Major averages fell on higher volume. Oil closed under $40 for the first time in three months and is close to major multi-year lows.
The market headed lower after Federal Reserve Chairperson Yellen yesterday said she would support a rate hike if conditions warrant when the Fed meets in December. The data so far has met the requirements for a hike, but she voiced concerns about slack demand in the labor market, and that monetary policy will remain easy going for quite a long time, implying that the economic recovery make take longer than expected.
The odds of a rate hike according to CME FedWatch stand at 75%. Of those who believe the Fed will hike rates, one-quarter believes the Fed will hike 25 basis points, while three-quarters say 50 basis points.
Over in Europe, the European Central Bank cut its deposit rate further into negative territory. The ECB dropped the deposit rate on money parked at the central bank overnight to minus 0.3% from minus 0.2% which was at the low end of expectations. European markets consequently sold off on the news while the euro rallied. The ECB left its key lending rate unchanged at 0.05% and the rate on its marginal lending facility at 0.3%. ECB President Mario Draghi will announce further monetary stimulus measures when he holds his news conference at 8:30 am EST.
Biotech CYTK had a pocket pivot breakout. Keep in mind this is a smaller, thinner development stage company in the biotech space thus risk is amplified. Earnings are zero and sales are small. Upward price thrust is massive.
Airline company JBLU had a pocket pivot earlier in the day but closed near the low of its trading range in the face of a weak market. It is always better to see a stock buck market weakness when it is having a pocket pivot. If you bought this one earlier yesterday, and did not sell near the close, you should keep stops extra tight on this one, perhaps using an undercut of yesterday's low as your sell stop.
Internet furniture retailer W had a buyable gap up on reports that its holiday sales surged. It closed mid-bar but since it is a buyable gap up, a midbar close in context with its chart is still acceptable. Sales are soaring, institutional sponsorship has grown over the last 4 quarters since it went public, group rank 3.
Cloud-based IT software company NOW had a pocket pivot though closed in the lower half of its trading range, thus is a weaker pocket pivot. Earnings are soaring, sales are robust, institutional sponsorship has grown over the last four quarters, group rank 7.