today

the clock actually seemed to slow down in the final couple of hours of today’s session, but even though the action was dreary this afternoon, a very sharp spurt of selling in the final 5 minutes took the averages well off the highs. the late-day fade yesterday was mainly concentrated in materials and energy, but today was spread across sectors and was very sudden. given the pick-up in volume, it’s very likely that there were some end-of-month games being played.

meanwhile, the back and forth rotation continued, with weak dollar/strong oil plays bouncing while banks and retailers lagged. trying to find any consistency in this market lately has been challenging to say the least.

the question, of course, is how things are going to develop from here. the sell-off in bonds might be an indication that investors are starting to look for better yields and may be more willing to take on risk. that stated, overhead resistance (for those that believe) is fast approaching and given the volatility in crude and the greenback, things will likely remain volatile.