Daily State of the Markets
Here We Go Again...
While it pains me to do so, it appears that we must, once again, pay close attention to the goings on in Greece. Yes, we've seen this movie before, over and over (and over) again actually. And for the last five years, the ending has always been the same as the leaders of the Eurozone and …
The Fed, Rates, Greece (Yes, Again) and Seasonality
Coming into the new week it appears that there are four things traders will be paying attention to: The Fed, interest rates, Greece (yes, again), and seasonality. While it will likely be a coin flip to determine which of these issues is at the forefront of the computers' "minds" on any gi…
The Big Picture Indicators Tell Us...
Even the staunchest bear will be forced to admit that the long-term trend of the U.S. stock market remains positive. To confirm this, all one need do is look at a weekly chart of the S&P 500 index. While things have been choppy for some time now and short-term pullbacks have been comi…
Don't Take Your Eyes Off The Bond Market
When viewed from a short-term perspective, it is now clear that the S&P 500 is in a downtrend. And unlike most of the recent declines, which were interspersed with violent up days and oftentimes displayed no memory from one day to the next, the current trend seems to have a purpose an…
So Many Worries, So Little Time
Well, it's that time of the month again... time to attempt to succinctly summarize the state of the market across the three primary time frames traders/investors focus on: short-, intermediate-, and long-term. So, today I will attempt (key word) to use as few words as possible to review t…
Desert Island Indicator Update
As I have written a time or two, if I was stranded on a desert island and only had access to one stock market indicator to use to stay in tune with the market's big, important trends, it would be a model measuring the technical health of the 100+ industry groups that make up the S&P 5…
Keep An Eye on Bonds
No sooner did I write a piece about the bond market and how reduced liquidity/increased volatility was keeping me up at night, so to speak, than the bond market takes center stage this week. Don't look now fans, but the yield on the 10-year U.S. T-Note has spiked over the last three days …
Things That Keep Me Up At Night
Speaking at a broker-dealer conference last week, I asked the audience if there were reasons to worry about the state of the U.S. stock market. As you might expect, the answer was almost unequivocally yes and the list of potential potholes for this market wound up being quite lengthy.…
Two Trends Worth Noting
With stocks waffling back and forth seemingly on a daily basis, the question of the day is who/what is driving this bus? In other words, what are traders watching to determine which way the trades are to be made on any given day? Is it Greece, the economy, the Fed, China, interest rates, …
A Crack In The Foundation
To be sure, this market often displays little to no memory from one day to the next. What was yesterday's reason to sell can easily be today's excuse to buy (and vice versa). One minute traders are worried about the dollar and Greece. The next, well, not so much. And so it goes in this ba…