Market Commentary: Markets Open Down, Recover To Flat Status, Expected To Melt Down

Written by Gary

Opening Market Commentary For 09-23-2014

Premarkets were down -0.3% as expected along with a lack of 8:30 am US financial reporting. Markets opened in a similar manner quickly moving from -0.05% to -0.3% in the first 3 minutes on moderate volume.

By 10 am the markets were just in the green on low volume and then leveled off and sea-sawing in the flat and lackluster zone. I suspect we will see more losses before the end of this session.

US Syrian airstrikes seem to effect Europe more than the US as French CAC is down 1.93%, the London Stock Exchange ‘Footsie’ down 1.74% and the German DAX down 1.33%.

If past market performances hold true, we will see another days of negative results and then another surge upwards.

The medium term indicators are leaning towards the hold side at the opening and the short-term market direction meter is bullish. We remain mostly, at best, neutral and conservatively holding. The important DMA’s, volume and a host of other studies have not turned significantly and that is not enough for me to start shorting, but now I am getting very concerned. The SP500 MACD has turned flat, but remains above zero at +6.71. I would advise caution in taking any position during this uncertain period although some technical indicators have starting to turn bearish.

Investing.com members’ sentiments are 75 % Bearish and it seems to be a good sign for being bullish. The ‘Sheeples’ always seem to get it wrong.

Investors Intelligence sets the breath at 57.9 % bullish with the status at Bear Confirmed. (Chart Here )

StockChart.com NYSE Bullish Percent Index ($BPNYA) is at 62.62. (Chart Here) Very close to support and now flattening.

StockChart.com S&P 500 Bullish Percent Index ($BPSPX) is at 71.40. (Chart Here) Remains just above support and now pausing.

StockChart.com 10 Year Treasury Note Yield Index ($TNX) is at 25.51. (Chart Here) Treasury Yield Curve Approaches Flattest Since 2009.

StockChart.com Overbought / Oversold Index ($NYMO) is at -58.23. (Chart Here) But anything below -30 / -40 is a concern of going deeper. Oversold conditions on the NYSE McClellan Oscillator usually bounce back at anything over -50 and reverse after reaching +40 oversold.

StockChart.com Consumer Discretionary ETF (XLY) is at 67.46. (Chart Here) Testing support.

Chris Ciovacco says, “As long as the consumer discretionary ETF (NYSEARCA:XLY) holds above [66.88], all things being equal, it is a good sign for stocks and the U.S. economy.” This chart clearly shows that dropping below 65.50 should be of a great concern to bullish investors. Wednesday, 9-3-2014, XLY edged up to 69.25 and was a signal that we might have another reversal as were are witnessing.

Do You Trust The Fed?

By Bret Jensen

My own opinion is that the Federal Reserve should have taken off the “training wheels” some time ago. The economy would have taken a short-term hit, but I think we would be much further along in our recovery by taking our lumps earlier in the cycle before the Federal Reserve expanded their balance sheet to such a massive level.

So, going forward; Do you trust the Fed? There are myriad reasons I do not and I believe rough times are ahead in the market.

Why You Should Not Be Comfortable With The Level Of The Stock Markets

Summary

• The Dow Jones has set a new record above 17,000.

• The NFP came out with a stronger than expected number of 288,000 new jobs for June.

• Wage growth remains low, well below the level the Fed would like to see.

The U.S. economic recovery is not on sure footing yet. There are foundation issues, especially in the housing market and with wages. The Fed should take into account these problems before raising rates. The Fed is in the middle of tapering its massive bond buying program, hoping to end it by end of October 2014. They have continued to keep short term rates near zero, amid speculation they will raise them soon. The Fed is correct in keeping them as is. It is still too early to raise rates. While 200K new jobs a month is a good thing, a print of 300K would point to a stronger economic recovery.

There are reasons to be concerned. While there is a feeling of euphoria over the Dow Jones hitting 17,000 and closing above it, do not expect it to stay at this level. There is no real economic growth supporting it.

Bottom line here is that I have not seen any serious bears jumping out of the woods just yet, although I am VERY concerned that ANY minor correction could turn nasty in a heart beat. One significant signal would be daily losses in any of the major averages that go over the ‘magic’ 3 % and then you need to pay close attention to risk-off tactics. There hasn’t been a 10% correction in several years and some investors are becoming increasingly concerned an imminent correction is on the way.

Sometime in the future, there will be another three percent drop, only it will go to four, recover somewhat and the BTFDers will cry halleluiah and buy again. Only this time it doesn’t recover fully like in the past and drops again, increasing the net drop to seven percent and so on.

Investors are currently unhappy, unenthusiastic, skittish and ready to jump ship every time it nudges against a small financial iceberg. They remain long for now unable to afford to sell and live off cash savings that have negative real rates thanks to the Feds. They feel in their guts, correctly, that a real ‘correction’ is coming and can’t do anything about it until it is too late. Greed rules the day and investors should be very cautious.

The DOW at 10:30 is at 17155 down 19 or -0.11%.

The SP500 is at 1993 down 2 or -0.09%.

SPY is at 198.93 down 0.19 or -0.11%.

The $RUT is at 1130 up 0.83 or 0.07%.

NASDAQ is at 4526 down 2 or -0.03%.

NASDAQ 100 is at 4058 down 3 or -0.07%.

How the Popular ‘VIX’ Gauge Works

$VIX ‘Fear Index’ is at 13.98 up 0.29 or 2.12%. Neutral Movement

(Follow Real Time Market Averages at end of this article)

The longer trend is up, the past months trend is net positive, the past 5 sessions have been neutral and the current bias is flat and mixed.

Gasoline Heading Toward $3?

WTI oil is trading between 91.70 (resistance) and 90.78 (support) today. The session bias is very volatile and trending up and is currently trading up at 91.63. (Chart Here)

Brent Crude is trading between 97.59 (resistance) and 96.57 (support) today. The session bias is net negative and is currently trading up at 97.02. (Chart Here)

Why Gold Will Rise When The Dollar Falls

– and –

The general consensus is that gold prices will actually fall in the next twelve months (Sept to Aug. 2015). Goldman Sachs estimates that gold will fall to $1,050 an ounce, a drop of nearly 19%.

Gold fell from 1235.62 earlier to 1220.28 and is currently trading down at 1222.40. The current intra-session trend is negative. (Chart Here)

Dr. Copper is at 3.037 falling from 3.064 earlier. (Chart Here)

The US dollar is trading between 84.80 and 84.46 and is currently trading up at 84.72, the bias is currently neutral and volatile. (Chart Here)

The markets are still susceptible to climbing on ‘Bernankellen’ vapor, use caution!

“Investors should remember that excitement and expenses are their enemies. And if they insist on trying to time their participation inequities, they should try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful.” – Warren Buffett

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Real Time Market Numbers

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Written by Gary