Goldman Sachs Bounces Off Its July Lows

On Friday, CNBC’s Fast Money asked the question “Has Goldman Bottomed Out?” The answer to these kinds of questions is always a “maybe” or a more resolute “perhaps/perhaps not” but I was a bit amused at the reasoning provided for guessing that Goldman Sachs (GS) has reached a bottom: It acted well on Wednesday by … Read more

Bullish Trading Opportunities Emerge from the Carnage

The most striking characteristic of May’s selling has been the precision of the S&P 500 as it has bounced around key technical levels of support and resistance. On these pages, I have chronicled almost each important step and juncture in this sell-off, and I continue to marvel at how well trades have fared that stay … Read more

Steadily Rising Stock Market Prices Masking Steadily Worsening Technicals

Last week, I claimed that the deeply oversold conditions presented a short-term buying opportunity, but that the downward trend in the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) and 200DMAs (T2108 and T2107) pointed to a steadily weakening market in the near future. I expected sellers to step up at the … Read more

Market Crash Marks the First “Official” Oversold Day Since March 2009 Lows

I posted a note before noon on Thursday outlining the latest technicals that seemed to point toward a lower stock market. Almost as soon as I sent it, I wished I had waited…mainly because T2108, the percentage of stocks trading above their 40-day moving averages, started declining at an even faster rate. By the close … Read more

NYSE CEO Predicts An Ugly Open for the Stock Market

CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo conducted a great interview with Duncan Niederauer, NYSE Euronext CEO. Niederauer described the technical aspects behind the market crash on Thursday. While he may have been too frank in forecasting “I think it will be pretty ugly tomorrow morning,” his openness gave a revealing look at the technical vulnerabilities of today’s modern … Read more

Adjustment to Goldman Sachs Vs. Deutsche Bank Pairs Trade

Earlier this week, I suggested setting up a pairs trade between Goldman Sachs (GS) and Deutsche Bank Ag (DB) to take advantage of an apparent growing divergence in performance between the two financial giants. My main recommendation rested on a put spread for GS and a call spread for DB. After thinking about the structure … Read more