It was a lackluster session yesterday that might have been doomed out of the gate. There wasn’t panic, and by the same token, there wasn’t unbridled greed and throwing caution to the wind associated with this market rally that simply caught the experts offside.

Communication Services (XLC) and Utilities (XLU) made for an interesting dumbbell of momentum and bottom-fishing.

Heat Maps

There was a fair amount of green among the mega-cap names but lots of crimson everywhere else.

It was an even uglier scene among exchange-traded funds (ETFs) where the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X (SOXS) stood out.

This is a quiet day for economic data, which makes it a good test for which side has the greatest conviction, as there must be a greater itch to cash in big gains.

Portfolio Approach

We closed a position in Technology in the Hotline Model Portfolio.

Today’s Session

It’s a very quiet morning, one might even say it’s a boring summer doldrums kind of day.   I love these backdrops for a clearer assessment of sentiment without ‘news.’