Periods of Extremely Low Volatility Remain Bullish – Now With Fresh Footnotes

The volatility index, the VIX, closed below 11 on April 24, 2017. That launched 184 trading days of extremely low volatility (ELV). The VIX is now just 1 more trading day away from finally bringing this historic event to an end. By my definition, it takes 20 trading days of the VIX closing above 11 … Read more

Above the 40 (February 7, 2018) – Buyers Fail First Post-Oversold Test

AT40 = 24.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 47.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 27.7 (range from 21.2 to 31.6) Short-term Trading Call: neutral Commentary Buyers failed their first post-oversold test. The S&P 500 (SPY) rallied just enough to peak over resistance … Read more

Above the 40 (February 6, 2018) – Market’s Oversold Conditions Quickly End – More to Come?

AT40 = 23.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 47.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 30.0 (19.7% decrease, intraday high of 50.3) Short-term Trading Call: neutral Commentary The first oversold period in about two years ended after just one day. As a reminder, … Read more

And Down Go the Consumer Plays

This year was supposed to be the year of retail. Last week’s sell-off not only took down a broad base of stocks, but also it plunged retail stocks in aggregate into under-performance against the S&P 500 (SPY). Moreover, home builders broke down in a very bearish way and thus put my “buy the dip” strategy … Read more

Above the 40 (February 2, 2018) – Janet Yellen Exits As Oversold Market Conditions Loom

AT40 = 38.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 54.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 17.3 (28.5% increase!) Short-term Trading Call: bullish Commentary “We cannot tolerate pervasive and persistent misconduct at any bank and the consumers harmed by Wells Fargo expect that robust … Read more