Archive for the ‘markets’ Category

Market Thought… hello goodbye

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

My charts say buy, but my gut says no no no. (i write this w/the song in my head :) )

Not much has changed since my last ‘Market Thought’ post, except Friday’s action consolidated the market more, and the Retail index (RTH) is now oversold and sitting on support.

All in all, there maybe a possability that the SP500 can move to actually touch the 200SMA. However, the underlining weakness remains with the high momentum being broken.

Adding to my gut telling me ‘no’, is the price of oil. I am just not a fan at the moment. I am expecting it to retest the high 40s, and IMO, as goes oil… so goes the market.

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My caution is also coming from the longterm SP500 chart, which suggests the market will test its 62SMA.

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Is it realistic? I do not know. I do know, despite the potential for the market to go lower, when individual stocks I am interested in go to attactive levels I am not hesitating (but keeping a market short).

For instance…

PWR – I have been waiting for another entry point here, and it is just about here. Observing the pattern via the Slow Stoch, when the red line gets below 20 the stock typically pops. (Good for a nice trade or a long-term entry point, as I think the fundies to their biz is really good.)
pwr

Market Thought… no

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Today was not confirmation of the pullback ending. The markets are consolidated, but not oversold, and today’s rise in the Naz and SP500 were modest and hit the high momentum SMAs (which they broke)…

nasdaq:

naz

SP500

sp

IMO, this is not an indication of anything significant. The only chart that caught my eye, that may even hint at this being the true end to the recent pullback was the VIX. The set up appears as if the VIX will break down, which mostlikely would mean the markets rally.

vix

HOWEVER, the Vix is at an interesting support level, with Gasoline prices approaching, imo, unsustainable levels, especially w/unemployment at 9% at the moment.

Don’t get me wrong, I think there are still interesting individual names, like BNI at attactive levels of support (but are still not oversold and potentially go lower) that I would be a buyer of at current levels. This can be said about pretty much all stocks I am looking at, except for the Semis as they are oversold due to their current weak fundamentals.

The current market’s true support is the high momentum SMA via 20 or 14SMA, which were broken. This means the SP500 could see around 830 and the Nasdaq around 1600.

Market Thought… the challenge

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

The challenge of being a one-man show is that you lack the depth of debate (especially since my comment function is f-d up :) ). I would love to sit around a table and discuss the day’s news with like/unlike minded individuals to assess the impact of events, but since I do not have this, I read and watch a lot (a lot) of information to gain multiple perspectives.

With the SP500 approaching what I think to be a major resistance point (200SMA), I must ask the all important question… is my thesis correct?

As a trader I primarily listen to the market, and trade around what it is telling me. But every now and again the market is wrong. So… is the market correct or is it wrong?

Bullish case for a rising market:

1. Treasury’s rate rising signals, IMO, an increase tolerance to risk and benefits the stock market (there are other interpretations of the treasury sell off, but this is how I view it)

2. Inventories are too low and the replenishing of them spurs economic activity (although retail inventories will stay at very low levels as the personal savings rate continues to rise and consumer credit contracts)

3. Volatility is declining

4. The financial media has become blindly bullish (potentially leading to exaggerated moves upward, adding to the bullish case very short-term.)

5. Precieved stability within the financials, especially as the CDS market dictates via the declines (although a big chunk of this is on the back of PPIP)
6. Global trade stability via the baltic dry index

The above leads for a very real justified bottoming of the stock market, especially from the levels we bounced off from (660 level). The question now becomes… is further market upside justified? IMO, for more upside we need economic growth, so profit growth can return.

Neutral case for the market going forward:
1. Commodity inventory levels (specifically Copper and Oil) are pretty high w/respect to current demand

2. The baltic dry index has stabilized, but is not growing from the 2000 level.

3. The consumer is still saving at very high rates (good for them, but bad for 2/3 of GDP)

4. Consumer credit is contracting, despite the new found stability of the banks.

5. Jobless rate at 8.9%, increasing the default rates and why #4 is taking place.

The above reasons should be taken care of by the global stimulus packages in progress, and this is why I remain bullish.

Now the trader in me has an opinion…

Will the markets continue its current momentum? The SP500 rallied 8 of the last 9 weeks, with the down week barely being down
wk

IMO, this type of move needs to consolidate given the neutral reasons given above, especially given its overbought condition.

Looking at my charts, the semis caught my eye. They broke their high momentum support.

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Despite my initial purchase of NVDA yesterday, the above chart lead me to think the semis have more room to go down. But what I find most interesting is that the Semis are a leading indicator to the market. As the market was turning on March 9th, the semis broke out and started their uptrend, which lead to a more secure sentiment concerning the market move to high 800s. Now the semis are indicating the high momentum move via the market is ending.

The Naz is obviously indicating the semi weekness at its 200SMA.

naz

This should start getting translated to the SP500 as well, especially given its current level and overbought condition

sp2

I am expecting the SP500 to consolidate via the oscillators which should translate to an SP500 of 870-880. Given the shear bullish attitude at the moment, 940-950 maybe achieved next week, and I will short heavy for the pull back.

Market Thought… stress the concept of caution

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

I stress caution.

Look, I am a bull, everyone reading this blog knows it, but beating the market is not just about being a bull/bear… its about timing too.  Look at how the market acted in the last recession. How many times it bounced around during a mild recession compared to this one. See what the SP500 did when it was approaching the 200SMA.

lt

A closer look at the market now reveals how overbought and how close we are…

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The economy lost almost 500,000 jobs this month.  That is huge. The market is ignoring it because it did not surpass the 600K that was expected.  Despite the fact that the job market number is loosely issued and revised later.

I stress caution because I see a lot of careless buying. And the Naz (a leader) is showing head winds.

I am bullish on PBR, FCX, FXI, JPM, WFC, PG, BNI, T, GOOG, AAPL (and own some as my core holdings)… etc… but they will go down… sooner-rather-than-later.

Market Thought… overbought

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Overbought is the key word, and as I watch CNBC (via the on-demand web tools) complacency is a very close runner up. (Don’t these mofo’s realize they are the popular sentiment.)

Anyway… across the board everything is overbought. Some few indices can creep upward some, but for the most part everything I look at is overbought… even at the individual level.

I already called this current upward move a few days ago when most on CNBC were calling for a pull back. (the fast money crew were not the only ones) Except now, everyone is ignoring the real top end resistance.

I am still bullish, but we need to consolidate this move… the fundamentals demand it, and the technicals are now strongly suggesting it.

Morning Moves…

Monday, May 4th, 2009

1. Added to my market protection.  Still waiting to go heavy short, and I will when the SPY approaches low 900s (at around 910-920… I will be really heavy short). Playing it via SPY 92 put options.

2. Purchased PWR in the AM.

Looking to…

1. Sell 75 July calls on my BNI position. (ideally want to sell them when at 73-74)

2. short GOOG via 410 June Puts. (will probably get it today, as a limit order is in)

3. reposition and increase a short position I took on FCX on Friday.

I fear a ’sell-the-news’ is coming with the stress test.  Also valuations are getting strechy here w/respect to economic conditions. Do not get complacent.

 

Oh baby…

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

We are not in another bull market just yet… so lets all calm down, and stop listening to Cramer. (Don’t buy ‘just because things are going up’.)

Do not forget what this rally is… its a rally due to stabalization, and that will only take us so far.  We will have to consolidate this rally, which means we will be range bound for a bit. 

Use caution here, seriously.

I took on a GOOG short, and some market protection. We are getting too overbought.  Will add to these positions if we continue to go up.

Market Thought… 870 the top?

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

Listening to Fast Money, via on-demand links from cnbc.com, the crew thinks 870 is a major resistance point for the SP500. I happen to disagree. I am still iffy on the current market status, as my previous post blatantly states, but part of that iffiness comes from that fact that there is weak top-end resistance.

sp

Other then the recent rise to 870, last week, there really was not any stand alone selling in that area. Prior to last week, the previous cap at the 870 level was coming from very real, very negative internal via multiple SMAs that were acting like a concrete wall. Currently, the SP500 internals and dynamic of the market is far different, with no SMA resistance. This does not lead the SP500 to similar head winds. The real head winds have to come from outside the SMAs, and that is why I think the 900-910 level is a much stronger resistance then 870.

As the SP500 begins to approach 900 I will take on protection. Depending how overbought the market gets, I may take more of a full trading position vs protection of my core positions.

(Although I will say the Nasdaq is very near its 200SMA, and would be more cautious against the Naz.)

Market Thought… ? (yes, still)

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

The market is still giving mixed signals. The market itself is indicating a continued push upward via the trend…

spy

Yet there are a few internals that contributed to this rally are started to break. I alread showed how the metals are breaking via JJC (copper), and now financials look stressed. The XLF looks to want to test its 50SMA.

xlf

There are a few bullish undertones aswell, such as the Nasdaq (although it is approaching its 200SMA resistance) and the internals of ‘late blooming’ stocks… ie BNI and PG for example which supports the SP500.

When leaders begin to break, I get cautious. Not shorting yet, and simply waiting to act w/my core positions. But I am getting ready to short if this rally continues, and the SP500 seems out of strength.

A note… its rants like this one that give people like John Stewart the leverage to make Cramer look like an idiot when the market retests the high 700s/low800s.

Market Thought… mixed signals

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

Across the board… especially amongst the ‘gurus’. Everyone touts the premise that they are the contrarian. Despite the fact that the market has consolidated, and is no longer overbought. These extreme views are what makes really good market for traders.

But I am also getting some mixed signals on the market via the charts. I can see the SP500 going to 900-950, or the SP500 going to 780-800. (I am leaning to the higher side, but with no real conviction.)

A look at the chart clearly shows we are still in an uptrend with multiple SMA support. And those SMA are showing some bullish cross overs that confirm the higher moves.

sp

One stock of note… and an important one since its a transport… BNI is clearly showing a change in pattern

bni

1st – the stock riding the 114SMA

2nd – the shift in its 6 months negative trend

3rd – The 32 and 50SMAs are showing internal strength as this is the first time in 6months the 32 is crossing the 50, and pointing upward

BNI looks like it will break out to the mid 70s. (BNI is a core holding)