This Economically Sensitive Sector Is Breaking Out!

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Summary

• Basic Materials (XLB) broke out of a multi-month consolidation, with unusually broad strength in copper and agricultural input stocks creating several attractive trend-trading setups.
• The strength in economically sensitive Materials supports the narrative of a healthy economy with persistent inflation. As a result, long-term interest rates are unlikely to retreat from their important breakout levels.
• Gold and gold miners have a new powerful tailwind coming from the White House – conflicting policies and market intervention.  Inflation and fear of excessive fiscal deficits are just fuel on this fire now.

This week, most of the media’s attention will most likely be pointed towards the Fed's Jackson Hole meeting and Nvidia's earnings for good reasons, but the real fireworks may happen in a less popular sector.

First let’s give it some context.

The table below shows the market sectors with additional markets (crypto, bonds, oil, gold) ordered by their distance from their 52-week high.

One way to identify strong trends with the table is to look at the following columns – the trend Ratings (>3), July Range (above), Phase, Hit 10 Day High.

 

With the S&P down for the week, I wasn’t expecting to see XLB (Basic Materials) at the top of this list and hitting a new 10-day high which is also pennies away from the all-time high close in February.

XLB does have some exposure to gold, but that’s not why it’s so strong. When you look under the hood you’ll find broad strength in two economically sensitive industry groups.

In addition to teasing its all-time closing highs, the chart has a very bullish breakout pattern. So what’s driving XLB, and which stocks offer the best trend-trading opportunities?

The chart below shows how on Friday XLB broke out of a consolidation that has been coiling since April just under its 52-week highs.

The PRIME Rating Ribbon shows a graphical representation of the short (top), intermediate, and long-term (bottom) ratings based on our PRIME framework for analyzing trend strength.

Below is a table of the stocks in the XLB. As with the sectors table above, the strongest trends can be identified by looking at the following columns – the trend Ratings (>3), July Range (above), Phase, Hit 10 Day High.

 

There are several good looking charts in the table above, but two that caught my attention were FCX, a leader in the copper industry, and CF a leader in fertilizer, and the agricultural inputs industry.

Both charts below are very bullish.

And these aren't isolated cases. As you can see in the table below, every stock in their respective industries hit a new 10-day high on Friday, despite very different long-term trends.

As you can see from the table below they ALL hit new 10-day highs on Friday regardless of their differences in their long-term trends.

Every copper company in the table above has a bullish chart, including IE, which is 47% off its 52-week high.

If you like momentum, you may like the chart of TGB below.

If you like stocks coming off lows, MOS has an interesting narrative.

MOS has posted y/y quarterly losses in 14 of its last 15 quarters!

Analysts are anticipating sales growth to return in the Dec 2026 quarter and profits to show up in the first quarter of 2027.

On the technical side, the daily chart below shows how its short and intermediate-term ratings have improved leading up to Friday’s breakout over its recent consolidation.

This breakout is significant in that it’s now decidedly back over the major pivot area of highlighted by the horizontal line at 23.33. If you look at a weekly chart (not shown here), you’ll find the major low at that level in late 2025 is second side of a double bottom that began in late 2024.

If MOS can get firmly over its 200 DMA, the market may be saying it believes the expected sales and earnings turnaround.

 

Why The Fed and The White House Should Watch XLB

The strength in the Materials sector, and especially broad strength in its sub-sectors, copper and agricultural inputs, is a strong statement by the market in that it’s pricing in a strong economy and continued inflation.

Depending on your point of view, this is a problem for bonds.

Last week Treasury Secretary Bessent tried to jawbone the bond market into reversing its persistent bearish trend (uptrend in rates).

Bessent may not be a chartist, but his extensive experience with trading and manipulating markets was most likely focused on the breakout you see in the pattern of the 30-year interest rates below.

Most importantly, he’s doing his best to prevent the 10-year rate, which is much more important for the economy and to the consumer, from experiencing the same breakout.

The Gold Rally Likes XLB Too, But There's A Bigger Story

A couple weeks ago we highlighted the historic size of the move in gold and the GDX (Miners) ETF from their 2026 lows. What we didn’t highlight was that occurred immediately after Secretary Bessent was executing a coordinated effort with the Japanese to support, manipulate, prop up the Yen.

Last week, Bessent’s efforts to prop up the US long bond had the same effect on gold. The shiny metal and its miners shot higher as you can see in the charts below.

Lower interest rates are generally a positive tailwind for gold, but that’s not likely why gold responded so aggressively.

Even more so than an inflation hedge, gold will get stronger when there is a fear of instability in currencies or financial systems.

With a Fed Chair that has said that he wants to let the markets to provide the Fed with insight without his opinions moving the market, while at the same time the Treasury is blatantly trying to manipulate the markets, one thing is certain – it’s a bullish environment for gold without even factoring in inflation and fiscal deficits.

What To Watch During The Jackson Hole Event.

Much of the narrative will likely be around the changing expectations for a Fed hike or cut, but that won’t tell the same story as watching;

• The long bond breakout (TLT)
• Does the 10-year breakout too (IEF)
• How does GLD and GDX respond
• Do the stocks in XLB, copper and the agg-input stocks continue to breakout?

Don’t over think it. Be open-minded and watch what the markets have to say.

The simplest message is usually the right one.

Want More For Yourself or Your Clients?

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In addition, if you'd like access to the MarketGauge indicators, strategies, automated trading models, and more, contact us.

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Have a great week!

Geoff Bysshe
Co-Founder
MarketGauge.com

Every week we review the big picture of the market's technical condition as seen through the lens of our Big View data charts. The bullets provide a quick summary organized by conditions we see as being risk-on, risk-off, or neutral.  The video analysis dives deeper.

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Summary

The primary bull trend remains intact, but the short-term condition changed materially this week. Last week’s broadly risk-on market narrowed into a rotational correction: all four major index ETFs declined over five days, QQQ moved into a Warning phase, and daily Real Motion weakened across the indexes. Semiconductors, technology, regional banks and industrials were the clearest pressure points. Friday’s rebound improved the close but did not reverse the week’s deterioration.

This is not yet a confirmed broad-market breakdown. SPY, IWM and DIA remain in Bullish phases, their longer-term weekly trends remain above rising moving averages, and the smoothed breadth readings are still constructive. Approximately 64% of S&P 500 stocks remain above their 50-day moving averages and 69% remain above their 200-day averages. Nasdaq breadth is weaker but not broken, with 53% above the 50-day and 67% above the 200-day.

The important development is leadership rotation rather than wholesale risk liquidation. Healthcare, biotechnology, energy, materials and gold miners gained while technology and economically sensitive groups weakened. At the same time, long-duration Treasury bonds remained bearish, the dollar weakened, and gold, oil and Bitcoin strengthened. That combination points more toward an inflation, fiscal-confidence and currency-debasement concern than an immediate recessionary collapse. High-yield credit spreads widened only modestly and remain relatively contained.

 

Risk On

• Healthcare and biotechnology - New risk-on leadership. IBB gained 7.72% over five days and carries Accumulation on RM50 and Bullish readings on RM10 and both Triple Play measures. XLV gained 4.42% and is Bullish across price, RM50, RM10 and Triple Play. Biotechnology’s speculative strength is particularly notable because it contrasts sharply with semiconductor weakness. (+)
• Energy and materials - Constructive inflation-sensitive leadership. XLE gained 2.97% for the week, remains in a Bullish phase, and shows Accumulation/Bullish Real Motion. XLB gained 2.02% and has an Accumulation RM50 reading and Bullish RM10. These groups are benefiting from the stronger commodity and inflation-sensitive tape, but entries should come on controlled pullbacks rather than after vertical moves. (+)
• Gold and precious metals - Strong trend, elevated entry risk. GDX surged 14.30% for the week, entered an Accumulation phase and carries Bullish short-term momentum. GLD also broke higher, while its seasonal pattern remains favorable into year-end. The move confirms the bond-and-dollar warning, but after such a large weekly advance, gold miners are extended and should not be chased. (+)
• Oil, agriculture and Bitcoin - Inflation and alternative-asset strength. Energy remained firm, oil rose for a sixth consecutive session, and Bitcoin gained nearly 20% for the week. DBA’s current-year performance is also well ahead of its normal seasonal path. Together with gold, this is evidence that capital is moving toward scarce or inflation-sensitive assets rather than simply moving into traditional defensive bonds. (+)
• Global equities - Constructive. EEM and EFA remain in Bullish phases with positive Triple Play readings, so the investable foreign-equity signal remains risk-on despite weekly weakness in the Nikkei and STOXX 600. (+)

Neutral

• Major U.S. Indexes Price Action - Neutral/constructive. SPY lost 1.27% over five days, QQQ declined 2.41%, IWM fell 1.62%, and DIA lost 0.76%, even though all four rebounded Friday. SPY, IWM and DIA remain in Bullish phases, but QQQ is now in a Warning phase and is sitting near or slightly below its 50-day moving average. The weekly charts remain bullish, so the evidence supports a correction or consolidation rather than a primary bear-market signal. (=)
• Market breadth - Longer-term constructive, short-term softer. The smoothed color charts remain supportive: 61%, 64% and 69% of S&P stocks are above their 20-, 50- and 200-day moving averages. Nasdaq readings are 59%, 53% and 67%. Those are not bear-market breadth readings. However, the daily NYSE and Nasdaq up/down-volume ratios weakened, 10-day advance/decline sums moved near or below zero, and both McClellan Oscillators slipped below neutral without reaching oversold extremes. (=)
• New highs versus new lows - NYSE healthier than Nasdaq. The NYSE new-high/new-low ratio remains generally constructive around the upper portion of its range, although it has stopped improving. The Nasdaq ratio has weakened toward the 50 area and new lows have increased. This confirms that the broader market has not collapsed, but technology participation is less healthy than the headline indexes previously suggested. (=/-)
• Volatility and credit - No panic or recession signal yet. VIX finished near 15.13 after briefly rising above 16 during the week. High-yield spreads increased from 2.67% on August 14 to 2.75% on August 20, but remain narrow relative to levels normally associated with serious credit stress. The market is cautious, not capitulating. (=)
• Economic Modern Family - Split and cautionary. IBB is the strongest family member, while SMH, KRE and XRT are in Warning phases. IWM remains Bullish but has weakening Real Motion. Transportation (IYT) is in a Warning price phase, with RM50 in Distribution and RM10 Bearish. The Family is not signaling recession, but it is no longer giving the broad confirmation present earlier in the advance. (=/-)
• Consumer and retail - Still not confirming a broad economic acceleration. XLY improved to a Recovery phase and was fractionally positive for the week, but remains negative year to date. XRT lost 1.38%, remains in Warning and shows Distribution/Bearish Real Motion. Staples remain Bullish, which adds a defensive element to the rotation. The consumer message is mixed rather than decisively bearish, but retail is still an important warning area. (=/-)
• Long-term bonds, credit and the dollar - Duration remains risk-off. TLT remains in a Bearish phase, is down 8.23% over six months and 5.86% year to date. Long-term Treasury yields reached multidecade highs during the week, while the dollar declined nearly 1%. Credit spreads remain contained, so the main problem is duration, inflation and fiscal credibility-not yet deteriorating corporate solvency. (-)
• Seasonality and calendar ranges - Tailwind is fading. SPY, QQQ and IWM remain well ahead of their average 10-year seasonal paths, but the historical curves become flatter or weaker from late August into September-especially for QQQ and IWM. Seasonality therefore shifts from a positive tailwind to a cautionary secondary input. One- and six-month calendar ranges should now be used as confirmation and risk levels, rather than as standalone forecasts. (=/-)

Risk Off

• Real Motion on the Indexes - Clear short-term warning. SPY’s longer-term RM50 reading remains Bullish, but its short-term RM10 is on Warning. QQQ has Distribution readings on both RM50 and RM10; IWM has an RM50 Warning and bearish RM10; DIA also has weakening short-term momentum. This is an early-warning condition that argues for smaller positions and tighter risk control, but it is not sufficient by itself to justify broadly shorting a market whose weekly momentum remains positive. (-)
• Technology and semiconductors - The market’s principal vulnerability. SMH fell 4.66%, moved into a Warning phase, and shows Distribution on RM50 and Bearish RM10. XLK lost 3.47%, with RM50 on Warning and RM10 in Distribution. QQQ’s similar momentum deterioration confirms that this is more than weakness in one semiconductor stock. Technology can rebound, but it has not yet repaired the technical damage. (-)
• Financials, regional banks and industrials - Mixed to weak. XLF remains Bullish and has positive longer-term momentum, but its RM10 is Bearish. KRE fell 4.00%, remains in a Warning phase and has Bearish short-term Real Motion. XLI declined 3.22%, moved into Warning and shows Distribution/Bearish RM readings. This is a meaningful deterioration in cyclical confirmation. (-)

 

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Actionable Trading Plan

Current exposure

Move down one tactical exposure tier. A reasonable model posture is approximately 65%–75% of normal risk exposure, with 25%–35% held as dry powder or short-duration reserves. This refers to the percentage of a trader’s normal risk budget, not necessarily the percentage of the portfolio invested.

Do not move fully defensive while SPY, IWM and DIA remain in Bullish phases, weekly momentum remains positive and broad-market participation stays above its 50- and 200-day moving averages. However, do not maintain last week’s moderately aggressive posture while QQQ, SMH, KRE and XLI are in Warning phases and short-term internals are deteriorating.

Favored positioning

• Maintain a diversified broad-market core, but reduce an excessive concentration in technology and semiconductors.
•  Favor healthcare and biotechnology, energy, materials, precious metals and foreign equities through EEM and EFA on orderly pullbacks or consolidations while their Bullish phases and positive Triple Play readings hold.
•  Use smaller initial positions in IBB, XLV, XLE, XLB, GLD and GDX because several of these groups moved sharply this week.
• Continue to hold profitable positions that remain above meaningful support with positive intermediate-term Real Motion, but tighten trailing stops as price becomes extended.
• Treat cash as an active tactical position. TLT should not automatically be used as the defensive substitute while it remains in a Bearish phase.

Areas to reduce or avoid

•  Do not add aggressively to QQQ or SMH merely because they have pulled back. Require a reclaim of both the short-term and 50-day moving averages, followed by improving RM10 and RM50 readings.
• Keep KRE, XLI and XRT underweight until their Warning phases and bearish Real Motion readings improve.
• Avoid chasing GDX after a 14.30% weekly advance. A narrow-band overbought Real Motion reading is not automatically a sell signal, but it does mean the entry has poor risk/reward unless price consolidates.

Add-risk confirmation

Increase exposure toward normal or moderately aggressive levels only when several of the following occur together:

• QQQ and SMH reclaim their 10- and 50-day moving averages.
• QQQ and SMH RM10 turn positive and RM50 stops deteriorating.
• SPY, IWM and DIA hold their rising 50-day moving averages.
• NYSE and Nasdaq McClellan Oscillators move back above zero.
• The Nasdaq new-high/new-low ratio turns higher and short-term breadth expands.
• Leadership broadens beyond healthcare, energy, materials and gold.

Confirmation standard

A single strong day is insufficient. Price, Real Motion and participation should confirm one another.

Reduce-risk confirmation

Reduce exposure toward approximately 40%–50% of normal risk if:

• SPY and IWM close below their 50-day moving averages while QQQ remains in Warning.
• A break of the one-month calendar range persists for two or three sessions, or occurs with strong volume and confirming Real Motion deterioration.
• A market rebound fails below the prior high and Real Motion subsequently breaks its corresponding low.
• Nasdaq new lows expand materially and the new-high/new-low ratio falls decisively below the neutral zone.
• High-yield spreads begin widening rapidly rather than merely drifting a few basis points higher.

Preferred Real Motion rule

Do not sell the first momentum break automatically. Wait for a failed rally, confirming Real Motion deterioration and a price-support violation.

Major regime-change trigger

A sustained break of the six-month calendar range, combined with weekly phase deterioration and a rollover in weekly Real Motion, would represent a much more important change than the current daily correction. That combination would justify a defensive posture, materially higher cash and broader hedging.

Gold and overbought Real Motion

For GLD and GDX, an overbought reading inside a narrow Real Motion band should be interpreted as:

• Trend intact.
• Entry risk elevated.
• Not an automatic exit.

Reduce or take profits only if the move produces a failed rally, Real Motion breaks its prior low or price violates meaningful support. Until then, use smaller positions, trailing stops and consolidation entries instead of trying to anticipate the exact top.

Event risk

Next week includes major technology earnings, the PCE inflation report and Jackson Hole commentary. Nvidia’s results are particularly important because QQQ and SMH are already technically vulnerable. Avoid carrying oversized new technology positions into these events unless the position has clearly defined risk.

Bottom Line

Stay invested, but no longer stay aggressive.

The long-term bull trend and broad-market breadth remain intact, while daily momentum, technology leadership, market internals and seasonality have weakened. Shift toward the areas where money is actually flowing, maintain meaningful dry powder, and require confirmation before adding back to technology. The base case is a rotational correction or consolidation, not a completed market top. The bullish case strengthens if QQQ and SMH repair their 50-day moving averages and Real Motion turns higher. The bearish case strengthens only if weakness spreads from technology into the broad indexes, breadth, credit and the six-month calendar ranges.

 

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