[PLUS] Weekly Momentum Report & Takeaways

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Check out this week's Momentum Report, our weekly summation of all the major indexes at a Macro, International, Sector, and Industry Group level.

By analyzing the short-term data in these reports, we get a more tactical view of the current state of markets. This information then helps us put near-term developments into the big picture context and provides insights regarding the structural trends at play.

Let's jump right into it with some of the major takeaways from this week's report:

* ASC Plus Members can access the Momentum Report by clicking the link at the bottom of this post.

Macro Universe:

• This week, our macro universe was positive as 83% of our list closed higher with a median return of 0.87%.
• Small Caps $IWM were the big winners, closing out the week with more than a 6% gain as the index broke out of an 8-month range.

• The biggest loser was the US 10-Year Yield $TNX.
• The percentage of assets on our list within 5% of their 52-week highs moved up 6% and is currently at 70%.
• 66% of our list made new 4-week highs and 36% made new 52-week highs.
• The median asset in our macro universe is 1.4% below its 52-week highs.
• 62% of our macro universe closed higher than their prior week's highs.
• The outlook remains stable from a structural perspective as 62% of our list is in a bullish momentum regime (9% gain from last week).
• Gold $GC, High Yield Bonds $HYG, and Emerging Market Bonds $EMB all posted bullish reversal weeks.
• This was yet another week with lots of all-time highs and strong momentum for US equities.

International Universe:

• International Equities posted solid performance this week also as 66% of our list closed higher with a median return of 1.23%.
• 43% of our international universe closed above their prior week's highs.
• Chile $ECH was the leader this week with a 7.87% gain.
• Nigeria $NGE was the biggest loser this week, dropping -3.06%.
• The percentage of assets within 5% of their 52-week highs gained by 3% and is now at 54%.
• The median asset in our international universe is 3.5% below its 52-week high.
• The outlook remains stable from a structural perspective as 62% of our list is in a bullish momentum regime (4% gain from last week).
• 49% of the universe posted new 4-week highs, and only 9% posted new 4-week lows.
• Philippines $EPHE, Poland $EPOL, Netherlands $EWN, and Qatar $QAT posted bullish reversal weeks.
• Meanwhile, New Zealand $ENZL and Portugal $PGAL both posted bearish reversal weeks.

US Sector Universe:

• Our sector universe had a strong week as 94% of our list closed higher with a median return of 3.17%.
• Small-Cap Consumer Discretionary $PSCD was the big winner, closing with an 8.28% gain.
• The biggest loser of the week was Equal Weight Health Care which dropped by -0.75%.
• 83% of our sector list made fresh 4-week highs, 70% made new 13-week highs, and 57% made new 52-week highs.
• No sector on our list made a 4-week low.
• The percentage of assets on our list within 5% of their 52-week highs went up from 70% to 77%.
• 72% of our sector universe closed higher than their prior week's high.
• The outlook remains stable from a structural perspective as 77% of our list is in a bullish momentum regime (9% gain from last week).
• Equal Weight Real Estate $EWRE and Mid Cap Real Estate both posted a bullish reversal week.

US Industry Universe:

• Our Industry universe was mostly positive this week as 78% closed higher with a median return of 2.49%.
• This week's biggest winner was Global Jets $JETS +10.85%.
• The biggest loser this week was Global Wind Energy $FAN which dropped -4.89%.
• 62% of industry groups made fresh 4-week highs, 51% made new 13-week highs, and 40% made fresh 52-week highs.
• Only 4% of industry groups made fresh 4-week lows.
• The percentage of our list in bullish momentum regimes gained 5% this week and is currently at 76%.
• 69% of the assets on our industry list are within 5% of their 52-week highs (16% gain from last week).
• The median asset in our industry universe is 1.9% below its 52-week highs.
• 51% of our industry universe closed higher than last week's high.
• Biotechnology $IBB posted a bearish reversal week.

That's it for this week's highlights!