The major indices are getting hit again today, as those heavily shorted names continue to rise.  The Russell 2000 is bucking the trend and is up again.  Brokerage firms have eased up on some of the trading restrictions they had imposed.

The volatility index (VIX), also known as the fear index, is also rising and is up almost 11% to 32.30. 

The  All S&P 500 sectors are in the red.  FAANG is getting  hit hard today despite better earnings from Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB). Technology is the worst performing sector.  Real Estate, while down is outperforming. Only 1 Dow component, McDonald (MCD) is in the green. 

Breadth is negative, while up volume is relatively even on the NYSE and up on the Nasdaq.  Despite a down tape, new 52-week highs are still blowing past the lows.

Economic Data

Pending home sales rose 21.4% in December y/y and on the heels of November’s 16.6% increase.  For the month, however, pending home sales declined for the 4^th straight month but are still near a record high.

 All four regions saw double digit increases in contract signings. 

The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment final read was lowered in January to 79 from the preliminary read of 79.2 and from December’s 80.7.

• Current Economic Conditions 86.7 vs 87.7 in the preliminary
• Expectations Component 74 vs 73.8 in the preliminary  

According to the University of Michigan, "The overall level of the Sentiment Index has shown only relatively small variations since the pandemic started, averaging 81.5 in 2020, marginally above January's 79.0. Needless to say, sentiment levels were well below the average of 97.0 from 2017 to 2019. Importantly, the level of key confidence indicators remained well above prior cyclical lows despite the sudden historic collapse in economic activity." 

Have a great weekend. Be well and stay safe.