Most stock indices didn't rock the world in September, but any progress in that historically difficult month should be considered a bonus -- especially after the gains already booked so far in 2024. The minor and major indices all rose between 1% and 2.7%, with the larger indices doing the best. Turning to sectors, Consumer Discretionary (XLY) and Utilities (XLU) led, both gaining 7%. Communication Services was up 4%, while Information Technology, Materials, Real Estate, and Industrial were all up about 3%. Energy was last, with a 3% loss, with Healthcare down 2% and Financial off 0.6%. Overall, that's a healthy-looking performance report for the month. The biggest S&P 500 individual stock gainers for September were primarily from Discretionary, with some help from Industrial. The largest XLY monthly winners were LVS (+29%); TSLA (+22%); CPRI (19%); UAA, HBI, and TPR, all up 16%; NCLH (+15%); RL (+14%); and CCL and KSS, both up 12%. While there were plenty of retailers on the list of stocks with nice gains, four out of the six were comeback stories. Taken together, this list of Discretionary stocks certainly indicates that investors are not overly worried about consumer spending or the economy. Industrial winners were focused in airlines and included UAL, ALK, DAL, and FBIN. That also seems like a plus for the economy. On the downside list, there were plenty of Energy, Healthcare, and Information Technology stocks. In Energy, APA, DVN, FANG, and NOV all fell between 10% and 14%. Weak Healthcare names included MCK, REGN, HUM, and PRGO. From Information Technology, QRVO, SWKS, and ADBE all lost 10% to 11%. (Mark Arbeter, CMT)

Founded in 2000, MarketAxess is a leading electronic fixed-income trading platform that connects broker/dealers and institutional investors. The company is primarily focused on credit based fixed income securities with its main trading products being US investment-grade and high-yield bonds, Eurobonds, and Emerging Market corporate debt. Recently the company has expanded more aggressively into Treasuries and municipal bonds with the acquisitions of LiquidityEdge and MuniBrokers in 2019 and 2021, respectively. The company also provides pre- and post-trade services with its acquisition of Regulatory Reporting Hub from Deutsche Börse Group in 2020 adding to its product offerings.

The calendar turned to September, historically the worst month of the year, and all of a sudden things go to heck and in a handbasket. Yet again, the largest drag on the stock market was the heavily weighted Information Technology (XLK -4.6%) sector. The group was once again dragged down by once-beloved semiconductor stocks, with the major semi indices getting pulverized by 7% to 8%. Since July 17, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) and the VanEck Vectors Semi ETF (SMH) have dropped at least 6% on three different days. All three of those days featured very heavy volume, a clear sign of institutional distribution. We started to see distribution on the semis and the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) back in the middle/latter part of July. Most of the major semi stocks have lost their 50-day average for the second time since late July, while a handful are breaking below their more-important 200-day averages and are closing in on their initial lows from early August. The QQQ cratered 3.2%, broke down out of a developing bull flag, and closed near a 38.2% retracement of the rally since the August 5 intraday low. We did see a minor 5/13 exponential moving average crossover sell signal, reversing the buy signal from August 15. A 50% retracement of the rally comes in at 454 and a 61.8% give-back lies at 447. The S&P 500 lost 2.1% as the index bounced off its 50-day average late in the day. A 38.2% retrace of its rally is at 5,448 while a 50% give-back targets 5,386. There was a 38% spike in the volatility index (VIX) and it is now just above 20. We have a feeling the month will bring more of the same. (Mark Arbeter, CMT)

MarketAxess Holdings operates a global electronic trading platform, primarily for corporate bonds and other fixed-income instruments. The company enables institutional investors and broker-dealers to anonymously trade securities and offers clearing and market data services. The company has approximately 864 employees and was added to the S&P 500 in 2019.