From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Key Takeaway: Crowded trades have come back to earth, but average stock and cyclical industry groups are making new highs. Economic momentum is building as recovery accelerates. Bond yields are still rising and long-awaited leadership rotation remains underway.

The leadership rotation continues in earnest. From a sector perspective, Technology dropped four spots last week and is on the cusp of falling out of the leadership group for the first time since 2019. Consumer Discretionary dropped another two spots and except for Utilities, would be in the last place in the rankings. Gaining strength this week are Communication Services and Materials. Beyond all the improving and deteriorating conditions seen at the industry group level across market cap levels, our rankings show a consistent theme: 8 of the top 10 groups (and none of the bottom 10) are small-caps and 8 of the bottom 10 groups (and none of the top 10) are large-caps.

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Key Takeaway: Market volatility has not interrupted rotation to new leadership. Long-term breadth remains robust, but shorter-term trends are in need of repair. Earnings and economic data continue to supply the market with positive surprises.

The Industrials sector made a big jump in our relative strength rankings this week, moving from 7th to 3rd among the large-cap sectors. Elsewhere, Consumer Discretionary continued to lose relative strength and Materials dropped out of the top five. Technology remains highly ranked (2nd overall) but on a short-term basis, it has been a market-laggard. If it cannot re-assert strength soon, its time in the leadership group could be winding down. Our industry group heat map shows overwhelming relative strength from small-cap groups (nine of the top ten & only one in the bottom ten) and widespread relative weakness in large-cap groups (none in the top ten and seven of the bottom ten). Deteriorating trends in the Technology groups...

From the desk of Willie Delwiche.

Key Takeaway: Financials & bond yields finished last week at new recovery highs.

They were joined by the most stocks ever on the NYSE + NASDAQ making new 52-week highs.

Small-cap leadership is intensifying as stocks reflect better than expected earnings and optimism about the path of economic growth.

Financials and Energy climbed in our S&P 500 relative strength rankings last week. Curiously, among small-cap sectors, Financials have been more of a laggard than a leader. With Consumer Discretionary slipping in this week’s rankings, Technology has moved back into the top spot. Small-caps dominating large-caps in our industry group relative strength rankings is not too surprising given that the top nine groups on a YTD return basis come from the small-cap index and the bottom four groups all come from the large-cap index.