At least we had one day where stocks closed firmly! As has been the case for more than a week, but really over the past month, sellers continue to snuff rallies that begin the morning. The bears say that this is a market on the verge of collapsing under its own weight. The bulls counter that with all the selling into rallies, stocks remain just a few percent off their recent highs.
What I am seeing is my pullback theme continue to play out during the beginning of what is usually a very strong time of year seasonally. You also have a tale of different indices with the Dow and S&P 500 mired in a two month range with the NASDAQ 100 just making a new high this week. Somewhat concerning is the action in the S&P 400 and Russell 2000, former leaders, which are now breaking down from their trading ranges.
On the encouraging side, we still have strong leadership from three of the four key sectors. Semis and transports are just off their recent highs while banks and making new highs now. Discretionary looks crummy. High yield bonds scored new highs this week and the NYSE A/D Line is digesting constructively.
While stocks often delay the beginning of the typical Q4 rally during an election year, I wouldn’t be surprised if the S&P 500 has a sharp, but temporary breakdown below 2120 just before election day. That would be a another dip to buy.
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