Small Caps Participate As August 2012 Rally Continues, Jobless Claims Relatively Unchanged:
Small caps finally caught up to the overall market as stocks jumped after digesting more positive news about the economy even though Walmart didn’t help equity prices rise today. Initial jobless claims were part of the positive sentiment in today’s trading. Jobless claims for the week ended August 11 increased by a marginal 2,000 to 366,000 the Labor Department said. A less volatile measure, the four-week moving average, fell to its lowest level since March 32 at 363,750.
Yesterday we hypothesized good economic data was a win-win situation for the market if a new economic put could replace the Bernanke put overtime. Cisco provided investors with a positive sentiment double whammy by posting stellar earnings which helped tech and small caps participate in the rally today. We are watching small caps to see if they will add to the recent gains and provide follow through to the overall market.
