State of the Markets

Another Tweet Kills The Mood, For Now

By: David Moenning

Word that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway had purchased a cool 75 million shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) during the rather bumpy ride that was the first quarter of 2018 certainly improved the mood on Wall Street. Most credit "The Oracle of Omaha" with Friday's big rally as well as Mon…

The Question: How Much is Enough?

By: David Moenning

In pondering the macro picture over the weekend, it occurred to me that the current environment can be summed up with one simple question: How much is enough? As in, how much do stock prices need to correct from their January blow-off highs in order to create a fairly valued market where …

All About Jobs (Until The Next Headline)

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 big headline is the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that Nonfarm Payrolls came…

All About The Fed, Until It Wasn't

By: David Moenning

Wednesday's action in the stock market was all about the Fed. Well, right up until it wasn't, that is. As expected, the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) left the target range for the Fed Funds Rate at 1.50% to 1.75% yesterday. To be clear, no one expected Jay Powell's gang to …

The Macro Concerns In 3 Charts

By: David Moenning

To be sure, two big events will likely capture investors' attention in the short-run: Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) earnings and today's Fed Meeting, which concludes this afternoon at 2:00pm eastern. However, from an intermediate-term perspective, it appears that the macro picture still holds th…

Is the Tape Telling Us to "Sell in May and...?"

By: David Moenning

What started out as a hopeful end to the first positive month in the last three ended in disappointment Monday. Green turned to red. Optimism about earnings turned to fear that earnings have peaked. Hope for ongoing economic growth turned to, well, you get the idea. By the end of the day,…

The Next Big Fear Is...

By: David Moenning

At the end of last week's missive, I concluded with the idea that the stock market continues to adjust/adapt to the new macro outlook, which includes higher rates, higher inflation, a stronger economy, and perhaps peak earnings growth. This week, I believe it is important to add t…

The Headlines Just Keep Coming

By: David Moenning

Anyone thinking that the major averages moving back above key technical levels last week meant that the volatile, news-driven environment had ended was sorely disappointed on Friday. In short, the negative headlines returned in spades and investors were treated to yet another Friday dance…

Why The Hesitation?

By: David Moenning

The S&P 500, NASDAQ, S&P Midcap 400, and the S&P Small-Cap indices all presently sit above all the important moving averages - which I'll define as the 5-, 10-, 18-, 39-, 50-, 100-, 150-, and 200-day MAs. The NASDAQ 100 has now recovered more than half of the decline tied to t…

The Recent Action Is Encouraging

By: David Moenning

Don't look now fans, but the S&P 500 has closed higher in five of the last seven sessions and appears to be in the early stages of an uptrend. Of course, our furry friends in the bear camp disagree, pointing to the downtrend line that has been visible on the chart of the S&P since…