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Risk vs. Health

Published on June 16, 2017 by Blair in Featured, Long / Cash Position, Long / Short Position, Market Comments, Market Risk

We’ve got an interesting situation in the markets where perceptions of risk are extremely low, but my core indicators show an unhealthy market profile. This suggests that the unhealthy internals are most likely a result of rotation, and not the start of a longer term top. Of course, that’s not to say that mere rotation can’t turn into mass selling. But, for now, I’m not too concerned. One of the reasons I’m not to concerned is that even with the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) weakness over the past week, the percent of stocks in the S&P 500 Index (SPX) above their 200 day moving average is rising. This tells me that investors are rotating into beaten down stocks. This isn’t the way tops are usually made. Tops are made when leaders and beaten down stocks are being sold at the same time. As I mentioned above, my core indicators are showing weakness in underlying technical support. Most notably, is the market quality category which fell below zero this week. That changes our

Tags: market health

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Looking Up

Published on June 9, 2017 by Blair in Featured, Market Comments

Over the past week, all of my core market health indicators rose. They are finally starting to look like they want to confirm price, but I suspect it will take a very good week for the market next week or a couple of weeks of sideways to up movement to get any of the negative categories in positive territory. At the moment, I’m looking up rather than down.

Tags: spx

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Ray of Hope

Published on June 2, 2017 by Blair in Featured, Market Comments

I’m starting to see a few rays of hope from various measures of breadth that could provide the fuel for a broad based rally. The first comes from the Russell 2000 Index (RUT). It finally looks like it wants to play catch up with the other major indexes. Another indicator that is showing some strength is the NYSE Cumulative Advance / Decline line (NYAD). It has broken higher with the market this week. One last small ray of hope comes from the ratio between SPX and SPX Equal Weight. It turned up this week. If it can continue to rise it will help the market rise as money moves into large caps (and away from mega caps). Unfortunately, there is a looming cloud over the ray of hope. My only category of core indicators that rose this week was measures of risk. All of the others fell. This is discouraging because it could indicate that the long term trend is getting much closer to ending. Conclusion Things

Tags: market health, nyad, rut, spxew

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Breakout or Not Quite

Published on May 26, 2017 by Blair in Featured, Market Comments

We finally got a good breakout above the 2400 level on the S&P 500 Index (SPX), but my core market health indicators aren’t believing it. Most of them fell this week, which doesn’t bode well for a sustained rally. That’s not to say the market can’t chop upwards, but without underlying technical strength don’t expect huge gains. One thing I’ve been highlighting over the past few months is the ratio between SPX and equal weighted SPX. This ratio is telling us that mega cap stocks are where the money continues to flow. When this happens, the best the market can do is marginal new highs that are usually followed by chop. That’s what I expect to see until the ratio can get back above its 20 week moving average. Conclusion We’ve got a break to new highs, but underlying technical indicators aren’t confirming the rally. Expect hard fought gains followed by choppy market action.

Tags: market health, spxew

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Continued Chop

Published on May 19, 2017 by Blair in Featured, Market Comments

Last week, I concluded: The market is trying to break out, but breadth isn’t improving. This condition often results in a choppy market. If the market can break out then bulls want to see breadth improve or we risk a good size decline when the rally ends. This week, it’s the same. Longer term indicators are trying to move into positive territory, but short term indicators and measures of breadth aren’t cooperating. My core indicators, which are intermediate term, chopped around a bit, but are still on a trajectory to go positive if the market can break decisively higher. Another disconcerting breadth indicator is the percent of stocks in the S&P 500 Index that are below their 200 day moving average. This indicator is falling fast without much price damage, all while happening within a few percent of all time highs. If the market turns down from here I suspect the decline will be large. On the other hand, this is a condition that can lead to a buying surge if

Tags: market health, spx200

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Breadth Not Improving

Published on May 12, 2017 by Blair in Featured, Market Comments

Over the past week, my core market health indicators bounced around a bit. They are mostly showing short term weakness, but longer term strength. This usually means the market should resolve higher. One thing of particular note is that my core measures of risk are deteriorating rapidly. This isn’t a normal occurrence near all time highs. The last time this occurred was in February of 2015 which was followed by several months of choppy movement, then a decent decline. This isn’t a prediction, just an observation and something to watch. Another thing I’m watching closely is various measures of breadth. The most significant at the moment is the ratio between the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (SPXEW) and the S&P 500 Index (SPX). When it is below its 20 week moving average the market usually chops around (at the least). This is exactly what we’ve seen since it fell below the line in early February. Another measure of breadth comes from the number of bullish stocks on the

Tags: market health, spx, spxew

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Ready for the Rally

Published on May 5, 2017 by Blair in Featured, Market Comments

Over the past few weeks, my core market health indicators improved significantly, with the exception of my measures of the economy. The strength seen suggests that the market wants to rally. Although my measures of trend and strength are still negative, they are on a trajectory to turn positive within a week or two. One thing of note is that the current strength is coming from mega cap stocks. This isn’t a healthy condition. Normally, a healthy rally will have broad participation from the stocks in the S&P 500 Index (SPX). This isn’t happening. Look at the ratio between SPX equal weighted (SPXEW). It is still falling. Bulls want to see this ratio turn up if the market breaks higher. Another sign of poor participation in the market comes from the percent of SPX stocks above their 200 day moving average. As SPX is approaching new highs, the percent of SPX stocks above their 200 dma is falling. This increases the risk that a breakout rally will be

Tags: market health, spx, spx200, spxew

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Waiting for a Direction

Published on April 21, 2017 by Blair in Featured, Market Comments

Over the past week, my core market health indicators bounced around, but had no significant changes. With most of the indicators compressing near the zero line, it appears that the market is waiting for a direction. One thing of note, is that my measures of market quality are very close to going negative. I suspect that the market will need to rally next week or this category of indicators will cause us to change the core portfolio allocations (raise some more cash or add more hedges). However, the volatility hedged portfolio is still a long way away from a negative reading. This means it would take substantial perception of risk in the market to hedge. This portfolio is still 100% long. Another sign the decline isn’t causing panic. Conclusion My core indicators are compressing near zero. This indicates that market participants are waiting for a direction. Measures of risk are still healthy. This also suggests that everyone is waiting before taking any serious actions. So, we wait and see

Tags: market health

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Not Much Change

Published on April 7, 2017 by Blair in Featured, Market Comments

Over the past week, my core market health indicators mostly deteriorated, but not in a significant way. The other indicators I’m following aren’t showing any real weakness. As a result, this still looks like consolidation of the recent rally rather than a change in the intermediate or long term trend. As always, make your own decisions about portfolio allocation based on your personal risk tolerance.

Tags: market health

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Not Much Change

Published on March 31, 2017 by Blair in Featured, Market Comments

Over the past week, there wasn’t a lot of movement in my core market health indicators. It looks like we’ll have to wait and see if the current bounce holds or not. One thing that is showing a lot of improvement is the NYSE cumulative Advance Decline Line (NYAD). It is leading price on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and moving above its last high. This makes it much less likely that we’re painting a long term or even intermediate term top. Conclusion My core indicators are showing lackluster response to a small bounce in price, but NYAD is signalling that there’s not much chance of a large decline starting from here. I’m in wait and see mode without much worry.

Tags: market health, nyad

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Risk vs. Health

Looking Up

Ray of Hope

Breakout or Not Quite

Continued Chop

Breadth Not Improving

Ready for the Rally

Waiting for a Direction

Not Much Change

Not Much Change

Current Market Conditions

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