The markets have started strong again this week and the S&P 500 briefly broke to new highs on Tuesday. The S&P 500 (SPY  ) officially tied the record for the longest running bull market in history with over 300% gains in the process. This week the SPY continues in it's slow, but steady uptrend that has maintained itself through the summer. Headed into the second part of the week though those gains were challenged as investors took some profits.

Homebuilders (XHB  ) have been in a choppy range for months now but this week show solid attempts to push up and above it. Thanks to some strong earnings and guidance from the luxury homebuilders the sector has seen some renewed strength so far this week. Tuesday the sector gained over 2.5% in just the one day.

Retail stocks (XRT  ) pushed to new highs this week as retailers are the focus of what is left of earnings season. Positive reports from most of the names has fueled a rally to highs as investors look to participate on the strong consumer. Brick and mortar as well as online retailers all seem to be sharing in the purchasing power and willingness for the consumer to spend.

Oil (USO  ) and energy (XLE  ) have seen a recovery bounce this week so far thanks to a weakening dollar and supply concerns thanks to the Iranian sanctions. Each week for the past few weeks on Wednesday, the price of oil has seen a strong uptick in volatility as the inventory numbers have been all over the place. Investors are anxious to see how this week will play out.

Monday, Trump made some comments about how the Federal Reserve should be helping him grow this economy by keeping interest rates lower. This helped pull back the recent run up in the dollar and allowed for the emerging markets (EEM  ) to recover from their recent push lower. As the price of the EEM slid aggressively the bulls stepped in to pick the bottom and so far has shown good success.