(By Rich Bieglmeier) Stocks are off slightly today thanks to Moody's shedding France's AAA credit rating. The ratings agency said its rating could go lower if the EU doesn't get its act together – don't hold your breath.
The slightly pink day is somewhat disappointing on the heels of yesterday's bullish spike. iStock would feel much better if yesterday's gains didn't come on average volume, at best, and if today followed through by adding to Monday's rally.
Nonetheless, our sector performance review continues to tilt towards bulls as emerging and mature bull sectors members outnumber bears 2 to 1. Ultimately, the positive slant has to be good for stocks in our view. Especially since the unranked sectors were mostly sloping higher, but hitting the pause button and many could return to the bull column after the holiday.
We do see a definite theme among the industries that made the mature bull column. Stocks that are related to housing look stronger than most. With home sales up, the new occupants make changes to make their new house a home. Investors might be wise to hop on the trend with durable household goods and products; home improvement stores, building/construction materials and fixtures.
Apparently, the proud new homeowners don't plan on any of the stuff working or making calls from their castles as electricity and telecom stocks look sick.
Below you'll find our full list of bullish and bearish sectors, which could out or underperform the S&P 500 in the days and weeks ahead. And make sure you come back a little later today as iStock will highlight one of our favorite emerging/bull companies.
EMERGING BULL: Industries with positive technical analysis traits that are in the early stages, indicating possible above average returns in the near-term:
- Auto & Parts
- Clothing
- Industrial Engineering
- Personal Goods
- Specialty Retail
- Footwear
- Toys
MATURE BULL: Industries that have outperformed and their charts suggest the above average returns could continue:
- Asset Managers
- Building Materials & Fixtures
- Construction & Materials
- Leisure Goods
- Durable Household Goods
- Durable Household Goods
- Home Improvement
MATURE BEAR: Industries that have underperformed and, based on their current chart patterns, could continue to lag:
- Brewers
- Electricity
- Fixed Telecom
- Publishing
- Software
EMERGING BEAR: Industries that have fresh negative technical analysis set ups and could have sub-par performance in the weeks ahead: