A Stock Market Melt-Up With Shrinking Participation – Above the 40 (July 2, 2021)

Stock Market Commentary A stock market melt-up is in full effect. Investopedia defines a melt-up as “…a sustained and often unexpected improvement in the investment performance of an asset or asset class, driven partly by a stampede of investors who don’t want to miss out on its rise, rather than by fundamental improvements in the economy.” … Read more

Stock Buyers Break Important Downtrend Only to Get Stymied Again – Above the 40 (April 30, 2021)

Stock Market Commentary Last week featured an intense barrage of earnings reports. The collective response on the major indices was a major yawn. The S&P 500 finished flat for the week. The NASDAQ and the iShares Trust Russell 2000 Index ETF both softened by 0.4%. Financials were a notable exception as the Financial Select Sector … Read more

High-Tech Stocks Break Down In Fallout from Fierce Bear-Bull Battle – Above the 40 (March 5, 2021)

Stock Market Commentary The stock market continued its streak of trickiness. Buyers and sellers played a fierce bear-bull battle starting with one of the biggest fake-out one-day rallies since last September 2nd’s near parabolic run-up. Fresh money flowed into funds to start the month of March to for gains of 2.4% on the S&P 500 … Read more

A New Low in Volatility Brought Fresh Promise to Overbought Stock Market – Above the 40 (February 12, 2021)

Stock Market Commentary After sweeping away bearish signals, the stock market moved right into overbought territory last week. The week started with a small gap up to all-time highs, and the stock market never looked back. More importantly, the volatility index (VIX) hit a new low since the stock market broke down almost a year … Read more

Sellers Followed Through On Resolution of Bearish Divergence – Above the 40 (January 29, 2021)

Stock Market Commentary After the recent bearish divergence resolved to the downside, the stock market rebounded sharply. Volatility was over-extended and my favorite breadth indicator plunged at an extreme rate. In that context, the stock market’s subsequent bounce made sense as relief from extreme conditions. The sellers followed through on the resolution of bearish divergence … Read more