Tech Talk for Wednesday October 3rd 2018

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 11 points in pre-opening trade.

Index futures moved slightly higher following release of the September ADP Employment report released at 8:15 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase to 185,000 from 163,000 in August. Actual was.

JC Penney (JCP $) is expected to open higher after Jill Soltau was chosen as the company's new chief executive officer.

Pepsico (PEP $) is expected to open lower after JP Morgan lowered its target price to $124 from $128.

Lennar (LEN $) is expected to open higher after reporting higher than consensus third quarter earnings.

EquityClock's Daily Market Comment

Following is a link:

http://www.equityclock.com/2018/10/02/stock-market-outlook-for-october-3-2018/

Note seasonality charts on Staples-versus-Discretionary, Gold Futures and the Gold Bug Index.

Observations

Retail merchandiser stocks came under substantial technical pressure after Amazon announced plans to raise its minimum wage in the U.S. to $15 per hour. Other retailers are paying significantly less than $15 per hour and are unwilling/unable to increase to this level without significantly reducing profit margins. Note the volume!

Zinc prices suddenly woke up.

The Base Metals ETN (1/3 zinc weight) continued to move higher after completing a double bottom pattern. Check out the volume!

StockTwits Released Yesterday @EquityClock

Technical action by S&P 500 stocks to 12:30: Mixed. Intermediate breakouts: $MKC $PXD $GILD $LLY $AAPL. Breakdowns: $PEP $DAL $RHT.

Editor's Note: After 12:30 PM EDT, breakout included UNH and breakdown included AKAM

Apple $AAPL, a Dow Jones Industrial stock moved above $229.67 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend.

Financial SPDRs $XLF moved below $27.48 extending an intermediate downtrend.

Cdn. Financials iShares $XFN.CA moved below $38.04 completing a double top pattern.

Editor's Note: Canada's banks led the decline. Equal Weight Bank ETF briefly slipped below support at $29.92.

Royal Bank $RY.CA, a TSX 60 stock moved below $102.76 completing a double top pattern.

George Weston $WN.CA, a TSX 60 stock moved below $96.46 extending an intermediate downtrend.

Invesco India ETF $PIN moved below $23.76 completing a long term Head & Shoulders pattern.

Constellation Software $CSU.CA, a TSX 60 stock moved below $921.31 setting an intermediate downtrend.

UnitedHealth Group $UNH, a Dow Jones Industrial stock moved above $271.16 to an all-time high extending an intermediate uptrend.

TSX 60 Index $SPTSE briefly moved below 946.88 extending a Head & Shoulders pattern.

Trader's Corner

Daily Seasonal/Technical Equity Trends for October 2nd 2018

Green: Increase from previous day

Red: Decrease from previous day

Commodities

Daily Seasonal/Technical Commodities Trends for October 2nd 2018

Green: Increase from previous day

Red: Decrease from previous day

Sectors

Daily Seasonal/Technical Sector Trends for October 2nd 2018

Green: Increase from previous day

Red: Decrease from previous day

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Best Nine Month Period in the Four Year Presidential Cycle

According to Oppenheimer & Co.'s technical analyst, Ari Wald, "Q4 of midterm years through Q2 of pre-election years have been the best nine-month stretch of the four-year U.S. presidential cycle since 1929,"

Following is a link to the report:

https://www.marketgauge.com/resources/market-outlook/the-most-bullish-quarter-of-the-election-cycle/

S&P 500 Momentum Barometer

The Barometer slipped 0.60 to 57.80 yesterday. It remains intermediate neutral and continues to trend down.

TSX Momentum Barometer

The Barometer dropped 3.78 to 36.97 yesterday. It changed from intermediate neutral to intermediate oversold on a move below 40 and continues to trend down.

Disclaimer: Seasonality and technical ratings offered in this report and at

www.equityclock.com are for information only. They should not be considered as advice to purchase or to sell mentioned securities. Data offered in this report is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed

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