S&P 500 Index takes another stab at its declining 20-day moving average. 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: Enstar Group, Inc. (NASD:ESGR) Seasonal Chart EnCana Corp. (NYSE:ECA) Seasonal Chart Steelcase, Inc. (NYSE:SCS) Seasonal Chart PriceSmart, Inc. (NASD:PSMT) Seasonal Chart DineEquity Inc. (NYSE:DIN) Seasonal Chart Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE:NFX) Seasonal Chart Torchmark Corporation (NYSE:TMK) Seasonal Chart Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) Seasonal Chart Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF) Seasonal Chart Polaris Inds, Inc. (NYSE:PII) Seasonal Chart Destination XL Group, Inc. (NASD:DXLG) Seasonal Chart Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) Seasonal Chart Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) Seasonal Chart Portland General Electric Co. (NYSE:POR) Seasonal Chart Magna International Inc. (USA) (NYSE:MGA, TSE:MG) Seasonal Chart The Markets Stocks closed near the flatline on Thursday as major benchmarks took another crack at resistance presented by declining 20-day moving averages directly overhead. The S&P 500 index was up by 1.1% at the highs of the session, intersecting with the pivotal short-term moving average almost precisely before turning lower to end the day higher by a mere tenth of one percent. This is the fourth session that the large-cap benchmark has charted a candlestick with a long wick overhead, indicating the significance of this short-term hurdle as a place to book profits following the recent rebound. Resistance at the 50-day moving average could also be implied. But while investors appear unwilling to push the benchmark above this level, they are also reluctant to sell as the fundamental backdrop remains positive and suitable alternative investments to allocate portfolios to are few. The psychologically important 2700 level is the level to look to as short-term support. In the days ahead, investors would be expected to window dress portfolios for the month ahead, which has typically been a positive influence for stocks into the end of the period. Whether or not overhead levels of variable resistance can be broken is up for debate. Seasonally, March and April are two of the strongest consecutive months for equity indices. One day delayed as a result of the holiday on Monday, the EIA released its look a petroleum inventories for the week just past. Crude oil inventories were drawn down by 1.6 million barrels, while gasoline recorded an injection of 300,000 barrels. The result saw the days of supply of each move in opposite directions with oil gaining two-tenths of a day to 26 and gasoline falling by a similar margin to 27.5. The trends of each appear to be following seasonal norms, which calls for a peak in the days of supply of gasoline at this time of year. Demand for the refined commodity remains upbeat, as gauged by the change in the level of product supplied. The 4.1% year-to-date gain through the middle of February is a divergence compared to the 2.6% average decline over the same timeframe. This has fuelled a similar divergence in the level of production, helping to keep oil inventories under control. As for the raw input, domestic production of crude oil showed little change in the past week, holding well above the average change for this time of year. Imports and exports diverged from one another with the former falling by 867,000 barrels per day and the latter rising by 722,000 per day. The level of oil exports now sits at over two million barrels per day, the second highest level on record. So while the pace of gains in the domestic production of oil warrants further monitoring, strong demand trends are helping to absorb this extra supply, conducive to maintaining a bid under the price of the energy commodity. 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 oil gained 1.77% following the report, closing at its declining 20-day moving average. Seasonally, the price of oil tends to move higher between now and May. On the economic front, Statscan released their final look at retail sales for 2017. The headline print indicated that sales fell by 0.8% in December, a significant miss versus estimates of a 0.1% decline. Stripping out the seasonal adjustments, retail sales actually gained by 3.9%, well below the average increase for the last month of the year of 15.3%. This is the weakest December increase in the history of the report, certainly dampening the above average activity that has been recorded throughout the past year. Retail sales were higher by 3.2% in 2017, below the 4.1% average increase, based on data from the past 20 years. Looking through the details, it is easy to see where the weakness was derived. Furniture sales showed a very rare decline in the month and weakness in auto sales was significant, dragging on the aggregate result. Sales at furniture and home furnishings stores were down by 0.7%, the first time in at least 26 years that this category has shown a decline in this holiday period. The average December gain in furniture sales is 9.1%. Although not stated in the report, the closing of Sears stores would have been a significant factor. The other category to show disappointing results was motor vehicle and part dealer sales, which fell by 18.6% in the final month of the year. This was well below the average read of -8.8%, deflating the above average activity that had been recorded through the summer and fall. While the factors surrounding the slump in furniture sales may prove to be a one off, other categories suggest a shifting of activity away from the historically strong month of December and into November as Canadians adopt the Black Friday sales frenzy that has been seen for some time south of the border. Electronics and apparel sales showed gains that were well above average in November followed by below average gains in December. This dynamic is expected to continue to play out in the years ahead as sales increasingly shift online and as the holiday season seemingly starts earlier and earlier as each year passes. For a complete breakdown of the report, you can access the charts via the database at http://charts.equityclock.com/canada-retail-trade-sales Sentiment on Thursday, as gauged by the put-call ratio, ended bearish at 1.12. Sectors and Industries entering their period of seasonal strength: Seasonal charts of companies reporting earnings today: S&P 500 Index TSE Composite