Back to Reality, Oversold Again – The Market Breadth

reality (Credit: parallel realities by Cornelia Kopp on Flickr)

Stock Market Commentary: Riddle me this. How many months does it take for a “lagging indicator” to reflect reality? The labor market has defied expectations almost all year, and during most of that time it seems like too many pundits have dismissed the data as a lagging indicator of some long lost economic reality. The … 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

CPI Shocker Unplugs Market’s Breakout – The Market Breadth

unplugs

Stock Market Commentary: Pricing pressures are apparently NOT easing just yet. The August CPI report turned “peak Fed” into “fear the Fed” all over again. Instead of falling, core inflation (CPI excluding food and energy) increased a whopping 0.6% month-over-month. This surge pushed the 12-month core inflation rate up from July’s 5.9% to August’s 6.3%. … Read more

A Synchronized Breakout Flips the Script On Sentiment – The Market Breadth

synchronized breakout (credit: Nixter https://www.flickr.com/photos/12097621@N00)

Stock Market Commentary: The confluence of market-moving news the last two days of the week resolved into a stock market looking incrementally healthier. A synchronized breakout above resistance at respective 50-day moving averages (DMAs) flipped the script on the negative sentiment that dominated trading going into last week. While weakness in the U.S. dollar from … Read more

Overdue Relief Rally Stretches Markets Toward Key Resistance – The Market Breadth

Credit: Great Stretching by ianhun2009 (Flickr)

Stock Market Commentary: Even sellers in a bear market exhaust themselves at some point. That point happened to coincide with the latest product announcements from Apple Inc (AAPL). So once again, AAPL finds itself sitting right at the focal point of an important market juncture. Across the major indices, the day’s relief rally generated a … Read more

Fades Confirmed Bear Market Resistance and Gravity’s Call – The Market Breadth

bear market resistance (credit: ellyn on Flickr)

Stock Market Commentary: The recession that Wall Street wants remains elusive according to the August jobs report. The data show the labor participation rate increased with job growth and a minimal increase in the unemployment rate: a recipe for the (mythical?) economic soft landing. The reaction in the stock market reflected the duality in interpreting … Read more

Did the Bear Market Warm Up For A Comeback? – The Market Breadth

Did the Bear Market Warm Up For A Comeback? (Credit: Bear Stretches by aaaceto)

Stock Market Commentary: Now I see why there was so little fanfare about the end of the bear market. Last week’s trading looks like a warm-up for a bear market comeback. The S&P 500 and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) printed bearish confirmations of resistance at their respective 200-day moving averages (DMAs) (the blue … Read more

A Sunny Mid-Summer Assessment of the ARK Bottom

sunny field by Kol Tregaskes

The conditions for bottoming in the ARK funds started to diverge a bit in late June. While the bottoming patterns differed, the ARK bottom synchronized with the general market’s bottom. Those conditions were born from the deeply oversold conditions that arrived in June. At that time, I interpreted the turmoil as the early days of … Read more

Market Breadth Last Did This 17 Months Ago

AT50 (MMFI) closed right on top of the overbought threshold. You just can't make this stuff up. Market breadth was last at these levels 17 months ago.

Stock Market Commentary: Market breadth was last this high 17 months ago. At that time, my favorite technical indicator was on its way down as a part of another buy-the-dip moment for the pandemic-inspired rally in the stock market. This time, market breadth is sitting right on top of the threshold of overbought conditions. The … Read more

What Recession? Market Shows Love As Apple Leads the Way – The Market Breadth

What Recession?

Stock Market Commentary: Once again, Apple Inc (AAPL) became a poster child of market sentiment. When AAPL pulled away from resistance at its 50-day moving average (DMA) (the red line below), the move looked like a tease with bear market conditions still in force. Two weeks later, AAPL emerged vindicated as a 3.3% post-earnings gain … Read more