For several weeks, I have warned about market sentiment at “rally killing levels”. Not a single thing has changed for the better in this department. The bulls are bulls and the bears are kinda, sorta bulls, at least through year-end. That continues to make me worried, but not enough given the calendar to take serious action. I want to preface my next comment by saying I absolutely do not believe we are on the precipice of another financial crisis like […]
Read More
It’s getting boring, but essentially, the same comments apply. Stocks remain overbought and extended, and as we know, they can get more overbought and extended if all other indicators remain strong. That’s not the case right now and it wasn’t mid December, I would be an outright bear looking for a full fledged correction of at least 10%. As I have mentioned over and over, it is just very, very unusual to see a meaningful peak this time of year […]
Read More
The Dow Jones is now down 5 straight days and it’s in a bull market. Without diving into the research, this has to be one of the mellowest 5 straight down days in history! I haven’t heard a single person express concern that this is the beginning of anything more significant on the downside. That’s worrisome in itself, especially if the calendar did not say December. As I have mentioned before here and in Street$marts, while market sentiment remains at […]
Read More
The stock market is tired, again. That seems like a phrase I have used often this year without much follow through. There have been many times in 2013 when the market had risen sharply and then looked just plain weary. Instead of correcting or even pulling back smartly, the stock market behaved like it does when it’s in a powerful bull trend; it’s consolidated sideways within a few percent of its high and then blasted off again. “Is this time […]
Read More
I am going to be on Fox Business’ Markets Now at 1:05pm today (Wednesday) discussing the stock market’s recent assault on Dow 16,000, a target I gave several times here and in the media. Now that the market is there, what’s next? I can tell you that from my perspective, risk has increased substantially, but by no means should the bull market be over. Stocks are overdue for at least a pullback (2-8%), but probably more on the downside next […]
Read More
The media and masses are all keenly focused on Twitter’s overblown IPO. Too bad you can’t trade it to the short side. Already, some knucklehead paid north of $50. Do people ever learn? While I do not think we will ever see the tech mania like the Dotcom bubble again in my lifetime, we are certainly seeing froth in the social media space and that’s not a good thing! The real news of the day that is now only a […]
Read More
The Fed concludes their two day meeting today with an announcement at 2pm and no press conference with Ben Bernanke. Markets are widely expecting absolutely nothing! No taper, certainly no increase and absolutely not even the hint of a rate hike anytime in the next few years. There is a very bullish tendency for stocks to rally on statement day and we should expect nothing different unless today begins the long awaited pullback. I have written about stocks being tired […]
Read More
Last week, I wrote about how stocks were looking a bit tired and in need of a rest. Nothing has changed since that piece. The lagging blue chip indices like the Dow and S&P 500 reached higher while the leadership indices like the S&P 400 Mid Cap, Russell 2000 Small Cap and Nasdaq 100 have moved sideways. This is all healthy, routine and constructive behavior that should not lead to anything more than a trading pullback worst case scenario. Market […]
Read More
With the major indices going vertical since October 9, I am starting to see some signs of tiring. “Tiring” is a lot different than forecasting a full fledged correction or even a deep pullback. It just means that the odds favor either some sideways action to help restart the engine or some sort of mild price decline to shake out the Johnny Come Latelys. During this rally, we saw the S&P 500, S&P 400 and Russell 2000 hit all time […]
Read More
John Boehner didn’t call me (he should have) and I doubt he reads my comments (he should), but at least the republicans figured out that their tactics were not working. They may not have unilaterally raised the debt ceiling long-term, but if the reports are accurate, they are going to offer a short-term raise in exchange for negotiations with the democrats on a variety of fiscal issues. As you would imagine, the markets responded favorably although Europe led the way as […]
Read More