State of the Markets
Mo-Mo Is Suddenly A No-No
The timing of Friday's dance to the downside, which seemingly came out of nowhere, was a bit eerie. No sooner had we penned a piece talking about the need to have a plan of action the next time the bears come to call than our furry friends seemed to suddenly awaken.
As is usually …
Are You Ready For The Bears To Return?
It is said that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. To be accurate, it was George Santayana (a Spanish philosopher who lived from 1863 - 1952) who actually said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
The point is that anyone who came into t…
What Do the Cycles Say About April 2014?
Stocks apparently broke out of what had been a fairly painful trading range on Tuesday as the S&P 500 pushed above both the old intraday and closing highs. Of course, the bears will argue that the move was unconvincing and that no other major index followed suit. To which, anybod…
A Tale of Two Headlines
After twenty trading days, the U.S. stock market (as defined by the S&P 500) has moved a whopping point and a half. Yippee.
During those twenty days though - a span that encompassed all but one session for the month of March - there was a great deal of fretting about Russia, t…
A Sell Signal To Watch For
In our last missive entitled A VIX Buy Signal Worth Watching, we reviewed an actionable buy signal using the VIX that is (a) easy to follow and (b) has proved its ability to put the odds in your favor over time. We received quite a …
A VIX Buy Signal Worth Watching
Before we were so rudely interrupted by all the hullabaloo surrounding Ms. Yellen's definition of a "considerable" amount of time (now known to be six months), we were looking at how the VIX could be used to help identify decent entry points for traders looking to get long the U.S. stock …
Of Dot Plots and Definitions
On Wednesday, the question of the day was a bit of a head scratcher. You see, after listening intently to first the FOMC statement and then the ensuing press conference, the question on investors' minds was, when a change is made to the Fed's statement on monetary policy and yet the state…
Using the VIX to Buy the Dip
Another day, another crisis averted. Phew!
In case you were out and about or weren't glued to your Twitter feed at approximately 8:00 am eastern time Tuesday, comments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin were the source of a second straight up on Wall Street. Within minutes o…
Is China the Source of the Constant Consternation?
For the past week or so, the focus of the market has been all about Crimea and what could happen if the geopolitical tensions continued to mount. Would the referendum take place? Would Russia decide to expand into eastern Ukraine? Would the West do anything besides raise a stink? Was ther…