Warning signs have piled up for months, but there have been few breakdowns to confirm all of these bearish signals. That changed last week as volume surged leading to breakdowns across many of our major indices, sectors and industry groups. One obvious problem was the S&P 500'... READ MORE
We've been watching our DecisionPoint indicators very closely over the past week as they have moved into neutral and now oversold territory. All three time frames are technically bearish as the indicators continue to fall without bottoming. Carl had written about a minor selling climax in the DecisionPoint... READ MORE
GERMAN DAX FALLS BELOW 200-DAY AVERAGE... My last two messages warned that weakness in the Eurozone threatened the global rally in stocks, including the U.S. Not surprisingly, this week's plunge in Europe finally had a negative impact on most other developed markets. Chart 1 shows EMU iShares... READ MORE
While the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 moved to new highs in late July, their respective AD Lines did not follow suit and formed small bearish divergences. The lower highs in the AD Lines indicate that breadth did not keep up with the underlying indices, which suggests narrowing... READ MORE
USING RSI TO TIME A BOUNCE IN THE S&P 500... Link for today's video. The S&P 500 finally came under selling pressure to join small-caps and mid-caps with a pullback. The S&P 500 was down 2% on Thursday, which was the sharpest... READ MORE
Click here for the printed version of this article.... READ MORE
Donald Trump was quoted as saying “Get going. Move forward. Aim high. Plan a takeoff. Change your attitude and gain some altitude. Believe me, you’ll love it up here.” I will admit that in the middle of summer, my passion for the markets ebbs. As I talk to my... READ MORE
Stocks were hit with broad selling pressure on Thursday as the major index ETFs opened weak and remained weak throughout the day. The inability to bounce indicates that buyers remained on the sidelines and did not step in to buy the dip. All sectors were down as were all 105... READ MORE
THE DOW ENDS THE MONTH ON A WEAK NOTE... The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) tested the 50 DMA yesterday on Chart 1. Today it failed to hold above it and spent all day below the commonly watched average and closed on the low of the day, week and month.... READ MORE
There is a new feature in town: Relative Rotation Graphs from Julius de Kempenaer. These graphs make it easy to see which sectors are improving, leading, weakening and lagging. Most recently, notice how the Utilities SPDR (XLU) moved from the leading quadrant to the weakening quadrant over the last eight... READ MORE
For the second week in a row the AAII (American Association of Individual Investors) Investor Sentiment Poll shows that the percentage of bulls and bears are about equal, resulting in a Bull/Bear ratio of 1.0. This is a mildly bullish reading, but it is a far cry from... READ MORE
It was yet another mixed day on Wall Street. As with Tuesday, small-caps and micro-caps were up and showed some relative strength. QQQ and techs were also up, but DIA and the Equal-Weight S&P 500 ETF edged lower. Five of the nine sectors were up with consumer discretionary... READ MORE
* Breadth continues to deteriorate following Special K sell signal for the NYSE Composite. * Bonds are likely to violate an important up trendline. * Gold and commodities may be about to reverse their recent declines. (Click here for the video version of this article.) US Equities The US equity market has not... READ MORE
EUROZONE REMAINS UNDER PRESSURE... The Eurozone has been under a lot of pressure lately as reflected in the falling Euro and stock prices. That downside pressure may increase with this week's announcement of more sanctions imposed on Russia. Eurozone countries are the most vulnerable to growing tensions in... READ MORE
It was another mixed day, but the usual performance mix got turned around. Note that the Russell 2000 iShares and Russell MicroCap iShares gained on the day, but the Nasdaq 100 ETF and S&P 500 SPDR lost ground. It is usually the other way around. I would not... READ MORE
We track a group of ultra-short-term indicators that identify buying or selling climaxes in that time frame. Climax readings typically tell us that price movement in the direction of the climax is probably exhausted, and that consolidation or price reversal is possible. Today the Climactic Volume Indicator (CVI) and Participation... READ MORE
I was looking through the list of large-cap stocks with the biggest gains in their StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR) and found Wynn Resorts with a huge move (+24.8 to 78). Wynn is now in the top 23 percent of large-caps for relative strength based on the SCTR. Looking at... READ MORE
SECTORS REFLECT MIXED MARKET... Link for today's video. The stock market as a whole has been quite mixed over the past month. Note that the S&P 500 SPDR (+1%) and Nasdaq 100 ETF (+3.3%) are up month-to-date, but the Russell 2000 iShares (-3.5%) and... READ MORE
There are four setups today. We start with a major pharma stock making a breakout bid after a bear trap. Second, there is a cosmetics stock with a bearish wedge taking shape. Third, we have an online travel stock with a bullish triangle. And finally, we finish with a teen... READ MORE
Guess what? Stocks were mixed again on Monday. IWM edged lower and SPY edged higher. And I do mean "edged" because the gains and losses were minimal. Six of the nine sectors were higher with the Utilities SPDR leading (up 1.39%). The Home Construction iShares moved sharply... READ MORE
RETAIL ETFS TEST IMPORTANT SUPPORT LEVELS... Link for today's video. The Retail SPDR (XRT) and the MarketVectors Retail ETF (RTH) are still in uptrends, but both are testing important support levels that hold the key to these uptrends. Chartists should watch these two closely because breakdowns would be... READ MORE
Stocks started the month mixed and remain mixed. Over the past month, QQQ is up 3.70%, SPY is up 1.09% and IWM is down 3.15%. The Technology SPDR is leading with a 4.12% gain over the past month. The Utilities SPDR is lagging with a 2.... READ MORE
* Shanghai breaks bear market trendline and takes the FXI with it. * Long-term relative action suggests the FXI is no longer a world laggard, but a leader instead. * Shanghai correlation with commodities argues for higher commodity prices in general. * Chinese materials, real estate and energy ETF’s break to the upside.... READ MORE
SMALL CAP DIVERGENCE IS TROUBLING... Although the U.S. stock market has shown impressive resilience over the past few months, there are some troubling signs beneath the surface. One is the negative divergence between small caps and large caps. Since March 5, the S&P 500 Large Cap Index... READ MORE
LARGE-CAPS CONTINUE TO DO THEIR PART... Link for today's video. The S&P 500 SPDR (SPY) continued its uptrend with a move above the upper trend line of a pennant and a new high this week. Technically, a pennant within an uptrend is a bullish continuation pattern... READ MORE
One of the highest leverage activities – if not THE highest leverage activity – that investors should focus on is to organize their routines, analysis and portfolios in a manner that maximizes tradeable opportunities. Some investors will bump about for decades before they achieve a system that effectively analyzes the markets and... READ MORE
$SPX MAKES ANOTHER NEW CLOSING HIGH ... With the S&P 500 ($SPX) hitting new highs (1991) again today, the index is only 27 points from the 2014 level in the year 2014. That is a little more than 1% from today's high. On Chart 1 we can... READ MORE
* General correction in US equities not over despite a higher S&P. * Dollar Index breaks to the upside. * Gold likely to experience more base building before moving higher. * CRB meets downside objective, now we will see how it can handle a rally. US Equities Last week I pointed out... READ MORE
The PerfChart below shows the Base Metals ETF (DBB) along with seven other metal-related ETFs. Notice that the Aluminum ETF (JJU) and Palladium ETF (PALL) are the big leaders. Meanwhile, the Gold SPDR (GLD) and the Silver ETF (SLV) are the laggards. Gold is clearly precious and lagging. Aluminum is... READ MORE
There are five setups today. We start with an LED light company with a bearish continuation pattern. Second, there is a Chinese e-commerce stock with a bullish continuation pattern. Third, I am featuring a networking stock that hit resistance at a key retracement. Fourth, there is a consumer foods stock... READ MORE
Stocks were mostly higher, but the gains were small and there were some pockets of weakness. QQQ hit a new high and remains the strongest of the major index ETFs. The sectors were mixed with six up and three down. Energy, materials and healthcare led the gainers. The Home Construction... READ MORE
Apple reported earnings yesterday after the close, missing the 1.33 estimate by five cents. This set up a fundamental reason for the market to punish the stock, and there is a technical situation also pointing toward a potential decline. AAPL is challenging the all-time highs set in 2012, but... READ MORE
Editor's Note: Julius de Kempenaer is the creator of Relative Rotation Graphs ("RRGs"). He will be contributing regular articles to this blog about RRGs and how they can be used to improved your investing results. Welcome Julius! As of last Saturday 19 July 2014 StockCharts.com... READ MORE
The PerfChart below shows the Multi-sector Agriculture ETF (DBA) along with six other agriculturally based ETFs. Five of the six got slammed over the past month with the Corn Trust ETF (CORN) and Soybean Fund (SOYB) posting double digit losses. The Cocoa Fund (NIB) is the lone winner with a... READ MORE
Stocks moved higher on Tuesday with modest gains in the major index ETFs. The Russell 2000 iShares led with a .84% gain and the Dow Diamonds lagged with a .33% gain. Seven of the nine sectors were higher with technology, energy and healthcare leading. The consumer staples and utilities sectors... READ MORE
THREE STYLES AND THREE DEGREES OF CORRECTION... Link for today's video. A style index or ETF is one that groups stocks by market cap. This is sometimes taken further by subdividing these groupings into value and growth components. For example, we have the S&P 500 (large-cap)... READ MORE
There are only four setups today because the pickings are slim during earnings season. Risk is always above average when a company reports earnings and I try to insure that the earnings report is at least a week away. Today, we have tech stock with a large triangle after a... READ MORE
The July funk continues for stocks. After good gains on Friday, some selling pressure hit on Monday and the major index ETFs closed modestly lower. The Russell 2000 iShares fell .40% and the Nasdaq 100 ETF lost just .12% on the day. Eight of the nine sectors were down. The... READ MORE
Hello Fellow ChartWatchers! Long-time members know that I am always thrilled whenever I can start my article with the phrase "Today I am thrilled to announce...". And that phrase has been used so much in 2014 that it is starting to lose all meaning. As I mentioned in... READ MORE
Financial stocks have lagged throughout 2014 and are showing signs of slowing momentum. That's keeping hope alive for the bears. The XLF (ETF tracking financial stocks) has a clear long-term negative divergence in play on its MACD as you can see from the chart below: Most of the... READ MORE