Morning Report – April 25, 2014

Apple propped up the NASDAQ and NDX yesterday for a 21.37 gain, but it was still a distribution day for the indexes.  I believe this is true because the Composite opened much higher than it closed, it closed at 58.62% of its daily range, volume was heavy, and the internals were negative.

What initially looked like a day where the Composite could blow past short term resistance at 4190, turned out to be a fizzle for the most part. Declining issues led advancing issues by a 1.43 to one margin, and declining led advancing volume by a 1.24 to 1 margin. Small cap stocks were weaker, and money flowed back into the safety of utility stocks.  Semiconductor stocks did hold up relatively well, but the group as a whole is running up against resistance.  Solar stocks held up as they continue to bounce from oversold levels, and homebuilding stocks showed the largest percentage gain as the ITB was up 2.4%. Homebuilders is a group that has not trended for the past year, and investors are being chopped up as they try to catch the bottom in the group. Gold was down yesterday, but gold futures are up .71% as I write this. Oil and Gas Exploration stocks were up, but oil futures continue to stall. Read Full Report