On a day like today, some bulls across the globe just want that closing bell to ring to get the day behind them. However, on selloff days I do like to look for the positive outlier(s). I do this in order to figure out what might cause investors and traders to completely disregard the overall market sentiment of the day and buy up shares of a certain sector/company.
This afternoon, I found myself looking at the main 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500 and all but two are trading negative day over day, with one of the two mentioned is basically flat, so let’s dive into the only “true” positive sector: The Materials Select Sector.
Using (NYSE:XLB) as the proxy for this outlying sector, it’s pretty simple to decipher what is causing this standalone bullish move of +.3%. Looking at the top 10 holdings of the ETF, only two companies are having good days (for bullish investors). Dow Inc (NYSE:DOW) and Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. (NYSE:FCX), which make up a combined 7.88% of the portfolio, both are trading up at +2.2% and 1.28%, respectively. Though the news on Dow is relatively sporadic, Freeport-McMoRan shares are trading up following rumors coming out yesterday speculating interests of acquisition by Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD).
While days like today may make bulls want to pull their hair out, there are [usually] companies that go against the grain and make shareholders happy. Whether it be a small cap stock or a sector ETF, opportunity can strike regardless of the overall market performance!
