Market Summary – 5/31/2015

The market was down all across the board this past week. The Dow was down 276.19 on the week and closed Friday at 18,010.68. The S&P 500 dropped 22.97 points and ended at 2,107.39. The VIX was up and closed Friday at 13.84. The NASDAQ ended the week at 5,070.03.

The SPDR sectors also plunged this past week. XLY (Consumer Discretionary) dropped by 0.83% to end Friday at 76.30. XLP(Consumer Staples) lost 0.93% to close at 48.79. XLE (Energy) sputtered through the week and lost 2.26% to close Friday at 78.39. XLF (Financial) was down 1.05% to close at 24.60. XLV (Health Care) fared the best this past week. It closed Friday at 74.94 after a relatively small decrease of 0.05% on the week. XLI (Industrials) had a bad week in which it dropped 1.92% to close at 55.81. XLB (Materials) decreased by 1.00% to end the week at 50.61. XLK (Technology) dropped 0.53% to close the week at 43.37. And XLU (Utilities) had a subpar week as it only lost 0.16% to close at 44.50.

Major Commodities:

  • Gold:  $1,189.80/ troy ounce
  • Oil: $60.23/barrel
  • Silver: $16.70/ troy ounce

Major Currency Exchange Rates:

  • USD/EUR: 0.92
  • USD/RUB: 52.34
  • USD/JPY: 124.17
  • USD/CNY: 6.20
  • USD/CAD: 1.25
  • USD/GBP: 0.65

Quote of the Week: “The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets.” ~John. D. Rockefeller

Doji Candles

Hello everyone,

This is Nolan’s first blog. – Michael Trehan

Looking for a doji candle, or any candle for that matter, is a type of technical analysis. A doji candle is a candlestick pattern, or a unique formation of candles on a chart. The Japanese used technical analysis to trade rice in the 17th century which was similar to the form that was initiated by Charles Dow. The credit for candlestick development and charting goes to a legendary rice trader Homma from the town Sakata. Doji are useful candlesticks that provide information on their own. A doji forms when a security’s open and close are virtually equal. A doji can look like a cross, plus or inverted cross. Dojis transmit a sense of standoff between the buyers and sellers. Prices go under or above the opening level during the session, but close at or near the opening level. The shape (inverted cross, plus or cross) is determined by the shadow of the candlestick or how high the price went above the the closing level or how low it went before finalizing at the closing price. Dojis usually signal an inflection point in the stock price.

– Nolan Laplante