2026-09-18 · Calm Tape, Narrow Market
The index looks calm after the Fed hike, but most stocks are still in downtrends and fresh buying is showing up in utilities and industrials while warning signs gather in tech, health care and energy: rotation is starting, not a bottom.
The Signal
Friday was a quiet, mechanical session on quarterly options expiration: the S&P finished roughly flat, the Nasdaq edged up, the Dow slipped, and the fear gauge fell to a three-week low. The driver remains Wednesday's unanimous quarter-point Fed hike, with nearly every official signaling at least one more this year. Oil eased for a second day…
The skinny
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