Heading into the lunchtime hour on the East Coast the major stock indices are in the red after news out of China last night had international markets on the defensive. The Dow is down 74 points or 0.55%, S&P 500 is off 8 points or 0.6%, and the NASDAQ is losing 23 points of 0.75%.
The SPDR Financial Sector ETF ($XLF) is up again today with a gain of 0.1%; another close in the green will be the sixth straight winning session for the ETF that is trading at its best level since last May. Leading the way is Goldman Sachs ($GS), Bank of America ($BAC), and Morgan Stanley ($MS). As I mentioned yesterday, the rally in the financials is getting long in the tooth, but stocks can remains overbought for long periods of time so it is tough to fight the tape.
The Redbook Chain Store sales for the week rose 3.6% versus 3.3% last week. The ICSC Retail Store sales rose 0.9% week over week versus 0.7% last week and are up 3.3% versus last year, better than the 2.3% yearly gain reported last week. Once again showing the resilience of the consumer.
The SPDR Retail ETF ($XRT) is up 0.1% today on the news and is trading just below an all-time high.
Market expert and TV personality Matt McCall blogs about what is really moving the markets. He will emphasize Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and individual stocks throughout the trading day.
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