A Curious Break in the Trading Action – The Market Breadth

A Curious Break in the Trading Action - The Market Breadth

Stock Market Commentary A curious break in the trading action unfolded as financial markets wrestled with two “disappointing” inflation reports. Both the CPI (consumer price index) and wholesale inflation (the producer price index or PPI) came in slightly higher than “expected” (headline and core). The data just tell me expectations are unrealistic or at best … Read more

Bullish Truths Invite Small Cap Stocks to the Party – The Market Breadth

Bullish Truths Invite Small Cap Stocks to the Party

Stock Market Commentary Last week repeated a familiar story. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ closed up for the week. Since the October lows, each index has only suffered one down week. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF was part of the party until the calendar flipped to 2024. The ETF of small caps lost altitude … Read more

A Sharp Contrast Between Two Truths of the Stock Market – The Market Breadth

A Sharp Contrast Between Two Truths of the Stock Market – The Market Breadth

Stock Market Commentary Instead of climbing a wall of worry, the market is climbing a wall of frustration (I stole that from a friend of mine). No matter what economic indicators bears stare at to declare impending doom, the jobs market just keeps coming in hot month-after-month. While a widening swath of stocks are breaking … Read more

Overbought Conditions Within Sight After Inflation Celebration – The Market Breadth

inflation celebration

Stock Market Commentary The economic numbers keep coming up roses for the stock market. Last week’s celebration was driven by a soft inflation report for October that further emboldened buyers. A fresh surge in bond prices (lower yield) led the way as small caps in particular rocketed higher. The relentless buying pressure also solidified the … Read more

Bulls Explode Out of Oversold Trading Conditions – The Market Breadth

bulls explode out of oversold trading conditions

The bear market intrusion to the oversold period gave way to an explosion of bullish trading action this week. The maximum drawdown of October for the S&P 500 (SPY) was 4.0% well above the average for the month. This extreme move provided the perfect setup for the sharpness of the current oversold bounce. The rubber … Read more

Oversold Bounce Sends Signs of Life for Stocks – The Market Breadth

Oversold Bounce Sends Signs of Life for Stocks (Credit: Google Workspace Labs, AI-generated image)

Stock Market Commentary Get used to the sentiment shifts. One day the stock market went oversold and over hard. The next day, an oversold bounce shows signs of life for stocks. In particular a classic bottoming signal came in the form of the “hammer” candlestick. Together, the bounce from oversold territory and the bottoming hammer … Read more

Bad News Is the Good News That Flips Bears to Bulls – The Market Breadth

bad news is good news (Credit: Yi Chen, The Skeptical Chihuahua, Taipei, on Flickr)

Introduction I recorded a quick video to summarize my thoughts on today’s flip from bearish to bullish sentiment thanks to a bad news is good news kind of day. You can watch the video or read the transcript below curated, corrected, and organized by ChatGPT4 and then edited further by me. I am using this … Read more

Jackson Hole Redux: Stock Indices Are Back Where They Started – The Market Breadth

Jackson Hole redux (Credit: Welcome to Jackson Hole Sign by Latham Jenkins on Flickr)

Stock Market Commentary The annual Jackson Hole confab of central bankers starts this coming Thursday. Almost like technical poetry, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ are back to the highs directly preceding Jackson Hole 2022. Depending on your perspective, this Jackson Hole redux either represents a bullish confirmation of the market’s resilience after 18 months … Read more

Is An Overbought Rally the Next Frontier for Bulls? – The Market Breadth

frontier (Credit: Angry Bull - Creative Commons 2009 high resolution by zoutedrop on Flickr)

Stock Market Commentary: Last week started strong with Goldman Sachs (GS). Analysts there looked beyond the coming Federal Reserve meeting and hiked their year-end price target for the S&P 500 to 4500. The index quickly moved half the remaining distance and opened the door for more price chasing by analysts before 2023 hits the halfway … Read more

Apple Drags A Mixed-Up Market Higher – The Market Breadth

apple drags (Credit: astronomy_blog on Flickr)

Stock Market Commentary: In the previous week, the stock market put on a display of strength ahead of the Federal Reserve’s May decision on monetary policy. That bravado was temporarily undermined by the final blow to First Republic Bank (FRC). After a one-day pause, presumably to contemplate the implications of the lack of a coherent … Read more