Why Have Stocks Been Going Down
This correction has been very fast and furious. I talked about it yesterday and how downside momentum was beginning to wane. The old saying that stocks take the stairs to the tops and the elevator to the bottom definitely rings true here. This decline has been relentless with strong wave after strong wave of selling. I can spend a lot of time debating why stocks have declined, but does it really matter? The stock market usually discounts economic activity 6-9 […]
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Date: October 31, 2018
Early Signs of Waning Downside Momentum
The selling has been relentless. It’s come in strong waves with some of the most powerful moves in many years. If you watch the intra day “tick” indicator which essentially tells you the cumulative price move for all stocks on the NYSE, up or down, there have been two massive and historic waves where the tick exceeded -1600. That shows indiscriminate selling and it’s not mom and pop hitting the sell button. The reasons are not important and we never […]
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Date: October 30, 2018
Squawk Box, Yahoo Finance & Correction Update
I started out my day with a visit to CNBC’s Squawk Box at 6:15am. I should have the link to post later today. I will be with the good folks at Yahoo Finance on Midday Movers either right at 11:30am or noon, live from Heritage Capital’s global headquarters via Skype. There’s an inside joke in there which I am always willing to share in person. As you know from all of my posts, markets have been very volatile and even […]
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Date: October 29, 2018
Crash Scenario Avoided BUT Where is THE Bottom???
Well folks, it’s been quite a week so far. After stocks tried to hammer in a low on October 11th there was a rally as I expected. In fact, that October day was the first day our shorter-term investment models started turning positive with the Dow at 25,000 after having been negative since the all-time high peak on October 3rd. As I wrote at that time, I didn’t think 25,000 was going to be the ultimate bottom, but the majority […]
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Date: October 25, 2018
“A” Bottom, “THE” Bottom or “NO” Bottom
Long time readers know that I am ALWAYS skeptical of bottoms where price ends the day in the bottom of the daily range. They rarely mark the ultimate low. When some of indicators turned positive at the of October 11, I wasn’t as full on bullish as I usually would be because stocks closed that day near their lows. In subsequent posts, I offered that while the majority of the price damage should be done, I would not be surprised […]
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Date: October 24, 2018
Clear as Mud. Volatility & Patience.
I keep writing about volatility ruling and boy, it is not disappointing! The huge swings high to low and low to high are extreme. It’s all part of the makings of a bottom for a good year-end rally. We did a really good job calling the peak a few weeks and then offered that the majority of the damage should be done after the collapse on October 11, but perhaps not all of the damage. The best I can put […]
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Date: October 22, 2018
Volatility Reigns. Building Blocks Needed
And just like that I am back at the airport and waiting to head home on Wednesday night. Just what I like, a jam packed two days and only one night not sleeping in my own amazing bed. As I keep writing about, volatility is going to remain elevated throughout this earnings season and into the mid-term elections. Wednesday perfectly epitomized this as you can see from the intra-day chart below. The major indices saw ranges from high to low […]
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Date: October 18, 2018
Pink & Blue Are Not Just for Baby Stuff
In yesterday’s post I mentioned that during most stock market declines, it seems like everyone turns to charts and technical indicators as their economic and fundamental indicators fail. They quote their own “key” numbers and speaking from 30 years of experience, if it’s obvious, it’s obviously wrong. In other words, when so many pundits turn to the same charts, the market does its best to punish the most people. I want to spend a few minutes explaining the most basic […]
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Date: October 17, 2018
Was It “A” Bottom or “THE” Bottom? Don’t Get Comfortable Just Yet!
As you know, I had been calling for a mid to upper single digit decline in stocks since late September. That pullback has certainly come to fruition this month with the major stocks market indices down between 7% and 10%. Last Thursday brought short-term panic readings in some indicators and that served to mitigate more weakness, at least for now. Usually when these conditions occur, the bulk of the price damage has been done for the time being and at […]
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Date: October 17, 2018
Just Like the Crash of 1987, an Interest Rate Driven Decline in Stocks
When I woke up today, I wasn’t planning on doing this update. My original plan was to begin a new Street$marts and talk about stock market crashes and the panic I saw in the market over the past two days as well as address some emails I received. This was going to be just one of the articles written. As I got going, it got longer and longer and longer with all of the charts and I ran out of […]
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Date: October 12, 2018
Crash Sequence Unfolding?
As you know from my emails, quarterly report and most blogs, I have been forecasting a stock market pullback for the past few weeks. Even when the Dow Jones Industrials finally achieved my late Q1 forecast of new all-time highs across the board on September 21, I was very concerned about a crumbling market foundation that would lead to a mid to upper single digit decline in October. I couldn’t have been any clearer when I discussed my forecast on […]
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Date: October 11, 2018
Bulls Need a Stand
After some early weakness on Monday, the bulls put up a little fight before succumbing to selling into lunch. From there, they did have enough energy to bring stocks back to breakeven. Given the semi-holiday, that was semi-impressive. The bulls now have a little momentum and are supposed to run to the upside for at least a day or so. The S&P 400 and Russell 2000 have declined sufficiently to reach their long-term trend or the average price of the […]
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Date: October 9, 2018
Bulls Fail Again
My continued theme of a stock market pullback continues. The weakness is unfolding as expected. Small and mid cap indices have been hit the worst, but now the NASDAQ 100 is joining in. The rotation into the Dow and S&P 500 remains, but they are also down as well. Semis, discretionary and transports have rolled over and now the banks are in jeopardy of following suit. Energy, industrials and healthcare are sectors where investors are trying to hide and that […]
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Date: October 8, 2018
The Bulls Better Step Up, and Fast!
For most of Thursday, the bears growled loudly with the largest losses being seen since the Q1 correction. But rallies and bull moves do not die easily. The bull fight and fight and fight until they finally throw in the towel and the market sees what I termed the “gap of recognition”. It is a sharply lower opening that continues lower throughout the day. The bull never recover the gap until after the decline ends and the next rally begins. […]
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Date: October 5, 2018
Haves & Have Nots
As you know my theme over the past month has been about this “split” market developing and persisting. By “split”, I am referring to the number of stocks making new highs as well as new lows. The numbers keep climbing. Price hasn’t wavered although recently, the masses and media caught on to the fact that the Russell 2000 has been under pressure while the Dow Industrials have soared higher. That’s unhealthy behavior. What you see above is pretty egregious. Almost […]
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Date: October 3, 2018
Q4 is Here But Market Still Biding Time
I cannot believe Q4 begins today. That’s just crazy. My grandmother continues to be right when she told me years ago that the older you get, the quicker time flies by. That woman who has always been my favorite family member never gave me bad advice and always listened to me. Even the night before she passed in her sleep at the young age of 98, she told me to only buy investments that go up. I should leave the […]
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Date: October 1, 2018
Bears Taking the Ball
Monday saw the not so unusual weakness we have seen lately. However, Tuesday did not see what has become the typical bounce back since the stock market last bottomed in Q1. While I don’t want to assign too much emphasis on one single trading day, especially when it’s in my best interest, perhaps the market’s character is beginning to change. I continue to look for a bull market pullback in the mid to upper single digits. So far, price, the […]
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Date: September 28, 2018
***Fed Update – Rates Going Up Today. More to Follow***
Stock Market Behavior Models for the Day As with every Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement day, there is a model for the stock market to follow pre and post announcement. Certain environments have very strong tendencies while others do not. Over the past few meetings, many of the strongest trends were muted and today looks a lot like the August 1 meeting day. I drew arrows below so you can see what the S&P 500 looked like heading into […]
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Date: September 26, 2018
Can the Bears Make Any Move?
While the Dow declined almost 200 points on Monday the other indices were down much less with the NASDAQ 100 closing higher, a good sign for the bulls. Overall participation was poor and the defensive sectors were hit the hardest which was little bit of a head scratcher. As I mentioned yesterday, this week is the weakest week of the year on a seasonal basis. It is also another down Monday with an opportunity for an up Tuesday. I mention […]
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Date: September 25, 2018
Junk Hanging In While Pullback Begins
This post is going to be short as I am planning on writing my special Fed piece as well as a full Street$marts before I head to New York City tomorrow. Nothing new to report. I remain negative for the next few weeks or so as the window of opportunity for a mid to upper single digit pullback has opened. I have written about the split market and small warning from the NYSE A/D Line, however high yield bonds are […]
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Date: September 24, 2018
