Two-Way Traffic Ahead for the Markets?

By David Moenning: Good morning. For much of the past seven weeks, stocks have been entrenched in what the bears will term a correction and/or what the bulls refer to as a consolidation phase. And just about the time our furry friends in the bear camp had gotten everyone convinced that the only direction the stock market could head going forward would be down, something strange occurred - some good news showed up.

By David Moenning: Good Morning. It is fairly safe to say that nearly early every trader, chartist, and market analyst on the planet will agree that the stock market is extended and that the bulls are likely to take a break at some point in the near future. Call it a pullback, a consolidation, a correction, a "sloppy period" (this one's my personal favorite), or whatever you'd like, but the bottom line is that most everyone is looking for the current joyride to the upside to pause soon.

David Moenning submits: Good morning. Although the damage was not terribly significant, stocks floundered again on Thursday as it appears that traders may be starting to have second thoughts about continuing to buy stocks. After such a glorious run higher over the past two and one-half months, some profit taking, a pullback, or even a correction is certainly to be expected.

By David Moenning: Good morning. With the market now down twelve of the last thirteen sessions, it is fairly obvious that we've got a corrective phase on our hands. Although the S&P is down "just" -7.8% during the current pullback, the fact that this move has been almost completely devoid of any upside makes things feel worse than they actually are.

David Moenning submits: Good morning. Traders dealt with an abundance of inputs on Thursday; while the news was definitely not positive across the board, it appears that the end result was. Thus, the argument can be made that when a market stops going down on bad news, it means that those who wanted to sell have likely already done so.

David Moenning submits: Good morning. Once again the bears had an opening on Monday. With China surprising nearly everyone on Christmas day by raising interest rates for the second time since mid-October, our furry friends had ample ammunition to spread some fear. However, it appears that our furry friends must have been snowed in Monday morning and just didn't have the energy to make it into work.

David Moenning submits: Good morning. One of the most difficult parts of the stock market game is to deal with what IS happening in the market as opposed to what you believe SHOULD be happening. Along these lines, a couple of the key lessons I've learned over the years include: (1) Never, ever use the words "should," "could," or "would" when referencing trading decisions (i.e. avoid the "shoulda, coulda, woulda" game) and (2) Ms.

By David Moenning: Good Morning. By now I'm sure you are aware of the fact that the S&P's 12% gain in the first quarter was the best Q1 of any year since 1998. And by now I'm guessing that you are also well aware that just about everyone on the planet is looking for a pullback, a consolidation, a correction, or even a "sloppy" phase to set in.