Stock Chart Reviews: Snapshots from the New Normal

Stock Market Commentary A new COVID-19 variant created a new normal for financial markets. The following stock charts provide snapshots of how the market reacted to this new reality. Pandemic-sensitive stocks reacted sharply with a holiday-shortened trading session creating extra urgency for traders. Some of these quick trigger moves should reverse at least a bit … Read more

Apple: The Fade That Spoke Volumes

A major gauntlet dropped on the stock market. Apple (AAPL) soared as high as 3.2% but closed at just a 0.3% gain. AAPL broke out to a new all-time high last week in the middle of a swift 8-day run-up. In that time, AAPL bounced off support at its 50-day moving average (DMA) (the red … Read more

Splunk: Persistent Negative Income and A Low Relative Valuation

Splunk (SPLK) started last week with a gap down and 18.1% plunge in the wake of the resignation of CEO Doug Merritt. I thought the sell-off was an over-reaction given Graham Smith, the Chair of Splunk’s Board of Directors, stepped in to play interim CEO. However, the accompanying preliminary Q3 earnings report gave me pause. … Read more

The Rally Slammed Into A Wall of Inflation – The Market Breadth

Stock Market Commentary And just like that, the bullish expansion of market breadth hit a wall…a wall of inflation. The October Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers apparently surprised financial markets by soaring 0.9% from September and 6.2% over October, 2020. The chart below shows that both surges are at the high end … Read more

Small Caps Drove A Bullish Expansion of Market Breadth

Stock Market Commentary The market took just one more day to resume the momentum of expanding market breadth. An extreme October set up this bullish start to November with fresh all-time highs for major indices. While small caps as a group just missed an all-time high, the surge in small caps drove a bullish expansion … Read more