Sector Strength Terrain Clock showing Phase +1 Bullish New, early at 19.6%. Seven bearish industries are in Bearish Advanced and ten are in Bearish Maturing. No bullish industries are on the verge of flipping to bearish and seven bearish industries are close to switching to bullish. Consumer Cyclical is mostly strong, while Basic Materials, Energy, and Financial are mixed. Healthcare, Industrial, Technology, and Utilities are mostly weak. Communications is uniformly weak.
See About for more detailed background to this analysis.
Fourth day of new Bullish Phase with Market Strength Score today at +19.6%. The previous Bearish phase was five days and the preceding Bullish phase lasted six days.
Goal: objectively determine what to do and when in the U.S. stock market How: top-down, inside-out, and bottom-up market, sector, industry, sub-industry, and stock analysis; three unique tools 1) Market Strength Score, 2) Sector Strength Terrain Clock, 3) Strength Spectrums Example actions:long vs. short, trend follow vs. mean revert, aggressive vs. conservative, days vs. weeks expected holding period Basis:where are there strength pockets and how much may remain
Tools: 1. Sector Strength Terrain Clock, a single-day snapshot plotting sector and industry strength and the current Market Strength Score within the Six-Phase framework 2. Market Strength Score Gauge, a one year comparison of the Market Strength Score and the S&P 500 3. Industry Strength Scores by Sectorshowing comparative alphabetical views of sector and industry strength 4. Industry Strength Scores Rankedwhich groups the strongest and weakest industries to identify pockets of least and most extended setups 5. Sector and Sector ETFs High-Level Reportsshowing Strength Spectrums for the 11 sectors and the 11 sector ETFs 6. Sector Mid-Level and Detailed Reportsshowing Strength Scores and Strength Spectrums for sectors, industries, and sub-industries 7. Ranked Reports clearly showing where is the strength and weakness at the sector ETF, industry, and sub-industry levels
SMO Market Strength Score Gauge
Provides 12 month context against prior scores and the S&P 500 for today's MSS.
The one year MSS extremes are 75.2% on 2026-04-21 and -96.4% on 2026-10-01.
SMO Industry Strength Scores by Sector
The sectors are listed alphabetically and below each are their component industries listed alphabetically. The Six Phase thresholds are labeled along with the current Market Strength Score. This reveals sector strength breadth and depth.
SMO Industry Strength Scores, 2026-10-23: The Market Strength Score is 19.6%. Of the 39 industries tracked, 17 are bullish and 22 are bearish. Bullish industry scores range from 1% to 80%, led by Savings & Loans. Bearish industry scores range from -15% to -89%, with Electronics the weakest. At the sector level, 2 of 11 sectors are bullish and 9 are bearish.
SMO Industry Strength Scores Ranked
The industries are listed based on strength score, first strengthening industries then weakening industries. The Six Phase thresholds are labeled along with the current Market Strength Score. This reveals the least and most extended industries.
SMO Industry Strength Scores Ranked, 2026-10-23: With the Market Strength Score at 19.6%, the 39 industries rank from Aerospace/Defense at the top () to Electronics at the bottom (-89%). Bullish phases: 4 in Phase +1 Bullish Normal, 12 in Phase +1 Bullish Aggressive. Bearish phases: 7 in Phase -3 Bearish Conservative, 10 in Phase -2 Bearish Normal. Strongest 3: Aerospace/Defense (), Savings & Loans (80%), Oil (45%). Weakest 3: Electronics (-89%), Gaming (-88%), Automotive (-87%).
SMO Sector and Sector ETFs High-Level Reports
The Sector Report lists the strength spectrum readings for the 11 sectors. The Sector ETFs Report lists the strength spectrum readings for the 11 sector ETFs. Each report also shows the combined strength spectrum for all stocks in this universe and for the major indexes S&P 500 and NDX.
This provides a broad overview of market strength and weakness pockets.
SECTORS (all stocks): Strongest 4Strong = CNNC, ENRG | Weakest 7Weaker = BMTL | 9 strengthened / 2 weakened vs prior week | 1-wk avg return best HCAR +4.0%, worst BMTL -4.4%.SECTOR ETFs (constituents only): Strongest 2VStrong = XLV | Weakest 6Weak = XLC | 10 strengthened / 1 weakened | 1-wk avg return best XLV +1.9%, worst XLC -1.0%. Avg rating 4.2 vs 5.3 for all stocks (1=Strongest, 9=Weakest): ETF constituents are STRONGER than the broad sector universe.
SMO Sector Mid-Level and Detailed Reports
The following Sector Mid-Level and Detailed Reports provide more refined market strength pockets, potential relative lasting power for these strengths, and a logical foundation for potential stock-/option-specific actions.
The Sector Mid-Level Report below lists the strength spectrum readings for all stocks and the major indexes S&P 500 and NDX, then lists the same for key sectors and sector ETFs.
MID-LEVEL SUMMARY (2026-10-23): 40 sub-industries | Strongest 3Stronger = OIL (ENRG), INSU (FINA), WASTE (INDS) | Weakest 8VWeak = META (BMTL), PREC (BMTL) | 29 strengthened / 11 weakened / 0 unchanged vs prior week.1-WK AVG RETURN: Best CSOFT +5.9%, HEALTH +4.7%, BIOM +4.3% | Worst META -9.1%, PREC -8.0%, REST -4.1%.VS PARENT SECTOR: Standouts (2+ levels stronger) FORES 5Average vs BMTL 7Weaker, STEEL 5Average vs BMTL 7Weaker, INSU 3Stronger vs FINA 5Average, WASTE 3Stronger vs INDS 6Weak | Laggards (2+ levels weaker) AUTO 7Weaker vs CNCY 5Average, GAMI 7Weaker vs CNCY 5Average, WALL 7Weaker vs FINA 5Average, SEMI 7Weaker vs TECH 5Average.SPECIALTY GROUPS: IYR 5Average↑, MAG7 5Average↓, AISpQntm 7Weaker↑, IGV 3Stronger↑, SOXX 7Weaker↓ (↑ strengthened, ↓ weakened vs prior week).
The Sector Detailed Report below expands upon the Sector Mid-Level Report by overlaying the Sector Strength Terrain Clock Industry Strength Scores and adding industry and sub-industry detail.
The following provide strongest to weakest ranked views of the 11 Sector ETFs, 46 industries, and 149 sub-industries.
Sector ETFs Ranked Report
All but one of the 11 ETFs strengthened for the week as XLV Healthcare reached strongest at 2Very Strong. XLC Communications is weakest at 6Weak. XLY Consumer Discretionary was the sole weakening ETF.
Industry Ranked Report
Oil, Insurance, Waste Management, Diversified Utilities, and Regulated Water Utilities are the strongest industries at 3Stronger. There are 13 4Strong industries. There are three 8Very Weak industries (Metals Non-Ferrous, Precious Metals, and Transportation Airlines).Yesterday's note is below - notice the strengthening evident. Oil and Insurance are the strongest industries at 3Stronger. There are 12 4Strong industries. There are three 8Very Weak industries (Precious Metals, Transportation Airlines, and Metals Non-Ferrous, though note the first two strengthened this week).
Sub-Industry Ranked Report, Strongest and Weakest Only
The sub-industries report shows only those ranked 3Stronger, 2Very Strong, 1Strongest, 7Weaker, 8Very Weak, and 9Weakest.
For educational purposes only. These are not stock or investment recommendations. See this disclaimer.
