You're looking at schizophrenia mixed up with some multiple personality and bipolar disorders.
And the occasional psychotic break.
DJIA futures down 140 (.60%) and S&P down 16 (.64%).
IBD has been liking Workday and Atlassian.
Anyhoo, here's Investor's Business Daily trying to make sense of it all:
Dow Jones Futures: Another Bullish Stock Market Close; Here's What To Do Now
6:24 PM ET
Dow Jones futures fell modestly late Thursday, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite rebounded from deep intraday losses to close with modest to solid gains Thursday. That's after Wednesday's huge stock market rally. We're a long way from a confirmed uptrend, but Thursday's action — after tumbling intraday — is definitely positive. Also, leading stocks led the rebound, with PayPal (PYPL), ServiceNow (NOW), Workday (WDAY), CyberArk Software (CYBR) and Atlassian (TEAM) making notable moves. It's time to pay close attention to the stock market and get serious about watch lists.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures fell 0.4% vs. fair value. S&P 500 futures lost 0.35%. Nasdaq 100 futures slid 0.3%. Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular session. Dow Jones futures overnight Thursday certainly didn't foreshadow Wednesday's stock market rally or Thursday's upside reversal.
Stock Market Rally
At Thursday's stock market lows, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 index and Nasdaq composite gave up more than half of their Wednesday rally. That would have been discouraging. The afternoon rally was very positive. For the second straight session, the stock market rallied into the close with gains. That's a reversal of the recent bear market action of decent opens and weak closes.
The Dow Jones climbed 1.1%, the S&P 500 index 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite 0.4%. The Nasdaq lagged as Apple (AAPL) and Amazon.com (AMZN) fell 0.6%, while Microsoft (MSFT), Facebook (FB), Netflix (NFLX) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) had fractional gains.
Thursday's action arguably was more bullish than Wednesday's. With stocks crashing to new lows on Christmas Eve, the market was due for a bounce. The real question is whether a sustained rally will take hold.
What Investors Should Do Now
One day is not a confirmed uptrend. Neither is two days. But a classic follow-through day could come as soon as Dec. 31, the fourth day of a stock market rally attempt. Pay close attention to the major averages and leading stocks. Read the Stock Market Today columns as well as The Big Picture every market day.
You've spent enough time with your family during the holiday season. The Santa Claus rally is coming to town, and you need to work on your own naughty-or-nice list. IBD's Stock Lists, including the IBD 50, are a great place to find top stocks that should be on your watch list. Check out Leaderboard, IBD's premium service that offers detailed annotated charts of a select handful of leading stocks at or near buy points.
PayPal stock, Atlassian stock, ServiceNow stock and CyberArk stock are all members of the IBD 50 list.
PayPal Stock
On Thursday, PayPal stock rose 1.8% to 84.31, reclaiming its 50-day and 200-day averages. The relative strength line, which tracks a stock's performance vs. the S&P 500 index, is at a new high. PayPal hit a recent low on Oct. 11, then made a couple of higher lows as the stock market correction turned into a bear market. PayPal is working on a 93.80 buy point, though the 89 level has acted as resistance.
Atlassian Stock
Atlassian stock has held above its 50-day line throughout December. On Thursday, shares rose 2.6% to 87.57, approaching a cup-with-handle buy point of 89.92. The RS line is at a new high even though Atlassian stock is well off of its 98.21 peak....
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