An Overbought Stock Market Faces Down the Stimulus Stalemate – Above the 40 (August 14, 2020)

Stock Market Statistics AT40 = 76.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (6th day overbought)AT200 = 46.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 22.1Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Stock Market Commentary While the politicians in Washington D.C. play a game of chicken with the economy, the … Read more

A Stock Market Hunkered Down After Green Shoots Slam Into New Downtrend – Above the 40 (April 3, 2020)

AT40 = 4.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (28th oversold day)AT200 = 5.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (new low for the oversold period)VIX = 46.8Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Stock Market Commentary First, another dose of hope and a light reminder of the seriousness of … Read more

Some Trading Implications From SEC’s Charges of Insider Trading in H.J. Heinz

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 18, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) Traders sometimes copy the trading in options showing unusual trading activity under the assumption that someone (or some people) have privileged insight into an imminent big event or the short-term price … Read more

Chart Review: Baidu Breaks Down

Like many strong momentum high-tech stocks, Baidu Incorporated (BIDU) has had an incredible run from its 2009 lows. In less than three years, the stock has increased over 16x from around $10 to over $160. Last week, BIDU traded below its 200-day moving average (DMA) for the first time since April, 2009. On Thursday, BIDU … Read more

SEC Action Is Not Populism, It Is the Rule of Law

I have a lot of respect for fund manager Doug Kass. His latest piece, “The Ramifications of the Goldman Sachs Case,” contextualizes the current push for financial reform, and it provides a succinct indictment of the practices that helped ignite the recent financial panic. However, I disagree with Kass’s casual link between the SEC’s charges … Read more

SEC Makes Up for Lost Time By Going for Maximum Impact on Goldman Sachs Fraud Charge

The news has rippled across the globe that the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) finally got around to charging Goldman Sachs with fraud: “The SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs structured and marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) that hinged on the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). Goldman Sachs failed to disclose to … Read more