Canaries in the Coal Mine Part I – Indices
Canaries in the coal mine is always a vitally important issue for me to write as it speaks to the long-term, especially when it comes to the risk of a bear market. In 2018, since stocks corrected 12% in February, I have boldly, firmly and confidently stated on CNBC, on Fox Business, on Yahoo Finance, on all local stations in CT and almost every week on the blog that the bull market which began in March 2009 remains alive and […]
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Date: June 13, 2018
***SPECIAL Fed Update – Continued Arrogance & Pomposity Spells Recession***
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 is no different. As with most statement days, the model for the day calls for stocks to return plus or minus 0.50% until 2:00 PM. […]
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Date: June 13, 2018
Leadership A Changin’
Stocks appear to be shrugging off the reversal I wrote about last week, pretty much as expected. There is a lot of the news docket this week with the Fed meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday as well as the summit in Singapore with North Korea. While the latter will be all the focus, the former has a much better chance of moving the markets. You should expect another special Fed edition shortly. Over the past week or so, index leadership […]
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Date: June 11, 2018
ANOTHER Reversal
While stocks opened higher on Thursday, the bulls couldn’t hold on to those gains as the Trump Tariff & Trade Tantrum sprouted up again. With the G7 meeting this weekend, stocks are probably going to pause and let tensions cool off. As headlines and tweets crossed the wires, stocks gave up those early gains and for a few hours, selling was strong. Below is a chart that has become all too familiar. It’s the Russell 2000 Index of small cap […]
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Date: June 8, 2018
Bulls in Charge. Oil Corrects
With the elevator pattern broken, stocks have enjoyed a nice rally since Friday. The Dow Industrials are FINALLY getting off their rear end and seem poised to visit 25,100. All of the other major indices are well above that comparable level with the Russell 2000 and NASDAQ 100 at new highs. The S&P 500 and S&P 400 are gearing up for new highs. Markets are much healthier with the Dow lagging than leading. Sector leadership is strong and improving. The […]
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Date: June 6, 2018
Follow Through???
Stocks ended last week with a solid up day, completing four days of down, up, down, up. The elevator ride may try to end today as stocks are poised to rise at the open. We will have to see if we get a run throughout the day or if they fade and end up in the red. With earnings season over and the biggest economic report of the month already in the books, only the inflation data are left before […]
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Date: June 4, 2018
Trump’s Foot in Tweet. Strong Jobs Report & Fed
If it’s the first Friday of the month, it’s the “all-important” jobs report. I opened Twitter to find the president tweeting about the still embargoed report and that was “looking forward to it”. Trump has many communication and information faux pas in his short tenure, but this one may be his biggest blunder. The President of the United States hinting at the content of market moving confidential information scheduled to be released is certainly precedent setting and idiotic. Anyway, as […]
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Date: June 1, 2018
Like an Elevator
Down big. Up big. It’s like riding the elevator at the Empire State Building. Italy’s banking system goes from being on the verge of collapse to all is hunky dory in 36 hours. The past few days looked a little bit like BREXIT almost two years ago. While I did not believe BREXIT was going to be a huge event at the time, I still think that Italy has the potential to be that sub prime mortgage canary in the […]
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Date: May 31, 2018
Italy Definitely Matters. Canary in the Coal Mine?
Stocks were “supposed” to rally on Friday ahead of the long weekend. While they did put in a good performance, they still ended in the red. That adds further weight on the short-term negativity of some of our models when stocks don’t behave as the odds say they should. This morning we woke up to more troubles in Italy. Anyone surprised by this hasn’t been paying attention. In my year-end report to clients as well as in my Fearless Forecast, […]
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Date: May 29, 2018
Double Reversal of the Reversal
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we saw three separate reversals in the major stock market indices. First, there was a “key” downside reversal after a nice little rally, followed by back to back days of stock selling off early and closing strong. Long time market analyst, Walter Deemer, very aptly replied to one of my tweets that it’s not so much the reversal itself, but the action after those wilder, more emotional days. People love to cherry pick and and […]
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Date: May 25, 2018
“Key” Reversals. Junk Bonds Still Stink
Let’s start with junk bonds. While they don’t really stink, they are not participating at all in the stock rally. As I mention time and time again, that has little value in the short-term and no predictive power. However, it does matter, and sometimes a lot, over the intermediate-term. My fear, well I am really not scared but rather concerned, is that the final peak in high yield bonds has already been seen. If that’s the case, it doesn’t bode […]
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Date: May 23, 2018
Pause Ending?
With news out that Trump Tariff Tantrum has been delayed, stocks around the globe are rallying roughly 1%. That’s the expectation when trading begins for the new week. It will be telling to see if all five major stock market indices can score new highs for the month which would give the bulls more credibility. I would really like to see another index besides the Russell 2000 see all-time highs right now. Additionally, on the far right side of the […]
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Date: May 21, 2018
Small Caps Still Leading But…
The mild pullback/consolidation continues although you wouldn’t know from watching the Russell 2000 small cap index below. This index sits at all-time highs as seen above the dark blue horizontal line as well as breaking higher above the light blue line which has contained price since the early Q1 correction. On the surface things look really good for small caps as they are leading. However, I do think their leadership is close to ending with the other major indices about […]
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Date: May 18, 2018
Pause to Refresh. Transports Looking Juicy
It looks like Monday’s failure by the bulls put in a short-term peak and stocks will either trade sideways for a bit or pullback below Tuesday’s low. There shouldn’t be too much price deterioration. We have some overbought readings in the major indices so if stocks can resist much weakness, that could speak volumes about the next move which should be to new highs. On the key sector front, banks and discretionary are quietly stepping up while semis appear to […]
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Date: May 16, 2018
Nothing Sexy But Still Higher Prices
Since May 3rd, the path of least resistance has been up in the major stock market indices. That is supposed to continue although I will soon be on the lookout for a short-term pause or minor pullback. With the small cap Russell 2000 leading, there has been little to complain about lately, at least for the bulls. While none of the four key sectors are knocking it out of the park, they all look poised to head higher. Energy has […]
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Date: May 13, 2018
Bull Markets Do NOT End This Way
*NOTE: I began this piece as my regular Friday blog post as a follow up to a tweet I sent last night. The more I wrote, the more I wanted to say. That turned into more of an Analysis 101 piece which I am distributing to everyone. It’s also one very important piece in my canaries in the coal mine which I hope to have out next week. One of my favorite long-term indicators scored an all-time high on Thursday, […]
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Date: May 11, 2018
Stock Market & Economy Yawn as Trump Terminates Iran Deal
I have to laugh when I hear so many pundits surprised that Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. It was one of his many campaign promises. Most members of his revolving door administration were squarely against the deal’s continuation. What was so surprising? While my interview was 5 minutes, only a few comments made the segment on WTNH (ABC in CT) last night. I don’t think the Iran news will have any economic impact at all. It’s been fairly […]
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Date: May 9, 2018
Friday was Constructive but More Work to be Done
Last Thursday, I wrote about green shoots in the stock market. Until former Fed chair Ben Bernanke used that phrase on 60 Minutes in March 2009, I had absolutely no idea what it meant. Later I learned that after a forest fire burns everything to the ground, the landscape becomes incredibly rich with nutrients and these little “green shoots” spring up as the first sign of new life. Eventually, these shoots become trees that grow very tall over time. Of […]
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Date: May 7, 2018
Green Shoots for the Bulls After Fed Selloff
As expected by almost everyone, the Fed stood pat on Wednesday. I was shocked to hear some pundits predicted a rate hike. That’s one of the dumbest forecasts I have heard in an awfully long time as the Fed has become almost too transparent and too accommodating to the markets. A rate hike out of nowhere?!?! That made me laugh out loud. Stocks sold off after the announcement for the second straight Fed meeting, in direct contradiction to one of […]
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Date: May 3, 2018
***SPECIAL Fed Update – Fed’s Arrogance & Pomposity Leading to Recession Watch***
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. As with most statement days, the model for the day calls for stocks to return plus or minus 0.50% until 2:00 PM. There is a 90% chance […]
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Date: May 2, 2018
