Dow Jones Transportation Average turning lower for a third time from resistance around 9500. Real Time Economic Calendar provided by Investing.com. **NEW** As part of the ongoing process to offer new and up-to-date information regarding seasonal and technical investing, we are adding a section to the daily reports that details the stocks that are entering their period of seasonal strength, based on average historical start dates. Stocks highlighted are for information purposes only and should not be considered as advice to purchase or to sell mentioned securities. As always, the use of technical and fundamental analysis is encouraged in order to fine tune entry and exit points to average seasonal trends. Stocks Entering Period of Seasonal Strength Today: Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE:NFX) Seasonal Chart Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) Seasonal Chart Mullen Group Income Fund (TSE:MTL) Seasonal Chart IGM Financial Inc. (TSE:IGM) Seasonal Chart Husky Energy Inc. (TSE:HSE) Seasonal Chart Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSE:CM) Seasonal Chart The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) Seasonal Chart Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) Seasonal Chart The Markets A second day of rather flat results for major equity indices had investors continuing to rotate towards more defensive areas of the market. Consumer Staples, Health Care, and Utilities all ended firmly in the green, while cyclical sectors continue to show signs of struggle. Transportation and retail stocks were among the larger drags on the day. Focussing on the Dow Jones Transportation Average, the benchmark dropped around by 1.19%, turning lower from resistance, yet again, around 9500. Performance relative to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to the lowest level since early November. What previously had been a leading indicator of strength in cyclical areas of the market ahead of the US Election is now suggesting a shift towards risk aversion. Recent underperformance in the consumer discretionary and the materials sectors are suggesting the same. Each of these areas are typically strong at this time of year, outperforming the market on average between the end of January and the beginning of May, but the relative weakness is raising concerns that the risk-on rally in stocks is reaching a point of exhaustion. Turning to the energy market, stocks in this segment got a slight reprieve following Wednesday sell-off as the price of oil rebounded back towards $54. This follows the latest EIA petroleum status report that showed a 600,000 barrel rise in oil inventories, accompanied by a 2.6 million draw in the supply of gasoline. The result continued to eat away at the days of supply of the refined product, which now sits at 29.9, still over 2 days above the norm for this time of year. While the supply pressures are being taken off of gasoline, oil is facing an ongoing glut as the days of supply rise by another half day to 33.2. This is a full day above last year’s elevated read for this time of year, which was one of the highest levels since the early 1980’s. Another increase in US Field Production along with recent spikes in imports are factors keeping supply levels elevated, and upside momentum in the price of the commodity constrained. Commodity traders put the supply concerns aside, for the time being, bidding the price of oil higher by 1.60% following the report. Resistance in the $54-$55 range remains a significant hurdle overhead. Seasonally, the price of oil and gasoline typically moves higher, on average, between mid-February and early May. Sentiment on Thursday, as gauged by the put-call ratio, ended bullish at 0.83. Sectors and Industries entering their period of seasonal strength: Seasonal charts of companies reporting earnings today: S&P 500 Index TSE Composite