Ratio of discretionary to staples back to upper limit of recent trading range. 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: Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT) Seasonal Chart The Markets Stocks closed below the flat-line on Wednesday as investors digested the Trump administration’s plan to reform taxes. The S&P 500 Index ended in the red by a mere five basis points after flirting with resistance around 2400 at the highs of the session. Consumer stocks bookended the winners and losers on the day as a disappointing earnings report from Procter & Gamble weighed on the staples and retailers helped to support the discretionary sector in a bet that consumer spending will benefit from the proposed tax plan. The result pushed the ratio of the S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Sector Index relative to the Consumer Staples Index, a gauge of risk sentiment, back to resistance at the highs of the year. The ratio has been range bound since the day following the release of the US election result, emphasizing the ebb and flow between the riskier discretionary stocks and the defensive staples. A break, one way or the other, would be very telling of the risk sentiment of investors as we head into the typically more defensive timeframe for stocks between May and October. Historically, the staples sector has tended to outperform discretionary during this risk-off period. On Wednesday, the EIA released its latest petroleum status report, and while concerns over the stockpiles of oil are fading, product stockpiles have now gained focus. The administration reported that oil stockpiles shrank by 3.6 million barrels, while gasoline supplies increased by 3.4 million barrels. The result has decreased the days of supply of oil by seven-tenths to 31.4, while the days of supply of gasoline increased by six-tenths to 26.1; the average change for each at this point in April is 24.6 and 24.9, respectively. However, the aggregate change does not reflect the underlying activity. While US oil production continues its steady climb, imports spiked last week, the combination of the two would be expected to add to oil stockpiles. Meanwhile, the production of gasoline was lower last week as product supplied held fairly steady, which would be expected to be contractionary to gasoline inventories. Clearly the opposite was realized. Oil stockpiles are rolling over slightly earlier than average, while gasoline inventories are curling higher ahead of of schedule as this battle between the supply of oil and gasoline continues. The level of product supplied of gasoline typically ramps up into the unofficial start of the summer driving season with the Memorial Day holiday. Once this high demand period for gasoline kicks into gear, progress in draining the supplies of both commodities should be realized. Until then, this push and pull between the two commodities may continue. The price of oil continues to hover around rising trendline support, now just above $48. Sentiment on Wednesday, as gauged by the put-call ratio, ended bullish at 0.79. Seasonal charts of companies reporting earnings today: S&P 500 Index TSE Composite