No Cigar for the Bears
I had thought by now that stocks would have paused or taken a little 1-2% mild pullback. There was evidence last week. There was evidence over the past two days. So far, no cigar for the bears. This is very much typical behavior when the stock market emerges from a major bottom as we saw at Christmas. They just don’t give you a chance to comfortably buy after the train leaves the station. Any and all pauses and pullbacks are […]
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Date: February 15, 2019
After a Brief Pause or Pullback, All System Go Again
The stock market continues to do very little wrong. Since the Christmas bottom it’s been almost a mirror image of the relentless selling wave I mentioned so often for two months. In fact, as I wrote this, the stock market has just recovered 100% of the losses from that final, nasty sell off. Recall that the almost unprecedented wave was where stocks closed lower than where they opened for 10 straight days, likely not seen since the 1930s. Additionally, stocks […]
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Date: February 14, 2019
Range Bound for Now But Bulls Should Test Higher Early This Week
Stocks still have done nothing wrong since the rally began in December. Since the peak last week, they have been quietly digesting massive gains by mildly pulling back. For all major indices, the stock market should be range bound for a bit, bound by last week’s high and perhaps a few percent lower. If and when last week’s highs are exceeded, the widely watched average price of the last 200 days should provide a short-term ceiling. Coming in to the […]
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Date: February 11, 2019
Stocks A Bit Tired But Not Sick At All
The rally off of the historic Christmas low has been nothing short of amazing. It’s only now that folks are realizing its magnitude and power. Stocks still have not done anything wrong, but are certainly a little tired. I will have more on my upcoming issue, state of the market, either later today or tomorrow. Stock index leadership has healthily rotated during the rally and now we have the NASDAQ 100 and Russell 2000 leading. That’s a good thing. Semis […]
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Date: February 5, 2019
MONSTER Jobs Report, BUT…
As I sat down to craft today’s piece just after the January jobs report was released, I found myself sidetracking from the short-term reaction to the report to a sort of state of the markets if you will. So, I went with it, writing for several hours on where stocks stand today. I will publish that early next week. Today, I was shocked when I heard that the economy created more than 300,000 new jobs in January, almost double what […]
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Date: February 1, 2019
Semis & Junk Bonds Say the Bears Are Wrong
After trying to score new recovery highs late last week, stocks are set to open modestly lower to begin the week full of earnings and the first FOMC meeting of the year. For now, I am sticking with the same theme from last week. The market is in pause or pullback mode. So far, stocks have done nothing wrong. Leadership has been strong and constructive with all four key sectors contributing. I have to say; behavior in the semis is […]
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Date: January 28, 2019
Risk in Both Directions is Small
In Monday’s post, I briefly discussed “V” bottoms and their rarity. I also mentioned that stocks had come very far, very fast and that a pullback or pause was due right about now. So far, stocks have perfectly paused and mildly pulled back. If the rally from the Christmas low remains fully intact, the pullback should be over with either some additional sideways action for the market or a return to new recovery highs next week. It’s that easy right […]
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Date: January 24, 2019
“V” Bottom But Pullback Due Right About Now
Stocks closed at their highest levels since December 6th on Friday, wiping out 100% of the vicious and relentless selling wave I wrote about for so long. So far, the bottom has had the shape of a “V” which is not only rare, but generally uncomfortable for me as “V” bottoms are more characteristic of bear market than bulls. To counter that, there have been numerous confirmations that the rally since the Christmas low is a blast off of a […]
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Date: January 21, 2019
Bulls Continue to Do Nothing Wrong, Yet
Stocks continue to do nothing wrong as they bounce sharply from the epic selling wave in December. On Tuesday most of the major stock market indices made new recovery highs. Leadership has been constructive, meaning the more aggressive sectors have been leading. Risk on, if you will. However, stocks have also rallied right into the zone I first mentioned on December 21 as the most logical area where the bears could put up a fight. From here we will see […]
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Date: January 16, 2019
Equilibrium or End of Rally?
Almost on cue, stocks began to either stall out or moderate as they entered the lower end of the zone I first offered on December 21. That is a logical place for some to takes chips off the table if a revisiting of the Christmas lows is going to happen sooner than later. So far, stocks have done nothing wrong, especially with high yield bonds and bank loans snapping back so strongly in 2019, but I am not going to […]
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Date: January 14, 2019
