8 Straight Down Days – Quiet Bear Market?
The S&P 500 is now down 8 straight days. Pundit chatter in the media and on Twitter has been fairly negative. Option traders are bearish. The volatility index is up almost 100% since September. Either a bear market has quietly begun or the market is approaching yet another good dip to buy in an ongoing bull market. I think you know where I stand. Seasonality studies are abound that the market just entered the best six months. Additionally, it’s also […]
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Date: November 4, 2016
Stock Market Predicts Trump Victory
In what seems like the longest election season in the history of the world, the end is hopefully near on Tuesday although after 2000 and the endless surprises this year, that’s certainly not set in stone. Let me begin by stating that almost none of what I write in this report reflects my own political views. They are 100% irrelevant. I will do my best to keep that sort of editorial for another time. As I have often mentioned over […]
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Date: November 4, 2016
Fed Model Says Rally. A November Surprise from Yellen?
Before I dive into the meat of the article, our market model for today is a plus or minus .50% move until 2 pm and then a rally into the close. Two of our Fed Statement Day (today) models are live and are very bullish with a success rate of 80%. We’ll see how that works out before long. With the election just around the corner, it would be almost impossible to believe that the Federal Reserve would raise interest […]
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Date: November 2, 2016
Key Sectors Holding Up Otherwise Weak Market
Last week, I voiced a little more concern about the stock market as the S&P 400 and Russell 2000 broke to the downside from their trading ranges. So far, they haven’t been able to regain previous levels. Now, we have the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 trading at the lower end of their ranges and it looks like stocks have further to go on thew downside before finding more solid footing. As I have said for months, based on market […]
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Date: November 1, 2016
A Little More Concern Creeps In
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 […]
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Date: October 27, 2016
Canaries in the Coal Mine Part III – My Two Favorites
Updating the two, and perhaps, most important charts from last week, we can first see the New York Stock Exchange Advance/Decline Line which measures participation in rallies and declines. Before a bear market hits, you will almost always see this line peak well before price does. In other words, the troops were dying in a battle but the officers survived until the bitter end. In today’s case, this indicator still very powerfully supports the bulls. Finally, high yield bonds are […]
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Date: October 26, 2016
The Streak Has Been Broken – Gold Teetering
After four straight afternoon fades in the stock market and one neutral day, the bulls FINALLY were able to overcome a gap down open and closed near the highs for the day on Friday. However, one day doesn’t change the pullback theme of the last six weeks. Today, stocks are going to open higher with help from several deals announced along with Europe on firmer footing. AT&T buying Time Warner for $85 billion certainly is an eye opener, so much […]
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Date: October 24, 2016
Canaries in the Coal Mine Part II – The Key Sectors
Moving to the four key stock market sectors from the indices I don’t see as strong a sign, but it’s definitely not a weak one yet. The bellwether for technology, semiconductors, is first and you can clearly see a sector that is “large and in charge” or “long and strong” to use some trading desk rhymes. This is very bullish long-term. Banks are next and contrary to popular belief, rumors of their demise have been greatly exaggerated. Quite simply, the […]
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Date: October 21, 2016
Make It Four Straight
For the fourth day in a row, stocks lost steam later in the day. While the internals continue to improve, price is always the final arbiter and the 6 week pullback continues for now. At the same time, gold is popping a little and crude oil just scored a one year high, both against a strong dollar which is unusual. Both semis and software are bouncing from their first bout of weakness off the high while banks exploded higher on […]
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Date: October 20, 2016
Another Gap. Trade & Fade?
After Thursday’s reversal, Friday’s early action looked promising as I left the office before lunch to celebrate my 15th wedding anniversary playing golf with some friends at Foxwoods before the wives met us for dinner and gambling. At least the dinner went well! However, as has been the case lately, opening gaps have often been the high or low point for the day as was seen on Friday as well as on Monday. This is certainly not a sign of […]
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Date: October 18, 2016
