Fed Begins Meeting. But Bitcoin!
The Federal Open Market Committee begins its final meeting of 2017 today. With the special election in Alabama and Bitcoin, does anyone really care about the Fed? For today, the stock market certainly doesn’t! With the Fed announcement that short-term interest rates are going up by .25% tomorrow at 2 pm, the market usually has a quiet day today with a slight edge to the bulls. More new closing highs in the Dow and S&P 500 but the same divergence […]
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Date: December 12, 2017
But, But, But Say the Bears
Another month, another strong employment report. 228,000, new jobs were added in November, stronger than expected, as the impact of the hurricanes continues to weaken. The unemployment rate remain at a 17 year low while wages grew at an annualized rate of 2.5%, still frustratingly short of where the Fed and government wants it to be. Thankfully, it’s still slightly ahead of the inflation rate. Every month it seems like the bears get all hyped up into this report with […]
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Date: December 11, 2017
Boring Fed Day On Tap
Model 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. Six meetings ago was one of the rare times where the models strongly called for a rally on statement day which was correct as well as a decline a few days later which was also correct. Today, as with most statement days, […]
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Date: July 26, 2017
Stocks Looking Down After Rate Hike
Everything happened as expected on Wednesday. Stocks stayed in a tight range until 2PM. The Fed raised rates. Yellen spoke about reducing the balance sheet. And the bullish Fed trend was significantly muted. Given how stocks closed, there is a very short-term trend which indicates lower prices today and possibly into next week. However, with the stock market set to open lower, the opportunity to take advantage is likely gone. The Dow is now the leading index and that’s not […]
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Date: June 15, 2017
Fed to Hike Rates Today In Spite of Falling Inflation. Dow 23,000 Next
Model 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. Five meetings ago was one of the rare times where the models strongly called for a rally on statement day which was correct as well as a decline a few days later which was also correct. Today, as with most statement days, […]
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Date: June 14, 2017
Going Nowhere
Well, at least last Wednesday was fun if you were a bull! The Fed raised rates by 1/4% as expected and stocks took off on the premise that there would only be two more interest rate hikes the rest of 2017. That hurt the banks and the economically sensitive sectors and gave a strong push to the defensive sectors. I remain skeptical of only two more hikes and stand by my forecast that four hikes are in the cards this […]
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Date: March 20, 2017
Fed to Hike Rates Today. Dow 23,000 Still On Track
Model 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. Three meetings ago was one of the rare times where the models strongly called for a rally on statement which was correct as well as a decline a few days later which was also correct. Today, there is a significant upside edge […]
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Date: March 15, 2017
Strong Fed Trend Active Today
It doesn’t feel like it’s been six weeks since the December meeting when the FOMC raised interest rates 1/4%, but it really has. Can we get time to stand still for a month or so in order for us all to catch up? With President Trump occupying the headlines on a daily basis, Janet Yellen & Co. must be ecstatic that they out of the limelight and crosshairs for that matter. Today concludes the Fed’s two day meeting and expectations […]
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Date: February 1, 2017
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
Apple & The Fed. A Volatile Concoction…
The FOMC begins their regularly scheduled two-day meeting today. Typically, stocks are quiet with a small upward bias. However, Apple reports earnings after the bell and that almost always provides some movement as the tech behemoth has an outsized weighting in the S&P 500, Dow and NASDAQ 100. I have absolutely no opinion on how their earnings will be and I really only care about how the market reacts anyway. The fact that it has sold off into earnings gives […]
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Date: April 26, 2016
