Last week it was “déjà vu all over again” in reference to the S&P 500’s ability to hold the 50-day moving average and rally on Fridays to close out the prior two weeks. Last Friday’s rally didn’t carry over to Monday, and it felt like, THIS TIME it’s different, we swear. The support at the 50-day gave way, and the S&P closed below it to end a six-plus month streak. The VIX moved higher, continuing a move that began last week. There was apprehension across markets, in anticipation of Nvidia’s earnings report. They were great, but equities sold off hard after a brief move higher. S&P futures traded lower again on Friday, but the index opened just above the 100-day, then fell below it. Buyers stepped back in however. The index rallied, cleared the 100-day, then 6600, though finished off the highs. This wasn’t a tech-lead rally either. The sector was flat. The equal-weight was up 2%, doubling up the cap-weighted standard. Small caps were even better as the Russell 2000 and S&P 600 rose 3%, both with big moves off their lows. Dovish comments by Fed President Williams were a driver. For the week, Tech was the big underperformer. Beyond the weakness in semis, software names were also sold. Energy and Discretionary were weak. Crude and nat gas were under pressure on Ukraine peace prospects, taking Energy lower. Discretionary gained 2% on Friday but was down 3% for the week. Travel and Leisure was mixed while Amazon fell 6%, weighing on the sector. Comm Services was the outperformer this week as Alphabet added 8%. The company continues to see a re-rating as the existential threat to its search business from AI gets further in the rear-view. Healthcare was another outperformer. The sector saw strength across groups. Next week will be a short one. Not only will markets be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, but Friday will be a half day with equity markets closing at 1pm. The MSCI quarterly rebalance will be on Monday. We’ll get employment data from the new, weekly ADP employment report and the official weekly jobless claims as well as the Fed Beige Book. Best Buy, Dell, HP and Deere will provide some of the more prominent earnings results. Enjoy your weekend!

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