ChartWatchers

TWO DOW CYCLICALS TUMBLE

Chip Anderson

Chip Anderson

President, StockCharts.com

The Dow Industrials were hit especially hard on Friday. A lot of that was due to big tumbles in two of its cyclical stocks – Caterpillar and 3M. Chart 3 shows Caterpillar falling 6% (on higher volume) to undercut its 50-day average. CAT appears headed for a retest of its 200-day line. Chart 4 shows 3M tumbling 7% on huge volume. Both relative strength lines are in downtrends. The fact that both stocks are considered be cyclical in nature (or economically-sensitive) suggests that the market is getting more worried about the U.S. economy. That view is supported by the fact that Dow stocks holding up the best were in the defensive consumer staple and healthcare categories.

CAT
3M

Chip Anderson
About the author: is the founder and president of StockCharts.com. He founded the company after working as a Windows developer and corporate consultant at Microsoft from 1987 to 1997. Since 1999, Chip has guided the growth and development of StockCharts.com into a trusted financial enterprise and highly-valued resource in the industry. In this blog, Chip shares his tips and tricks on how to maximize the tools and resources available at StockCharts.com, and provides updates about new features or additions to the site. Learn More