State of the Markets
What Do The Cycles Say Comes Next?
The markets turned ugly on Wednesday as traders ushered in the new quarter with a steady stream of selling. The S&P 500 fell -1.32 percent while the embattled Russell 200 once again led the way lower by dropping -1.42 percent. It is also worth noting that the smallcap index closed at …
Repeat After Me: I Will Not Make...
I was recently taken to task on Seeking Alpha for providing a "daily dump" of information (this was likely a play on the title of my morning missive, "Daily State of the Markets") and for failing to provide specific guidance on (a) what the reader should do and (b) what I believe will hap…
Traders Have Seen This Movie Before
Twice in the last two days, it looked like the bears were finally going to break through. Twice in the last two days, the S&P 500 teetered on the edge. Twice in the last two days, the market came roaring back. And twice in the last two days, the bears went home disappointed.
F…
Is This Dip-Buying Opportunity Different?
With the exception of Japan and Shanghai, the major stock markets around the globe find themselves on the defensive again this morning. And other than the usual speculation about additional stimulus in China and Japan, it is the growing pro-democracy protests and the accompanying police r…
Is This THE Correction?
Wait, what? On Wednesday, stocks blasted higher on the back of Super Mario singing a dovish song, word that China was about to sack the head of its central bank in favor of someone more modern, and not one, not two, but three Fed Governors suggesting that the Fed would likely take their t…
Have Dove, Will Travel
Yesterday's stock market action once again reinforced the idea that the key driver of this market remains the outlook for monetary policy. With the S&P 500 looking it was down for the count and ready to break the all-important support at 1980, traders got word that the Chinese leader …
Are Traders Ready to BTFD Again?
After a third consecutive losing session for the stock market, it appears that the mood may be improved today - at least in the early going, anyway. We will note that buying after 3 down days has been a profitable strategy for the last couple years. Thus, it will be interesting to see if …
Are There Sector Divergences As Well?
Last time, we looked at the "technical divergences" evident in the current market from a big-picture standpoint. We compared the charts of the Dow, S&P, NASDAQ, Russell 2000, and S&P 400 Midcap in order to see if the major indices were all singing the same song. We noted that in a…
Is it Time to Worry About the Divergences?
There has been an awful lot of discussion lately about the existence of "technical divergences" in the current market. In English, a "divergence" occurs on the charts when the major indices and/or sectors are not all dancing to the beat of the same drum. In short, in a strong market, "the…
Two Indicators That Make You Say, "Hmmm"
With the Fed meeting finally out of the way, traders can now turn their attention to other things happening in the markets such as rising interest rates, the wild action in the currency markets (if you haven't seen it recently, be sure to check out symbol UUP - PowerShares U.S. Dollar Ind…