State of the Markets

Tips From Real-World Wendy Rhoades

By: David Moenning

It was a very busy week/weekend as I first attended NAAIM's (National Association of Active Investment Managers) annual conference. The conference was stellar, and it was great to hang out with so many like-minded investment professionals Sunday throug…

The Best Recession Ever!

By: David Moenning

I'm not sure who I borrowed the title of this week's missive from, but I think we all have to admit that this is probably the best recession/slowdown ever! Instead of the economy flirting with negative growth in the first quarter, which, if you will recall, had become the common e…

Is "Melt-Up" The Operative Word?

By: David Moenning

We've been talking lately about the idea that big hedge funds and systematic traders have been caught on the wrong side of the stock market's recent run for the roses. The thinking is this fact alone could account for the lack of downside volatility and the relentless dip-buying that has …

About That "Retest" Thing...

By: David Moenning

Last week, we reviewed Marko Kolanovic's research showing the positioning of hedge funds and systematic traders. The bottom line here is the equity exposure of these managers continues to be at very low levels relative to history. But with the stock market indices a chip shot away from al…

Is There More Upside Ahead?

By: David Moenning

Stocks closed at a fresh cycle high on Friday as the S&P 500 has been enjoying a 7-day win streak, which is the longest in 18 months. Don't look now fans, but the venerable blue-chip index is now just 38 points or 1.3% away from its all-time high. And unless the upcoming earnings seas…

It's About Expectations Versus Reality

By: David Moenning

One of the first headlines on CNBC.com after Monday's closing bell read: Stocks gain 300 points, but why? The article implied that markets can't seem to decide whether rising rates are good or bad. The author opined that just a couple months ago, stocks would have quaked at the id…

Bulls Remain In Control

By: David Moenning

My wife and I spent the weekend at the beach in Southern California, so I'm going to let the indicators do most of the talking this week. But in short, I'm of the mind that after "correcting the correction," the stock market is currently in the process of seeking an equilibrium point.…

Does #GrowthSlowing Suddenly Matter?

By: David Moenning

One of my favorite sayings on Wall Street is, "Things don't matter until they do. But then they matter a lot." For example, the dueling issues of #GrowthSlowing and the flattening yield curve have been with us for quite some time now. In fact, we've known that global growth has be…

Am I Wrong To Be A Little Concerned?

By: David Moenning

Well it's official. As of Friday's close (a close that was likely influenced by the quad-witching event and a handful of S&P index rebalances), the S&P 500 is now up +20.05% from the 12/24/18 panic low. Wow talk about a joyride to the upside! Along with the market's surge …

Let's Call It Constructive

By: David Moenning

The fact that stocks pulled back a bit last week shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone. The S&P 500 had enjoyed an historic joyride to the upside in a very short period of time. As in +19.2% in just 10 weeks. Along the way, stocks became overbought and sentiment got a li…