A Triumph of Liquidity: New Overbought Period for Stocks Despite Political Chaos

Stock Market Commentary One hundred and fifty minutes. The bearish signal that hit the stock market after the last overbought period ended essentially lasted just 150 minutes. Buyers stepped into the market on Monday after lunchtime on the East Coast and essentially barely took a pause until the last 2 hours of trading today (Wednesday, … Read more

Why Stock Market Signals Outweigh Headlines: Lessons from A Pandemic

The Misdirection The New York Times (NYT) created buzz with a report alleging that members of the Trump administration enabled “elite traders” to profit off the coronavirus-driven collapse in the stock market. While the administration confidently reassured the public about the coronavirus (COVID-19), members of the administration reportedly shared their concerns about “uncertainties” at a … Read more

An Indicator of Stock Market Breadth Nears An Important Milestone

The stock market convincingly followed through on last week’s bullish divergence that indicated strengthening stock market breadth. At the time of the bullish divergence, AT40 (T2108), the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs), powered higher even as the S&P 500 (SPY) lost 1.0%. The index also suffered a 50DMA breakdown. … Read more

A Bullish Divergence for Stocks Even As President Falls to the Coronavirus – Above the 40 (October 2, 2020)

Stock Market Statistics AT40 = 41.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (ranged from 25.8% to 42.8%) AT200 = 42.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (ranged from 39.2% to 45.5%) VIX = 27.6 Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Stock Market Commentary Last Friday was the kind of … Read more

Trade War Realities Weigh More Heavily

The Australian dollar versus the Japanese yen (AUD/JPY) is back to trading at levels last seen in the immediate wake of the financial crisis. A declining AUD/JPY helps to expose the intensifying risk-off sentiment in financial markets.

An Inescapable Truth In June, 2018, I made the following claims and observations (with fresh emphasis): “…at the end of the day, Trump is determined to drive the U.S. trade deficit as close to zero as possible. This cannot happen without some substantial economic disruptions. To the extent the market refuses to price in these … Read more

The 401K Stock Market Chokes On A Powell and Trade War Sandwich – Above the 40 (August 23, 2019)

AT40 = 28.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 39.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (2-month low)VIX = 19.9Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish (see caveats below) Stock Market Commentary Presidential Decrees “Q    Six hundred and twenty-three points — that’s what the Dow was down today … Read more

The 401K Stock Market Holds Support At the August Extreme – Above the 40 (August 16, 2019)

AT40 = 33.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 43.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (2-month low)VIX = 18.5Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish (from neutral) Stock Market Commentary The extreme of August held as support…just barely. Sneaky Resilience The S&P 500 (SPY) gapped up 1.4% … Read more

Christmas In August Fails to Prevent A Test of the Month’s Extremes – Above the 40 (August 14, 2019)

The S&P 500 (SPY) printed a marginally new low for the month after a 2.9% loss.

AT40 = 26.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 40.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (2-month low)VIX = 22.1Short-term Trading Call: neutral (caveats below!) Stock Market Commentary When the S&P 500 (SPY) bounced away from the oversold threshold last week, it left behind an extreme … Read more

Stock Market Trades Near Overbought As the Good Equals Bad Formula Blurs – Above the 40 (July 5, 2019)

Overbought conditions loom as earnings season approaches, and the stock market eagerly anticipates rate cuts.

AT40 = 68.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 55.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (essentially matches the 2019 high and is a new 10-month high)VIX = 13.3Short-term Trading Call: neutral (caveats below) Stock Market Commentary Good news is bad news….oops, nevermind The search for … Read more

Rate Cut Promises Rescued A Stock Market Near Oversold – Above the 40 (June 7, 2019)

AT40 = 38.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 44.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 18.9Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Stock Market Commentary From opening at the edge of oversold trading conditions to closing on near panic buying, last week was a wild week! … Read more