Summary
Over the past three days, the stock market has been whipped around by headlines out of the Middle East. How long this will last is obviously unknown. On Tuesday, crude oil (WTI) surged 4% to $73.10/barrel and Brent oil jumped 4.2% to $76.30. And it doesn’t stop there, as gasoline futures rose another 2% and are up almost 13% in June — just as consumers enter the summer driving season. Surprisingly, the variation of losses among the mega-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap stocks was very tight, ranging from 0.8% to 1%. Once again, the only sector in the green was Energy, with a 0.9% jump. Consumer Discretionary and Healthcare were at the bottom, both off 1.7%. Materials fell 1%, Communication Services lost 0.9%, and Consumer Staples, Utilities, Industrials, Information Technology, and Financial gave back 0.6% to 0.8%. Over the past three months (back to the April lows), Information Technology has led the market with broad strength. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) has ripped higher by 12%, with electrical components and software surging 19%, and semiconductors and electrical equipment popping 18%. All four of these industries have strong technical rankings according to www.st
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