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

Fed Waffling and Trade War Expansion Reject Market from Overbought – Above the 40 (August 1, 2019)

The S&P 500 (SPY) lost 3.1% for the week. Buyers just barely pushed the index off its intraday low to on Friday to close above 50DMA support.

AT40 = 41.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 49.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 17.6 (high of 20.1)Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary A Pause of Recognition I am writing about financial markets at a time when there is renewed pain … Read more

One Way to Trade Apple’s Stock Ahead of Earnings

Historic Bearishness In Apple Bloomberg published an article on July 8th titled “Wall Street Hasn’t Been This Pessimistic on Apple in Decades.” Out of 57 analyst ratings, 5 were outright sells on AAPL. Amazingly, AAPL has not attracted this many bears since at least 1997. Of course, 10% of analysts is a small fraction and … 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

FANG Without A Bite: A Market With A Bullish Divergence and Still Not Oversold – Above the 40 (June 3, 2019)

AT40 = 24.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 37.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 18.9Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary “The stock market might turn at lower levels.” Jim Cramer, CNBC’s Mad Money, June 3, 2019 This truism is a bit silly, … Read more

Above the 40 (March 22, 2019) – Tension Headache: Dovish Fed Fails to Keep Market Complacent to Risks

AT40 = 45.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (2+ month low)AT200 = 38.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 16.5 (20.9% gain)Short-term Trading Call: bearish Stock Market Commentary Friday’s trading action provided delayed confirmation of my short-term bearish trading call. The week previous to the last, … Read more

Above the 40 (February 8, 2019) – Convenient Resistance Holds Market Back But Sellers Do Little Else

AT40 = 78.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (11th overbought day)AT200 = 35.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 15.7Short-term Trading Call: neutral Commentary In my last Above the 40 post, I noted the “convenience” test of 200DMA resistance for major indices. The S&P 500 and … Read more

Above the 40 (February 6, 2018) – An Overbought Stock Market Conveniently Taps Resistance

AT40 = 84.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (9th overbought day)AT200 = 37.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (3-month high)VIX = 15.4Short-term Trading Call: neutral Commentary In my last Above the 40 post, I described the contours of this overbought market in the context of the … Read more

Above the 40 (January 22, 2019) – Overbought Conditions Abruptly End In A Flurry of Tests of Support

AT40 = 66.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (ended 1-day overperiod)AT200 = 24.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 20.8Short-term Trading Call: neutral Commentary Days like these remind me of the importance of technicals. Just one trading day after surging into overbought trading territory, the stock … Read more

Above the 40 (January 11, 2019) – A Stock Market of Parallel Exhaustion and Breakouts

AT40 = 52.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (4-month high)AT200 = 22.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (4-week high)VIX = 18.2 (5-week low)Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Commentary The major indices are still showing signs of exhaustion, but the sellers have yet to wrest back control … Read more