Health care sector lifts the Dow to another milestone. 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: No stocks identified for today The Markets Stocks closed generally mixed on Tuesday, but this did not stop the Dow from achieving another all-time high milestone. The blue-chip benchmark briefly cross the psychologically important 23,000 level, fuelled by strength in shares of Dow component United Health (UNH). The result lifted the S&P 500 Health Care Sector index by 1.31%, the best sector performance during the session. The health care benchmark is now back to resistance just above 960, representing the upper limit of an ascending triangle continuation pattern. A breakout projects upside potential toward 1020, or approximately 6% above present levels. The target is consistent with the forecasted move following the breakout of the massive trading range that spanned between late 2014 and early 2017. Health care is the second best performer year-to-date, lagging slightly behind the market leader in 2017, Technology. Seasonally, the period of strength for the sector concludes at the beginning of December. HEALTHCARE Relative to the S&P 500 This past summer, in addition to all of the sector and industry plays that we highlighted as being seasonally significant through the third quarter, we highlighted three international equity benchmarks that typically see positive characteristics through to this time of year. The first was the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index, which is presently higher by around 12% since the average start to its period of strength in June. The other two showed much more subdued performance, but price action in recent days suggests that they may now be in play. The Bombay Sensex is pressuring the upper limit of a trading range that has been intact since its June low, higher by almost 6% over the period. A breakout above the short-term range projects upside potential towards 34,000, or just over 4% above present levels. The other benchmark that began its period of strength in June was the Australia All Ordinaries Composite, which just broke out of a prolonged trading range. The move projects a target near the multi-year highs close to 6000. This psychologically important level also marks the upper limit to a longer-term ascending triangle pattern, the breakout of which would suggest significant upside potential. Each of these benchmarks find seasonal strength between the middle of June and the middle of October, on average, but technical analysis suggests that further gains are still possible. Typically, when looking at average seasonal trends, one month leeway on either side of the average holding period is often appropriate. ^HSI Relative to the S&P 500 ^BSESN Relative to the S&P 500 ^AORD Relative to the S&P 500 On the economic front, a report on industrial production showed a rare negative divergence in September, undoubtedly impacted by the hurricanes that hit the US. The headline print indicated that industrial production increased by 0.3% last month, slightly edging out forecasts calling for a 0.2% gain. However, stripping out the seasonal adjustments, production was actually lower by 0.8%, a notable divergence versus an average gain of the same magnitude for this last month of the third quarter. The manufacturing component also came in particularly weak, down by 0.2% versus an average gain of 1.9% for the month of September. The below average result opens a significant gap with the seasonal average trend, which is typically higher by around 6% at the end of the third quarter. The present year-to-date gain is 3.3%, almost half of the seasonal norm. Significant weakness in chemical manufacturing over the past couple of months is acting as a notable drag. Outside of the manufacturing category, there is evidence that moderate seasonal temperatures are taking a toll on the aggregate result. Electric power generation is lagging its seasonal trend as demand relating to cooling purposes has been limited. Electric and gas utilities are down by 13.4% year-to-date, on par with the weakest performance in the history of the report. An aggregate, the storms that hit the US earlier in September clouds the results across the board, making it difficult to determine if something more sustainable is at play. Case in point is the production of business equipment, while showing a gain in September, the increase was well below average, bringing an abrupt halt to the trend of above average results seen through the past eight months. The weak non-adjusted results may deserve a pass for now, but further scrutiny will be warranted in the months to come. Industrial Production: Total Seasonal Chart Sentiment on Tuesday, as gauged by the put-call ratio, ended bullish at 0.82. The significant gyrations in the range of the daily readings, as portrayed by the average true range (ATR), continues to pose concern. Sectors and Industries entering their period of seasonal strength: Seasonal charts of companies reporting earnings today: S&P 500 Index TSE Composite