WizzWatch Market Newsletter

As for the week that was in the stock market all three major indices ended the week with their best week since November. The past week was a very good week in the markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite Index as well as the Standard and Poors 500 all advanced. The price of gold declined due to a stronger dollar as the prices of silver, oil as well as bitcoin advanced near all time price highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average began the week trading at 30,054.73 and declined to a price low ar 30,014.97 before ending the week trading higher. The top price advancers in the Dow 30 were (AXP) American Express +8.62% followed by (NKE) Nike +8.62%, (GS) Goldman Sachs +8.23%, (V) Visa +8.03%, and (CSCO) Cisco Systems +7.85% as (WBA) Walgreens, (MRK) Merck, (AMGN) Amgen and (UNH) United Health all declined. 

As the week came to an end the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week trading at 31,148.24 +1,165.62 or 3.89% on lighter than average weekly trading volume of 1.64 billion.

The Nasdaq also moved higher in price to end the week after moving lower the week prior. The index has been moving higher for 16 of the past 20 weeks. The Nasdaq began the week trading at 13,226.18 and declined to a price low in the 13,132.47 area before advancing to the upside and ending the week in positive territory.

The movers and shakers that helped the index advance after a few bad days the week prior were (ALGN) Align Tech +18.10%, (WYNN) Wynn Resorts +17.54%, (WDAY) Workday +16.01%, (PYPL) Paypal +14.99% and (BIDU) Baidu +14.94%. 

The laggards in the tech weighed index were (CTSH) Cognizant Technology Solutions, (VRTX) Vertex Pharmaceuticals, (BIIB) Biogen, (QCOM) Qualcomm, and last but not least (CHKP) Checkpoint Software. In total there were 86 advancers and 14 decliners in the Nasdaq for the week.

As the trading session ended for the week the Nasdaq closed at a new record closing price high at 13,856.30 +785.60 or 6.01% on heavier than average trading volume of 35.34 billion. The average weekly trading volume for the index is 21.28 billion.

Over at the S&P 500 there was nothing different as it to closed to end the week trading in new record price high territory. The index began the week trading at 3,,731.17 and moved to a price low at 3,725.62 but ended the week completely higher on the upside. 

The top price movers in the S&P 500 were (LB) LBrands +21.17%, (MGM)  MGM Resorts +19.92%, (TPR) Tapestry +18.75%, (FCX) Freeport McMoran +17.91% and (ETSY) Etsy,Inc, +15.28%.

As the week came to a close the Standard and Poors 500 closed to end the week trading at 3,886.83 +172.59 or 4.65% on heavier than average trading volume of 11.61 billion.

On the commodities front the price of gold has been on a decline for 14 of the past 27 trading weeks since August of 2020 as it ended the week trading at $1,813.00 per troy ounce down $37.30 or -2.02% as the price of silver closed to end the week on the upside. The Silver index closed to end the week trading at $27.02 slightly below its August 2020 closing price high at $27.79 per ounce. 

As for crude oil,  the index advanced as it continues to move higher for the few trading weeks since November. Rig counts have been increasing for the past 11 trading weeks, as rig count numbers continue to increase it tends to create more demand for black gold. 

Oil is up 424% since April and about 60% since November. At the close of the markets on Friday oil ended the week trading at $56.85 per barrel up $4.65 or 8.91% on lighter than average upside trading volume of 208.7 million. The average trading volume for the index is 214.34 million.

By Marlin Rolle