A Book-Ends Kind of Week for Stocks (Above the 40) – December 6, 2019

AT40 = 59.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 56.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 13.6Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary Looking for buying opportunities paid off. A week that started with selling into trade troubles ended with the celebration of an exceptionally strong … Read more

Still No (Trade War) Resolution In the Stock Market – Above the 40 (October 18, 2019)

AT40 = 56.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 49.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 14.3Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bearish Stock Market Commentary No Resolution The stock market did little to resolve my lingering skepticism over the meaningfulness of the “Phase One” or partial Trade … Read more

Part Optimism, Part Skepticism from A Partial Trade Deal – Above the 40 (October 11, 2019)

AT40 = 52.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 48.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 15.6Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bearish Stock Market Commentary A Broad-Based Re-Entry Two Fridays ago, buyers took the S&P 500 (SPY) back above its 50-day moving average (DMA). It was yet … Read more

Buyers Quickly Shut the Window Of Opportunity for Stock Market Bears – Above the 40 (October 4, 2019)

AT40 = 48.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 47.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 17.0Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bearish Stock Market Commentary A Broad-Based Re-Entry The bull market remains very much alive. When AT40 (T2108), the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day … Read more

One-Third of the Way to An Average October Drawdown – Above the 40 (October 1, 2019)

AT40 = 51.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 48.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 18.6Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bearish Stock Market Commentary The Big Question: Another Q4 Sell-Off? “Last year can’t happen because of last year” Tim Seymour, CNBC’s Fast Money, October 1, 2019 … Read more

A Stock Market Pivot Around Overbought As Indices Fail At Highs – Above the 40 (September 20, 2019)

AT40 = 69.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 56.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (13-month high)VIX = 15.3Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary A Broken Record Last week had some big moments. Looking back, the week looks like a broken record. The Federal Reserve … 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

A Quick Roundtrip for Apple Post-Earnings: Reviewing Trade Strategy

The bullish post-earnings scenario I painted for Apple (AAPL) worked out relatively well in the first day of trading. After AAPL quickly topped out, my proposed strategy for a calendar call spread rapidly transformed from under-performing the benchmark weekly $210 call strategy to outperforming. In the immediate wake of earnings, AAPL gapped over expected $215 … Read more