S&P 500 Index continues to dance around the 2720 pivot point. Real Time Economic Calendar provided by Investing.com. *** 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: Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. (NASD:SNCR) Seasonal Chart Healthcare Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE:HR) Seasonal Chart Renasant Corp. (NASD:RNST) Seasonal Chart Gerdau Usa (NYSE:GGB) Seasonal Chart Aemetis, Inc. (NASD:AMTX) Seasonal Chart China Mobile Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:CHL) Seasonal Chart Univest Corp. of Pennsylvania (NASD:UVSP) Seasonal Chart The Markets Stocks closed higher on Wednesday as investors digested the minutes from the latest fed meeting. The Federal Reserve indicated their willingness to let inflation run above their target range, alleviating concerns from market participants that rapidly rising prices would force the central bank to act more aggressively in normalizing monetary policy. The S&P 500 index added around one-third of one percent, jumping around the 2720 pivot point highlighted in yesterday’s report. Short-term resistance at 2742 is directly overhead. On schedule for the Wednesday session, the weekly EIA inventory report indicated a build with respect to oil and gasoline. The petroleum status report indicated a 5.8 million barrel injection to oil inventories, while gasoline stockpiles increased by 1.9 million barrels. The result added a third of a day of supply of oil to the market, which now sits at 26.4, just below the high of the year charted back in March at 26.9. The recent climb in the days of supply is a divergence from the seasonal norm, which calls for a decline through the spring as demand for product increases ahead of the unofficial start to driving season with the Memorial Day holiday. Production of oil continues to inch up to new record levels, threatening to offset the progress being made by the OPEC production cuts. As for gasoline, the days of supply is holding around the seasonal norm at 24.6 as supply, as gauged by the level of production, and demand, as gauged by the level of product supplied, remain approximately balanced. Seasonally, production of gasoline typically peaks around this time of year, then wanes through the summer as inventories of summer blend are drawn from ahead of the colder fall and winter months. Weekly U.S. Days of Supply of Crude Oil excluding SPR (Number of Days) Seasonal Chart Weekly U.S. Days of Supply of Total Gasoline (Number of Days) Seasonal Chart The price of WTI Crude Oil dipped marginally following the report, trading off of the $73 target suggested by an ascending triangle pattern that was charted through the month of March. The price of the commodity continues to hold support at the 20 and 50-day moving averages. Seasonally, the commodity tends to reach an important peak around Memorial Day. On the economic front, a report on new home sales shed light on the health of the real estate market. The headline print indicated that sales of new homes fell by 1.5% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 662,000. Analysts had forecasted a rate of 677,000. Stripping out the seasonal adjustments, the decline was consistent with the headline change, down by 1.5%. On average, new home sales fall by 0.7% in the fourth month of the year. The year-to-date change remains firmly above average by 6.2%. As for the breakdown, a big rebound in sales of homes not started offset declines in sales of homes completed; sales of homes under construction were essentially unchanged. Previously, it had been the latter two categories that had been showing above average results as buyers focussed on homes that would be available sooner than later. The surge in sales at the not started stage hints of confidence in the consumer, who are willing to wait well into the future in a rising rate environment for their home to be completed. While certainty in the labor market and rising incomes would entice consumers to develop this forward bias, the trend in sales may be more simple than that. The median price of homes sold has fallen significantly in the first four months of the year, down 9.0% year-to-date, indicating that builders are bringing on inventory at lower price points, helping those individuals that had previously been priced out of the market. Whichever way you look at it, the healthy real estate market is a positive for the economy as well as the equity market. Seasonally, new home sales typically decline through he remainder of the year as construction projects dwindle given the narrowing building season. New Home Sales Seasonal Chart Sentiment on Wednesday, as gauged by the put-call ratio, ended close to neutral at 0.99. Seasonal charts of companies reporting earnings today: S&P 500 Index TSE Composite