Markets Analysis – Week#3 (ending March 22nd) Key Markets Creep Higher

Last week (week 2) the markets moved higher, this week most key markets creeping higher with the exception of bitcoin’s continued retreat.

SPY – S&P 500

The S&P 500 stock market index tracks the stock performance of 500 of the largest companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It includes approximately 80% of the total market capitalization of public companies in the United States.

After a brief dip last week, the S&P continued higher this week, ending around the 520 level on high volume in the 50-60 million range.

QQQ – Nasdaq 100

The Nasdaq 100 is a stock market index made up of 101 equity securities issued by 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. It is a modified capitalization-weighted index, meaning the stocks’ weights in the index are based on their market capitalizations with certain rules capping the influence of the largest components. So price fluctuations in companies like Alphabet, Apple, Tesla, Nvidia directly affect the Nasdaq 100 day to day.

By the end of the week the Nasdaq 100 ended up higher for the week at 446 compared with 433 at the end of the prior week. The Nasdaq was up 3 out of 5 days this week, with trading volume for the week being around average.

IXF – Nasdaq 100 Financial

The Nasdaq Financial-100 is a stock market index operated by Nasdaq consisting of companies that are listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, that are in the financial services industry, including banking, insurance, mortgages and securities trading.

This week the Nasdaq Financials trended higher from the reversal from the week prior. The Nasdaq Financial ended the week at the 5300 range.

IWM – iShares Russell 2000 ETF

The Russell 2000 Index is a small-cap U.S. stock market index that makes up the smallest 2,000 stocks in the Russell 3000 Index. The index is a widely quoted measure of the overall performance of small-cap to mid-cap company shares. It is commonly considered an indicator of the U.S. economy due to its focus on small-cap companies in the U.S. market.

The Russell 2000 remained relatively flat overall this week, creeping slightly higher by the end of the week. We may be looking at some sideways movement in the near term going forward following the break of the previous resistance a few weeks ago.

Unlike the Nasdaq bull run, the Russell 2000 has traded within a range since April 2022. Key previous resistance points to keep an eye on are around around the 211 and 242 marks. A lot of the money in the market have been driving the large caps higher over the years leaving the Russell 2000 to underperform.

XIU – iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF

XIU is a liquid ETF that tracks the TSX 60 Index, which consists of the top 60 companies in Canada and has a large-cap focus.

The Canadian market continued its up trend this week under declining volume. The Canadian stock market briefly touched on a new high and then retreated down slightly by the end of the week.

Now if we look at a slightly longer time horizon, we can see that the TSX is nearing the previous resistance level established in April 2022, there is not a lot of room to run if the April 2022 resistance level holds.

GLD – SPDR Gold Shares ETF

GLD is a relatively cost efficient and secure way to access the gold market. SPDR Gold Shares is the largest physically backed gold exchange traded fund in the world.

Gold’s continued to move sideways this week at around the 200 level, under relatively high volume.

USO – United States Oil Fund ETF

USO’s investment objective is for the daily changes, in percentage terms, of its shares’ net asset value (NAV) to reflect the daily changes, in percentage terms, of the spot price of light sweet crude oil delivered to Cushing, Oklahoma, as measured by the daily changes in the Benchmark Oil Futures Contract. Specifically, USO seeks for the average daily percentage change in USO’s net asset value, for any period of 30 successive valuation days, to be within plus/minus 10% of the average daily percentage change in the price of the Benchmark Oil Futures Contract over the same period.

This week Oil continued to move slightly higher, and looks to be continuing in the rising wedge formation, under declining volume.

GBTC – Grayscale Bitcoin Trust

Bitcoin is a digital asset that is created and transmitted through the operations of the peer-to-peer Bitcoin Network, a decentralized network of computers that operates on cryptographic protocols. The Bitcoin Network allows people to exchange tokens of value, Bitcoins, which are recorded on a public transaction ledger known as a Blockchain.

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust is one of the first securities solely and passively invested in Bitcoin (“BTC”) that enables investors to gain exposure to BTC in the form of a security while avoiding the challenges of buying, storing, and safekeeping BTC, directly.

This week BTC continued to lose steam and pulled back slightly to the 56 level under falling volume.

TLT – iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF

The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. Treasury bonds with remaining maturities greater than twenty years. The TLT portfolio’s effective duration is 16.5 years. So, if interest rates fall by 1.0%, TLT’s price could rise by 16.5%.

This week TLT continued its overall down trend, which has resumed as of Jan 2024. The continued downward movement continues to reinforce the current sentiment that interest rate cuts have not occurred and that interest rate cuts may not be imminent.

Market Outlook