Trends Week Of October 7: Earnings Season Begins, Gold Lower, Oil Higher

NEW YORK (Oct 6) Last week’s review of the macro market indicators suggested, as the 3rd Quarter came to a close that the markets looked positive but softer on a short term basis. The next week looked for Gold (GLD) to consolidate or move higher while Crude Oil (USO) continued lower. The US Dollar Index (UUP) looked to continue its downward action while US Treasuries (TLT) were biased higher near resistance. The Shanghai Composite (SSEC) and Emerging Markets (EEM) were moving together and continued to look best to the downside. Volatility (VIX) looked to remain subdued but with a drift higher keeping the bias neutral to higher for the equity index ETF’s SPY, IWM and QQQ. The SPY looked the weakest of the bunch and better lower while the IWM and QQQ consolidated in their uptrends.

The week played out with Gold dipping lower while Crude Oil started lower before finding support late in the week. The US Dollar Index continued to fall while Treasuries consolidated in a slow drift lower. The Shanghai Composite was open one day and moved up slightly while Emerging Markets found a bottom and had a slight bounce. Volatility picked up a bit and will be on the radar, but remained subdued. The Equity Index ETF’s mostly consolidated with the SPY finding support and the IWM and QQQ holding near the highs.