Small Stocks Continue to Look Interesting
For the past few weeks, I have been mentioning the action the Russell 2000 index of small cap stocks. Along with the S&P 400 index of mid cap stocks, this group has been lagging the returns of the more popular Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100. I continue to believe the Russell’s fortunes are changing, if only for a short period of time. Below is a chart I have shown a few times before. It’s the Russell 2000 with the […]
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Date: December 9, 2019
Was That All?
On Wednesday, I wrote that stocks were supposed to bounce and not to be surprised if they regained all they lost a few days earlier. However, the odds did not favor the whole pullback/consolidation being over. I am still in that camp although with this morning’s much stronger than expected employment report and the pre-market surge, I guess I have to be open to the notion that the little bout of weakness is over. We will certainly see in the […]
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Date: December 6, 2019
3 in a Row for the Bears as ISM and Trump Give Aid
The bears are on a three day winning streak with Tuesday scoring the most points and the chorus growing louder that this is anything but a harmless little pullback. On Monday, the media chalked up the decline to the ISM survey which was disappointingly weak. If that was truly the case, why did bonds also sell off? If the economy was weakening, shouldn’t bonds have rallied? My good friend, Tony Dwyer (@dwyerstrategy), offered that the media reported a disappointing number […]
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Date: December 4, 2019
Lots of Action Across the Board – Stay Alert
Welcome back from Thanksgiving! I hope you had a safe, fun and meaningful holiday!! For me, I was very thankful to be alive after my mid-May mishap. As usual, I will have the various details of the Schatz Thanksgiving feast in an upcoming Street$marts. With 11 full months in the books, December trading starts today. The last month of the year is typically a very bullish one, especially when it begins in rally mode. 2018 was certainly an outlier that […]
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Date: December 1, 2019
Bullish Week Coming. Healthcare Leading
Stocks are set to open higher to begin Thanksgiving week where we only have 3 1/2 days of trading. This week is typically a good one for the bulls. Last week, the stock market treaded water and the bears definitely had a chance to make some noise. I doubt they will have the same opportunity this week unless a piece of random news hits out of nowhere. As you know, I have been neutral to a little negative in the […]
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Date: November 25, 2019
Bulls Biding Their Time
Stocks continue to trade very quietly lately. It seems like every day there is a narrow range from high to low. And that’s okay. Although I have had short-term concerns for the past few weeks, the bulls have done an amazing job of thwarting each and every little attack by the bears. As I have said a number of times, stocks will either mildly pull back or move sideways for several weeks. Right now, the latter is the preferred scenario, […]
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Date: November 22, 2019
Bulls Still in Charge, But
As stocks headed into November the Dow Industrials, S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 were all at or very, very close to all-time highs. I know this comes as no surprise to my readers as I have written about my upside projections over and over and over. Dow 28,000 was next, a target I began discussing at the end of 2017. Five straight closes above that level will open up my long, long, longstanding target of Dow 30,000, a pie in […]
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Date: November 21, 2019
Target Hit
On Friday, the Dow hit yet another one of our upside projections. This continues the longest stretch of successful upside targets since I started forecasting them 20 years ago. When the bear market ended in 2009 I remember being on CNBC with Larry Kudlow in early March thinking that stocks could bounce 1000 points before a possible retest of the lows could set up. People thought that was nuts. When stocks exceeded 8500 for five straight days, 10,500 became the […]
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Date: November 18, 2019
Lots of Opps But Market Not Ready For Another Leg Just Yet
Today is options expiration where moves used to be wide and volatile. However, these days expiration has actually become a fairly tame affair. As I wrote about the “haves” and “have nots” in the indices the other day, I think today will shape up to be fairly quiet with an obvious bias to the upside as the bears have been thwarted multiple times this week. Stocks should jump to fresh, new highs this morning but I do not expect an […]
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Date: November 15, 2019
Bulls Recharging. Bears Turning into Bulls
It’s good to be home after a great but quick trip to Dallas. Uncharacteristically, the markets were fairly quiet on Monday and Tuesday while I was away. Usually, my travels bring about all kinds of fireworks which force me to change plans and stress about being available and not missing an opportunity. I hope that doesn’t mean that the next trip will be worse than normal to make up for it! Since I turned neutral on the very short-term, stocks […]
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Date: November 13, 2019
The Neutral Theme Continues
Greetings from Dallas where I am attending NAAIM’s annual Outlook conference with the real thought leaders in the industry. Although I have been involved with NAAIM for almost 30 years, I still get excited and look forward to seeing old friends, meeting new ones and hearing from and participating with true cutting edge thinkers who aren’t beholden to Wall Street’s agenda. So, here we are. Although my intermediate and long-term bullish outlook remains unchanged and emboldened, I remain neutral over […]
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Date: November 11, 2019
Pause to Refresh or Mild Pullback Underway
Earlier this week, I turned neutral for the short-term in the stock market. That’s all it is. Neutral when I look out a few days to a few weeks. I am not calling for any decline of significance and we may not even see a noticeable pullback. Stocks could go sideways to work off what I see as investors becoming a little too giddy or they could mildly pull back. My work doesn’t support much more than that. Of course, […]
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Date: November 8, 2019
Dow Joins Party. Stocks a Bit Tired
Greetings from 36,000 feet on some bumpy air, which is the norm when I fly. On Monday, the Dow Industrials joined the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 in fresh, all-time high territory. That’s now three of the five major stock market indices which have accommodated my bullish forecast. The last two, S&P 400 and Russell 2000 still have a ways to go, but I am still very optimistic that they will join their cousins later this quarter or by early […]
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Date: November 5, 2019
More New Highs Coming. The Celebration Continues.
Right on cue, the NASDAQ 100 followed the S&P 500 into all-time high territory. And before you ask, I still believe the Dow, S&P 400 and Russell 2000 will be there shortly. Not a single note of my tune has changed. The bull market remains alive and well and higher prices are a comin’. Of course, you wouldn’t know this from listening to the chorus of bears who remain firm that Armageddon is just around the corner. Taking a quick […]
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Date: November 4, 2019
Crickets and BUT BUT BUT from the Bears
Well, the Fed cut rates as expected. Powell said they are moving to neutral or pause mode, as expected. Stocks generally liked what they heard and closed near the highs for the day. Semis have struggled a bit over the past few days but I am not concerned in the least just yet. I think they have a chance to really soar into year-end. This morning, the employment report came in better than expected as well as seeing upward revisions […]
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Date: November 1, 2019
Fed to Cut Rates, Indicate Pause & Move to Neutral
What to Expect Today The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is going to cut interest rates by another 1/4% at 2:00pm on Wednesday. The market is expecting it and the cut has already been priced in. Any other action would be a shocker. With stocks essentially at to all-time highs, this continues to be reminiscent of 1995 when the Fed came from an overly restrictive monetary policy in 1994 to realizing they screwed up and quickly played catch up. Stocks […]
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Date: October 30, 2019
All-Time Highs Are Here. WHO KNEW?!?!
The S&P 500 is poised to open at fresh, all-time highs this morning. Absolutely none of my readers should be the least bit surprised. I have written about it every single week this entire year. And the stock market isn’t done. I have made fun of and called out the bears every step of the way to outcries of “BUT, BUT, BUT” whenever presented with facts. They hate. They disavow. They call for the end of the world. They have […]
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Date: October 28, 2019
Stock Market Quiet. Earnings Volatile. Semis Getting Ready to Soar
Greetings from Baltimore where I am doing a quick one night trip to visit with some clients and an old friend and former colleague. As always, there is great food and wine. If all goes well and Southwest delivers, I should be home for Blue Bloods tonight and get a good night’s sleep for our final weekend of baseball and softball. Stocks continue to trade very quietly this week, despite some wicked moves in individual stocks from earnings announcements. Twitter, […]
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Date: October 25, 2019
Lots of Negativity But Stocks Close to Blue Skies
Stocks begin the new week with the Dow Industrials masking the overall strength of the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100. Remember, the Dow only has 30 stocks and they are weighted by price. So, high prices stocks move the index a lot more than mid or lower priced ones. Boeing has been hit with the ugly stick for 40+ points over the past two days which equates to roughly 280 Dow points. While the Dow has stalled out with a […]
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Date: October 21, 2019
Junk Bonds & the A/D Line Say All is Okay
From open to close, stocks have traded in a narrow range most of this week and around the same level each day except for Tuesday. As the old highs in the Dow Industrials, S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 have come into reach, investors are pausing as they usually do to assess risk and reward. While I do not think it’s a layup for a breakout right here, I feel very confident that Dow 28,000 will be kissed this quarter with […]
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Date: October 18, 2019
