An October Sugar High Ends Oversold Trading – The Market Breadth

sugar high

Stock Market Commentary: September was somber. October so far is a sugar high in comparison. With the remaining pandemic era gains preserved for now, the major indices immediately face the challenge of downtrends in place since August’s peak. The conclusion of an extended (8 days long) oversold trading period means, according to history, that at … Read more

Waiting out the Rate Cycle – Housing Market Review

waiting out the rate cycle (Credit: waiting by max_thinks_sees on Flickr)

Housing Market Intro and Summary In my last Housing Market Review, I called the housing slowdown a “reality check.” That reality is settling into all corners of the market. With mortgage rates resuming their surge over the past two months, the go-forward picture has dimmed further for the housing market. It seems likely the housing … Read more

A Somber September Puts the Last Pandemic-Era Gains At Risk – The Market Breadth

Credit: Who are at Risk? by jpalinsad360 on Flickr

Stock Market Commentary: September was about as somber as it gets for financial markets. The S&P 500 lost 9.3% for the month which falls well below both the median and average (negative) historical performance for the index. With the June lows breached, the pandemic-era gains for the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ are now at … Read more

The Bottom Falls Out of ARK

bottom falls out (Credit: Trap Door Open by comingstobrazil on Flickr)

Over a month ago, I uncovered a sunny thesis about a bottom for the ARK funds. The timing of that post happened to be the exact top of the cycle for the ARK funds. Moreover, the S&P 500 (SPY) was trading just under its 200-day moving average (DMA) (the blue in the chart below). Once … Read more

Oversold Conditions Stretch At the Edge of the Year’s Lows – The Market Breadth

stretch (credit: Lynn Friedman on Flickr)

Stock Market Commentary: Extreme trading behavior finally appeared right after I insisted the stock market looked uninteresting despite dropping into oversold conditions. Oversold conditions did a stretch toward the year’s lows and created enough concern to finally send the volatility index soaring. Looming over the trading action all day was a collapse in the British … Read more