Key Takeaway: New monthly highs reflect broad participation and a healthy rally. Stocks struggle to celebrate blowout quarters if future growth prospects are not bright. Elevated expectations bar could leave stocks & the economy victims of their own success.
Sector-level leadership is unchanged in this week’s relative strength rankings. Materials, Industrials, Financials and Real Estate held down the top four spots for the second week in a row. Choppiness and rotation continue outside of that group. Rotation can also be seen in our industry group heat map. Improving conditions are widespread at the large-cap level and deteriorating conditions are widespread at the small-cap level (see page 5 for a chart version of this rotation). Mid-cap groups dominate the top of our industry group rankings (holding seven of the top ten spots).