How AT50 Market Breadth Extremes Shape S&P 500 Performance

Above the 50 (AT50): market breadth from oversold to overbought.

Market breadth is my preferred technical indicator for understanding short-term price action in the stock market. I track breadth using AT50, shorthand for “Above the 50,” which measures the percentage of stocks trading above their 50-day moving averages (DMAs). AT50 becomes most meaningful at its extremes. Readings below 20% define oversold conditions that historically create … Read more

Market Breadth Revival Ushers In Fresh Bullish Momentum – The Market Breadth

market breadth revival ushers in fresh bullish momentum

Stock Market Commentary Inflation grabbed the headlines last week, but market breadth was just as important for the stock market. With financial markets initially feeling good about the CPI report, buyers rushed for laggard stocks and created a market breadth revival for two days. The abrupt sentiment shift nearly eliminated all my concerns about a … Read more

A Return to the Giddy Anticipation of Rate Cuts – Market Breadth

A Return to the Giddy Anticipation of Rate Cuts - Market Breadth (Credit: Reuters)

Stock Market Commentary The stock market poetically swung from the depths of despair with a seasonal September drawdown to a sharp rebound in giddy anticipation of rate cuts from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. The highly anticipated meeting has the potential to set the market’s tone for the remainder of the year. If Chair Jerome … Read more

Does A Worse than Average S&P 500 In August Mean September Will Also Suffer?

trouble abounds (Credit: Sad Dog by Ink Hog, https://www.flickr.com/photos/34191996@N07/3859862007)

The simple answer is yes! The data show that a worse than average August for the S&P 500 (SPY) increases the likelihood of a worse than average September. I use average to mean the average maximum drawdown as calculated and analyzed in “How to Trade During the Stock Market’s Most Dangerous Months“. In this case, … Read more

The Fed Further Stretched Overbought Conditions – The Market Breadth

stretch (credit: Lynn Friedman on Flickr)

Stock Market Commentary For traders like myself who follow market cycles from extreme fear to extreme euphoria, last week’s trading action was astonishing. The stock market was already well overbought and stretched going into Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting. Yet, buyers STILL managed to go into extreme stretch mode. The Federal Reserve essentially declared the death … Read more