The recent volatility is enough to make one step back, put your money aside - and reassess. In fact, this is what both institutional and individual investors have done over the past 3-weeks as money withdrawn from funds has significantly increased - even more so than at the March-2009 panic... READ MORE
Last week, and so far this week the stock market has traded rather dismal to be sure, with the S&P 500 trading lower in 8 of the past 9 trading sessions. However, regardless of this weakness, we've begun to see slow, but sure movements beneath the... READ MORE
At times, it is best to step back and take a longer-term viewpoint of the markets; and today we'll examine the Russell 2000 Small Caps (RUT). Quite simply, RUT has having difficulty moving past its all-time highs forged in October 2007; and in the process - have caused... READ MORE
In the past 10-months, the commodity markets have rallied rather substantially on the back of the QE-2 campaign. But, we would be remiss if we didn't point out that Natural Gas did not participate, with prices below the August levels extant when Fed Chairman Bernanke announced that QE-2... READ MORE
Since the end of April, the broader market as defined by the NYSE Composite Index has been in a corrective mode. However, the question remains as to whether this corrective process will continue in the weeks and months ahead, or will it come to a halt with the materialization of... READ MORE
The recent gold price rally to new highs has paled in comparison with silver's seemingly parabolic move higher. While many "johnny come latelys" play in the silver pit, we are rather interested in the manner in which the Gold Stocks ETF (GDX) has performed relative to... READ MORE
Questions about regarding the quick/sharp rally off the March 16th low. They are numerous, and they consist of a number of troubling circumstances that call into question the veracity of the rally. One of the areas that is troublesome is the Banking Index ($BKX), for any rally worth its... READ MORE
Over the past several weeks, we've seen the market leader Russell 2000 Small Cap Index ($RUT) falter modestly given Middle East/North Africa and Japanese concerns. Commonsensically speaking, this would have been expected, but certainly on a longer-term basis RUT was ready to decline from a technical perspective... READ MORE
The recent gold price rally to new highs hasn't been impressive when compared to silver's sharp rally; but then again, the race may not always go to the rabbit. And it is this thought that has prompted us to consider the horridly lagging gold stocks (GDX)... READ MORE
Richard Rhodes is on hiatus this week. Â His article will return in the next issue of ChartWatchers.... READ MORE
While the US markets power towards higher highs - although in a weak manner we might add, we've begun to see outflows of funds from the Emerging Markets. Ostensibly, this is due in large part to the Egypt uprising, but there are other issues the emerging markets are... READ MORE
The recent rally in the broader stock market has begun to correct; and it shall likely correct for the next several weeks. We view this decline much in the same manner as the Jan-2010 to early Feb-2010 decline, which the S&P lost roughly 106 points or nearly -10%... READ MORE
As the 2011 trading year unfolds, it is rather clear that the consumer discretionary sector and retail in particular are showing a tendency towards declining rather than rallying with the overall broader market. This is change from the past 2-years, where the consumer discretionary names have out-performed rather than handily.... READ MORE
Happy Holidays! The recent rally off the late-August low has begun to encounter sluggish internals, which leads one to believe that the market shall be poised correct in the weeks and perhaps even months ahead. To this end, we should note the CBOE Volatility index or VIX has moved sharply... READ MORE
The past several day market rally has caught many "flat-footed" to be sure as traders head into year-end. Moreover, the prospects for further gains are rather high; hence we're likely to see many traders attempt to play "catch-up". This begs the question as to... READ MORE
Happy Thanksgiving! We view the ratio between stocks and bonds as a barometer for the "risk-on" or "risk-off" trade. Therefore, the recent upward movement in the ratio has our attention, and so too should it have our readers as it on the precipice of breaking out... READ MORE
With the "troika" of the US mid-term elections, FOMC meeting decision on QE-2, Â and the US Employment Situation Report having been digested by the markets, we thought it instructive to step back and take a longer-term viewpoint of the NASDAQ Composite. Perhaps by looking at the Composite, we... READ MORE
The S&P 500 rally off the late-August lows continues apace, although it would appear that it is stalling and a correction at a minimum is warranted. There are many who point to the 200-day moving average breakout and the "head & shoulders" neckline being pierced to... READ MORE
The S&P 500 is square within the September/October "historically weak" time frame, but it has been nothing short of astounding to be sure...to the upside. We've seen a rally in 10 of the past 13 days, with prices now squarely upon major... READ MORE
The summer is coming to an end for all practical purposes, with many traders returning from their vacations to a budding sharp rally. This presents an interesting situation for traders, for the historically weakest period lies directly ahead - the September/October time frame. Hence, the question is whether last... READ MORE
The rally off the July low is ongoing, and appears resilient in the face of very negative sentiment. While we want to be bearish based on a plethora of macro fundamentals, the technical viewpoint remains rather bullish for the time being. However, as we all understand - it could change... READ MORE
After a horrid 2nd quarter, the S&P 500 is sure making up it's losses at a rapid rate. We've been rather bearish of late given the S&P was trading below its major moving averages that delineate bull & bear markets, with the... READ MORE
The July 4th fireworks came a bit more belatedly this year as the S&P 500 rose +4.86% in the holiday shortened week. This performance was rather impressive in terms of points and breadth, but certainly not in terms of volume. To us, this calls into question the... READ MORE
The S&P 500 decline over the past several weeks has reached a critical junction point in the decline at the 380-day exponential moving average support level. There are several forward scenarios that can occur: 1) Prices are sufficiently oversold on a short-term basis to where the S&... READ MORE
We are rather interested in the manner Copper is trading at present, for Copper has shown itself in recent months to be a leading indicator of the path of the S&P 500. Perhaps this is due to it's economic sensitivity, or perhaps it is due to... READ MORE
Since the beginning of the year, the market "Generals" if you will have been the S&P Consumer Discretionary, S&P Financial and S&P Industrial sectors given they are the only sectors to have out-performed the S&P 500. However, there is only... READ MORE
The market rally higher has taken quite a few stock groups along for the ride - most notably the Consumer Discretionary and Industrial sectors. However, we've begun to see some very small rotations out of this group, and into the Energy group. This interests us greatly, for Crude... READ MORE
The recent S&P rally to new reactionary highs has shown to be on rather slim-footing given that volume patterns are rather tepid. We don't disagree in the least, but the fact of the matter is that the advance/decline figures have been rather "good"... READ MORE
Richard will return for our next issue.... READ MORE
The Gold Futures ($GOLD) market has begun to capture traders' attention once again, for the developing technical patterns would suggest new highs above $1225/oz will materialize in the months ahead. Unfortunately, we haven't included a Gold Futures price here, but take our word for it: a... READ MORE
Last week's S&P decline reached a crescendo on Friday around mid-day at 1044.50, which brings the decline to roughly 106 S&P points from the January 19th high at 1150.42. Pencil to paper, and the decline stands at -9.2%, which is just... READ MORE
The past week was punctuated with sharp stock market weakness, with many pundits believing that it is transitory and doesn't have the makings of a larger top. Quite obviously, there is nothing definitive at this juncture, but we're giving odds of over 50% that indeed a... READ MORE
Rotation, rotation and more rotation. This is what 2010 will be about, with the first week of trading a very good example of what to expect. During 2009, there were only 3 S&P sectors out of 10 that out-performed the S&P 500: Consumer Discretionary, Basic Materials... READ MORE
We'll be the first to admit that we are bearish on the housing market; and we are bullish on 10-year not yields that will ultimately have a negative impact upon mortgage rates and hence home sales. However, our fundamental backdrop really doesn't square well with our... READ MORE
Gold prices are obviously rising, and they are rising rapidly. However, given the move has begun to go parabolic in its 8-year of rally - we have to question how much higher gold prices can go in both the short and intermediate-term. To this end, the monthly charts adds some... READ MORE
We find it rather interesting that the laggard Biotechnology group and the Biotechnology ETF (BBH) in particular have begun to find sponsorship; and it is our opinion that BBH is set to embark upon a period of both absolute and relative out-performance. Quite simply, BBH is forming a rather large... READ MORE
Complacency, complacency and more complacency. While the media worries about a correction in the strong cyclical bull market, they should quite simply be considering whether or not the cyclical bull has indeed topped out and a cyclical bear market has begun. This is the nature of higher prices; market participants... READ MORE
The insatiable need to own stocks has manifested itself in most S&P sectors, in which the Consumer Discretionary sector is doing far better than anyone can believe. Most, if not all of the clients we speak with on a daily basis do not understand why this is so;... READ MORE
Richard will return for our next issue.... READ MORE
The July-August stock market rally has caught many surprised given its strength and duration; however, we are of the opinion that this "freight train" is running of out of fuel, and shall falter from roughly current levels in what may be quite a "quick and nasty"... READ MORE