These Truckers Not Afraid of Ice Roads

After a soft open, stocks look to be quietly headed into the FOMC Minutes later today, at 2pm EST. I suspect trading desks will become increasingly vacant throughout the session, on this most travelled day of the year on Thanksgiving eve.

At the moment, small caps are back to green, defying gravity and the seemingly logical expectation of a pullback. But, to me, the larger story is the runaway U.S. Dollar, shredding precious metals and miners. 

However, it is worth noting that crude, natural gas, and especially copper are soundly ignoring the Dollar strength for now, which likely speaks to their underlying demand. Copper, in particular, has the makings of a new cyclical bull market, given its residence and persistent strength to in recent months. 

Regarding equities, biotech and healthcare are still largely hands-off for me. I am more intrigued into the holiday season by some of the sectors which have been hot in November, including the transports. 

Specifically, the truckers are a rather overlooked group within the IYT, sector ETF for transportation stocks. Ryder Systems, Inc., below on the daily timeframe, is one such example of overlooked strength here. 

Note how R's breakout since the election has held intact, with price basing high and tight amid a sound volume pattern of surging by volume and cresting during the pause. I would look at a play like this after Thanksgiving to continue for a year-end push, especially with more eyes on Warren Buffett's newfound joy of airlines and less eyes on the truckers who are unafraid of winter's coming ice roads.