. The joint Israeli-Palestinian team’s film recounts the eviction of Palestinians from their homes in the occupied West Bank.

Ballal had documented his interactions with settlers, including threats of violence from a settler who claimed God had given him Ballal’s land.

Ballal said he called the police but to no avail.

“No Other Land” documents the continued demolition by Israeli authorities of Masafer Yatta, a collection of villages in the Hebron mountains of the West Bank where Adra lives with his family. The documentary highlights the Israeli government’s efforts to evict the villagers by force, with viewers seeing the local playground being torn down, the killing of Adra’s brother by Israeli soldiers, and other attacks by Jewish settlers while the community tries to survive.

The film also explores the human connection between Adra and Abraham.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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Lawyers ask El Salvador’s Supreme Court to evaluate legality of detention of Venezuelans deported by the US

A team of lawyers representing the families of 30 Venezuelans sent by the United States to a mega prison in El Salvador asked the Salvadoran Supreme Court of Justice on Monday to evaluate the legality of their detention.

One of the attorneys, Jaime Ortega, said they were hired by the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to file an appeal before the Constitutional Chamber of the Salvadoran Supreme Court, which would also apply to the rest of the 238 Venezuelans deported on the orders of US President Donald Trump.

“We are asking the court to review their legal status and issue a ruling. If their detention is illegal, it should immediately order their release,” Ortega told reporters.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said last week that the US sent 238 alleged members of the Tren de Aragua criminal organization, though he didn’t identify them or provide evidence for that claim. El Salvador agreed to take them in and lock them up at its Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), considered the largest prison in Latin America. US authorities have acknowledged that not all deportees had criminal records.

The Trump administration said 137 of those migrants were deported under the Alien Enemies Act. Use of the act, previously used only in wartime, under these circumstances is currently under judicial scrutiny in the US.

The lawyers in El Salvador said that if this is an immigration matter, they hope the Salvadoran Supreme Court will order that the Venezuelans be sent back to their countries.

The judges have no set deadline to resolve the appeal.

Juan Pappier, Americas Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch, cautioned that it was “unrealistic” to expect the court to go against the Bukele administration.

“I understand (the families’) desperation and I think they should use whatever avenue they can find available,” Pappier said.

Pappier argued that these types of deportations violate UN principles that forbid countries from transferring individuals to a place “where they can risk facing torture and other grave human rights violations.”

The National Commission on Human Rights and Freedom of Expression, a Salvadoran government agency, said families of Venezuelan deportees held in Cecot could petition the Salvadoran government for their release.

“We will process each case and carry out the corresponding verifications,” presidential commissioner Andrés Guzmán said.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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A court orders the dissolution of the Unification Church in Japan

A court ordered the dissolution of the Unification Church in Japan, upholding a government request for a revocation spurred by the investigation into the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The Tokyo District Court’s revocation of the church’s legal status means it will lose its tax-exempt privilege and must liquidate its assets. However, the church can still appeal the decision to higher courts.

The order follows a request by Japan’s Education Ministry in 2023 to dissolve the influential South Korea-based sect, citing manipulative fundraising and recruitment tactics that sowed fear among followers and harmed their families.

The Japanese branch of the church had criticized the request as a serious threat to religious freedom and the human rights of its followers.

The investigation into the 2022 assassination of Abe revealed decades of cozy ties between the South Korea-based church and Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party. The church obtained legal status as a religious organization in Japan in 1968 amid an anti-communist movement supported by Abe’s grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi.

The man accused of killing Abe resented the church and blamed it for his family’s financial troubles.

The church, which officially calls itself the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, is the first religious group to face a revocation order under Japan’s civil code. Two earlier case involved criminal charges – the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, which carried out a sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, and Myokakuji group, whose executives were convicted of fraud.

Japan has in place hurdles for restraining religious activities due to lessons from the prewar and wartime oppression of freedom of religion and thought.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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A comedian told a joke about a politician. Now he’s under police investigation

A prominent Indian comedian is standing by his right to make jokes after an angry mob attacked a comedy club where he had made an onstage jibe at a right-wing politician.

Kunal Kamra, known for his quips about popular culture and politics, is under investigation for alleged defamation by police in the western state of Maharashtra after he told a joke about the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The case is the latest to underscore the country’s declining freedoms and the sensitivities of India’s right-wing politicians, some of whom have called for the artist’s arrest.

A video of the skit, posted to Kamra’s YouTube channel Sunday, shows the comedian apparently taking a jibe at Shinde. In the video, Kamra does not explicitly name the politician but, in a song, refers to a “gaddar,” or “traitor” – taken to be a reference to Shinde’s leadership of a rebellion in 2022 that caused the state’s previous government to collapse.

The joke sparked a furious backlash within Shinde’s Hindu supremacist Shiv Sena political party. An angry mob later descended upon The Habitat comedy venue where Kamra had performed in Mumbai. A video of the incident shows dozens of men – some wearing scarves with the Shiv Sena logo – smashing chairs and ripping the venue’s interior apart.

Shiv Sena spokesperson Krishna Hegde said Kamra’s words “insulted” the people of Maharashtra. “Mumbai police should take Kunal Kamra into custody, arrest him, lock him up behind bars and open a case against him,” he said in a video statement.

Another party lawmaker, Naresh Mhaske, warned that Kamra would be unable to walk in public.

“Let alone Maharashtra, you won’t be able to roam around in all of India,” he said in a video statement.

Kamra has said he will not apologize for his comments and, in a post on X, criticized the “inability to take a joke at the expense of a powerful public figure.”

“As far as I know, it is not against the law to poke fun at our leaders and the circus that is our political system,” he wrote. “I don’t fear this mob and I will not be hiding under my bed waiting for this to die down.”

Some opposition politicians in Maharashtra have rallied to Kamra’s defense in light of the political storm. Shinde’s former political ally Aditya Thackeray said: “Only an insecure coward would react to a song by someone.”

The Habitat said it was “shocked, worried and extremely broken by the vandalism,” and would be temporarily shutting down the comedy club.

“We have never been involved in the content performed by any artist but the recent events have made us rethink about how we get blamed and targeted,” it said on Instagram, adding that the venue would be closed “till we figure out the best way to provide a platform for free expression without putting ourselves and our property in jeopardy.”

Growing intolerance

This isn’t Kamra’s first run in with the law.

In December 2020, the Supreme Court held him in contempt of court for allegedly disparaging the judiciary and judges in his social media posts. In one Twitter post, he criticized the court’s handling of a case involving a right-wing commentator.

Freedom of speech is enshrined in India’s democratic constitution, but comedians in the world’s largest democracy have previously faced the wrath of angry politicians for their jokes.

In November 2021, right-wing politicians called for comedian Vir Das’ arrest after he gave a powerful monologue addressing the country’s rape crisis and then-year-long farmer’s protest.

At the time, Ashutosh Dubey, a legal adviser to India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, accused Das of “defaming” India and filed a complaint with the police over his “inflammatory” comments.

Das has not been formally charged with any crime and continues to perform. But others who have faced similar situations have had their livelihoods upended.

Kamra, meanwhile, said the new investigation into his comments “does not change the nature of his right” to make fun of politicians.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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World’s longest-serving death row prisoner awarded $1.4 million after acquittal – that’s $85 for each day

A Japanese man who spent more than 40 years on death row until he was acquitted last year has been awarded $1.4 million in compensation, a court said on Tuesday – roughly $85 for each day he was wrongfully convicted.

Former professional boxer Iwao Hakamada, 89, was sentenced to death in 1968 for a quadruple murder despite repeatedly alleging that the police had fabricated evidence against him.

Once the world’s longest-serving death row inmate, he was acquitted after a DNA test showed that the bloodstained clothing which was used to convict him was planted long after the murders, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

His legal representative Hideyo Ogawa described the compensation as the “highest amount” ever handed out for a wrongful conviction in Japan, but said it could never make up for what Hakamada had suffered.

“I think the state (government) has made a mistake that cannot be atoned for with 200 million yen,” the lawyer said, according to NHK.

Hakamata retired as a professional boxer in 1961 and got a job at a soybean processing plant in Shizuoka, central Japan.

Five years later he was arrested by police after his boss, his boss’ wife and their two children were found stabbed to death in their home.

Hakamata initially admitted to the charges against him, but later changed his plea, accusing police of forcing him to confess by beating and threatening him.

He was sentenced to death in a 2-1 decision by judges in 1968.

The one dissenting judge stepped down from the bar six months later, demoralized by his inability to stop the sentencing.

Hakamata, who has maintained his innocence ever since, would go on to spend more than half his life waiting to be hanged.

New evidence led to his release in 2014 pending a retrial, which acquitted him last year.

His case brought global scrutiny to Japan’s criminal justice system, where conviction rates stand at 99%, according to the Ministry of Justice website, and fueled calls to abolish the death penalty in the country.

Hakamata was “living in his own world,” she said.

“Sometimes he smiles happily, but that’s when he’s in his delusion… We have not even discussed the trial with Iwao because of his inability to recognize reality.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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The Best Five Sectors, #12

Energy Jumps to #2

A big move for the energy sector last week as XLE jumped to the #2 position in the ranking, coming from #6 the week before. This move came at the cost of the Consumer Staples sector which was pushed out of the top-5 and is now on #7.

Because of the jump of Energy, the Financials sector was pushed down to #3. Healthcare and Utilities remain in the top-5 but have switched positions.

The New Sector Lineup

  1. (1) Communication Services – (XLC)
  2. (6) Energy – (XLE)*
  3. (2) Financials – (XLF)*
  4. (5) Utilities – (XLU)*
  5. (4) Healthcare – (XLV)*
  6. (7) Industrials – (XLI)*
  7. (3) Consumer Staples – (XLP)*
  8. (8) Real-Estate – (XLRE)
  9. (9) Consumer Discretionary – (XLY)
  10. (10) Materials – (XLB)
  11. (11) Technology – (XLK)

Weekly RRG: XLF and XLC remain strong

On the weekly Relative Rotation Graph, Communication Services and Financials remain strong inside the leading quadrant. From the big cluster of tails inside the improving quadrant, XLE has jumped to the front of the queue (almost) while XLU and XLV continue to pick up nicely.

The long tail on XLY at a negative RRG-Heading rapidly continues to push the sector to the lagging quadrant. The Negative RRG-Heading on XLK keeps the sector at the bottom of the list.

Daily RRG: Modest Pickup of Relative Momentum for XLK and XLY

On the daily RRG:

  • XLE jumps to the highest RS-Ratio reading while maintaining the highest RS-Momentum.
  • Utilities stall inside the lagging quadrant
  • XLV rotates into weakening but remains at an elevated RS-Ratio reading
  • XLF rotates back into the leading quadrant, signaling the start of a new leg in the already established relative uptrend.

Communication Services

XLC held above the rising support line and closed towards the high of the week, suggesting that a new higher low is now getting into place.

Relative Strength continues to be strong, and RS-Momentum bottoms against 100-level.

Energy

The Energy sector rapidly improved, jumping from position #6 to #2 in one week. On the price chart, XLE is breaking its falling resistance, which opens the way for a further rally to the horizontal barrier near 98.

The raw RS-line is close to leaving its two-year-old falling channel, which would signal a significant shift in sentiment and a turnaround into a relative uptrend.

Financials

XLF remains a strong sector in position #3, with relative strength continuing to rise.

Last week’s rally on the price chart brought the price back to the old rising support line, which is now expected to start acting as resistance. The former support from the low near 5o is also expected to start acting as resistance.

This means that the upside potential in terms of price seems limited for now, but RS is still going strong.

Utilities

Relative strength for Utilities continues to creep higher, enough to keep the sector inside the top 5.

Both price and RS remain within the boundaries of their trading ranges.

Healthcare

RS for the Healthcare sector stalled at the level of the previous low. The RS-Ratio and RS-Momentum combinations on the daily and weekly Relative Rotation Graphs remain strong enough to keep the sector in the top 5.

Portfolio Performance Update

In the portfolio, the position in Consumer Staples (XLP) was closed against the opening price of Monday morning (3/24). At the same time, a new position was opened in Energy (XLE) against the opening price.

The rally in Consumer Discretionary and Technology at the end of last week has put a small dent in the performance,e and RRGv1 is now 1.4% behind SPY since the start of the year.

#StayAlert, -Julius

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DP Trading Room: Tariffs Narrowing, Sparks Market Rally

Over the weekend it was announced that tariffs will be narrowing and possibly not as widespread as initially thought. Negotiations are continuing in the background and this seems to be allaying market participants’ fears. The market rallied strongly on the news.

Carl and Erin gave you their opinions of whether this rally has staying power. Carl began the program with a look at the current DP Signal Tables. Biases remain very negative but as we often say things get as bad as they’re going to get before they start turning it around.

After looking at the tables, Carl analyzed the market in general and then covered Gold, the Dollar, Yields, Bitcoin and more. Get a sense of market conditions with a review of this section.

The Magnificent Seven were next up on the agenda. Carl reviewed both the daily and weekly charts seeing many new rallies kicking in. Their improvements bode well for the market in general.

Erin took the reins and gave us a complete overview of sector rotation. She took a deep dive in the aggressive sectors with an under the hood view of Consumer Discretionary (XLY), Communication Services (XLC) and Technology (XLK).

Erin concluded the program by looking at viewer symbol requests that included SOFI, RIVN, F and SMCI.

01:18 DP Signal Tables

03:42 Market Overview

13:24 Magnificent Seven

22:05 Sector Rotation

28:31 Symbol Requests

Join us LIVE in the trading at Noon ET on Mondays by registering once here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_D6iAp-C1S6SebVpQIYcC6g

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The DP Alert: Your First Stop to a Great Trade!

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Helpful DecisionPoint Links:

Trend Models

Price Momentum Oscillator (PMO)

On Balance Volume

Swenlin Trading Oscillators (STO-B and STO-V)

ITBM and ITVM

SCTR Ranking

Bear Market Rules

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