Calm Markets

Major market indexes extended their streak of relatively calm trading days. For the tenth straight trading day, the S&P 500 (SPX), the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJX) all exhibited a downtrend in their average true range. This is typically a bullish signal.

Chart Advisor | Focus on the Price By Gordon Scott, CMT Wednesday, October 23, 2019 1. Mid-cap Stocks Edge Blue Chips 2. Crude Oil Demand Reverses Inventory Trend 3. This Company Keeps on Trucking Market Moves Major market indexes extended their streak of relatively calm trading days. For the tenth straight trading day, the S&P 500 (SPX),  the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJX) all exhibited a downtrend in their average true range. This is typically a bullish signal.    During this quiet period, however, investors have begun to show signs of mildly  increasing risk appetite. As a result mid-cap stocks have shown slightly better performance compared to the indexes filled with more blue-chip stocks. The chart below shows that the slight lead this index has, as tracked by State Street Global Advisors'  SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF (MDY), is enough to confirm the bullish signal given by the calmer trading ranges.       Crude Oil Demand Reverses Inventory Trend Each week the report that publishes the current level of inventory for crude oil is watched closely by energy traders. Today's edition of that report showed some interesting developments. Inventory fell significantly last week, showing a decrease of 1.7 million barrels. This came as a surprise to forecasters who had estimated an increase of 2.5 million barrels this week, in keeping with the trend of rising inventories over the past six weeks.   This news also came hand-in-hand with the information that production had also increased this week. So despite more oil produced and a backlog of inventory, energy consumers had such a spike in demand that it created the surprise outcome. This news may have repercussions for energy sensitive industries in the near future.     Read more: Alphabet Earnings: What to Watch For Ride Share Stocks Rally as Founders Predict Profitability  3 Charts That Suggest Markets in Asia Are Headed Higher This Company Keeps on Trucking Despite the jump in demand for oil and gasoline, trucking company Old Dominion Freight Lines (ODFL) is on for a good earnings report tomorrow. The generally downward trend of fuel prices over the past several weeks will surely help the company's bottom line. The stock has outperformed the Dow Jones Transportation index, tracked by iShares' Transportation Average ETF (IYT), and is up more than fifty percent so far in 2019.       The Bottom Line Stocks closed within a smaller range than average and this has mostly been the case for the past two weeks of trading. This portends well for those hoping for higher market prices. Oil prices jumped on increased demand which implies a continued rise in consumer sentiment. One stock likely to benefit from all this is Old Dominion Freight Lines which reports earnings tomorrow.  How can we improve the Chart Advisor? Tell us at chartadvisor@investopedia.com Enjoy the Chart Advisor?  Copy and share the link below to invite friends to sign up https://link.investopedia.com/join/53o/00-fwd-chartadvisor CONNECT WITH INVESTOPEDIA Email sent to:  mondemand.forex@blogger.com If you wish to update your newsletter preferences or unsubscribe, please click here   114 West 41st St, floor 8 New York NY 10036 © 2019, Investopedia, LLC. All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy