Hi there, and welcome back to CRI's S&P 500 blog.
The current fundamental-reassurance-vacuum (wow, there's a word) that is overhanging the market can and is leading to violent ups and downs as new potentially 'game-changing' fundamentals hit the market. "Will the Greeks default or won't they", seems to dictating trade on a daily basis. These short term blips can translate into wild gyrations. Interestingly, I have personally found that those markets that have just completed a 50% retracement of their primary move often see some dramatic swings.
Our goal here at the S&P blog ins''t to tell you (the reader) where the market is going, but rather to give you a basic framework (50% rules, double tops/bottoms, flagpoles, MA crosses, seasonality etc) that will help you understand where we have been. Hopefully, with that contextual understand, you may be able to glean a sense of where the market ought to go- that's the plan anyway.
So with all being said, lets take a look at this chart. First off, we must appreciate the fact that the broader US stock market has just gone through a very natural 50% correction of a larger trend that began just about one year ago. As should be expected, the price action is very violent right now as the market digests its new fundamental backdrop. One could argue that September's sell-off left the market very oversold and a counter trend rally was likely. What I personally find most interesting is that the market 'topped' last week just under the original breakdown. As for the 'why', It simply appears as though the market just ran out of sellers heading into October. In the absence of new sellers, the market's 'path-of-least-resistance' was up, and boy did we go up. The tragedy is that we may go back down just as fast. Volatility does indeed work both ways.
Trader: Traders want to be in and out on tops and bottoms which seem to be coming in on the hourly charts. This market is moving so fast that you simply can not see the turns on the weekly chart. Indeed, I don't remember hearing anyone was call for a 2000 point rally in the Dow, but it happened and here we are. My 'hunch' during these times is just leave the market alone until it calms down. Having said that, there are those of us need who want to trade, or at the very least try and understand short term price action. So to that end, I will give you my .02 cents. Since we are currently above the 13 EMA one might argue that pull backs represent buying opportunities. Also too, given the fact that we are selling off into a Fed announcement, we may find an ultimate bottom within that first hour after their announcement Wednesday. It's just a guess, but it will be what I am looking for.
Investors: This camp was well advised to get into cash back in the late summer. I find it fascinating that the market's recent rally failed at almost the exact original exit point. The market was literally giving those that missed the first short entry another opportunity to get short again. As long as the 13EMA is lower than the 30SMA one is best to leave this thing alone. Should that relationship change then so to will our investor stance. Yes, we have seen a very nice rally in equities over the past month. But no, it really hasn't changed things in the longer term all that much.
That's all for this week,
Brian Beamish FCSI
The Canadian Rational Investor
the_rational_investor@yahoo.com
CRI's S&P 500 Blog
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