- Downside Hedge – Portfolio Allocation, Hedging Strategies, Quantifying Social Media, and Twitter Stock Market Indicators

Continued Strength

Published on October 21, 2016 by Blair in Featured, Market Comments

Over the past week, my core market health indicators mostly strengthened as the market bounced around. It continues to look like the market wants to go higher, it just needs a reason. The bullish percent index (BPSPX) is still holding above 60%. As long as it stays that way the odds favor a mild decline over a 10% or more from here. If BPSPX falls below 60%, I suspect it will be as the S&P 500 Index (SPX) falls below 2100, which is a major support level. Conclusion Waiting and watching as core indicators strengthen. It looks like the market wants to go higher. But, the range between 2100 and 2200 on SPX represents significant support and resistance so a break should point the next intermediate term direction.

Tags: bpspx, market health, spx

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Make or Break Time… Kinda

Published on October 14, 2016 by Blair in Featured, Market Comments

It’s looking like make or break time for the market. So far, it looks like we’re seeing normal consolidation with healthy market internals. But, we’re getting close to a point where the risk of a 10% correction rises substantially. Long time readers know that when the bullish percent index (BPSPX) gets below 60% the odds of a large decline rises. We’re getting close to that warning level. Looking at a daily closing price chart of the S&P 500 Index (SPX) it appears that we’re painting a bull flag. Once the consolidation is over, this pattern should resolve upward. One positive thing that indicates we may have seen the worst comes from support and resistance levels tweeted by traders on Twitter (from Trade Followers). Yesterday, SPX caught at the first support level near 2120 then rallied sharply. This goes into the plus column, but SPX is still pretty far above its 200 day moving average. I wouldn’t be surprised if the current rally fizzles and takes the market down to the

Tags: bpspx, market health, spx

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Setting Up for Year End Rally

Published on October 7, 2016 by Blair in Featured, Long / Cash Position, Long / Short Position, Market Comments

Over the past week, my core measures of market quality moved back above zero. During the same period my measures of market trend and strength surged higher as well. The strength in these indicators suggest that the market will rally into year end. Earning season could change the market’s opinion, but without major problems during the first few weeks I suspect we’ll be off to the races. The move in market quality changes the current core portfolio allocations as follows: Long / Cash portfolio: 80% long and 20% cash Long / Short portfolio: 90% long high beta stocks and 10% short the S&P 500 Index (or use the ETF SH) Volatility Hedged portfolio: 100% long (since 7/5/2016) Here is a chart that shows the core portfolio allocations over the past year. Green lines represent adding long exposure. Yellow is raising cash or adding hedges. Red is an aggressive hedge using mid term volatility. Another sign that market participants are expecting a year end rally comes from the ratio between the

Tags: ndx, sh, spx

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Bull Market!

Published on October 5, 2016 by Blair in Dow Theory

Today at the close Dow Theory signaled a bull market is underway. Bull markets are expected to last from one to three years. The current signal comes after what I consider a bad bear market call in February. On a side note, almost all of my core market health indicators surged strongly higher this week. They are also indicating that the market is preparing for a year end rally. The most notable change is that my measures of market quality have now moved above zero. If that holds, the core portfolios will be adding more exposure and reducing hedges.

Tags: djia, djta

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Third Time a Charm?

Published on October 3, 2016 by Blair in Dow Theory

The Dow Jones Transportation Average (DJTA) is once again bumping up against its last secondary high. It has failed to surpass it on the last two occasions. If it can clear the 8110 level on a daily closing basis it will signal that we’re in a long term bull market. If that occurs, I’ll consider the bear market call from Dow Theory last February a bad signal that resulted in a whip saw. Although the last signal might be a bad one, Dow Theory has a long track record keeping us on the right side of the market for long term trends.

Tags: djia, djta

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Here We Go

Published on September 30, 2016 by Blair in Featured, Market Comments

Over the past week, all of my core market health indicator strengthened. Most notably, my measures of the economy and market quality, which had been laggards, rebounded sharply. Their current trajectory will likely see one or both of those categories go positive next week if the market continues to show underlying strength. It’s looking like the consolidation we’ve seen for the past two months is about to end. Another indication that the consolidation is about to end comes from Trade Followers. Their measure of sentiment for the S&P 500 Index (SPX) is calculated from investor and traders live comments on the Twitter stream. When the trend of sentiment changes it often leads the market. Earlier this week this indicator broke a downtrend line that had been in place for almost three months.This indicates investors are getting comfortable with the market moving higher and should provide fuel for a run at new highs. You can see a current chart of Twitter sentiment for the stock market here. The site also has

Tags: market health, spx

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Another Try

Published on September 23, 2016 by Blair in Featured, Market Comments

Last week, I highlighted the ratio between the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (SPXEW) and the S&P 500 Index (SPX). In that post I mentioned that a move below its 20 week moving average usually means a choppy market as money moves out of large cap stocks and into mega caps. This week, the ratio recovered. That suggests that SPX will make another attempt at a new high. Keep an eye on this indicator because a move back below the line should signal a failure and suggest we’re headed back to a choppy market at the least. My core market health indicators bounced around a bit, but my measures of market strength and quality fell further. This isn’t a good sign during a small consolidation. I prefer to see them strengthen. Conclusion Weakness in my core indicators, but strength in the ratio between SPXEW and SPX. It feels like the market wants to make another attempt at new highs, but doesn’t have the technical underpinnings to succeed.

Tags: market health, spxew

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Choppy Market Ahead

Published on September 16, 2016 by Blair in Featured, Market Comments

Over the past few weeks the market has shown some rotation out of big cap stocks and into mega cap stocks. When this occurs it generally causes choppy sideways consolidation, at the least, or a short term top with a modest consolidation (5% to 15%). I like to use a dip below the 20 week moving average in the ratio between the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (SPXEW) and the S&P 500 index (SPX) as a warning sign. This week, we’ve got that warning so we should expect a choppy market ahead. Only time will tell if this is normal rotation or a flight to safety so keep an eye on this indicator over the next few weeks. My core market health indicators showed weakness this week too, with the exception of market quality. It managed to improve which is a minor hint that the rotation we’re seeing is more likely profit taking and re-positioning rather than a flight to quality/safety. Conclusion It looks like we should expect some choppy

Tags: spxew

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Almost a Bull Market

Published on September 9, 2016 by Blair in Dow Theory, Featured, Market Comments

Yesterday, the Dow Jones Transportation Average (DJTA) closed just 32 points away from its last secondary high. If it had closed above that level it would have signaled, from Dow Theory, that a long term bull market was underway. Currently, Dow Theory sees us in a long term down trend, but with a bullish non-confirmation of the down trend. This is due to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) being above its last secondary high, but DJTA failing to surpass its last high. DJIA is about 6% above its last secondary low. A close below that level would re-confirm that we’re in a long term down trend (that can be expected to last from one year to three). When we look at a one year chart of both indexes (above) the thought that we’re in a long term bear market seems silly. But looking at a two year chart (below) one could argue that DJIA is completing a complex topping pattern, while DJTA is still in a down trend. So,

Tags: djia, djta, market health

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Core Portfolios Reducing Exposure

Published on September 2, 2016 by Blair in Featured, Long / Cash Position, Long / Short Position, Market Comments

Over the past week, my core market health indicators bounced around a bit. Most notably is that my core measures of the economy fell below zero. This results in a change in the core portfolio allocations as follows: Long / Cash portfolio: 60% long and 40% cash Long / Short portfolio: 80% long high beta stocks and 20% short the S&P 500 Index (or an ETF like SH) The Volatility hedged portfolio is not impacted by the core indicators so it is still 100% long (since 7/1/16) One other notable thing this week is my core measures of risk are still close to signaling a very bullish condition for the market. They aren’t being impacted by the small dip that started a couple of weeks ago which is a positive sign, but they haven’t moved into the “very bullish” territory yet either. This is the thing I’m watching most closely for signs of a strong rally into the end of the year.

Tags: market health, sh, spx

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Continued Strength

Make or Break Time… Kinda

Setting Up for Year End Rally

Bull Market!

Third Time a Charm?

Here We Go

Another Try

Choppy Market Ahead

Almost a Bull Market

Core Portfolios Reducing Exposure

Current Market Conditions

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