Dailly Commentary
Headline News:
U.S. stock futures are set to open lower on Thursday due to California declaring a state of emergency due to the coronavirus. Also, major airlines warned the virus could crush travel demand and hurt profits for the year. Investors are now faced with a possible slowdown in economic growth both domestically and globally until the virus is contained.The weekly jobless report is due this morning, and the monthly non-farm payrolls will be released on Friday. Both reports will be closely watched and could potentially prove to be market movers.
Markets:
The S&P 500 rallied past resistance at 3108.99 to close at 3130.12 on Wednesday. The RSI index also moved higher to close at 44.13 in support of the rally. However, volume was shallow and not enough to make a call of “all done” for now, so we will need to see a follow-through day with heavy volume before we move back to a short term bullish stance. We see the potential for more selling that could test the 200-day moving average at 3050.36 in the next few days. The protection of capital is still critical in our view.
We are currently long-term bullish and short-term bearish.
John N. Lilly III
Accredited Portfolio Management Advisor℠
Accredited Asset Management Specialist℠
Portfolio Manager, RJ
Partner, DJWMG
Dominguez & Jones Wealth Management Group
The Relative Strength Index (RSI), developed by J. Welles Wilder, is a momentum oscillator that measures the speed and changes of price movements.
The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index of 500 widely held stocks that is generally considered representative of the U.S stock market. Past performance may not be indicative of future results. Keep in mind that individuals cannot invest directly in any index, and index performance does not include transaction costs or other fees, which will affect actual investment performance. Individual investors’ results will vary. Opinions expressed are those of the author John N. Lilly III, and not necessarily those of Raymond James. “There is no guarantee that these statements, opinions or forecast provided herein will prove to be correct. “The information contained was received from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy is not guaranteed. Investing always involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss. No investment strategy can guarantee success. The charts and/or tables presented herein are for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered as the sole basis for your investment decision. International investing involves special risks, including currency fluctuations, different financial accounting standards, and possible political and economic volatility. Investing in emerging markets can be riskier than investing in well-established foreign markets.
New unemployment claims are compiled weekly to show the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time. An increasing (decreasing) trend suggests a deteriorating (improving) labor market. The four-week moving average of new claims smooths out weekly volatility.
The most closely watched of all economic indicators, the employment situation is a set of monthly labor market indicators based on two separate reports: the establishment survey which tracks 650,000 worksites and offers the nonfarm payroll and average hourly earnings headlines and the household survey which interviews 60,000 households and generates the unemployment rate.
Nonfarm payrolls track the number of part-time and full-time employees in both business and government. Average hourly earnings track employee pay while the average workweek, also part of the establishment survey, tracks the number of hours worked. The report’s private payroll measure excludes government workers.
The unemployment rate measures the number of unemployed as a percentage of the labor force. In order to be counted as unemployed, one must be actively looking for work. Other commonly known data from the household survey include the labor supply and discouraged w