State of the Markets

Of Jobs, Apple, and Trade

By: David Moenning

It's the first Friday of the month, which means it is time for the Big Kahuna of economic data - the jobs report. So, without further ado, let's get to the report and review the bevy of numbers. The headline everyone focuses on new job creation for the month. The Bureau of Labor S…

Two Ways To Improve The Mood

By: David Moenning

There can be no denying that we've got a nasty market on our hands. A market where the venerable Dow Jones Industrial Average can be up 300 points one moment and down 600 the next. If that type of intraday volatility doesn't get your attention, nothing will. As I've opined a time …

How Low Can It Go?

By: David Moenning

Are we having fun yet? To be sure, the recent stock market correction has created some angst as the bears have knocked -7.55% off the DJIA, -9.63% off the S&P 500, -12.60% off the NASDAQ Composite, -12.86% from the Mid-cap index, and -15.69% from the Russell 2000 small-cap index. So, …

All About Fear

By: David Moenning

By now, anyone thinking that the low of the current corrective phase had been "put in" on October 11 is probably more than a little disappointed. Maybe even a bit dazed or even confused. It seems there were a great many folks who believed that the bulk of the pullback happened on 10/10 an…

Sifting Through The Conflicting Evidence

By: David Moenning

From my seat, the most important question on this fine Monday morning is if stocks are currently in the "retest" stage of a waterfall decline, which means that we are likely closer to the end of the correction than the beginning - or - if we are still in stage one, aka the initial decline…

Checking The Playbook

By: David Moenning

My guess is that after Wednesday's action, everyone is feeling a little better about the state of the stock market. While the bears and their algos mounted another series of attacks yesterday, good prevailed over evil and stocks managed to avoid getting hammered for a second consecutive d…

Understanding The Algos and Systematic Sellers

By: David Moenning

Before we dive in to any sort of subjective analysis about the current state of the markets or what may or may not come next, I think it is important to note that our Indicator Boards did a pretty darn good job of waving yellow flags well before the current correction began. While…

What Is Real And What Is Artificial?

By: David Moenning

What a difference a few days can make in this business, right? Seven days ago, the Dow closed at a fresh all-time high. The market narrative at the time was well known. The economy was booming, and rates were rising for "the right reasons." At that time, the thinking was that stocks could…

Assuming The Worst

By: David Moenning

Not surprisingly, I spent much of yesterday afternoon on the telephone speaking with advisors about what the heck was happening in the stock market. With the Dow just five days removed from an all-time high, the 832-point plunge clearly needed some explanation. As such, I thought I'd shar…

Time To Hit Reset?

By: David Moenning

As long-time readers are aware, the main objective of my oftentimes meandering market missive is to identify the driving forces behind the action in the stock market. For the past 20+ years, my thinking has been that if I can stay in tune with what is happening and why in Ms. Market's gam…