Market Momentum Quickly Shifts Back to Bulls, But..

 

Dr. Duru submits: With tongue reaching for the cheek last week, I declared the market both extremely undervalued and very overvalued, guessing that “as earnings season grinds on, I suspect the near-predictable pattern of post-earnings fades will finally wear thin, giving way to more bullish behavior.” I did not expect the turn to happen so clearly and dramatically within a day or two. The 3-month violent seesaw between bears and bulls took a very favorable swing for the bulls last week. For seven straight days, the S&P-500 failed to crack resistance at the 50-day moving average (DMA). The index finally broke through on Thursday. On Friday, it actually printed follow-through strong enough to set new highs for July. The last downtrend has now ended. Two key lines of resistance remain overhead. If the market conquers these, the July low will quickly become a distant memory, a milestone to revisit another day further in the future. My vote goes with the October earnings season. The November elections are too much a potential game-changer for me to even dare hazard a guess for market direction: a Democratic survival would no doubt send Republicans into a steep and sustained depression, weighing the market down in the process; the stock market could rally long and strong in anticipation of or in the aftermath of a Republican victory. Regardless of the outcome of these elections, the reality that BOTH of our major parties are sources of major problems will smack us in the face soon enough in 2011 and onward.Complete Story »

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  • Dr. Duru submits: Momentum continues to swing swiftly in favor of the bulls. The stock market is now pushing deep into overbought territory just three weeks after it was fashionable again to talk about a double dip recession. Last week, the S&P 500 broke a downtrend I assumed would hold for at least a few more weeks. It is now pushing right up against its 200-day moving average (DMA).

  • Pacific Financial Planners submits:After some constructive base building the last couple of weeks, the market failed an important test at its 50 day moving average. Unfortunately the market also failed at its 50 day moving averages back in mid May, setting up a test of the February lows. Since that rebuff, all three of the major indices have fallen below their 200 day moving averages, signaling a change in control from the bulls back to the bears.

  • Pacific Financial Planners submits:Volatility is back with a vengeance. The market is witnessing extreme swings in both directions, but primarily the market has been going down – fast. Support is at 1040 on the S&P (Tuesday’s intraday low) and resistance is first at 1104, then 1110 – 1140. The NASDAQ has major support at 2140 (also Tuesday’s low) and resistance at 2370.

  • Sy Harding submits:In last weekend’s column I noted that the market was again short-term oversold and due for another rally attempt. But I said, “I’m not ready to turn bullish yet.

  • Daryl Montgomery submits: All four major U.S. stock indices began to form a bear market trading pattern during July. The rally that started early in the month paused the formation of that pattern, but didn't reverse it. Then the selling this week added more evidence that stocks are in a bear environment.

  • Kapitall submits:For today's post, we'll be focusing on the 50-day and 200-day moving average trends for all listed stocks with a market cap north of $2.0B.The concept is simple: If the 50-day moving average of a stock crosses above the 200-day moving average, it is considered a buy signal. This indicator is nicknamed the "Golden Cross", and represents a major shift from the bears to the bulls.

  • Dr. Duru submits: It seems the market is adjusting to the high potential on Friday morning for a significant revision to second quarter U.S. GDP.

  • Thomas MacLeod submits:The essence of a bull trend is a series of higher highs and higher lows. Just a few days ago equity markets as per narrow definitions (like the Dow) and more broad definitions (like the Value Line) were trading at multi-week highs. Markets looked so bullish that we struggled to find any bearish activity which we could take seriously.

  • Dr. Duru submits: Almost on schedule, the pendulum has swung back to “sell” on the S&P 500. The technical setup on the index shows extremely overbought conditions with buying volume falling just as the index reaches for overhead resistance (see chart below). Combine these conditions with the launch of earnings season, a new round of U.S.

  • Pacific Financial Planners submits:

 
DJI: 10447.93 1.22% |S&P 500: 1104.51 1.3% |FTSE: 5428.15 1.05% |Nikk.: 9114.13 0.56% |DAX: 6134.62 0.83% |HSI: 20971.50 0.49% |
FX: EUR/GBP: 1.1992 | USD/EUR: 1.2894 | JPY/USD: 84.425 | Commodities: Gold: 1247.00 | Crude - CLH09.NYM: 0.00 |