Market Commentary: Markets Open Down, Reverse And Climb Back Into The Green
Premarket futures were down -0.15% and appeared we were going to have a down day, but wait, isn't that supposed to happen on Tuesday's?
The markets did open down -0.15%, but immediately reversed course and the averages moved into the green while the DOW remained in the red. By 10 am the $RUT was up +0.32%, but the SP500 remained flat, in the green on low volume. Investors are concerned that current market conditions are not 'ripe' for continued gains.
Lately, there have been MANY articles questioning how much longer this bull run is going to last and some that are declaring outright a bear market is in progress. In the past, these articles have actually been bullish indicators, but is it different this time?
Time to sell this stock market? Acampora, Tepper think so
Here are three top bearish views from the past week, followed by three bullish arguments. Plus give your view on the U.S. stock market and see what other MarketWatch readers are thinking.
The short term indicators are leaning towards the hold side at the opening. The all important signs of reversal, up or down, have not been observed so we are mostly, at best, neutral and conservatively holding. The important DMA's, volume and a host of other studies have not turned and that is not enough for me to start shorting. The SP500MACD has turned down, but remains above zero at 4.84. I would advise caution in taking any position during this volatile transition period although Barchart.com shows a48 % buy. (Could be right.) Investing.com members' sentiments are 65 % bearish.
In looking at the 50 DMA, the current SP500 opened above that line and the small caps remain below the 145 DMA. I can not see, as of right now where those large cap MA's are rolling over to indicate any permanent bear run but the falling small caps are a real worry. (See deviation of large and small caps here.)The NASDAQ 100 DMA is about to cross over the 145 DMA and the small cap trend is negative and the $RUT isbelow the 200 DMA. (And trending downwards.)
Bottom line here is that I have not seen any serious bears jumping out of the woods just yet, although I am VERY concerned that ANY minor correction could turn nasty in a heart beat. One significant signal would be losses in any of the major averages that go over the 'magic' 3 % and then you need to pay close attention to risk-off tactics. Any market correction over 6% would be an additional signal and I can't see having one without the other.
After a False Breakout, the Topping Pattern in the S&P 500 Continues
Plus: Despite heading lower, the Nasdaq Composite still hasn't entered a technical correction. [READ NOW]
In Lance Roberts article he asks, Is The Market Consolidating Or Topping?
There are two ways to look at stagnation in the markets. It is either a consolidation process that works off an overbought condition which leads to further advances, OR it is a topping process that leads to a market decline. Discerning which process is currently "in play" is critical for investor decision making.
Let me be clear. I am not stating that the current consolidation processwill absolutely collapse into a sharp correction in the months ahead.However, I am stating that the current environment is more similar to past markets which did correct, than not.
While it is certainly possible that the markets could ratchet higher from here due to the "psychological momentum" that currently exists, the likelihood of a runaway bull market from here is remote.
The large caps having bounced back and forth between losses and gains for over 10 weeks have once again approached all time highs or have reached them. This sideways movement and falling volume may be foretelling signs of waning energy and the lack of ability to continue higher and investors need to be alert for a possible significant market selloff.
It is still possible that Mr. Market is not through playing with the averages and even newer historical highs are a distinct possibility beyond what we have seen, mainly because the amount of bond buying the Fed still does on a monthly basis. For those who are hell-bent bears, this article, 5 Reasons Your Simple Bear Market Plans Could Backfire, should be required reading.
The longer 6 month outlook is now 35-65 sell and will remain bearish until we can see what the effects are in the Fed's 'Tapering' game plan and Russia's annexing game playing. Again, I would also take chart and other technical indicators with a lessor degree of reliability for the time being and watch what the Janet Yellen's Fed does over the next couple of months. Also, the margin debt is very high and has been setting historic highs and as of Monday, 4-7-2014, it stands at $466 billion. (Read More at NYSE Statistics Archive)
It is its ending of QE that worries me the most as many financial institution and emerging markets can not continue to push forward or upwards without the Fed's 'Market Viagra'. Even if the Fed reduces its purchases by $10 billion every month for the rest of 2014, the Fed will have acquired $320 billion more for its portfolio. Note, that in 2013, the Fed added more than $1.0 trillion in securities to its portfolio. The debt stands at 4 trillion and will be at 5 trillion by the time the taper is completed and that is one hell of a debt that 'someone' has to pay.
At some point during the taper process, this market will crack after one too many tapers. That, among the many other negative issues will most likely come without warning and the major average's losses will be over 3 percent during a single session.
Several additional notes of negativity where investors are worried about issues directly related to the Fed's tapering and Putin's annexing. They are considering these factors along with the Argentine Peso, South African Rand and Japan. And of course, China's defaulting businesses are dropping like flies. And now the Second Chinese Bond Company Defaults, First High Yield Bond Issuer. And now Another Chinese High Yield Bond Issuer Declares Bankruptcy.
The markets are still susceptible to climbing on 'Bernankellen' vapor, use caution!
The real story behind the current weakness is the US weak housing, layoffs and poor employment data, inventory reductions and soft economic outlook including a mediocre sales outlook. I just can not buy the continual optimism of the bullish pundits when it comes to politicians and our economy. They lie and misrepresent the financial status just about every day, but of course, that is the definition of a politician, is it not? We may never know how 'dark' our shadow banking is, 'Dark Pool' activity and there are too many lurking 'Black Swans' on the horizon to be as confident as some bulls are. For now the 'law of gravity' does not apply to the stock market.
The Best Stock Market Indicator Update says the market is untradable. The OEXA200R is well above 65%, currently at 75%. However, all three secondary indicators are negative:
Of the three secondary indicators:
Is the Bull finally over? That's what a lot of traders are beginning to ask themselves right now. Two Bull / Bear indicators that I keep an eye on are the bank index (represented by $BKX) and NYSE Margin Debt.
When people start missing payments on car loans and mortgages it indicates a serious underlying problem with the economy. Twice in the recent past, Feb. 5, 2007 and Jan. 31, 2011, a drop by the banks preceded a significant drop in the S&P by several months. The same occurred with Margin Debt in March 2000 and July 2007 (the caveat here is that Margin Debt data is always a month old).
My feeling is that we're entering the final euphoria phase of the five-year stock market bull, and I'll be watching warily for major resistance points in the coming months. One in particular will be when the Nasdaq reaches 5000, the same top as in year 2000, maybe by this June or July. I'm very surprised at how large this bubble has grown, fueled by the Fed's single-minded determination to support Wall Street. (. . . agree with analysis, except NASDAQ reaching 5,000 - that isn't going to happen)
If you would like to get advanced buy/sell tweets, sign-up in the column to the right of this post by clicking on the 'Follow' button. Write me with suggestions and I promise not to bite.
The DOW at 10:00 is at 16472 down 18 or -0.11%.
The SP500 is at 1879 up 1 or 0.07%.
SPY is at 188.19 up 0.14 or 0.07%.
The $RUT is at 1107 up 4 or 0.36%.
NASDAQ is at 4096 up 6 or 0.14%.
NASDAQ 100 is at 3589 up 2 or 0.05%.
$VIX 'Fear Index' is at 12.72 up 0.28 or 2.17%. Bearish Movement
(Follow Real Time Market Averages at end of this article)
The longer trend is up, the past months trend is sideways, the past 5 sessions have been net loss and the current bias is elevated and sideways.
WTI oil is trading between 102.47 (resistance) and 101.52 (support) today. The session bias is positive and is currently trading up at 102.38.
Brent Crude is trading between 110.32 (resistance) and 109.66 (support) today. The session bias is sideways and volatile and is currently trading down at 110.06.
Gold rose from 1289.54 earlier to 1305.59 and is currently trading down at 1302.30. The current intra-session trend is positive.
Dr. Copper is at 3.169 rising from 3.140 earlier.
The US dollar is trading between 80.12 and 79.95 and is currently trading down at80.01, the bias is currently negative and volatile.
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