ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Stock Market Commentary In Q2, the S&P 500 (SPY) enjoyed a 2-month rebound from an April sell-off. The index ended Q2 with a 3.9% gain. The stock market as a whole ended Q2 with a notable divergence in which market breadth, long maligned for the quarter, suddenly improved despite bearish topping patterns appearing on both … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The S&P 500 (SPY) is up 3.0% since summer trading began the day after the Memorial Day weekend. If not for the poor market breadth, the rally would look like a repeat of last year’s summer of loving stocks (sorry sell in May and go away folks). Semiconductor stocks, particularly NVIDIA Corporation … Read more
Stock Market Commentary I saw a simple test for distinguishing bearish and bullish signals after META’s post-earnings swoon last month. A quick rebound following failed tests at resistance complicated the picture. The price technicals and dynamics returned to simple as a synchronized yet quiet breakout unfolded last week across the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ. … Read more
Stock Market Commentary In the prior week a post-earnings pricequake from Meta Platforms (META) dominated the stock market headlines. Last week, an Apple buyquake dominated the headlines and week-ending trading after the company announced a record $110B buyback. The subsequent gain in AAPL turned my simple test dividing bearish and bullish trading action into a … Read more
Stock Market Commentary Last week was an intense week of trading. The ever-escalating conflict in the Middle East disturbed markets. However, the initial negative reaction in futures market was mostly erased by the time of the market open on Thursday. The indices even managed to gain ground before getting faded. Thus, the market still fundamentally … Read more
Stock Market Commentary Stocks quickly invalidated the latest topping signals and recorded a statement week. This regular routine was further boosted by a Federal Reserve that dished out stronger forecasts for the economy and inflation and yet, much to my bemusement, “promised” the stock market three rate cuts are still likely ahead for the year. … Read more
Stock Market Commentary Is another tease for the bears underway? The current bullish rally has included so many temporary bearish signals that I had to stop using baseball metaphors to call strikes. Now, the latest bearish signal looks like the most ominous yet. In the wake of February’s job report, price action delivered a wicked … Read more
Stock Market Commentary Right after the stock market tempted me to flip from bearish to neutral, January’s CPI (consumer price index) turned brought the bears rushing back to the scene. Inflation’s fizzle turned to sizzle, and the technical picture of the stock market almost flipped on its head. The charts say it all – the … Read more
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
Stock Market Commentary A decisive end to the extended overbought period signaled the arrival of bearish conditions last week. Bears boldly sold for one more day before a “stock bulls taunt” forced suddenly hesitant bears into a partial retreat. A sharp market divergence is now taking hold. While the major indices rallied off support and … Read more