Consumer Discretionary Stocks Get Rocked

Non-farm payrolls declined 467,000 for June, which was worse than expected. Stocks took the news hard with a broad based decline on Thursday. The major indices were down 2-4% on the day, while all sector ETFs were down over 2% with the Consumer Discretionary SPDR (XLY) leading the way lower. On the chart, XLY is on the verge of breaking support from its mid-May lows. With a double top taking shape, a break below this support level would target further weakness towards 19. The height of the pattern is subtracted from the support break for a target. As the most economically sensitive sector, relative weakness in the consumer discretionary stocks is not a good sign for the overall market - or the economy. This sector includes retailers, auto manufacturers, restaurants and homebuilders.