Existing home sales show largest March increase on record as the spring selling season begins. 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: Northeast Utilities System (NYSE:NU) Seasonal Chart The Markets Stocks closed lower on Friday, led by health care and financials, as investors monitor pending legislation pertaining to health care and tax reform. The S&P 500 Index shed three-tenths of a percent, pulling back from its 50-day moving average. Looking at the weekly chart, the almost one percent gain in the large-cap benchmark on the week shows a rebound from the rising 20-week moving average, a level that has supported the intermediate trend in the past. Reaction to some of the pivotal levels both above and below could be very telling of investor sentiment heading into the weaker time of the year for stocks between May and October. Volume has been waning since the year began, a testament to the low volatility trading environment since the US election. On the economic front, the report on existing home sales showed the strongest activity in over 10 years. The headline print indicated that sales rose by 4.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.71 million. Analysts were expecting a rate of 5.605 million. Stripping out the seasonal adjustments, sales of existing homes jumped 44.8%, the best March increase on record. The average increase in sales in the month of March is 32.1%. The result pushed the year-to-date change into an above average position as the spring home buying market kicks off with a bang. Sales continue to increase, on average, through the month of June before plateauing into the summer. Looking through the regions, the south appears to have had an outsized impact on the aggregate result, advancing 40.7% in the month. The year-to-date change in the north-east, mid-west, and west are inline with their seasonal averages, while the south is firmly above. As for prices, with only 3.8 months of supply, the median sales price of existing homes jumped 3.6% in March, well above the average increase of 2.6% for this third month of the year. A balanced market is typically characterized as having six months of supply. Inventory levels are showing early signs of rebounding, up 5.9% in March and moving inline with the average change through the first three months of the year. Inventories have been declining fairly steadily over the past three years, but March’s jump may suggest the conclusion to the string of below average results. Expect homes sales to continue to advance through the months ahead as further supply comes back online, resulting in the slowing of house price increases as the market becomes more balanced amidst rising mortgage rates. Sentiment on Friday, as gauged by the put-call ratio, ended bearish at 1.04. Sectors and Industries entering their period of seasonal strength: STAPLES Relative to the S&P 500 Seasonal charts of companies reporting earnings today: S&P 500 Index TSE Composite