State of the Markets

Window "Undressing" May Be At Work

The headlines blared that stocks soared Wednesday in response to improvements in the trade war. Apparently, China was making noise about a new policy designed to increase access to the country's economy for foreign companies. Diving into the story, it certainly sounded like things were mo…

Was That The Soybean Bottom?

By: David Moenning

It was another wild ride on Wall Street yesterday. Stocks stumbled hard out of the gate, following the lead of most global markets. By 11:00am EST, the DJIA was down more than 500 points, had broken below the October lows, and appeared to be heading toward the next important level on the …

The Good News: Valuations Are Improving

By: David Moenning

Due to system maintenance, updates to several key data/models in our indicator boards were not available over the weekend. Thus, our weekly review of market indicators will be postponed until tomorrow morning. But as the title of this morning's missive indicates, there is some good news t…

All's Well That Ends Well, Right?

By: David Moenning

The financial press reported that stocks remained "volatile" on Thursday. But since the Dow ended the day with a loss of "only" 79 points and the S&P 500 fell just 4, the attitude appeared to be, all's well that ends well. However, at 11:28 am EST, all was definitely NOT well …

Tariff Man Set The Stage, Then The Machines Took Over

By: David Moenning

I opined after Monday's "relief rally" that the move had been a bit underwhelming and that uncertainty appeared to have crept back into the market. By Tuesday morning, traders began to realize that Trump may have over-tweeted the trade "deal" and the uncertainty creep was starting to look…

Is Uncertainty Back In The Mix So Soon?

By: David Moenning

While it may sound strange, perhaps the best word to describe the market action on Monday is, disappointing. Yes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average popped 288 points. The S&P 500 gained 1.1%. The NASDAQ 100 surged 1.5%. And oil jumped 5%. Yet, based on the early indications from the fu…

Fears Fading Away As Santa Loads His Sleigh

By: David Moenning

Unless you've been living in a cave or don't have access to a TV, computer, smart phone, or even a newspaper, you likely know that Presidents Xi Jingping and Donald Trump laid the groundwork for a trade deal Saturday night in Buenos Aires. Generally referred to as a "truce" or cease fire …

One Worry Removed

By: David Moenning

It didn't take the news-reading algos long to find what they were looking for in Jerome Powell's speech yesterday. And to his credit, the Fed Chairman didn't make it difficult for either the computers or mere mortal analysts to understand what he was trying to communicate. The bot…

Is Some Hope Creeping Into The Stock Market?

By: David Moenning

Don't look now fans, but there might be some hope creeping into the stock market. With just 23 trading days left in the year, there seems to be some hope that we've seen the bottom of the recent pullback. To be sure, two consecutive green bars on the charts of the major indices do…

2018: A Tough Row To Hoe

By: David Moenning

For most investors, 2018 is turning out to be a tough row to hoe. Suddenly, nobody is talking about global synchronized growth, low inflation, the benefits of tax cuts, and 20% earnings growth. No, all that is now so 2017. Now investors are focused on slowing global growth, rising rates, …