View From The Hill: May 15, 2015 – Market Commentary

Equities: Although performance was not robust, stocks bounced off their lows and finished at the upper end of their weekly trading range. Weekly percent changes: SP-500 (SPY) +0.39%; Nasdaq-100 +0.82%; and Russell-2000 (IWM) +0.82%.

Volatility: The VIX exchange traded fund has now declined 5 out of the last 7 trading weeks. After several previous weeks of support, Volatility (VIX) fell -2.67% for the week.

Bonds: The 20+ Year Treasury (TLT) fell to a new 7-week low, but retraced most of its losses and closed down only -0.75% for the week.

Currencies: Weekly performance for major currencies were as follows: (UUP) down -1.61% made a new 5-week low; Euro (FXE) up +2.15% hit a new 4-week high; and Japanese Yen (FXY) has been trapped in a sideways market for the last 8 weeks and eked out a +0.32% gain.

Commodities:  flowed into commodities this week: DB Commodity Index (DBC) up +1.26%; Gold (GLD) up +3.12%; and U.S. Oil Fund (USO) up +0.49%.

Real Estate: The Dow Jones Real Estate Index (IYR) and Homebuilders Index (ITB) firmed up last week's support with bullish reversal patterns. Over the week, they respectively returned +0.62% and +0.71%.

ETF Capital Markets Performance Summary

Market Moving Events

Bullish

  • Manufacturing / Canada: March-2015 Manufacturing Sales rebounded monthly @ 2.9% vs. prior revised @ -2.2% and consensus @ 1.0%. Annually, they improved @ 1.0% vs. prior revised @ -2.4%.
  • Bearish

  • Manufacturing / USA: The Empire State Mfg Survey for May-2015 @ 3.09 failed consensus expectations @ 5.0, but did improve from previous month @ -1.19.
  • Consumer / USA: Consumer Sentiment for May-2015 dipped to 88.6 vs. prior @ 95.9 and consensus @ 95.8.
  • Neutral

  • Production / USA: Industrial Production for April-2015 was relatively unchanged @ -0.3% vs. prior revised @ -0.3%. Capacity utilization rates were also flat @ 78.2% vs. 78.4%. The manufacturing component was 0.0% vs. prior revised @ 0.3%.
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