A Path of Least Resistance Offers A Reprieve – The Market Breadth

path of least resistance (Credit: The path of least resistance by Eduardo Mueses on Flickr)

Stock Market Commentary: Yesterday’s surge in the Japanese yen (FXY) may have exhausted enough sellers to clear the path for some holiday cheer in the stock market. Suddenly, the market seemed to transition from the heavy burdens of a stubbornly hawkish Fed to the alluring hopes from a lack of (scheduled) negative catalysts for the … Read more

Stock Chart Reviews – Bear Market Green Shoots

Bear market green shoots

Stock Market Commentary: The stock market is delivering fertile ground for bear market green shoots. Market breadth in the form of AT50 (MMFI), the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 50-day moving averages (DMAs), closed at a one month high. Under the hood are individual stocks achieving convincing 50DMA breakouts and closing out primary … Read more

Stock Chart Reviews – Rubbernecking the Market’s Crashes and Accidents

Stock Market Commentary I earlier wrote about a promising divergence between anxiety and breadth in the stock market. However, I cannot help rubbernecking the market’s crashes and accidents. They tell dramatic stories about the folly in price action that can come with easy monetary policy and free money. The market goes through cycles of excitement … Read more

Stock Chart Reviews: An Impressive Year Full of Important Exceptions

Stock Market Commentary The stock market indices enjoyed an impressive year. However, weak and declining market breadth produced numerous exceptions to the strong performance of indices and ETFs. A number of important and well-known individual stocks corrected, collapsed, and crashed in 2021. For some, the tailwinds of the pandemic ran out. For others, investors tired … Read more

Stock Chart Reviews: Snapshots of Santa’s Revenge

Stock Market Commentary It was a close call. The technical deterioration of the previous week put the Santa rally in peril. At the start of trading last week, the Grinch roasted Santa enough to ignite oversold trading conditions. Santa’s revenge came in the form of a sharp rebound out of the 1-day oversold period. Subsequently, … Read more

Small Cap Breakout, Pfizer COVID Anti-Viral Boost Bullish Market Breadth

Stock Market Commentary The first trading week of November was action-packed. At the start of the week I looked ahead to monetary policy from the Federal Reserve and the October jobs report as key catalysts. While those events were indeed important, the stock market was treated to an overlay of at least two other important … Read more

A Stock Market In Survival Mode – The Market Breadth

Stock Market Commentary I flipped bearish on the stock market over a week ago because of a significant breakdown in the S&P 500 (SPY). Moreover, the breakdown occurred alongside vulnerable breadth indices and a bottoming volatility index (VIX). As a result, when the index closed lower than the previous week’s low, I braced for follow-through. … Read more

Sellers Weaken the Stock Market’s Hold On Overbought Conditions – Above the 40 (December 29, 2020)

AT40 (T2108) dropped toward the overbought threshold of 70%.

Stock Market Commentary The refresher for extended overbought conditions quickly transformed back into a close call. Sellers again created weakening overbought conditions for the stock market with the key indicator hitting the threshold. The minor selling in the major indices may mask a broader deterioration in the technical health of the stock market. Unlike the … Read more

The Stock Market Stretches Into An Extended Overbought Rally – Above the 40 (December 4, 2020)

Stock Market Statistics AT40 = 79.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (Day #10 overbought) AT200 = 77.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (7 1/2 year high) VIX = 20.8 Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary A week ago, the overbought stock market stretched for a … Read more

The Stock Market’s Garden Grows More Weeds In Sell-Off – Above the 40 (September 8, 2020)

Stock Market Statistics AT40 = 42.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (2-month low)AT200 = 42.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (2 1/2 week low)VIX = 31.5Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bearish Stock Market Commentary The swift stock market sell-off took a fresh turn for the worse. AT200 … Read more