It was a rough day for stock market bulls.
All four major U.S. stock market indices finished sharply lower today with the Dow Jones Industrial Average being the worst offender (closing down 2.21%).
The major U.S. equity indices continue to have strong bearish intermediate postures and are displaying “3 red arrow” signals (see video below).
The S&P 500 (NYSEARCA: SPY) finished lower by 1.82%, with 430 of the 500 stocks in the index closing lower.
The NASDAQ Composite (NASDAQ: QQQ) breached the previous significant low from October with today’s pullback of 1.7%.
As well, all eleven sectors finished in the red today; Energy was the worst performing sector due to another 7% plunge in oil prices.
Mid-Week market Video – November 20, 2018
Some additional insights from today’s video:
- According to ratio charts, dividend stocks are outperforming the broad market, value is outperforming growth, and Consumer Staples are outperforming Consumer Discretionary
- The Sector Selector tool confirms the defensive tilt to the market with sectors like Utilities and Staples holding up much better than Industrials and Energy
- The U.S. Dollar had another strong day; volatility also rose sharply
- Many retail stocks reported earnings this morning and were down significantly throughout the day
- Our trade application example focused on selling a put on Ryder Systems (Ticker: R) based off of historically attractive dividend yields and an oversold cluster signal on a weekly candle chart.
Get market insights, stock trading ideas, and educational instruction over at the Market Scholars website.
Twitter:  @BrandonVanZee and @Market_ScholarsÂ
Any opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not in any way represent the views or opinions of any other person or entity.