Bears Starting to Throw In the Towel
Over the past week or so, I have written about some price levels I wanted to see exceeded to turn the picture a little more bullish. Since then, all five major stock market indices have closed above those levels. After that I wrote about the “key” reversal last Friday that had some analysts calling for the end of the bull market. The market immediately rejected that rejection. Then the bears hung their hopes on the “magical” 50 day moving average. […]
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Date: April 18, 2018
“KEY” Reversal and the 50 Day Moving Average Boogeyman
On Friday, the major stock market indices saw yet another “dramatic” reversal as strong early gains were not only given back but also turned into losses during the afternoon before closing off the lows. People who look at charts usually forecast further weakness ahead with some even using the one day pattern to call for the end of the bull market. I think you have to take these kinds of days in context. One day doesn’t end a bull market […]
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Date: April 16, 2018
Bulls Looking Up. The Absurdity of Exact Price Levels.
Yesterday, I wrote about some “key” price levels to watch. I put quotes around it and chuckle because there is some level of absurdity with getting too cute about a given exact price. That’s one of the many flaws of analysis. S&P 500 2675 is “vital” but not 2674 or 2676? Technicians get way too caught up in exact numbers rather than small ranges which makes a whole lot more sense. And remember, the market will always do its best […]
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Date: April 13, 2018
All Time Highs on Tap. A Few Key Prices to Watch
Let me begin by answering a few emails after my last couple of updates. Yes! I continue to believe that fresh all-time highs are ahead for stocks with the Dow hitting at least 27,000 in spite of the increase in pundits calling for the end of the bull market. Stocks seem to be in the second half of the bottoming process, regardless of whether we see Dow 23,000 or a move above 24,700. The major stock indices continue to thrash […]
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Date: April 12, 2018
Volatility Still Elevated. No All Clear Yet
So Paul, (yes, I am speaking in the annoying third person and I hate it too), it seems like every day there is a dizzying array of news and events. 500 points up, 400 points down, 300 up, 400 down. Employment report. Tariffs. New technology regulations. And earnings season is about to begin. Volatility remains elevated as has been the theme all year. Three times, Dow 23,500 has been visited and all three times buyers stepped in the thwart off […]
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Date: April 8, 2018
Major Reversal Puts Ball in Bulls’ Court
Stocks saw a very large reversal on Wednesday from being down 500 points to closing up more than 200 points. That would have been absolutely textbook if the price lows were below the lowest level of the correction which occurred on Monday or February 9th, depending on which index you look at. Technically, the price behavior has satisfied all that is needed to end the correction and begin an intermediate-term rally. However, I am not 100% convinced just yet. First, […]
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Date: April 5, 2018
Trump Tariff Tantrum & 200 Day Moving Average
We woke up today with more of the Trump Tariff Tantrum. This time, China responded as everyone thought they would, but the markets reacted much worse with the Dow looking to be down 600 points at the open. I am much, much more concerned about where stocks close today rather than where they open. To wrap up this decline, I would either want to see a 1000 point down day or afternoon strength today. As I continue to write, tariffs […]
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Date: April 4, 2018
Stocks are “Supposed” to Bounce
This is going to be a short update as my car has a safety recall and I am late to drop it off. While I was on the look out for a 1000 down day to get the market to the end of the decline and middle of the bottoming process, the bulls jumped when the Dow was down 700+ on Monday and thwarted that attempt. I really wanted to see a full WOOSH lower that ended the day really […]
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Date: April 3, 2018
Bottoming Process Continues with Decreasing Momentum
Last week, I wrote about stocks entering the bottoming process. After a decline of 1100 points in the Dow, there was a possibility that the correction which began on January 26 was ending. The only thing I did not want to see was a large up opening with stocks rallying all day. Well, that’s exactly what happened last Monday. It just prolongs the inevitable. I still believe that there is a good chance of seeing a 1000 point down day, […]
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Date: April 2, 2018
In the Throes of the Bottoming Process
1100 point decline to end the week certainly makes people pay attention. It still feels like yesterday (or late January) when all the talk was about a year long stock market melt up.Tax reform, 700+ regulations killed, GDP accelerating. All paths led higher. Almost every day, Donald Trump celebrated fresh all-time highs and used the stock market as his report card. Oh, the good ole days! As I wrote about last week, I don’t believe it’s about Facebook or Trump’s […]
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Date: March 26, 2018
What Happened to the Stock Market Melt Up?
700+ points of Dow decline on Thursday surely did change sentiment quickly. And while stock market bottoms do occur on Fridays (13% of the time), contrary to popular belief, the final low is unlikely to be today. Earlier this week, I discussed how all three of my offered scenarios were breaking down as they all eventually do, I thought the Dow would go check out 24,200 but likely head all the way down towards 23,000 which is below the lows […]
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Date: March 23, 2018
***SPECIAL Fed Update – Rates Are Going Up Again & Then Some***
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 muted although the system that said to sell on the close of the meeting hit a home run. The S&P immediately crashed from 2824 to 2645 or 6% during […]
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Date: March 21, 2018
Scenarios Breaking Down
For the past 6 weeks, I have offered what has now amounted to three plausible scenarios for where stocks are headed over the coming three to four months. While the short-term ups and downs varied, all paths from my perspective ended up at new highs for the major stock market indices. Nothing has changed in this regard and I continue to expect Dow 27,000 by the end of Q2 (June 30). As with almost every single market analog, eventually, they […]
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Date: March 20, 2018
Nasty, Ugly Reversal
Stock market action on Tuesday printed a classic nasty and ugly reversal when looking at the charts. Stocks opened at the highs for the day and closed at their lows. Additionally, the move from high to low completely enveloped the previous day’s activity. While this does look really bad on a chart and people will often say it’s a classic key reversal which ends rallies and bull markets, research doesn’t support that claim. Sure, you can see and have seen […]
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Date: March 14, 2018
2018 Looking A Lot Like 1997
As you know, I have been hanging my hat on two scenarios for the market since early February. I updated those yesterday. While both scenarios still lead to Dow 27,000 by the end of Q2, I searched long and hard for further evidence to support my thesis. I love finding market analogs, but there haven’t been many to what transpired over the past 6 weeks. 1997 seems like the most favorable comparison and when I lined them up, it looked […]
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Date: March 13, 2018
I’m Back! Dow Still Going to 27,000
I want to start off by thanking everyone for the overwhelming support, compassion and number of condolences on my dad’s passing. It has been a difficult few weeks both pre and post funeral and Shiva, but my family and I were tremendously comforted by so many people coming out of the woodwork with calls, cards, texts, emails, donations to his favorite charities and an amazing amount of stories about my dad, many of which I was hearing for the first […]
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Date: March 12, 2018
FYI
Earlier this week, my dad, Richard “Dick” Schatz, passed away. He had been sick for a while, but just kept beating the odds with some amazing clinical trials at Memorial Sloan Kettering. If you called the office over the years, every once in a while he would answer our phone and engage in conversation with literally anyone who could fog a mirror. Below is the most recent picture of my parents at a milestone birthday party for one of his […]
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Date: March 1, 2018
Breakout Alert for Stocks. Yields NOT Peaking
After Friday’s dominance by the bulls and the very early Monday morning follow through, the bulls are on the verge of negating what has been my preferred scenario and instead opting for scenario number two below. Since a called the bottom a few weeks ago, I drew the two horizontal blue lines on the chart below and have not changed them at all. Those represent a trading range where I thought stocks would bounce in as volatility began to subside […]
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Date: February 26, 2018
Stock Market Approaching Critical Juncture. Eyes Open!
It’s Friday of a holiday-shortened week and even more so for me as I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in New Orleans with some fellow UCONN crazies eating, enjoying a few adult beverages, playing golf and watching the women dismantle Tulane, my wife’s alma mater. It was a good break from winter in New England, but Mother Nature seems to have lost her ferocity up here and it’s been more like March and April. Speaking of my wife, Teri, I […]
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Date: February 23, 2018
Is the Rally Over???
Here is a very quick and timely update to start the week. Time to be on our toes. I will have more tomorrow or Thursday, but there may be a change afoot. Stocks did not end the day well on Friday. No big deal. They were up slightly but gave up big gains. That’s normally not unusual except that it was into a holiday weekend. That’s atypical. While the rally off of the lows has been significant it has lacked […]
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Date: February 20, 2018
