Daily State of the Markets
Should We Be Worried About Crimea?
It is clear that the focus of the stock market remains squarely on the geopolitical situation in Ukraine/Crimea/Russia. What is not quite so clear is why this actually matters to traders.
Before we go any further on this topic, let me first state that I am not, nor is anyone in my…
Are Stocks Becoming Over-Owned?
With stocks in some sort of consolidation mode at the present time, it is natural for one's thoughts to turn to the big picture. Is this it? Has the bull market finally run out of gas? Are stocks overvalued? Will the economy improve? Have earnings peaked? Is Crimea a real issue? Yada, yad…
The Way The Game is Played These Days
Call it a pullback, a pause, a consolidation, the beginning of a correction, a dance to the downside, an outside day, a failure at resistance, a near-term reversal, a pivot, or a good old fashioned sloppy session. But whatever label you prefer to slap on Tuesday's algo-induced decline, it…
Apparently This Bull's Not Quite Dead Yet
For about an hour on Monday morning, it felt like the #growthslowing theme was back. Germany was tanking. Shanghai had been creamed. And at 9:45 am the bears launched an attack on the S&P 500. Bam, the low for the day was gone. And five minutes later, Friday's intraday low had been ta…
Is The Ukraine Crisis For Real?
The drivers of the stock market on Monday were pretty obvious as the situation in Ukraine/Crimea dominated the headlines and overshadowed some pretty decent economic news. However, the real question of the day is if the current geopolitical tensions represent a true crisis or merely a dis…
All About The Ukraine - Here's Why
Since today's market is all about the situation in the Ukraine, we thought it would be a good idea to bring investors up to speed on what is happening and the impact it is having on the markets.
On Friday afternoon, the S&P 500 dove 20 points (1.07 percent) on reports that 20 …
Breakout or Fakeout - How Can We Know For Sure?
The question of the day remains largely the same as it has been for the past four trading sessions: Will a modest breakout to new all-time highs mean that the rally that began on February 4 continue or become just another maddening "breakout fakeout?"
To be honest, only time will …
Bears Defending Their Turf
During the 38 trading days so far in 2014, we've seen a pullback of 106.5 points on the S&P 500 (5.76 percent) and a rebound of 105 points (6.07 percent). So, the bottom line is that while ride has been a bit on the wild side, the S&P currently stands at almost exactly the same sp…
How To Identify A Stock Picker's Market
After several long years of risk-on/risk-off markets during which, everything acted like the S&P 500 and adding alpha was difficult, it appears that stock-picking is back in a big way.
The natural question, of course, is why?
Before we get to the answer, it is first im…