Surging Oil Helps Nudge the Stock Market Into Overbought Conditions – Above the 40 (September 16, 2019)

The United States Oil Fund (USO) soared to a near 4-month high in the wake of a drone strike on Saudi oil facilities.

AT40 = 70.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (Day #1 overbought)AT200 = 59.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (13-month high)VIX = 14.7Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary Oil Soars When I wrote my last Above the 40 post, I knew about the drone strike on … Read more

Stock Market Stalls At Overbought Threshold As Momentum Stocks Retreat – Above the 40 (September 13, 2019)

AT40 (T2108) has stalled perfectly at the overbought threshold of 70%.

AT40 = 67.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 58.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (13-month high)VIX = 13.7Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary Overbought Overrules Times like these remind me of the significance of the overbought line. AT40 (T2108), the percentage of stocks … Read more

Small Caps Answer the Call: Overbought Trading Conditions Now Approach – Above the 40 (September 10, 2019)

The iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund ETF (IWM) has surged through 200 and 50DMA resistance in a high-volume breakout move.

AT40 = 62.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 55.2% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (finished reversing all of August’s decline)VIX = 15.2Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary Role reversal While the S&P 500 (SPY) and the NASDAQ (COMPQX) continue to fail at confirming … Read more

A Stock Market Stuck In An Obvious Trading Range Still Produces A Rich Set of Expectations – Above the 40 (August 29, 2019)

AT40 = 38.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 44.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (2-month low)VIX = 19.0Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary The Trigger Finger On Tuesday (August 27), I saw enough hints of a flip from a bullish to bearish divergence … Read more

The 401K Stock Market Loses Some Faith As Divergence Flips – Above the 40 (August 27, 2019)

AT40 (T2108) closed below Friday's precipitous low, making my favorite technical indicator look finally ready to drop to oversold trading conditions.

AT40 = 28.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 39.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (2-month low)VIX = 20.3Short-term Trading Call: neutral (from cautiously bullish) Stock Market Commentary The 401K stock market’s ugly sandwich just got a bit soggy. My premise for clinging to a … Read more

Tesla: New Trading Strategies for A Fresh Breakdown and New Price Range

The monthly chart of Tesla (TSLA) suggests the stock has entered a lower trading range. If this range fails, there are likely two more lines of firm support before the stock hits an air pocket that would threaten all the steep gains from 2013.

The Short-Term Breakdown The technical conditions for Tesla (TSLA) have greatly deteriorated since I wrote about short-term and long-term trading strategies on the stock. I focused on two main trading strategies: 1) a longer-term covered call strategy for bullish investors fortunate enough to own 100+ shares of stock and 2) what I considered at the … Read more

A Manic Stock Market Leaves Behind An Extreme August Drawdown – Above the 40 (August 9, 2019)

Much ado about nothing? The 15-minute chart of the S&P 500 (SPY) shows the gory details of a manic swoon to a near flat close for the week.

AT40 = 37.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 46.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 18.0Short-term Trading Call: neutral (caveats below!) Stock Market Commentary The S&P 500 (SPY) ended the week almost where it started. In between the bookends, the market gyrated wildly … Read more

An Enticing and Risky Bounce Off the Oversold Threshold – Above the 40 (August 6, 2019)

AT40 (T2108) bounced sharply away from the oversold threshold off 20%.

AT40 = 30.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 44.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 20.2 (the day before it closed at 24.6 and a 7-month high)Short-term Trading Call: neutral (caveats below!) Stock Market Commentary Almost Oversold I underestimated the market’s readiness to … Read more

Fed Waffling and Trade War Expansion Reject Market from Overbought – Above the 40 (August 1, 2019)

The S&P 500 (SPY) lost 3.1% for the week. Buyers just barely pushed the index off its intraday low to on Friday to close above 50DMA support.

AT40 = 41.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 49.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 17.6 (high of 20.1)Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary A Pause of Recognition I am writing about financial markets at a time when there is renewed pain … Read more

British Pound: From Organized Chaos to Orderly Selling

The freefall in the British pound is even more clear in the GBP/JPY pair.

Three months ago, I wrote about the “organized chaos” in the British pound (FXB). I described an organized process of GBP/USD bouncing off and pivoting around key moving averages with the occasional sharp interruption of Brexit-related trades. Ironically, the sharp Brexit-related rally that sparked that post looks now like the British pound’s last gasp for … Read more