Can the Market’s Healing Begin (aka Fed to the Rescue)? – Above the 40 (January 27, 2020)

AT40 = 45.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 55.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 18.2Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bearish Stock Market Commentary I am so accustomed to the stock market’s resilience that I am already looking ahead to the rebound scenarios from … Read more

Resilience Cracks: Market’s Bearish Divergence Ends In Topping Pattern – Above the 40 (January 24, 2020)

AT40 = 52.2% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 58.2% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 14.6Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary The stock market finally pushed into overbought territory on Thursday, January 16th. The breakout quickly turned into a bust with AT40 (T2108), … Read more

A Resilient Stock Market Barely Blinks At Fresh Bearish Signals – Above the 40 (January 3, 2020)

The S&P 500 (SPY) lost 0.7% and closed right at the lower boundary of its upper Bollinger Band. The pattern left behind an island reversal.

AT40 = 63.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 60.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 14.0Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary The stock market started the new decade with wild swings. After starting the first trading day of the decade with a 0.8% gain … Read more

Part Optimism, Part Skepticism from A Partial Trade Deal – Above the 40 (October 11, 2019)

AT40 = 52.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 48.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 15.6Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bearish Stock Market Commentary A Broad-Based Re-Entry Two Fridays ago, buyers took the S&P 500 (SPY) back above its 50-day moving average (DMA). It was yet … Read more

Stock Market Stalls At Overbought Threshold As Momentum Stocks Retreat – Above the 40 (September 13, 2019)

AT40 (T2108) has stalled perfectly at the overbought threshold of 70%.

AT40 = 67.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 58.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (13-month high)VIX = 13.7Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary Overbought Overrules Times like these remind me of the significance of the overbought line. AT40 (T2108), the percentage of stocks … Read more

A Stock Market Stuck In An Obvious Trading Range Still Produces A Rich Set of Expectations – Above the 40 (August 29, 2019)

AT40 = 38.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 44.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (2-month low)VIX = 19.0Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary The Trigger Finger On Tuesday (August 27), I saw enough hints of a flip from a bullish to bearish divergence … Read more

Trade War Realities Weigh More Heavily

The Australian dollar versus the Japanese yen (AUD/JPY) is back to trading at levels last seen in the immediate wake of the financial crisis. A declining AUD/JPY helps to expose the intensifying risk-off sentiment in financial markets.

An Inescapable Truth In June, 2018, I made the following claims and observations (with fresh emphasis): “…at the end of the day, Trump is determined to drive the U.S. trade deficit as close to zero as possible. This cannot happen without some substantial economic disruptions. To the extent the market refuses to price in these … Read more

The 401K Stock Market Chokes On A Powell and Trade War Sandwich – Above the 40 (August 23, 2019)

AT40 = 28.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 39.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (2-month low)VIX = 19.9Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish (see caveats below) Stock Market Commentary Presidential Decrees “Q    Six hundred and twenty-three points — that’s what the Dow was down today … Read more

An Enticing and Risky Bounce Off the Oversold Threshold – Above the 40 (August 6, 2019)

AT40 (T2108) bounced sharply away from the oversold threshold off 20%.

AT40 = 30.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 44.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 20.2 (the day before it closed at 24.6 and a 7-month high)Short-term Trading Call: neutral (caveats below!) Stock Market Commentary Almost Oversold I underestimated the market’s readiness to … Read more

Trade War Pairs Trade: Best Buy Vs. Emerging Markets

Best Buy (BBY) dropped 10.8% on news of the expansion of Trump's Trade War with China.

The Extreme: Best Buy Regular readers know that my favorite trades come on the heels of extremes in financial conditions. After President Trump announced a 10% tariff on $300B of Chinese imports, I saw a lot of extremes that made me sit up and take notice. One of the biggest extremes occurred in the shares … Read more