Chart Review: Tops and Bottoms – CAT and LDK

July has continued a healthy recovering from the June lows for many stocks. However, some stocks have remained stuck in stock market purgatory. Today’s chart review shows two examples of this dichotomy. The extra bonus is that the stock in recovery mode, Caterpillar (CAT), has apparently topped while the stock stuck in purgatory, LDK Solar … Read more

Profiting from Physical Assets in a Resource-Constrained World – Rules and Picks (Part 2 of 2)

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} This piece is a follow-up post to “Preparing for Profits in a Resource-Constrained World” (Part 1) in which I discussed the implications of Jeremy Grantham’s fundamental thesis of a new world where resources are … Read more

T2108 Update – July 8, 2011 (Attack of the Topping Patterns!)

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page.) T2108 Status: 74%, 5th overbought day. VIX Status: 16. General (Short-term) Trading Call: Continue closing bullish trades (longs), add to bearish trades on a close below 1333 on the S&P 500 … Read more

Preparing for Profits in a Resource-Constrained World: Part 1 of 2

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} Two months ago or so, a friend directed my attention to Jeremy Grantham’s GMO Quarterly Newsletter for April, 2011 titled “Time to Wake Up: Days of Abundant Resources and Falling Prices Are Over Forever.” … Read more

S&P 500 Potentially Setting Up for A Directionless Summer (includes some charts of interest)

By now, I think we should recognize that low-volume rallies simply do not last – the odds tend to favor a return of most, if not all, those kinds of gains, sooner than later. Last week, I was particularly puzzled by a low-volume 2.4% rally on the S&P 500 that came on the heels of … Read more

Earnings Excitement Faded, Trends Breaking, and Still Not Oversold

Earnings excitement is one casualty of the current selling in the market. Several big cap stocks and multinational companies generated a lot of hype and attention from their earnings results this quarter. A number of those gains have been erased and then some. Four stocks have attracted my particular interest: Apple (APPL) – A market … Read more

“Climactic Tops” Remain Intact For Now

Just over a month has elapsed since I concluded that S&P 500 was reaching a short-term bottom but would not challenge its 52-week highs (set in January) for “many months to come.” On Thursday, the S&P 500 printed a new 52-week closing high by one penny. On Friday, the index made a new intra-day high … Read more

A Potential Climactic Top In Caterpillar’s Stock

Last week produced some ominous chart patterns in important individual stocks. I already covered Google (GOOG) and its rare retest of support at the 50-day moving average (DMA). While I still think GOOG will succeed in its retest in the near-term, I am not so sanguine about other ominous charts. Caterpillar (CAT) survived potential climactic … Read more

Big CAT Breakout Signals Bulls Are Far From Finished

Caterpillar, Inc. (CAT) closed out Tuesday’s trading with an impressive 6% gain on volume 58% higher than average. *Chart created using TeleChart: For six weeks, CAT bounced inside a small trading channel as it consolidated impressive gains from the July lows and July’s earnings report. CAT is plowing ahead despite lingering and extremely high skeptical … Read more