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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 14:49 | 显示全部楼层
Q's Coil Pattern Not Necessarily Bullish
By Mike Paulenoff



It should come as no surprise that the Q's (NASDAQ: QQQQ) have been carving out a coil pattern off of Monday's high at 30.46. Normally, a coil at the top of a potent upmove should be considered bullish, and should resolve to the upside -- in this case in a thrust to new recovery highs projected into the 31.25 area. Normally? For me the fact that the coil started with an up-gap open on Monday am skews the likely resolution because that GAP may well "need" to be filled (29.03-29.44) prior to the expected upleg to 31.25. I am just guessing about that, but my work is warning me to remain 25% long the SDS (UltraShort SPY ETF) at this juncture in our model portfolio, rather than holding a long position in the Q's in anticipation of a thrust to 31.25 sooner than later






Gold Attempting Thrust Out of Bull Flag
By Mike Paulenoff




As we speak, the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) is attempting to thrust out of a two-day bull flag type of formation, which represents the digestion period in the aftermath of yesterday's potent upmove from Friday's low at 72.91 to 77.03. If the bull flag resolves itself to the upside, then the GLD should climb towards a test of yesterday's high at 77.03 -- likely on the way to a test of more important resistance along the 11/25 down trendline -- now at 77.25. Only a break beneath today's pullback low at 75.08 will compromise the near-term technical set-up.








Homebuilders Pulling Back from Peak
By Mike Paulenoff



The SPDR Select Homebuilders ETF (AMEX: XHB) has gone "red" now after hitting a first-hour high at 13.50 (which we noted on Dec 4 as our first target area), which happens to be 64% above the Nov 21 low at 8.21. The XHB represents the most beaten-down of market sectors (along with the financials), and led on the upside during the Nov-Dec upmove. So it's only reasonable to expect the homebuilders to be among the first of the sectors to peak and pullback. Corrective weakness in the XHB should press into the 12.25-11.80 support area, which should contain the selling pressure ahead of another loop to the upside that should propel the prices above 14.00.




Sunday, December 7, 2008Falling Bonds, TLTs; Rising Equities, SPYs
By Mike Paulenoff





Last week we wrote about the Lehman 20+ Year T-Bond ETF (AMEX: TLT) as an indicator of flight to safety, which we believed was starting to wane. On Friday the TLTs, which move inversely to yields, violated an important initial support plateau at 111.45, while equities rallied, the first such signal that some more money is coming out of the safety of ZERO return,seeking "a bit more risk."


For ETF traders, the TLTs could be a potential short, while the S&P 500 Depository Receipts (AMEX: SPY) have a bullish look. Friday's upside reversal in the SPY positions the price structure for the start of a secondary upleg off of the November 21 low, which should propel prices towards a confrontation with the 20-day adaptive moving average, now at 94.46.


Only a break of Friday's low at 82.24 will completely wreck the current very constructive near-term set-up.

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Oil Closing in on $40
By Mike Paulenoff




Oil is closing in on $40.00 and perhaps on the way to $37.50 amidst an increasingly acute oversold condition. The trendline created by connecting the two major rally peaks between September 2000 ($37.89) and February 2003 ($39.99) cuts across the price axis at 46.00-43.50. As the chart shows, a sustained break of 43.50 points to the $37.50 area next. Where will it finally find that acutely oversold, extreme downside price level? I don't know, but my pattern work off of the July high at $147.27 warns that it is approaching fast, a potential opportunity for ETF traders of the US Oil Fund (AMEX: USO).




Thursday, December 4, 2008Rocketing Euro/$ Pops Gold
By Mike Paulenoff





The upside reversal in EURUSD today has popped the streetTRACKS Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) to an intraday high at 77.63, which if nothing else has put some distance between the price structure and key near-term support at the December low of 75.10/05. Prices have pulled back to 75.88 even though EURUSD has held its gains, which means that gold prices remain heavily influenced by the continual selling pressure across the commodity complex in general -- and in oil, in particular. Oil prices have plunged to new lows at $44.52, the lowest level since February 2005 and at the top of a support band that stretches across major highs going back to September 2000.






Homebuilders Surge
By Mike Paulenoff




The Homebuilders ETF (AMEX: XHB) appears to have established a significant low at 8.21 on Nov 21, and already has carved out what exhibits a bullish initial upleg from 8.21 to 12.24 (11/26). The pullback into yesterday's low at 10.32 has been reversed this morning, in a powerful surge that is nearing a retest of the 11/26 high, which if hurdled should trigger additional strength towards a confrontation with the declining 50 DMA, now at 13.83. What now? My near-term work argues that for the next couple of weeks, the XHB is in a "buy the dips" set-up, on the way to 13.60/80. If the XHB pulls back later today, I will be looking to enter the long side for our model portfolio, but not here atop a 13% advance.




Q's Pressing Towards 50% Retracement of Upmove
By Mike Paulenoff




The Q's (NASDAQ: QQQQ) are pressing towards a 50% giveback of the prior 5-session upmove, at 27.25, which is the next significant support plateau beneath the 11/25 pullback low of 27.52. If 27.25 does not contain the selling pressure, then we should expect downside continuation that fills the gap area from 11/24 in the 27.00-26.65 target zone. However, the extreme oversold condition on a micro timeframe suggests strongly that an intervening rally could very well emerge that propels the Q's to 28.30/50 prior to another loop to the downside that fills the gap. Keep in mind that such a scenario --intervening rally and then another decline to fill the gap -- all could occur between now and tomorrow morning, after which my short-term pattern work argues for upside continuation into recovery high ground.




Saturday, November 29, 2008Treasury Bull on Borrowed Time
By Mike Paulenoff

I must confess that the pattern in the bond market is a bit surprising. Yield on the 30-year T-bond fell to a low of 3.48% on Friday, which helped to propel the Lehman 20+ Year T-Bond (AMEX: TLT) to a new high of 106.30. Who exactly feels comfortable buying a 30-year piece of paper at less than 3.50% is a mystery in general, but specifically at THIS time, after all of the stimulus and rescue plans, the incredible 24/7 use of the printing presses, and during a period when equities are staging an impressive rally (so far).


From a technical standpoint, the TLTs have created a divergent price peak (with underlying momentum), which warns us that the power of the upmove is dissipating quickly -- although the timing of a pending reversal may be elusive at the moment. Finally, the pattern carved out off the June low looks complete to me, which is yet another warning signal that the TLTs are "on borrowed time," and why our model portfolio remains long the ultrashort version of the TLTs -- the TBTs -- ahead of what I think is an approaching price and yield reaction of significance.







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Posted by Avid Trader at 7:04 PM

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Labels: Equities, Equities Commentary, Trading




Healthcare ETF Looking Robust
By Mike Paulenoff




Many of the major components of the SPDR Select Healthcare ETF (AMEX: XLV) have been acting well technically and exhibiting patterns that argue for more upside directly. These include Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Merck (MKR), Pfizer (PFE) and Eli Lilly (LLY). Let's expect continued strength in the ETF that next confronts a key 8-week resistance line, now at 25.35/40. If hurdled that will trigger upside follow-through towards my optimal target zone of 27.20/60.

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Significant Intermediate-Term Bottom in Natural Gas
By Mike Paulenoff




Could it be? That today's action in the US Natural Gas Fund ETF (AMEX: UNG) represents another coordinate low within a series of lows that will comprise a significant intermediate-term bottom? So far, that is exactly what appears to be unfolding. On a daily chart (not shown), today's upmove has the makings of a key upside reversal day, the first such very positive technical indication on a daily chart basis since the bottoming action started on November 14. Nonetheless, to REALLY get anything going on the upside, the price structure must hurdle and sustain above 28.60/80 resistance, which should trigger upside follow-through towards my next optimal target of 30.50-31.00.
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Impressive Resiliency
By Mike Paulenoff




One thing is for sure: the major equity market ETFs in general, and the Q's (Nasdaq: QQQQ) in particular, all have exhibited some impressive resiliency today -- in the aftermath of 13-14% upmoves since last Friday's low. As to whether or not the pullback from 28.80 to 27.52 in and of itself represents a completed minor correction, I really don't know just yet. A climb that sustains above 28.30 ahead of the closing bell will argue that the Q's in fact have started a new upleg. Conversely, inability to hurdle 28.30 will leave open the likelihood of another loop to the downside that retests and possibly breaks today's intraday low at 27.52 prior to my expectation of another upleg.

















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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 14:53 | 显示全部楼层
Potential Double-Bottom for Natural Gas
By Mike Paulenoff




Let's notice that the action during November in the US Natural Gas Fund ETF (AMEX: UNG) has created a potential double bottom formation. That said, however, purely from a technical perspective, the price structure must hurdle and sustain above 28.70 to trigger the upside potential of the pattern, which would project to the 31.00 target zone. A climb above 28.70 also will position the price structure to break the back of the November downtrend, now at 29.25.



Saturday, November 22, 2008From Sell the Rallies to Buy the Pullbacks?
By Mike Paulenoff





Friday's low in the S&P 500 at 741.02 tested the monthly trendline going back to October 1987, after breaking the October 2002 low at 768.60. The RSI reading of a "healthy" oversold reading currently at 15.1 had not been this far beneath the 25% oversold demarcation line since the October 1974 r
eading of 13.3. At 2:30 pm Eastern, with the SPX at 754.17, I noted to our subscribers that the 13-month vicious bear market has created conditions similar to the most acutely bullish readings in the past 35 years -- creating a potentially explosive technical setup for a recovery rally phase in the SPX.

Well, we know what happened in the final hour, with the SPX closing above 800 -- and the S&P 500 Depository Receipts (AMEX: SPY), which our ETF-focused subscribers trade, rising from the session low of 74.34 to close at 79.52. This could be the signal that, at the very least, the most recent downleg from the November 4 is complete and that the recovery rally has commenced. The real test will come if and when futures climb to confront critical resistance at 830-840.


For the time being, though, my near-term work indicates the equity indices have transcended from "sell the rallies" to "buy the pullbacks."


Upside Reversal Nearing for Q's
By Mike Paulenoff



With two hours remaining in today's session, I can make a case that this morning's low at 25.21 in the Q's ended the decline from the Election Day high at 33.96. To trigger initial confirmations that such a low is in place, the Q's will have to climb and sustain above 26.65. However, with option expiration approaching during today's final hour, yet another spike to the downside would not surprise me -- that presses the Q's to my optimal target zone of 25.00-24.70 prior to my expectation of a wicked upside reversal. The "bearish" scenario implies a plunge to or beneath the lower support line of the Oct-Nov down-channel. Usually, a major reversal in direction only will occur after one or other side of the channel is breached by 1-2% prior to a vicious pivot in the opposite direction. Let's see how it unfolds: a climb above 26.65 or a press to new lows beneath 25.00-24.70 prior to a rally that will wet the appetite of would-be Wall Street bulls.






Downleg Near Completion in Q's
By Mike Paulenoff



My pattern and momentum work in the Q's (Nasdaq: QQQQ) argue that the downleg from the June 2008 recovery rally peak at 50.61 is at or is very near completion ahead of a potent recovery rally period that should propel the Q's into the 33.00-34.00 target zone. Can we loop down and retest this morning's low at 26.00 -- and possibly make new lows? Definitely, but relatively marginal new lows should be short-lived prior to a vicious snapback rally period. (12:45pm EST, 27.21).






Tuesday, November 18, 2008Last-Hour Rally Brings Indices into Plus Column

[size=100%]By Harry Boxer, The Technical Trader

The markets surprised late in the session after another nasty session, and ended with a late afternoon last-hour rally that brought all the indices back into positive territory except for the SOXX.





Pivot Upside Expected for Dow, DDM
By Mike Paulenoff



The overall pattern in the ProShares Ultralong Dow 30 ETF (AMEX: DDM) carved out off of last Thursday's low at 27.34 indicates that the initial upleg of a powerful recovery rally phase started at 27.34 and ended Friday at 34.23. All of the action since then represents a deep correction of the initial upleg. As long as today's secondary low at 28.50 contains additional, forthcoming weakness, my extreme near-term work is "warning" me to expect a pivot upside reversal that hurdles today's high at 30.81 on the way to a confrontation with the near-term Nov resistance line, now at 32.10. (1:15 pm EST, 29.33).







Gold Mining ETF's Upmove Has Legs
By Mike Paulenoff



I have been watching the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (AMEX: GDX) closely since its October low at 15.74 and I am very impressed with its pattern and relative strength vis-a-vis the overall market and the gold price action itself.

On Nov 3, when the GDX was at 21.48, I noted to our subscribers that I was expecting a pop to the upside out of the 3-day sideways congestion area into new recovery high ground, which projects into the 23.50-24.50 target zone, after which I would be looking for a significant pullback (under 19.00) to set up a much more potent buying opportunity.






Thursday, November 13, 2008Emerging Markets ETF Starting New Upleg?
By Mike Paulenoff



Let's notice that at yesterday's low the iShares Emerging Markets ETF (AMEX: EEM) was 10% of its October low, compared to the SPY's, which at yesterday's low were about 1.8% off of October low. In addition, the pattern carved out from the Oct 27 low at 18.90 to the 27.63 high on Nov 4 exhibits a very bullish structure, which was followed by a correct pattern into yesterday's low. Taken together, my pattern analysis suggests strongly that the EEM has entered the very early stages of a new upleg that has as its first target a test of the November resistance line now at 24.75.







Crude Oil Heading Into Severe Oversold Territory
By Mike Paulenoff



Yesterday's break in crude oil and downside follow-through from the 7-year trendline at $61.60 to new bear-market lows at $56.35 has accelerated into a new downleg that is pointed right for a test of the Jan 2007 low of $49.90 next. Such a decline represents another 12% on the downside, which should press weekly oil into relatively severe oversold territory for oil and its related US Oil Fund ETF (AMEX: USO). Only a rally that sustains above $62.00 will begin to repair the technical damage inflicted during the past few sessions.






UltraShort SPYs Heading Higher
By Mike Paulenoff



So far this morning the high at 91.11 in the UltraShort SPY (AMEX: SDS) hit the lower side of my original target zone of 91.10 to 91.60. Let's notice that just above current prices -- at 91.90-92.00--the SDS will smack into a powerful near-term resistance line from the late October peak (late Oct low in the SPYs), which if hurdled will argue that a new and powerful upleg commenced this morning at 84.25…that is heading for 116.00-118.00. (12:35 pm ET 91.13).
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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 14:57 | 显示全部楼层
Sunday, November 9, 2008Gold Should Resolve to Downside
By Mike Paulenoff



The streetTRACKS Gold ETF (NYSE: GLD) pattern offers an inverted view of the PowerShares DB Gold Double Short ETN (AMEX: DZZ) and shows the bearish coil pattern at the low end of the Sept-Oct downmove, which should resolve to the downside after the conclusion of the sideways pattern. I am establishing an initial model portfolio position this morning in case the coil is complete here, and will add to the short (DZZ) position if gold (GLD) climbs towards the 74.00 area and 36.80 in the DZZ.





Thursday, November 6, 2008Q's Expected to Rally
By Mike Paulenoff



The Q's (NASDAQ: QQQQ) should be concluding the plunge from Tuesday's pre-election peak at 34.01 in the 30.70-30.20 target zone prior to a potent (perhaps very brief but violent) recovery rally period that should propel the Q's to at least 32.00 in the hours directly ahead. At this juncture, only continued weakness that breaks 30.00 will argue that the Q's just might be heading to fill the gap under 29.00 before the next rally.



SPY Breaks Key Micro Support
By Mike Paulenoff



The S&P 500 Depository Receipts (AMEX: SPY) has broken key micro support at 98.30/00, which triggered downside continuation to 97.14 so far. Let's notice, however, that the hourly RSI remains pointed straight down, and that the SPY has been unable to chase its way back towards a test of the 98.00/30 breakdown area. This warns me (for now) that the SPYs have more downside directly ahead, into the 96.00 target zone in the upcoming hours.







Oil Chart Bullish
By Mike Paulenoff



Let's notice the rounded bottom in the U.S. Oil Fund ETF (AMEX: USO), carved out since Oct 21, and though it represents a relatively minor base pattern, it should propel the USO into the 60.00-62.00 area in the upcoming days. Only a sudden downside reversal and plunge beneath 52.00 will wreck the developing pattern.




More Upside for Gold Miners ETF
By Mike Paulenoff



My near-term pattern and momentum work in the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (AMEX: GDX) suggests strongly that the gold miners ETF has some unfinished business on the upside prior to the completion of the upleg off of the 10/24 low at 15.83. At this juncture, I am expecting a pop to the upside out of the 3-day sideways congestion area into new recovery high ground, which projects into the 23.50-24.50 target zone, after which I will be looking for a significant pullback to set up a much more potent buying opportunity.



Big Picture S&P 500 View Points to More Selling After Near-term Rally
By Mike Paulenoff



Reviewing the big-picture, monthly S&P 500 chart, let's notice that the monthly momentum (RSI) confirmed this month's (Oct '08) plunge and remains pointed straight down, which argues that the low has not yet been established. While the SPX -- and its corresponding ETF, the S&P 500 Depository Receipts (AMEX: SPY) -- could rally a bit more based on my nearer-term oversold work, perhaps into the 1040-1060 area, the overall chart structure suggests very strongly that thereafter we should expect another vicious period of selling pressure that drives the SPX beneath the 2002 low at 768.60 prior to the emergence of a sustainable "bullish" period.







New Recovery Highs for Emerging Markets ETF
By Mike Paulenoff



The Fed's decision to "selectively" lend $30 billion (each) to Mexico, Brazil, S. Korea and Singapore to try to ensure financial stability in the emerging markets triggered a late-session pop in the iShares Emerging Markets Fund ETF (AMEX: EEM) -- notwithstanding the plunge in ALL equity indices during the final 10 minutes of trading yesterday -- which extended into this morning. Let's notice that today's up-gap thrust the EEM to new recovery highs off of the October 27 low at 18.90. Let's also notice that my underlying hourly momentum gauge (RSI) has climbed to a new high for the move (but not yet overbought), which confirms the EEM strength and projects prices towards a test of the Sept-Oct downtrend line, now at 25.90.




Upside Continuation in Silver
By Mike Paulenoff



All my near-term technical and pattern work on the iShares Silver Trust ETF (AMEX: SLV) argues for upside continuation that tests key near-term resistance at 10.00/30. If that area happens to be hurdled, I will get signals that point the SLV to 12.00 thereafter. Why? Perhaps what we are seeing is a technical representation of the reaction of the "precious" metals complex to VERY low interest rates (typically a bullish environment for commodities), coupled with the massive liquidity injections that could kindle expectations of monetary inflation translating into eventual "goods" inflation. Be that as it may, as we speak the near-term technical set-up in the SLV is improving rapidly.




Pullback in Treasuries Appears Complete
By Mike Paulenoff



The large 6-week coil pattern in the Lehman 20-Year T-Bond ETF (AMEX: TLT) hit its 3rd coordinate on the high side last Friday at 100.00 (off of the 10/17 low at 93.02), and since has pulled back to this morning's low at 96.02, which represents a 60% correction of the 10/17-10/24 upleg. The strength off of 96.02 suggests strongly that the pullback is complete and is turning to the upside to enter a new upleg that will retest and likely hurdle resistance between 100.00 and 100.86 -- on the way to 102.00. Continued vulnerability of the overall stock averages to lower prices -- because they have not so far confirmed their October lows -- as well as fears about the balance sheets of GS and MS, among ongoing global recession and banking concerns, argue for another upside run for the TLTs.
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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 15:11 | 显示全部楼层
Time of Truth for Oil
By Mike Paulenoff



I am not ready to step up to add the U.S. Oil Fund ETF (AMEX: USO) to our model portfolio just yet, but I am getting much friendlier to the idea technically. Looking at the weekly crude oil chart, it's the time of truth for nearby oil prices, as the price structure pressed against its 7-year support line in the $61.60 area, which was violated marginally this morning ($61.30), but NOT by 1-1/2% ($60.60), which would have triggered another bout of weakness to $55.00-50.00 next. However, to get anything going on the upside, nearby oil must hurdle and sustain above key near-term resistance at $65.60-$66.10 to trigger a recovery rally towards $72-$76. Thus far today, the high is $65.77…so the technical situation certainly is getting more interesting.




Sunday, October 26, 2008Long-Term Projections Not Pretty
By Mike Paulenoff
The enclosed weekly chart of the DJIA has the look of unfinished business on the downside prior to completing the decline off of the October 2007 high. My annotated directional lines show what the chart would look like based on my current scenario of the Dow heading towards the October 2002 low below 7200.







Reviewing the monthly chart on the S&P 500, some landmark target zones are:
1) the 2002 low at 768.60; 2) the trendline from October 1987 across the 1990 low, which cuts across the price axis in the vicinity of 740; and 3) the current downleg target zone calculated off of the 2002-09 upleg, which equals 580!





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Posted by Avid Trader at 8:38 PM

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Labels: Equities Commentary, Trading




Friday, October 24, 2008Gold's Fate Linked to Euro?
By Mike Paulenoff



Gold and the streetTRACKS Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) are having an interesting session... but their fate may be increasingingly linked to the direction of Euro/$ (or perhaps Euro/Yen these days). Let's notice that at today's low, the Euro/$ appears to have satisfied an equidistant 2-leg correction off of its July high, and is attempting to hold and to rally off of the 1.2500 equidistant support area. Meanwhile, spot gold has reversed sharply off of a new reaction low at $680.75, which is about $50 or 7% off of its equidistant corrective target at $630. Perhaps gold is climbing in sympathy with the euro bounce, but if the euro gives up I have to expect gold to head for $633 next prior to a very important low. For the time being, we will remain long the GLD in our model portfolio into the latter portion of today's session.


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SPY Nearing Significant Low
By Mike Paulenoff



My near-term pattern and momentum work has convinced me that the SPY either made a significant low this morning at 91.25 within the coil pattern or "needs" to loop down one more time into the area of the October support line near 90.00, prior to embarking on another potent upleg that should climb to 96 and possibly 98 to 99 in the upcoming hours. Only a sustained break beneath 89.50 will argue that the SPY's are en route to retest the 10/16 low at 86.54, which must contain the weakness to avert the invalidation of the coil pattern and a much more intense decline to new lows




Tuesday, October 21, 2008Definitive Down-Day on Wall Street

[size=100%]By Harry Boxer, The Technical Trader

The stock market had a volatile and negative session today. The indices were all over the place, but ended up near the lows for the day going away. The day started out with a big gap down on negative futures,they immediately rallied to come right back up to retest the








Silver Outperforming Gold
By Mike Paulenoff



Needless to say, the iShares Silver ETF (AMEX: SLV) has been in the grasp of a vicious and relentless multi-month bear phase in the aftermath of a 7-month powerful advance from 11.00 to 20.73. In fact, spot silver prices have not been this low since Februay 2006 and have retraced all of the bull move from around $9 to $21.50. Compared to the weakness in gold, silver has crashed, losing 65% of its value versus 23% in gold.

Clearly, the need to deleverage and to raise cash hit the silver market much more severely than it did the gold market, which cut in half the gold/silver ratio -- no reflecting 82+ ounces of silver needed to equal the value of 1 ounce of gold. My work on the gold/silver ratio is screaming at me that silver has to appreciate vis-à-vis gold. With silver (SLV) technicals looking ripe and ready for a recovery rally period, my sense (and my work) argue strongly in favor of a long position in silver, not gold, here -- although in the final analysis silver will need both gold and the euro to reverse into uptrends sooner than later to perpetuate a sustained advance. For now, though, I want to be long for a trade towards 11.00 initially.


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Posted by Avid Trader at 10:12 PM

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Labels: Equities Commentary, Trading




Chart Spotlight




[size=100%]We have been noticing signs of a bottom beginning to form. We sensed that much of the liquidations and margin calls hedge funds and others encountered are abating. The sentiment is so extremely negative right now and that is often a positive indicator. The volatility last week looked similar to the type of volatility we had at the March lows? For the last several weeks every rally was met by intense selling. Late last week we started to notice that many pullbacks were met by buyers with a little more staying power than before.

Above is a chart of the Nasdaq 100 and the inverse ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) for that index. As you can see the NDX made a double bottom last week and the second bottom the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) was moving higher, this is a positive sign. The PSQ made a double top with the second top showing a lower MACD, what is called a negative divergence. This to us is a decent piece of the puzzle that a bottom is forming. We believe we will see more confirming data this week and could be in for higher prices in the coming weeks. If the SEC helps out with enforcing the naked shorting regs and reinstitution of the uptick rule we mentioned, the size of the rally could surprise many.








[size=100%]Long Silver
By Mike Paulenoff



Needless to say, the iShares Silver ETF (AMEX: SLV) has been in the grasp of a vicious and relentless multi-month bear phase in the aftermath of a 7-month powerful advance from 11.00 to 20.73. In fact, spot silver prices have not been this low since Februay 2006 and have retraced all of the bull move from around $9 to $21.50. Compared to the weakness in gold, silver has crashed, losing 65% of its value versus 23% in gold.

Clearly, the need to deleverage and to raise cash hit the silver market much more severely than it did the gold market, which cut in half the gold/silver ratio -- no reflecting 82+ ounces of silver needed to equal the value of 1 ounce of gold. My work on the gold/silver ratio is screaming at me that silver has to appreciate vis-à-vis gold. With silver (SLV) technicals looking ripe and ready for a recovery rally period, my sense (and my work) argue strongly in favor of a long position in silver, not gold, here -- although in the final analysis silver will need both gold and the euro to reverse into uptrends sooner than later to perpetuate a sustained advance. For now, though, I want to be long for a trade towards 11.00 initially.



Friday, October 17, 2008Extreme VIX Readings Suggest Imminent Upturn
By Mike Paulenoff



Looking at the Q's (Nasdaq: QQQQ) from a near-term pattern and momentum perspective, the action during the past week could represent a double bottom in the making (around 29.30) or the conclusion of a significant downleg at yesterday's low (29.25) followed by the start of a potent recovery rally period. In either case, my work points higher to a minimum near-term target of 33.50 and then to test the Sep-Oct down trendline in the vicinity of 35.00/20. (11:55 am ET, $32.32).




Extreme VIX Readings Suggest Imminent Upturn
By Mike Paulenoff



The surge in the VIX (CBOE Volatility Index) above Friday's "emotional high" coupled with the behavior of the SPYs (AMEX: SPY) and Qs (NASDAQ: QQQQ) urged me to get long, but to "pick" a bottom using call options in the Q's. With the VIX above 81 and also above Friday's high at 76.94, the fear and extreme volatility factors are extreme, a strong suggestion of another violent countertrend move in the equity market ETFs approaching fast. In addition, the fact that the Q's pressed to new bear phase lows -- and did not go into a nosedive, while the SPYs did not make new lows -- signaled to me that the decline off of Tuesday was complete and a powerful rally likely.



Unfinished Business on the Upside for Treasuries (TLTs)
By Mike Paulenoff



To some degree, the TLTs (Lehman 20 Yr T-bond, ETF) trades inversely to the equity indices like the SPYs (for instance); however, my sense is the recent upside explosion in the stock averages and the recent plunge in TLT prices have "corrected" and defused the bulk of that relationship, which if accurate, means that a new relationship is forming based less on flight-to-safety and more on the still-challenging (to put it mildly) economic fundamentals that will not be corrected any time soon.





Completed Initial Upleg in Q's?
By Mike Paulenoff



The pattern carved out by the Q's (Nasdaq: QQQQ) off of Friday's low at 29.38 into the 33.63 high today (so far) has the right look of a completed initial upleg -- ahead of a pullback that should re-enter this morning's up-gap between 32.30 and 31.40. Only continued strength that hurdles 34.00-34.20 will argue that the current advance has considerably more power than I am willing to ascribe to the upmove off of Friday's low.






Long the Q's
By Mike Paulenoff




So, the $64,000 question is whether or not we saw THE capitulation low during the first 20 minutes of trading this morning, or one of a series of capitulation lows that will be forthcoming in the upcoming hours/days? Let's be aware that all of the major indices remain in negative territory on the session, which eliminates THE capitulation scenario unless they close in positive territory.

It may seem like an eternity, but we must wait for the final 20-40 minutes of trading today to get more answers. In the meantime, I remain 50% long the Q's in our model portfolio with stops in new low territory -- as I try to keep my emotions in check during what could be a real roller coaster ride as the day grows older. Purely from a technical perspective, let's just understand that my current long position is to try to take advantage of intraday volatility, because for the Q's to get anything going on the upside prices must hurdle and sustain the declining tops line, now at 32.90.


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Posted by Avid Trader at 2:40 PM

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Labels: Equities Commentary, Trading




Capitulation Low?
By Mike Paulenoff


The most salient aspect of the weekly chart of the S&P 500 is that despite the fact that the index closed 60 points off of Friday's low, the index at 899.22 also closed 198 points from the week's high, which means that the net result of this week is downside continuation. Although I would not be surprised to see the SPX climb to 960-1000 sooner than later, I also think that another loop down to 839 must take place thereafter.






The S&P 500's opening down-spike to a multi-year low at 839.80 spiked the VIX into orbit that hit 70.90 early in the day before reaching a high of 76.94 in the afternoon. It is interesting to note that despite the rally in the SPX, the VIX remains extremely elevated at near 70, suggesting that investors remain very fearful of additional selling pressure on equities. This is a very good sign from a contrary perspective -- that the VIX has not reversed and plunged in the aftermath of what had the feel of a capitulation low.


In other words, even though the market rallied 350-400 Dow points at the time of my intraday chart snapshot and much more later in the day, the VIX continues to circle 70, giving me added "confidence" that the spike low, and rally in equities, likely has some shelf life this time, albeit amidst intense swings and volatility.






Moving to gold, as the streetTRACKS Gold Shares (GLD) continue to spiral lower -- closing at 83.22 from a high Friday of 90.72 -- I have to put Friday's action within the context of a big picture outlook to see how much damage has been inflicted by the day's weakness. When viewed from a weekly chart perspective, Friday's $5 (6%) decline feels worse than it looks. In fact, based on the weekly chart, current weakness represents a relatively minor pullback within a much larger dominant intermediate-term uptrend.


Be that as it may, the pain of the decline is palpable, but if I use my best efforts to remain objective, I still come to the conclusion that the GLD is "killing time" ahead of another upleg within the 2005-08 underlying bull trend.




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Eye on the Q's
By Mike Paulenoff



[size=100%]In a few of my recent updates in the Q's (NASDAQ: QQQQ), I mentioned an optimal next trading target zone of 33.00 to 31.50. With this morning's low at 31.35, I am on alert, watching the pattern development off of the new low in an effort to determine if the Q's are a high confidence buy (yet). With that in mind, let's notice the near-term declining tops line off of yesterday's mid-session peak prior to the last hour plunge. Every rally peak has failed at a price lower than the prior rally, which is a warning signal that the Q's have to do more work off of the 31.35 low before a sustainable recovery rally period emerges. In any case, to get anything going on the upside, the Q's must hurdle 33.90 to take out the prior rally peak AND the declining tops line.

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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 15:13 | 显示全部楼层
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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 15:26 | 显示全部楼层
Countertrend Rally for GDX Gold Mining ETF
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]My near-term technical pattern and momentum work in the Market Vectors Gold Mining ETF (AMEX: GDX) argues that a meaningful near-term low was established yesterday at 25.30 and that a countertrend recovery rally already is in progress that should propel price to at least 29.80-30.00 and thereafter to 32.00.









[size=100%]Unfinished Business on the Downside
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]While the cash SPX violated its 62% support level of the 2002-2007 bull phase, the Q's (NASDAQ: QQQQ) have just tested the similar level at 33.33, which thus far has held the selling onslaught. In that my weekly RSI momentum gauge is making new lows, coupled with breakdown of the SPX, suggests strongly that the Q's still have some unfinished biz on the downside. My next near-term optimal targets are 31.70/50 and then 30.00-28.90.






[size=100%]Q's Recover
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]After pressing beneath the lower channel line yesterday, the Q's (NASDAQ: QQQQ) have recovered and now are trading above the lower support plateau (37.00) in what so far is classic reversal behavior using channel analysis. Now the Q's need to hurdle and sustain above the first important resistance level at 38.00/20 to elevate my technical confidence for a meaningful upside reversal. However, to trigger significant reversal signals, the Q's must hurdle and sustain above 39.00/30 to complete a Sept-Oct double bottom at 36.75 (9/29) and 37.02 (10/2). For now, ahead of the "The Vote," I am still watching the unfolding micro pattern.







[size=100%]Oil's Rally Fails
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]Crude oil prices are down about 7% from the intraday high and point towards a retest of the September lows at 93.36 and 90.50 next. Let's notice that yesterday's rally and today's initial attempt at extending yesterday's rally failed right at the sharply declining 20 DMA, which also represents the mid-point of the (width) of the declining Bollinger Bands. This is classic action: in a bull market, pullbacks find support at the rising 200 DMA, while in a bear market rallies fail and reverse to the downside from the declining 20 Day -- as is the case right now. I expect oil prices to plunge through the September lows on the way $80 next. Lower oil equates to a downside target of 70.00 in the US Oil Fund ETF (AMEX: USO).









[size=100%]Tuesday, September 30, 2008Gold Holding Up Well Despite Dollar Strength
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]Strangely, or counter-intuitively, the Dollar has strengthened (vs. the Euro) during a crisis precipitated by a US-derived financial and banking debacle! How could this be the case? Perhaps perceptions have emerged that Europe is in worse shape than the US? Perhaps in spite of everything, the world's investors still need to be in Dollars to access US Treasury paper? Or, perhaps, the Central Banks have coordinated efforts to support the Dollar during this financial panic to avert a Reserve Currency crisis too?

I really don't know what the reason is, although I do think the Dollar's strength is peculiar indeed. If anything, CONFIDENCE in U.S. backed investment paper of just about any grade should be of great concern to investors, institutions, and Central Bankers-- and to compensate for the slide in underlying confidence, gold purchases would seem to be the logical alternative.

Purely from a technical perspective, the enclosed comparison chart shows that DESPITE Dollar stength, gold prices are holding up extremely well, and have created a HUGE POSITIVE DIVERGENCE vis-a-vis the negative action in the Euro. For the time being, the relatively positive action in gold is telling me to remain long spot gold (the GLD) in anticipation of an upside breakout from its high-level consolidation between $920 and $860, which projects next to a test of the July high at $989.25. Only a decline that breaks $862 will compromise the still-positively divergent gold chart pattern.



[size=100%]Promising Upside for Pfizer
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]I have looked at dozens of charts this morning, and one that pops out at me because it looks promising on the upside is Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). Let's notice that the price structure has put in significant work around the 17.00 area in the form of double-bottom lows in May and again in Sept. Since the 9/17 low, PFE has clawed its way up the right side of the pattern and is "threatening" to climb towards a test of key resistance at 19.30 and 20.00/20 to complete and confirm the pattern. A break below 18.00 will begin to compromise the timing of the anticipated upside test of the key resistance levels.

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[size=100%][size=100%]China ETF Heading Higher
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]As long as the recent pullback low at 35.58 remains intact and a viable near-term price floor, the overall pattern in the iShares China ETF (AMEX: FXI) off of the 9/17 low at 30.25 argues in favor of a revisit of last Friday's high area of 39.00-40.00.

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[size=100%][size=100%][size=100%]Coil-Type Pattern for Gold
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]Since last Thursday's high, the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) has carved out a series of higher lows on pullbacks, juxtaposed against lower highs on rallies, which has carved out a coil-type of near-term pattern. To the extent that pullback low at 86.72 continues to contain any forthcoming weakness, the current coil parameters will remain intact and call for an approaching thrust to the upside that has the potential to propel the GLD to 92.50-93.00. However, a downside violation of 86.72 will morph the current coil pattern into some other form -- perhaps a coil with different (wider) coordinates? In any case, for the time being the "original" coil pattern remains intact and continues to govern my very near-term analysis.

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[size=100%][size=100%][size=100%][size=100%]Archer Daniels Midland to Lead Agricultural Commodities Higher?
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) continues to act well -- as a proxy for an extremely oversold and battered agricultural commodity complex. Although the DBA (PowerShares DB Agricultural Commodity ETF) is pulling back today, ADM is doing the opposite. It has hurdled near-term resistance at 24.00/05, and followed through to 24.64 so far this morning. My next upside target is 25.30/50, on the way to 26.00. Only a decline that breaks and sustains beneath 23.90 will begin to compromise today's upside breakout, while a decline that breaks 23.40 will invalidate the breakout altogether.

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[size=100%][size=100%][size=100%][size=100%][size=100%]Upward Pressure on Gold
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]The only thing my work is telling me for certain in the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) is that the upmove off of the 9/11 low at 72.51 needs a new high (above the 9/15 high at 90.78) prior to completion. The only issue for me is whether the GLD will pull back towards 85.50-85.00 prior to the surge above 90.78, or if the price structure is in the thrust right now? Certainly, today's plunge in the $/Euro, which is making new intraday lows as we speak, continues to put upward pressure on the GLD, and thus argues that the GLD is heading for 90.78+ directly. Be that as it may, I cannot chase the GLD "up here" at the moment. At the risk of being left behind, I will remain on the sidelines in the GLD for a while longer.


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[size=100%][size=100%][size=100%]Unfinished Business on Upside for Gold Miners ETF
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]Interesting action in the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (AMEX: GDX) today largely because it is getting the benefit of the lift in equities AND the relatively buoyancy of gold and euro/$ prices. Purely from a pattern perspective, the upleg from the 9/11 low at 27.35 to yesterday's high at 36.14 exhibits bullish form AND also argues that it has unfinished business on the upside for continuation into the 38.00-39.00 area prior to completion. As long as today's pullback low at 32.90 remains intact, the bullish near-term pattern remains intact and viable

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[size=100%][size=100%][size=100%][size=100%]Near-Term Bottom for China ETF?
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]My near and intermediate-term work on the iShares China ETF (AMEX: FXI) indicates that the September 17 low at 30.25 and the upmove into this morning's high at 33.48 established the first coordinate in a near-term bottoming process, which if accurate argues for a recovery period that propels the FXI to the 37.00/50 area prior to the completion of the initial advance. The only question here is how much of the initial pop (30.25-33.48) will be retraced on US market weakness? We are about to find out.

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[size=100%][size=100%][size=100%][size=100%][size=100%]Upside Acceleration in Gold
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]The big picture in the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) shows today's powerful upside acceleration from 77.00 to 82.00 amidst very strong and confirming underlying daily momentum RSI readings. The pattern, momentum, and pervasive fear that the US banking system has been compromised is fueling the run into gold and gold stocks, at least for now. My next optimal target zone in the GLD is 83.50-84.50.

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[size=100%][size=100%][size=100%][size=100%][size=100%][size=100%]Looking Positive Technically
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]In a "normal" market environment, if the Q's exhibited the current technical set-up that shows a glaring positive momentum divergence, the form of a completed downleg from the 8/15 high at 48.57 into the AM's low at 41.41, and a rally (today) that has subdivided into what I interpret as a bullish "recovery form," I would be very enticed to enter a new long position. In fact, our model portfolio is long based on the explained technical set-up. HOWEVER, we all know that this is not a normal market. It is anything but a normal market, which relegates our long position to more of a wild crapshoot. Nonetheless, regardless of AIG, the Fed, and panic selling pressure emerging immediately after any rumor or story, I need to "call 'em as I see 'em" TECHNICALLY…and my near-term work argues against beng short right here, right now, and in favor of a long position.

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[size=100%][size=100%][size=100%][size=100%][size=100%][size=100%][size=100%]Monday, September 15, 2008Acute Risks!!
By Mike Paulenoff


Tuesday likely will be another pivotal day for equities, with Goldman Sachs earnings due out before the opening bell, and at 2:15 PM ET, the FOMC decision. Some people already are calling for a rate cut of 50 bps (to 1.50%) in order, I suspect, to allay investor fears in the aftermath of the Fed refusing to throw more money at companies with ugly balance sheets and bad debts.

My sense is that in the absence of a solution to the AIG problem, and the inability of the market to embrace Goldman's quarterly results early tomorrow morning, a FED rate cut is VERY risky indeed, because it will take the market about 10 minutes to send a message to Washington that the credibility and confidence in the Federal Reserve (shall we say) just is not what it used to be. And THAT will put a major hurt on the financial markets that will make what has happened recently look like a minor sell-off. I hope I am wrong, but the enclosed monthly chart of the SPX exhibits an ominous structure indeed.

The very big picture of the cash SPX has a very ominous look indeed. Is it possible, or likely, that the gigantic "M" formation could press or plunge its way towards a retest of the bottom of the "M" at 2002 low of 786.60? At this juncture, with the price structure ominously poised to attack critical long-term support at 1174 -- the 50% pullback level of the entire upleg from October 2002 to October 2007 -- the idea of a plunge to much lower levels does not seem to be such an outlier, does it? We certainly have the financial, fundamental, and psychological set-up to perpetuate such a panic.

Be that at it may, a sustained breach of 1174 could trigger a washout, the likes of which could surprise the market historiansSmyself included.

From my perspective, the next 24 hours are frought with acute risks, which is why we are long the QIDs (ultrashort QQQQs), and long both the GLD (gold ETF), and the GDX (Gold Miners ETF) in our MPTrader.com model portfolio.
All of the action in the QID for the past week has carved out a sideways congestion-digestion pattern in the aftermath of the powerful upleg off of the August 15 low at 38.27, which should resolve itself to the upside to complete the Aug-Sept upleg. The current upleg looks like it has unfinished business on the upside into the 52.50 next target zone. Only a decline that breaks beneath 46.80/70 will begin to compromise the still developing constructive pattern in the QIDs.

As for the GLD, Monday was the second consecutive up-day in the GLD, which closed at the high amidst a powerful RSI momentum double bottom low in Aug-Sept. This represents a very powerful bottom formation that should propel the GLD towards its major breakdown point in the vicinity of 84.00-85.00 in the upcoming hours/days. I entered late, but from a technical perspective the pattern is unambiguously positive. The only issue is the depth of the next pullback and from what level it starts.




Mike Paulenoff is author of MPTrader a real-time diary of his technical analysis and trading alerts on ETFs covering metals, energy, equity indices, currencies, Treasuries, and specific industries and international regions.



Eye on Commodity Complex & Potash
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]I am "friendly" towards the energy and precious metals sectors within the commodity complex at this time (XLE, and GDX)... so when an underlying name jumps off of my screen that is related to the friendly sectors, I am compelled to bring it to your attention. Potash Corp. (NYSE: POT) is one such name that we should keep on our radar screens as representative of a potential upside reversal in the commodity complex.

Last week the stock plunged to a low of 137.07, which represented a 45% decline off its 6/19 high at 241.62. The 137.07 level also approached critical longer-term support at 134.50, which represents the 50% support plateau of the entire bull run from 24.00 to 241.62 that transpired from October 2005. The big upside reversal action so far off the 50% support plateau, coupled with the glaring upturn in RSI momentum, has put in place a potentially very positive technical set-up that should propel POT considerably higher. Key resistance resides between 166 and 168.50, which if (when) hurdled should trigger upside acceleratin towards an intermediate-term target in the vicinity of 200.00. Only a decline that breaks below 145.00 will neutralize the current pattern.









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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 15:28 | 显示全部楼层
Proxy Short Position in S&P 500
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]There are so many crosscurrents in the markets right now that I really don't trust much if any sector on the long side. With that in mind, and in view of the multitude of uncertainties we are faced with, our model portfolio will remain in our proxy short S&P 500 position via the long side of the Short S&P 500 Proshares ETF (AMEX: SH). Let's notice the cluster of critical support represented by the rising 20 and 50 day moving averages, as well as from the September up trendline -- all in the vicinity of 69.00-68.60. Unless that area is violated, we need to maintain a proxy short position.







[size=100%]GM Breaks Out
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]We told our subscribers earlier today with General Motors (NYSE: GM )at 11.75 that the pattern -- a spike low followed by a vertical thrust, followed by a 60% pullback that morphs into a rounded secondary base formation -- usually finds a way to take off to the upside. Wow, did GM rocket after that, above its breakout plateau at 11.85/90 to an intraday high so far at 12.82. The bullish pattern remains intact and continues to point to 13.10/20 and then 14.00/20. Only a close below 11.75 will compromise the still bullish outlook.





[size=100%]Intraday Double-Bottom in SPY
By Mike Paulenoff



[size=100%]Although the S&P 500 Depository Receipts (AMEX: SPY) pressed lower than I thought was likely, the secondary low at 122.55 preserved this morning's pre-open LEH low at 122.47. The subsequent rally to 123.94 has left behind an intraday double-bottom that has power to revisit key near-term resistance at 124.00, which if hurdled should trigger continuation to 125.25/50 thereafter.









[size=100%]Healthy Sign for S&P 500
By Mike Paulenoff



[size=100%]A wicked swoon during the second hour of trading in response to a rumor that United Airlines (UAUA) had filed for bankruptcy. That stock plunged from 12 to nearly 3 and took the overall market with it. The S&P 500 Depository Receipts (AMEX: SPY) plunged to 125.49, which represented nearly a 50% pullback (125.32) of the entire upmove from Friday's "Jobless low" at 122.00 to today's "Fannie Mae (FNM) high" at 128.62. Apart from the drama and vicious intraday action, purely from a technical perspective, the SPYs have corrected -- or partially corrected -- the initial upleg off of Friday's high-volume price low at an important support plateau -- and that is a very healthy sign so far.

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Posted by Avid Trader at 10:31 PM

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Labels: Equities Commentary, Trading




Sunday, September 7, 2008Two Bullish ETFs
By Mike Paulenoff
[size=100%]Although the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) action may not feel like it is at or very near to a significant low, the pattern from the March high at 56.87 into Friday's low at 31.65 (-45%) exhibits pattern, momentum and volume characteristics indicative of an important tradable low, if not a more meaningful low. If my work proves accurate, then the GDX is just beginning a recovery rally to 35.50 in the upcoming days.

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The fact that I like the gold miners ETF technically does NOT mean that I also like the gold price ETF (GLD). In fact, while my work is "warning" me that the gold mining stock index is at or near a significant, tradable low, I have my doubts about the pattern that has unfolded in spot gold (and the GLD).

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My technical work points to additional downside price action that presses the GLD into the 75.80-74.90 target zone prior to a sustainable recovery rally effort.

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I also like the prospects for natural gas. As we noted to our subscribers on Thursday, "While equity prices appear to be entering a new downleg that should retest and likely violate the July lows, the U.S. Natural Gas Fund (UNG) decline looks very mature from a technical perspective and exhibits significant technical readings that argue strongly for a potent recovery rally in the upcoming hours. Thursday's action represented the second consecutive session that prices closed higher than they opened, after five consecutive sessions of just the opposite type of daily distributive action. Add to that the glaring positive momentum (RSI) divergenes and a near-term pattenr that is screaming for a recovery rally into the 35.50-37.00 initial target zone, and I have compelling reasons to wade into the long side of the UNG."





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Constructive Pattern for Natural Gas ETF
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]The U.S. Natural Gas ETF (AMEX: UNG) has come off its recovery high this morning at 34.54. The pattern carved out from yesterday's new corrective low at 32.30 is very constructive and argues for still more strength. The anticipated next upleg should hurdle key near-term resistance at 34.50/55 on the way to 36.50.





[size=100%]New Bearish Consolidation for Gold?
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]The near-term pattern and technical set-up earlier this morning in spot gold -- which corresponds to the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) for ETF traders -- pointed to an upside thrust to test key near-term resistance at $810.65 concurrent with a test of key near-term euro/$ resistance at 1.4450/80. While the euro did rally a touch above 1.4480, the rally did not sustain, which helped to thwart the rally attempt in spot gold, which failed to claw its way above $810.00. The failure of gold to hurdle $810.65 and its intraday decline to $800 could be significant technically because it argues that the pattern off of yesterday's low has carved out a wide consolidation area between $810 and $790, which could represent a new bearish consolidation area prior to another leg down to $750. In other words, $810.65 must be hurdled prior to a break of $790.


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[size=100%][size=100%]Q's Put in Intraday High
By Mike Paulenoff



[size=100%]After 90 minutes of trading, let's notice that the Q's have put in an intraday high so far at 47.07 which is right at the down trendline off of the 8/15 high, and which preserves the down-channel as well. From a strict technical perspective, as long as the 47.00 to 47.30 resistance zone continues to put a lid on strength, the near-term downtrend from mid-Aug will remain the dominant direction. Should the Q's continue to slide, a break below 46.30 will argue that the bulls have given up today's attempt to reverse and to sustain near-term trend direction.


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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 15:36 | 显示全部楼层
New Upleg for UltraShort Q's
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]The UltraShort QQQQ ETF (AMEX: QID) has hurdled Tuesday's recovery high at 42.32 (as the Q's broke below Tuesday's low at 46.12), which my pattern and momentum work argues is the initial confirmation of the start of a new upleg in the QIDs (downleg in the Q's). Next near-term target for the QIDs is 43.00/20.





[size=100%]Q's Nearing Completion of Recovery Rally
By Mike Paulenoff



[size=100%]My hourly pattern work is starting to warn me that the Q's (Nasdaq: QQQQ) are nearing the completion of its 3-session recovery rally. Where is the peak? I come up with a target window of 47.19 to 47.57, both of which are located beneath the prior significant recovery rally peak at 47.68 (8/22). As long as 47.68 remains a viable prior high, I will consider the action off of the 46.12 low (8/26) as a countertrend move ahead of the next downleg and within the dominant bear trend. A decline beneath 46.95 will begin to compromise the current rally effort.





[size=100%]Natural Gas Pattern Still Constructive
By Mike Paulenoff



[size=100%]Purely from a technical perspective, U.S. Natural Gas Fund (AMEX: UNG) weakness after its pre-open high at 41.00 to 38.91 represents a "gap-filling" expedition"' -- at least, so far. The fact that selling pressure filled the entire up-gap this morning and then buyers re-emerged to push up prices to 39.62, as we speak, warns us that the action is a correction within an underlying advance off of Monday's low at 35.67. As of this moment, the UNG pattern remains constructive within the overriding bullish potential indicated by hurricane Gustav.







[size=100%]Bearish Technicals for NDX, QQQQ
By Mike Paulenoff



[size=100%]The enclosed daily chart of the cash NDX shows that the 8/15 rally peak at 1973.56 and the subsequent decline back beneath 1890 appears to represent a (failed) test of the major Oct-Aug resistance line, a reversal from that down trendline to beneath the declining 200 DMA, and a return to test important near-term support at 1870.75 created during the Jul-Aug (near-term) bottoming period. All of this has bearish price implications for the NDX and holders of the Q's ETF (Nasdaq: QQQQ). Inability of the NDX to hold at or above 1874 (also the coordinate of the declining 50 DMA) will be a very negative sign technically and will point prices towards a test of 1800 sooner or later.







[size=100%]USO Establishing Near-Term Bottom?
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]Apart from the intense volatility in the US Oil Fund ETF (AMEX: USO) lately, let's notice that purely from a pattern perspective since the low of 90.04 on August 15 subsequent bouts of weakness have created a series of "higher lows," today's low of 91.83 included. Right now, from a strict near-term technical perspective, as long as the prior pullback low of 90.96 (8/20) remains intact, my work argues that the USO is establishing a near-term bottom. A violation of 90.96 will compromise the pattern within the bottoming formation, and likely will trigger weakness that presses prices to test 90.00. Conversely, to the extent that the series of higher lows remains intact, the USO needs to hurdle 93.70 to trigger upside follow-through that revisits 97.50-98.50 near-term resistance.





[size=100%]Gold Miners ETF Decline Incomplete
By Mike Paulenoff




[size=100%]Despite the 40% decline in the Market Vectors Gold Mining ETF (AMEX: GDX) since March, the gold miners ETF does not exhibit the pattern of completion and likely still will hit one or both of my optimal lower targets derived off of the massive top formation we see on the enclosed daily chart. Let's expect a bounce from the vicinity of 33.50, but thereafter another loop to lower lows into the 30.00-28.00 area to complete the Jul-Aug (Sept?) decline.





[size=100%]Potential Near-Term Double Top for Q's
By Mike Paulenoff



[size=100%]The Q's (Nasdaq: QQQQ) failed to push higher than 48.51 this morning prior to pivoting to the downside into a press to 47.85 so far. Although the selling pressure does not appear to be much at this time (vacation week?), the action nonetheless leaves behind a potential near-term double top formation with last Friday's high at 48.55. The ability of the bears to keep the Qs beneath 48.00/10 will strengthen the prospect of a near-term peak and the likelihood that the post 8/04 upleg is complete.

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Posted by Avid Trader at 11:22 AM

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Labels: Equities Commentary, Trading




Sunday, August 17, 2008Near-term Low Approaching in Gold
By Mike Paulenoff



[size=100%]The hourly pattern argues that in and around the 77.00 area, the downleg in the streetTRACKS Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) from its 7/15 high "achieved" the look of completion. If that is the case, then in the hours directly ahead the GLD should reverse sharply, fill today's gap-down open at 79.20, and close above the top of the gap to signal that a very significant near-term low has been established. Beyond the gap, the GLD must hurlde and sustain 82.00 to confirm a more substantial upside reversal.









[size=100%]DIG Carving Out New Trading Range
By Mike Paulenoff



[size=100%]The natural gas inventory data did not have much of an impact on the ProShares Ultra Long Oil & Gas ETF (AMEX: DIG), which appears to be carving out a new trading range between 84.00 and 80.50, after emerging yesterday from a lower trading range between 76.00 and 80.00. The higher range represents the next phase of the basing attempt that has been in progress for the past week. A sustained hurdle of 84.50/70 is needed to trigger additional upside potential off of the base into the 89.00-90.00 target zone. Conversely, a breach of 80.50/00 near-term support will begin to compromise the efficacy of the developing base pattern.







[size=100%]Oil Spike Fails to Hurdle Rally Peak
By Mike Paulenoff



[size=100%]Very interesting situation developing in nearby crude. Let's notice that the post DOE data spike propelled prices to $115.69 (so far), which hurdled the August resistance line at $114.80, benefiting our earlier ProShares Ultra-Long Oil & Gas ETF (AMEX: DIG) position. But it failed to hurdle the prior rally peak at $115.95 established yesterday. This means that today's action fits "inside" of yesterday's range, which to me represents neutral action within the otherwise bear trend if oil prices are unable to break to the upside above $115.95. As the day progresses, if oil prices do not appear to be in a position to hurdle $115.95, I will be expecting a very nasty bout of (disappointed) long liquidation in the aftermath of bullish news -- that drives nearby oil prices to new lows towards $110.00.








[size=100%]Monday, August 11, 2008Equities Soar, Oil Slides
[size=100%]
By Mike Paulenoff
Equities are on a roll. Looking at the Nasdaq through the daily chart of the Nasdaq 100 Trust Shares (QQQQ), we see that the Q's closed at 47.31, just above the declining 200 DMA at 47.25. This is a very positive sign that today's upmove SHOULD continue S towards my next optimal target zone of 48.20/50.

We will know more on Monday at this time, when the Q's either will, or will not, confirm upside follow-through. Should the Q's fail to do so, and close beneath 46.85/80 (-1.1%), then I will be more inclined to think that the countertrend rally scenario is attempting to trap lots of folks on the long side.




Meanwhile, oil is pressing lower. Friday's $5 decline in crude oil has pressed prices to test the sharply rising 150 DMA, which is barely containing the intense selling pressure at this point.


If $115.00 cannot hold further weakness, then we should set our sights on the $110-$109 area, which will represent a test of the sharply rising 200 DMA and the 62% Fibonacci support level of entire February '07-July '08 advance.











[size=100%]Big Picture Chart of Q's Argues for Upside Continuation
[size=100%][size=100%]By Mike Paulenoff


[size=100%]The Q's -- PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (Nasdaq: QQQQ) -- are pushing 48.00, but the BIG picture chart argues for upside continuation towards a test of the October 2007 present down trendline, now at 49.10. Only a break that sustains below 47.50 will begin to compromise the scenario for a test of 49.10.







[size=100%]S&P 500 Probes Critical Resistance
[size=100%][size=100%]By Mike Paulenoff



[size=100%]Another mini "melt-up" that follows a mini "melt down." After yesterday's late-session plunge, this morning out of the blue (but in coincidence with very weak oil and gold prices) the SPDR Trust (AMEX: SPY) has rocketed across its recent range to once again probe critical resistance between 128.50 and 129.30. If this climb manages to hurdle -- and sustain -- above 129.30, the near-term price structure should "combust" to the upside in a thrust to 132.50 next. Failure to do so, however, will argue for yet another loop to the downside that tests support at 126.50/30.









[size=100%]S&P 500 Consolidating at Top of Upleg
[size=100%][size=100%]By Mike Paulenoff


[size=100%]For the most part, the SPDR Trust (AMEX: SPY) have held yesterday's gains extremely well, and appear to be consolidating right at the top of the upleg from 124.77 to 128.62, presumably ahead of another thrust that will confront critical July-Aug resistance at 129.10/15. If hurdled and sustained, the SPY should accelerate to confront its key resistance plateau at 130.20, which represents the coordinate of the declining 50 DMA.



[size=100%]Basic Materials Getting Clobbered
[size=100%]By Mike Paulenoff



[size=100%]Wow…Basic materials names are getting clobbered, as evidenced by the vertical thrust of the ProShares UltraShort Basic Materials ETF (SMN), whose major inverse holdings include Monsanto (NYSE: MON), DuPont (NYSE: DD), FCX, and others. The ETF is now assaulting its declining 200 DMA at 37.80. Today's close will be very important for the SMN. Above 38.00, and let's expect upside continuation to 44.25/50 next.
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Posted by Avid Trader at 10:45 PM

0 comments

Labels: Equities Commentary, Trading




Friday, August 1, 2008Oil Unable to Follow Through to the Upside
[size=100%]By Mike Paulenoff


[size=100%]
Fits of volatility can come from 1) energy...2) financials...3) Gov't data... 4) geopolitics... take your pick, but just hope that we are not positioned opposite of the directional spike! Let's have a look at crude oil...
I do not know what to make of the enclosed hourly chart of oil, which shows this morning's spike from $122.10 to $128.60 (+5%) in a matter of minutes! The really interesting aspect of the price action, through, is its inability to follow through to the upside after hurdling yesterday's spike high at $127.89.



Q's Near Test of Key Resistance
[size=100%]By Mike Paulenoff



[size=100%]The time of truth for the Q's (NASDAQ: QQQQ), which have spiked to the upside off of yesterday's pivot low at 44.21, and are nearing a test of key resistance between 45.60 and 46.00. If hurdled, the Q's will breakout of a month-long base pattern that will trigger potential to a minimum projected target of 47.80-48.20. A downside violation of 44.20 will wreck the entire rounded base pattern and argue for a retest of the July low.








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Putting the pieces together...Tom Drake's Market Notes


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Main | June 2005 »
May 31, 2005Night TradersI ran across this interesting article while cruising SI:

http://biz.yahoo.com/tm/050527/12627.html

Those who trade futures know how easy it is to move the market at night with minimal volume. The term "Globex Bandit" has been around for a long time. Why not just skip the zillion scalper day session altogether? ;)

If you are a swing trader, as I am, use your swing signals and trade overnight only on long swings, and stay flat or possibly short over night on short swings. That's how I read the three equity curves on the chart in the article.

Other ideas?


May 31, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


Ms Market leaves the party a day early


May 31, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


May 29, 2005Intercontinental Divide"Eric Von Baranov" <eric@k...>
wrote:

""However, by our actions in the Middle East we are creating a common enemy.""
__________________________________________________________________

Eric, I see that idea, which you share with J Kerry and many, many others, as the weak point in the whole anti-war ethos.

We are not creating a common enemy. The enemy has existed since Mohammed's time, since the Crusades, since British imperialism in the Middle East, since Chevron paid gold coins to King Saud in the 1930's for concessions, since Israel was formed, since television of US programs and Hollywood movies in the Middle East, etc.

The enemy has been attacking the West since they learned their craft, or merely improved on it, from the Nazis and Soviets from World War I to recently (and perhaps still). The original "Assassins" were from Iran and operated in Iran, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon in the Middle Ages, much like Hezb'llah. This is not new, Eric. They didn't start hating us in 2003. We were just too busy or too dumb before to notice.

What we are doing is finally responding to this age-old enemy after they knocked down some symbolically important buildings in a symbolically important part of a symbolically important city in a symbolically important nation. Before they were merely gnats on a camel's nose. Before they were a nuisance or another cost of doing business, like taxes or strikes, or floods. Buy insurance, get on with it.

This gnat-like action was going on since the late 1950's out of Syria and Egypt. Read the history of Nazi and Soviet intelligence operations in both countries and later local subsidiaries. Four decades ago when I was in Iran I heard people saying the exact same things zarkawi and bin laden are saying now. Old news. People here didn't want to hear about it then and still don't. We'd rather hire a social worker to sort it all out and get rid of any leaders of our own who lead. Too scary to deal with. Ignore it and it will go away.







We are not creating an enemy by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and many other places. We are *confronting* an enemy of mankind in an early reconnaissance and educational operation. Do not assume that even 5% of the people in Muslim lands want what taliban or qaeda want.

The leaders of those groups are just brutal protection racket mafiosi like Hitler and Stalin and Pol Pot and Saddam. John Kerry or even Lyndon Johnson wouldn't be able to "reason together" with them. They have to be exterminated as were Hitler and Pol Pot. They don't "represent" anyone.

I'm surprsed you are so bent out of shape by seeing people marching in Jakarta to protest someone pissing on a Koran, or whatever it was that Newsweek fabricated that we did. (I could do a whole series on the "independent" press.) If a bunch of Pentecostal hillbillies in West Virginia or Idaho marched over a Bible desecration we'd both be laughing.

Admittedly, wars suck. We'd much rather be sinning and getting forgiven, or just having calm and rational lives. I sure wish enemies hadn't bombed New York or Pearl Harbor.

Regards and with genuine respect,


Tom



May 29, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (1)


Update of the 2C Sentimeter


May 29, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (1)


May 28, 2005No bubbles, just a trendThe following was a reply to a poster at a Long Wave site who posts a lot on bubbles in prices and the economy generally.  My answer is a brief summary of my views on the whole issue.

Jeff,

I'd be happy to look at the reasoning and/or data for your timing
of "Jeff's Bubble Cycle" (JBC) of 24 year 3 months. It sounds
intriguingly similar to a K Wave half cycle, although out of phase by
about five years.

For what it's worth, my own view is that JBC is only the most recent
sector of what I call the Social Democratic Credit Regime (SDCR).
I've written about his before, so I hope it will suffice to condense
it by saying that SDCR was enabled by the creation of the FED in 1913
but not implemented until Franklin Roosevelt's adminsitration hit the
floor running in 1933.

Just like the Royal Mercantilist and the Bourgeois Reactionary credit
regimes it succeeded, SDCR put into action the political and economic
goals of its political wing. In the case of the SDCR, these goals were
to empower the common man in an age of unversal suffrage; favor
borrowers over and against lenders; remove gold as the restrictive
underpinning of national currencies; and expand the monetary base and
economy.

I don't want to fall into the Intentional Fallacy trap myself, so I
won't insist that FDR sat down the day after inauguration and
said, "OK boys, here are my four goals, now go get 'em done." All we
can say is that "the thing speaks for itself", and that's what
happened. Perhaps only one or two of the four principles needed to be
enacted to cause all of them to happen logically and ineluctably, but
they happened.

Two charts are the best evidence I have for the birth of SDCR. The
first is of PPI from the mid 18th century to 1996, and the second is
a closeup of PPI from 1913 (FED formation year) to present.

http://img95.echo.cx/img95/8554/ppicpcug0cu.gif



Note the blip in the 1780's as the Royal Mercantilist Regime took its
New and Old World hits. Then note 1815: inauguration of the Bourgeois
Reaction Credit Regime (BRCR), put in power at the Council of Vienna
after finally trouncing Napoleon. From thence to 1933, the trend of
PPI was flat to down. This was due to the power of BRCR with its gold
standard and "pay as you go" mentality, and New Order businessmen and
other new conservative money in charge.

Then look at the blastoff in 1933 with the sizeable US dollar
devaluation set in train (occuring in 1934 but anticipated by gold
stocks) and all the other New Deal expansions. Centuries of price
stability were blown away forever in very short order.

Before leaving this chart, note that even during BRCR the Kondratieff
peaks are clear visible in ~1814, ~1865, and ~1919. In other words
BRCR kept a lid on prices, but Kondratieff cyclic pressures couldn't
be eradicated. The K Wave modulated the tight control of BRCR and
certainly produced booms and busts and great trading segments.

The second chart is the closeup of PPI from 1913 to present, showing
a greater than twelve-fold increase in all crude goods prices since
1933. The trend was and is up. Note how PPI plateaued at the new
higher level in the 1950's and for part of the 1960's. This was
called the "Golden Era" of growth, what we now would call
the "Goldilocks Economy". This what I believe we have re-entered over
the past few years, but more on that another time.

http://img95.echo.cx/img95/300/ppi19138qn.gif



Once the price controls from the 1930's and war years were blown away
in the early 1970's, and the dollar compelled to go off gold
entirely, the acceleration wave began. SDCR was in the saddle and
running. But price pressures had existed as early as the 1950's.

Even in this chart we see that the Kondratieff Wave was still
active: unbeaten and unbowed. In a guaranteed inflationary era of
SDCR one has to look at rates of change or other price oscillator
techniques to see the waves in PPI, but they are there. PPI price
pressure bottomed in 1949 and increased up to the mid 1970's and then
tapered off into the 2002/2003 low: 26 years up and 27 down, just as
Kondratieff found from the 18th century to the 1920's under Bourgeois
Reaction's credit regime.

The pattern of the PPI itself was up, but at a less acute angle, from
1982-2002, and it looked like what Elliott Wave practitioners call
a "running correction" which ends higher than where it started. This
of course was the hook which confused and waylaid many students of
the Long Wave and convinced them that either the Kondratieff Wave was
dead and gone in this "New Era" of techology, or that we were having
an extended "plateau" of two and one-half decades instead of the
usual five to seven years. The extended plateau neo-Long Wavers were,
and some still are, waiting for that "inevitable" crash and burn 19th
century BRCR wipeout, not realizing that the corrective wave was
already under way by 1981 with revisits to lows in 1985, 1991, 1998
and 2002.

With that said, if we have a "bubble" at all, it is the unfolding of
the SDCR since 1933, a 72 year bubble to date. "Bubbles" are said, however,
to be short term unsustainable freaks of nature which are quickly
punished and corrected.

My view is that the era of the Social Democratic Credit Regime is far
from over, even at 72 years old. Apart from last gasp attempts in
Russia and China and the Arab world to derail it or turn it back.
SDCR seems likely to continue spreading. Nor is it losing any
strength in its North American, European or Asian (ex-China)
strongholds.

People everywhere can now vote and the voters want SDCR to remain in
place and expand the program. Absent wordwide political revolution
bringing back royalty, bourgeois reaction, communism, or tribal
anarchy, the 72 year old "Bubble" isn't going away. The Kondratieff
Wave will continue to modulate the trend, and there will be
recessions and crashes from time to time, but the "bubble" trend will
remain alive and well.

Jeff, if you have data or a logical theoretical framework you can
show me which contradicts the evidence of two and one-half centuries
of PPI and the 72 year "bubble" trend, I'm all ears. Mostly what I
hear in such claims is anger about the politics of the trend about
which neither of us can do anything. We might even agree about the
politics being undesirable or hateful. But in the end, we have to
live when we live. My whole lifetime has been spent in the "bubble"
trend where I have had to work, have a family, enjoy the earth while
I can, and invest. I've found it immensely useful to understand it
better so I don't bump my head as often on door sills in the dark.

Tom



May 28, 2005 in Long Wave | Permalink | Comments (0)


The no volume rallyMany thanks to AMG who pointed out the absence of volume in the SP500 e-mini on the April/May rally:





May 28, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (2)


May 27, 2005Three Geeks and a Cloned Mousehttp://img138.echo.cx/img138/3521/3geeks2kr.gif

There seems to be a renaissance for this bear pattern. I am seeing it everywhere recently. I thought I'd drag it in here as a part of a game face change occasioned by my conversion to the dark side. I may be a fickle or temporary bear at best if we roar on through all the resistance I see here in the SP500. I do not believe in self immolation.

Today I have 47.4 for the five day running total of VXO * combined P/C ratio, which I immodestly named the 2C Sentimeter of Bearish Sentiment. In the old bull market anything in the 60's was a sell and over 100 or more a buy. There was range upshifting in the bear market so that sells were in the 70's or 80's and buys in the 200's. We spent a lot of time late last year (almost two months) in the 40's. I know that in the mid 1990's the 2CS would have been under 40 or maybe even under 30 at times.

Still when combined with the other factors I have spoken about and shown you lately, I think it's too much for a while.

I should note that I have done the 2CS by hand daily since 1996, and I have been known to make arithmetical or transcription errors which others have later corrected. The current reading is the lowest I have seen since 1996. 64 was the reading at the 2000 tops, and 45.5 on December 16 last year.

I have no idea yet where this pullback or bear market, which ever it turns out to be, or not to be, is going. But I'll start working on it this weekend after I get some "mental stops" set.



May 27, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (1)


Krugman's BubblePaul Krugman was thought at one time to be a likely candidate for best and best known contemporary US academic economist. He was tenured at MIT where some of the best academic economists of the last century sat and taught: Samuelson and Kindleberger among others.

But he suddenly left for the green pastures of Princeton and to become political gadfly-in-residence of the liberal left journalists at the New York Times. In short he morphed, or "Galbraith'd", into a spokesman on everything and expert on nothing.

His "Return of Depression Economics" which he rushed into print after the LTCM failure in 1998, and which I have on my crash books shelf, was embarassingly shallow and wrong-headed. All the reasons and implosion predictions we all read incessantly all over the rant internet websites were crystallized in the book.

In this NY times article he has descenced into bathos with stitched-together resumes of the popular cliches of public perma-bears, and "hopes he's wrong".

Where DID you go wrong, Paul? You had such promise.



May 27, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)


Krugman BubblesMay 27, 2005
Running Out of BubblesBy PAUL KRUGMAN
Remember the stock market bubble? With everything that's happened since 2000, it feels like ancient history. But a few pessimists, notably Stephen Roach of Morgan Stanley, argue that we have not yet paid the price for our past excesses.
I've never fully accepted that view. But looking at the housing market, I'm starting to reconsider.
In July 2001, Paul McCulley, an economist at Pimco, the giant bond fund, predicted that the Federal Reserve would simply replace one bubble with another. "There is room," he wrote, "for the Fed to create a bubble in housing prices, if necessary, to sustain American hedonism. And I think the Fed has the will to do so, even though political correctness would demand that Mr. Greenspan deny any such thing."
As Mr. McCulley predicted, interest rate cuts led to soaring home prices, which led in turn not just to a construction boom but to high consumer spending, because homeowners used mortgage refinancing to go deeper into debt. All of this created jobs to make up for those lost when the stock bubble burst.
Now the question is what can replace the housing bubble.
Nobody thought the economy could rely forever on home buying and refinancing. But the hope was that by the time the housing boom petered out, it would no longer be needed.
But although the housing boom has lasted longer than anyone could have imagined, the economy would still be in big trouble if it came to an end. That is, if the hectic pace of home construction were to cool, and consumers were to stop borrowing against their houses, the economy would slow down sharply. If housing prices actually started falling, we'd be looking at a very nasty scene, in which both construction and consumer spending would plunge, pushing the economy right back into recession.
That's why it's so ominous to see signs that America's housing market, like the stock market at the end of the last decade, is approaching the final, feverish stages of a speculative bubble.
Some analysts still insist that housing prices aren't out of line. But someone will always come up with reasons why seemingly absurd asset prices make sense. Remember "Dow 36,000"? Robert Shiller, who argued against such rationalizations and correctly called the stock bubble in his book "Irrational Exuberance," has added an ominous analysis of the housing market to the new edition, and says the housing bubble "may be the biggest bubble in U.S. history"
In parts of the country there's a speculative fever among people who shouldn't be speculators that seems all too familiar from past bubbles - the shoeshine boys with stock tips in the 1920's, the beer-and-pizza joints showing CNBC, not ESPN, on their TV sets in the 1990's.
Even Alan Greenspan now admits that we have "characteristics of bubbles" in the housing market, but only "in certain areas." And it's true that the craziest scenes are concentrated in a few regions, like coastal Florida and California.
But these aren't tiny regions; they're big and wealthy, so that the national housing market as a whole looks pretty bubbly. Many home purchases are speculative; the National Association of Realtors estimates that 23 percent of the homes sold last year were bought for investment, not to live in. According to Business Week, 31 percent of new mortgages are interest only, a sign that people are stretching to their financial limits.
The important point to remember is that the bursting of the stock market bubble hurt lots of people - not just those who bought stocks near their peak. By the summer of 2003, private-sector employment was three million below its 2001 peak. And the job losses would have been much worse if the stock bubble hadn't been quickly replaced with a housing bubble.
So what happens if the housing bubble bursts? It will be the same thing all over again, unless the Fed can find something to take its place. And it's hard to imagine what that might be. After all, the Fed's ability to manage the economy mainly comes from its ability to create booms and busts in the housing market. If housing enters a post-bubble slump, what's left?
Mr. Roach believes that the Fed's apparent success after 2001 was an illusion, that it simply piled up trouble for the future. I hope he's wrong. But the Fed does seem to be running out of bubbles.
E-mail: krugman@nytimes.com



May 27, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)


May 26, 2005On TargetMy professor and former colleague checked in today with the exact same timeline for SPX as I have for perpetual forward SP futures. That gives me even greater confidence that we are seeing a trading high between tomorrow and next Wednesday.




Click on the charts for larger pop-ups of them.  











May 26, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


May 24, 2005Dicey Deal
I got the lowest ever (since 1996) 2CS bearish
sentimenter reading today. Put that together with yesterday's gap closure, bisect bounce, four point continuation "spando"/RPW/"pointer", and closing today back under the uptrend line from March 2003, and it's losing its looks faster than an aging actress. SP500 is supposed to go up until next tuesday, but unless the boys dress this pig up real pretty for the holiday, it's not going to be in the parade. I  hope i'm wrong.



May 24, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


May 23, 2005Another Test of IntentionsI've been talking about the overhead SPM5 gap of 1202.70 for a while, but that gap was in the month of March and in the June contract, and we are now almost to June. On the constant 3 month forward SP500 futures on my chart, which is now almost September (if you get my drift), we virtually filled the gap today AND tapped the bisect or Andrews median line of the range of March to April drawn from the January low. The bisect is sometimes all you get on a retrace, or at least it's observable resistance. It doesn't mean we have to fall now, but we very well could. I have a timing line for Friday or next Tuesday (Monday is holiday), so maybe we can dither around this price or even go higher the rest of the week.
Bearish sentiment has tapered way off in the past three days too, so it's a concern for the bull case, as I see it. Caveat emptor.



http://img127.echo.cx/img127/9154/blue512rr.gif



May 23, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


May 21, 2005SP500 UpdateOn SPM5, we hit or "back-kissed" the major uptrend line (bright green) from March 2003 on Thursday and Friday. That alone is often grounds for short term, or longer term, weakness:



Also sentiment went from being reasonably
bearish to wildly bullish in two days, as I measure it. We may go down and fill the gap of
earlier this week. I have no daily time lines in here, but some people I know have next Tuesday as a turn date. If my scenario is correct, that would be a low, and we would go up again into the day after U.S. Memorial Day. The goal would seem to be the breakaway gap of March which would be filled if 1202.70 prints, basis SPM5. That would entail
a spike above the uptrend line and the bisect of the March to April range from the January low. If "they" want to run it further, I suspect going to marginal new highs would be the end, as sentiment would be astronomically bullishly orientated at that point.



May 21, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


SOME ALTERNATIVES TO MONEY MARKET FUNDS FOR U.S. DOLLAR-BASED INVESTORSMany U.S. dollar short term yields have tripled (yes!) since the Federal Reserve began their rate raising regime last year. The average U.S. very short term taxable money market fund (MMF) is now paying 2.40% (7 day average rate, annualized) http://www.ibcdata.com/


Given the current rather modestly upward sloping yield curve (http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/domestic-finance/debt-management/interest-rate/yield.html), the average MMF yield of 2.4% captures 52% of the 20 year Treasury bond yield, 57% of the 10 year note yield and two-thirds of the two year note's yield. The 2.4% yield comes to you with none, or virtually none, of the  risk to the note's and bond's market price should rates go up. And if rates DO go up, as I believe they will over a long period of time, your money market fund rate will go up too, something your note or bond rate will not do. (See below for the only partial exception which is inflation-indexed Treasuries.)


Despite these considerable advantages of a money market fund for investors, 2.4% per annum is quite "coincidentally" the current rate of increase of the U.S.Consumer Price Index, with food and energy excluded: http://www.nasdaq.com/econoday/reports/US/EN/New_York/cpi/year/2005/yearly/05/index.html. Thus the Lord, seemingly, both giveth and taketh away, and after taxes one is worse off still. The tax part can be avoided by using Municipal Money Market funds, currently paying on average 2.2% (IBC Data), but the toll of CPI inflation is still, alas, operative.


There are four inflation defensive short term bond funds which are fairly well known (and doubtless others less well known), from reputable firms, and with some operating history. These four also have reasonably small minimums required for purchase: Hussman Strategic Total Return, PIMCO Commodity Real Return, Permanent Portfolio, and Prudent Bear Global Income. Each of these has an effective note duration of under two years, so comparing them with the 3.64% yield of the current two year Treasury note is instructive. I also listed three Vanguard short term bond or note funds with similar approximately two year durations. Vanguard is one of the kings of US mutual funds and with very low operating expenses, even more important in low yield funds than, say, in stock funds. (Click on the image thumbnail for a large pop-up image.)

The Permanent Portfolio Fund and Vanguard Short Term Treasuries Fund have been around the longest, and it is instructive to look at their relative yields both for the past five years and for 17.5 years since late 1987. (All yields are total returns with dividends and capital gains reinvested as recieved without consideration of tax.) The Vanguard Fund's most recent five year return is 0.90% less than its 17.5 year return, while Permanent Portfolio's return for the post five years is nearly double it's 17.5 year return. Vanguard holds only US T notes, although it can and does vary the duration, while Permanent Portfolio holds foreign sovereign bills and notes to a much greater degree than US bills, as well as gold bullion and some stocks. The 1980's to 2000 were not kind, on balance, to foreign currencies or gold, but the kindness returned from 2000 through 2004. Nevertheless Permanent Portfolio's 17.5 year total return was only one-half percent less than that of Vanguard's despite a nearly continuous US bond bull market going for Vanguard.


The Hussman Fund limits itself to US bills and notes and US listed gold stocks and a few dividend stocks. The Prudent Bear Global Income Fund has a portfolio similar to Permanent Portfolio's list. PIMCO's Fund, despite its long name, is one of the simplest in its construction. PCRDX limits itself to fairly short duration US Treasury Inflation-Protected notes (TIPS), and carries in addition an unleveraged call option on the Dow Jones/AIG Commodity Index (DJACI). This is an anti-inflation double dipper since the TIPS principle (not the interest rate) is adjusted upwards quarterly by the amount of the CPI increase, and the DJACI option reflects the price variation of all US-traded physical commodity futures plus three metals traded in dollars in London. Therefore both consumer and producer price inflation is captured.


DJACI is also re-balanced by committee each July so that profits are taken in out-performers and put back into under-performers. (Check some of the excellent literature on this fund at: http://www.allianzinvestors.com/mutualFunds/profile/PMCR/literature_A.jsp)

PCRDX, although stressing the commodity connection, is unleveraged in the sense that if one deposits $10,000 into the fund one gets $10,000 worth of the commodity index's appreciation or depreciation via the option, and $10,000 worth of actual TIPS notes, less the cost of the option, which is a modest cost. This is NOT a commodity fund in the highly leveraged sense that either Jimmy Rogers or John Henry runs.


Each of these four funds has an operating cost to investors of over 1% per year, which is not high by industry standards and nowhere nearly as high as costs are to hedge fund or commodity fund investors. Since Vanguard has a TIPS only Fund (VIPSX) with an annual cost of only 0.17% (!), I suspect they will wake up one morning and clone PCRDX at one-fourth the PIMCO/Allianz investor cost. But Vanguard moves no faster than a tortoise at best, so it may be a while.


One naturally gets some price volatility with anything other than actual cash, a bank CD, or a short term money market fund, so one will still want such a non-volatile fund or account for living expenses even if holding one or more of the funds discussed here or ANY other bond fund.


I have owned PCRDX for several years as well as the Vanguard TIPS and Short Term Investment Grade Fund. I am still evaluating the others and have gained respect for the managers of all three others. I'm leaning toward David Tice's Prudent Bear Global Income Fund as an additional fund since it is less complicated and seemingly less rigid than the other two. Bear in mind that any of these funds would be considered only for that portion of one's investments allocated for shorter term interest bearing investment funds in a generally inflationary environment. If you believe deflation is coming or still exists, you would want to look elsewhere.

I must add that I am solely a private investor of my own and close family funds only, and with no ties of ANY kind to any of the funds or their advisors, the investment industry, banks, or any publishing medium whatsoever. If you are on your own be sure you do your own due diligence via Google or with your own sources.




May 21, 2005 in Portfolio Ideas | Permalink | Comments (0)


May 15, 2005Letters To & FromHi Tom,

Below is an excerpt of a Prechter article that was posted on Xxxx today...  and though I didn't take time to read another article posted on Traders-Talk, the header was that Russell (Richard) is also looking for deflation to again rule the day:

http://321energy.com/editorials/russell/russell051605.html

..............................

--Xxx


rpccharts:  (Sun, May 15, 6:11 PM ET)
Prechter (and his ElliotWave colleague Peter Kendall) had an article in Barron's in May 2004 , laying out their vision for the coming deflation (yes, DE-flation).

Rising liquidity in a disinflationary environment is not only fuel for a rise in inflation-hedge investments, but also the lifeblood of the stock market, property investment and the economy. A recovering economy, in turn, supports the issuers of junk bonds and maintains investor optimism.


Such a confluence of effects, as we have argued over the last several years, can occur only in a disinflationary world.


Many observers say that these classes of markets will soon decouple: Either inflation will accelerate, pushing up gold and commodities, or inflation will remain moderate, benefiting the stock market and junk bonds.


We disagree. Liquidity is everything now, and it is driving the prices of all investment classes. These markets have been going up together, and we think that when liquidity contracts, they will go down together.


This outcome happens only at rare times in history when a society-wide credit expansion reaches its zenith and social psychology changes from expansive to defensive.


A change in financial market trends from up to down signals the transition -- exactly the situation we face today."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xxx,

I think of Prechter entirely as a marketer, like Bill Bonner. There are so  many ironies about Prechter, but one is that he was was a pretty darn good Long Waver early in his public writing career.


Actually this past week I have labelled as "Deflation Redux". I warned of the coming slowing late last year and early this year on various sites including xxxxxx (which I have pretty much abandoned as there is no interest in Long Wave there).


Everyone who never became convinced about the Long Wave bottom has jumped on the dollar rally finally after four months. This of course inevitable. People will
finally "get" it in about 2015. Meanwhile the marketers have a brand new theme to sell to people who never really bought the bull market OR bull market newsletters.


The dollar is up ~6.5% since New Year's Eve, about as much as the Dow is down, so all the blather last year about how the gains in stocks meant nothing with a declining dollar are reversed. But people are still thinking in terms of stock index investing instead of sector and stock picking as one needs to do in an inflationary era, within which  we are seeing a minor short or intermediate term correction. In an inflationary era one has to be very selective to get gains above the sum of the rate of inflation, the rate of increase of indexes, and the rate of currency decline. It takes some work and some portfolio management. Indexed funds and money markets won't do it.


Regards,

Tom


May 15, 2005 in Long Wave | Permalink | Comments (2)


May 10, 2005Blue SeriesThe Blue Series of SP500 futures is the outcome of my experience in a small but powerful movable traders internet chat group, "No Brain University" or NBU, between 1999 and 2004. I'll write more about NBU another time, but the result was a highly disciplined  application of the principles of Gann and Andrews in real time trading of stock index futures and index options.


The Andrews Median Line or "range bisect" (NBU) takes an important SP500 market range in price and time and draws a line through its 50% point in price and time from the opposite extreme price of the immediately previous range of  similar degree or magnitude. It is never a trend line except in future action. The first  chart in the Blue Series shows  the major bisects in the bear market from 2000 to 2002/03, and in the early part of the bull market thereafter. (Click on the small images for a full-sized pop-up chart.)






On these charts the ranges being bisected and the bisects are the thicker colored lines. We'll ignore the thin lines at this time.

The first important range is the yellow line connecting the April 2000 low and the September 1, 2000 high and the bisect is drawn through the exact midpoint in time and price (5 day per week charts) from the March 2000 high. All data was in place once the September 2000 high was confirmed, and the line could have been drawn as early as October 2000. The thick yellow bisect is precisely where the first major leg of the bear market stopped in March 2001.

The second (green) bisect divided the time-price range from that March 2001 low to the March 2002 high, drawn from the extreme point of the previous range at September 2000. These lines were in place as soon as price dropped off the March 2002 high, and the bisect caught the July  2002 as precisely as the prior bisect caught the March 2001 low. Note that the September 2001 low played no role in and wasn't advertized or predicted by a bisect as it was due to events totally exogenous to the market.

The next bisect is the red one from the March 2001 low through the price-time range from the March 2002 high to the October 2002 low. this bisect had rotated upwards, signalling that the bear market momentum was waning, but it remained powerful upside resistance though the end of 2002 and early 2003. The August and December 2002 rallies and the January 2003 were stopped cold by that bisect. It  was not until April 2003 that SP500 broke through and kissed the bear market bisects goodbye. All but one.

That bisect was Big Blue of the Blue Series. Big blue bisected the first leg of the bear market from the September 2000 high to the March 2001 high, drawn from the April 2000 mini-crash low. Except for minor penetration of Big Blue in the March 2002 patriotic rebound rally, Big Blue was nearly forgotten until 2004. Then in a long, long year of consolidation, Big Blue held firm from January to  June 2004 and beyond in a series of batterings.





In the summer of 2004 it became clear that there was another still active range bisect. That was a bisect of the same March to October 2002 range but this time from the September 2001 low. the black bisect had put a damper on upside action in the summer of 2003 and came back to retest it several times until November 2003. It was forgotten until August 2004 when SP500 futures came down to rest upon the black bisect and reverse: an impressive reconfirmation that the bear market was over.


However, it was still not clear that Big Blue was done. SP500 bounced down off Big Blue one last time in September 2004.



Finally in the week of October 7, 2004, Big Blue was bested but SP500 got capped again.




By November one could see open ground, as not only Big Blue but other shorter term bisects were bested.




It looked like SP500 was headed for the new yellow bisect up at 1250 in December 2004.




What we see since December is another frustrating consolidation.




The new red bisect runs from the March 2004 high through the range of the August 2004 low to the New Year's 2005 time-price range, and the recent mid April low bounced up off it. So far so good.


Note that at this time (May 10,2005) Big Blue and the black bisect of 2003/2004 are both right about at 1100 or a point or two below.  These are the key bisects of the bear and bull markets. These are the supports which need to hold or be quickly regained if penetrated.


This is how bisect analysis works in practice. You can see other lines and support/resistances on these charts. Some of these are also legacies of NBU for another time.

NB: All charts in this series are of constant 3 month forward SP500 futures (perpetual or "perp") and are charted on a constant 5 day week including holidays for scaling accuracy.


May 10, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)

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June 30, 2005SPX Monthly Gravestone DojiClick on images for larger pop-up chart images.


June 30, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


June 27, 2005RotationSmall capitalization stocks (small caps or small companies) have outperformed both mid caps and large caps since the late 1990's when large caps got grossly over-heated. If we look at the ratios of the SP Small Caps Index (SML) to Large Caps (SPX), Mid Caps (MID) to SPX, and SML to MID, we can see the progression out of the bloated SPX of the late 1990's and 2000. (Click on the thumbnail images for a full-sized image.)


What we see in 2005 is that small caps are beginning to lose strength to the mid caps, although both are still outperforming the SPX large caps.


While this may seem arcane, it tells us something about market dynamics at a time when the FED is increasing short interest rates and when the US Treasury yield curve is flattening.

Once again my favorite portfolio economists at Hussman Funds have an analysis on this very issue from 2003.
http://www.hussman.net/rsi/smlcapyc.htm

William  Hester wrote a brief and crystal clear  account of the diagnostics of portfolio rotation amongst small and larger caps against the background of a flattening or inverting yield curve such as
we are now seeing. As Hester puts it: "... for a sign that conditions for small companies might be weakening, keep your eye on the bond market."


In 2003 the yield curve wasn't flattening, but it certainly is flattening in the past year as the FED raises the short end and the bond rate has fallen at the long end--the famous "conundrum" of Greenspan.

As corporate profit growth begins to slow, small caps feel it first and large caps later. This was certainly the case in the later 1990's and may be starting again.

Hester writes, "As profits slow, value stocks lose their edge. In this environment, mid-sized and large growth stocks have done best, rising 18.5 percent and 16.5 percent, respectively, with small value stocks gaining 15.8 percent ......"


We care for two reasons. One reason is that we may  need to adjust or re-balance our own portfolios toward the larger caps and away from the smaller caps. This needn't be an all-or-none switch but a weeding or re-balancing.

The second reason is that the yield curve and the cap rotation may both be hinting of an economic slowdown in the future, and both do so predictively. See Hester's "The Yield Curve - A Multi-Talented Indicator" for further details. http://www.hussman.net/popup/yldcurv.htm









June 27, 2005 in Portfolio Ideas | Permalink | Comments (1)


June 22, 2005Bondo wedgiehttp://img98.echo.cx/img98/7159/bondo8sr.gif


June 22, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


June 18, 2005Due DiligenceIn 2002 I began to look around and think about what to do with my life and money. Partly by luck, partly by fear, and partly by ignorance i got through 1999-2003 mainly in short term bonds, cash and gold. I never made nor lost a penny or a bundle in tech which i never understood. I felt foolish for a long time and people who asked me what I owned agreed...lol. Because of Long Wave studies I thought gold was making bottom, but i had no idea how well it would pay off.

I decided I wanted to retire while I still had half a brain and a healthy body. And I didn't want to spend full time trying to properly analyze and keep up with 20-40 stocks to make a classical low volatility, moderate growth and income portfolio.

At that time I happened upon Paul Merriman's fine basic set of articles on "The Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Strategy". Of course, "buy and hold" was totally discredited and mocked in 2002 as many people who had bought and held simply went down the tubes without benefit of roto rooter and were never heard from again. Being a contrarian by nature I thought it might be worth a look at "buy and hold". lol

My first realization was that here was a guy, Merriman, who had been doing mutual funds for thirty to forty years, so he might have a few good ideas. Merriman didn't really like "buy and hold" as an only or preferred strategy, but he knew it could be done. This was just the kind of test I like.

What I got from his short series of articles (http://www.fundadvice.com/FEhtml/BHStrategies/0108/0108a.html) was the notion of index and value funds divided into small and large capitalization US stocks, plus international funds, and interest bearing (bonds, money market) funds. We knew then that value funds had plunged in 1999 while index funds roared up, so this was initially intuitive that one might want to do both. Also small stocks had bad innings in the late 1990's but had outperformed from 1999/2000 to 2002.

The basic premise and main advantage of such a portfolio is diversification amongst asset classes so that risk is reduced in any one type of market. This is a strategy for nest eggs which one wants to grow steadily and not blow away in a freakish market. Also it works for an older investor who can't afford to lose too much in any one market environmemt as she or he wouldn't have time to make it up. But Merriman's point is that it also will work over time for people who really don't want to actively manage a portfolio, or who don't have enough to hire an advisor for, but have lots of years before retirement. Read Merriman's papers and see how it works.

I didn't really inherently like the idea of index funds very much as you are buying the good, the bad, and the ugly all in one fund, when you really want only the good. The SP500 funds, even with all dividends reinvested as received, are still under their peaks of five years ago. The chart shows two funds with all dividends reinvested (total return) for the last five years: VFINX is Vanguard's SP500 index fund (with very low costs), and DODBX is Dodge & Cox's managed middle of the road balanced fund with stocks and bonds in a variable allocation.




http://members.cox.net/2.cs/dodgesp.gif






While I didn't totally dismiss the idea of index funds, I decided first to look for funds, like DODBX, which had actually made money during the 2000-2002 tech and bloated leaders crash. Not surprisingly there were not a lot of such funds, but they were there. Instead of trying to pick twenty to forty stocks I'd look for the best stock pickers for at least part of my portfolio. Any stock picker who made it through 2000-2002 and came out ahead must know something.



A good way to evaluate a stock picker's performance is to use the free service and data base at FastTrack: http://www.fasttrack.net/

They have an extensive database of total returns (as above) for mutual funds and for many dividend stocks and ETF's. They have software you can buy, but all I needed was well covered by their on line free service.



This was a learning and growing experience, and I did not wake up the second morning knowing exactly what to do. As a futures trader and former stock investor I had some technical analysis skills. Everything I knew said we were making a major low in 2002, but I needed some hand holding. It's one thing to trade futures where you are in and out whevever you want, but for mutual funds that doesn't work.

Three people convinced me that I was right and helped give me the courage to start the new plan: Don Hays, Joe Rosenberg (in an interview by Kate Welling), and Don Wolanchuk. Rosenberg is the chief investment strategist for Loewe's (and hence CNA Insurance), and the other two are seasoned technical market analysts. All three saw the market being grossly oversold. Personally I had never seen sentiment so gloomy, whether measured by market internals or by surveys or anecdotal data. As an example of the latter, internet investment chat sites were hilariously gloomy with all the usual suspects ranting and braying. And the closer we got to March 2003 the worse (and therefore better) it got.



I started buying in January 2003 all the way into the low. Since I was new to this type of investing I did not get more than 50% invested by the low, but as I learned and as we went up I added into the late summer low of 2003 and along the way in 2004.



Since I had been a Kondratieff Wave enthusiast for decades and knew that the wave was bottoming along with the four year cycle, I added to Merriman's mix by buying some specifically inflation-advantaged funds as well as the "generic" stock and bond funds. I bought several real estate funds (domestic and international), a gold fund and a polymetallics fund, Bill Gross's commodity fund, and several energy funds, but not in overwhelming percentages of total assets, since I really did (and do) want to stick to the basic idea of reasonable diversification. I also bought an inflation-adjusted US bond fund and a foreign bond fund



As I became more aware of individual long term fund returns and costs, I exchanged some of my original picks for better managements with lower costs. I decided not to limit myself to funds of one mutual fund management company, and to buy and sell mutuals through a "pick and choose" broker. For index funds, niche funds, and bond funds it's very hard to beat Vanguard on costs. Of 24 funds I own in various personal and family retirement accounts, cash accounts and trusts, seven are Vanguard Funds, two each are from Third Avenue and Dodge & Cox, three from Profunds and two are from Rydex. Rydex and Profunds are used for index funds in which I switch from long to short funds on a swing trade basis. Their costs are higher than the rest, but by using them as hedges on the short side and "augmenters" on the long side, I can boost my returns without disturbing the long term portfolio. On the short side I generally use the 200% leveraged funds to cover a larger part of the "good pickers funds".



My buddy, Perrin Gower, introduced me to John Hussman who runs a very good "hedged" fund, some of which I own: HSGFX. He picks stocks he thinks are undervalued and sells and buys OEX and SPX options against them on a variable basis depending upon the market and the valuation environment. This is the idea of being long the "good stuff" via managed funds and being short the "good, bad, and ugly" stuff via indexes. The chart again is a FastTrack total return chart of Hussman's fund in blue and Vanguard's SP500 index fund in red.




http://members.cox.net/2.cs/hussman.gif






Hussman was "the man" from 2000 to early 2004, but hasn't done as well since then. On an annualized basis he is up about 16% per year compounded even so. Hussman is younger than I am so if I get tired of my hedging with Profunds and Rydex or become unable to continue, I'll let him take over since wifey isn't an investor. (He even has some gold stocks.) But I'm beating him handily since last year, and I'm having fun. :)



By using the Profunds and Rydex on the long side I am being true to the Merriman maxim of including index funds in a diversified mix, but by using them on the short side I am emulating Hussman as well.

I should mention that I am also trying to be a bit pro-active with bonds as well by occasional shifts from long term to short term or vice versa, but I've kept a core bond position of inflation-adjusted US Treasuries with Vanguard's VIPSX.



The only account where I still have some individual stocks is a taxable income account in which I have a some Canadian and US oil royalty trusts, some pipeline and infrastructure master limited partnerships, and Vanguard's REIT fund. These all pay pretty decent dividends which are either partly tax sheltered or are not taxed at the source and therefore only once. I also bought some GM preferreds and GM PET bonds paying 8-10% when bought. I have a few core gold stocks in there too. There is also a separate municipal money market and muni bond fund sub account.



I still trade SP futures and occasionally other futures, but I can take those or not as I please and travel whenever I want. I have cut down daytrading futures except if I see a "sure thing"...LOL. The rest are traded on a swing basis according to the principles in the Blue Series charts.



That's my voyage of discovery the past few years. Learning for fun and profit. Beating inflation and currency decay by a healthy margin in an inflationary age is the name of the game. It can be done.




June 18, 2005 in Portfolio Ideas | Permalink | Comments (1)


The Big Picture Click on image for full-sized pop-up.


June 18, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


Gold in WinMidas Click on image for larger pop-up version.


June 18, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


EURUSD in WinMidas Click on image for full-sized pop-up version.


June 18, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


How Buffett tripped over the dollarDespite this week's dollar rally, there are lessons still to be learned by dollar bears while glancing around the world at current events.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/P116165.asp


June 18, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (1)


June 15, 2005More on.....[url=][/url]
the question unanswered there (or here in the last fed discussion/reply, though asked, and yes i DID notice ... lol) was how the low long term rates do not fit into the longwave view, herein and heretofore espoused, and the predictions for many, many moons of higher yields as the key ingredient in the inflationist gumbo.
something aisn't right, beauregard !
Posted by: seacucumber | June 15, 2005 12:43 AM
************************

Every long term trend has large contra-trend reactions. In gold we have been playing the "little winter" scenario for a year or more (after a run from 1999), and in bonds for "a while". Unfortunately copper, iron ore, coal, and petroleum won't dance that tune. Nor CPI, PPI, GDP price deflator, etc.

In brief, we have been in a contra-trend period this year with players trying out the old idea that the FED or someone or something will overshoot and cause the deflation bogeyman to return. Everyone has been rushing around  rebalancing and re-allocating portfolios, causing waves in the bathtub.  But nothing has changed fundamentally, and the rubber ducky is still afloat even in the bathtub.







June 15, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)


June 14, 2005Sell signal failureThe "almost too good to be true" sell signal for 31 May/June 1 wasn't good enough. The SP paused, but never fell. Now there is a new buy signal to add to those of May. Unless SP September  futures print tomorrow under today's low of 1205.30, we'll have yet another reconfirmation of the buy. This projects to a high of at least 1235 by July 1. (Click on the thumbnail image for larger chart image.)




June 14, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)


Fed's Poole says low long rates no puzzlehttp://keyinvest.ibb.ubs.com/ki/pt/en/newsbody.ki?newsid=3732637


June 14, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (1)


June 12, 20052C SentimeterMay 29, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink
Comments
Tom, would you please give an update to your 2cents indicator? Has it moved much in the last week or two?
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by: Steve Hamrick | June 12, 2005 12:27 PM
Reply:
Steve,
The 2C Sentimeter was 51 as of Friday's close, so there has been no real change in the past few weeks. This is part of the current technical analysis dilemma. The set up for a sell was so perfect as to be "too good", and indeed we haven't sold off. Being so late and so little off the timer line date of May 31/June 1 generally means the market isn't going anywhere or not far in the opposite  direction.
Since 2003 not every sell setup has failed but a meaningful number have for SELLS but not for BUYS. So this inaction at present is consistent with a continuation of the bull market from 2002 or 2003. Also the mechanical trade entry method I call the Scottish system has not given a sell signal. IT can do so each day under certain conditions but so far those conditions have been negated or aborted, leaving the last buy signal of May 16 in force.
As a result I have removed my short hedges in cash stock and fund accounts and have just been scalping the stock index futures, awaiting a sell signal at some point.
A fair question has been put to me before about this approach:"Tom, if you don't do anything until you have a mechanical trade entry signal, why do you bother with the TA,  sentiment and timing methods?"

The best answer I can give, apart from enjoying TA in itself, is that having a "weather forecast report" from that work I am psychologically ready to act when I do get a signal. The draw down is being psychologically ready for a move that doesn't happen, as may be the case here.  If it weren't for the fact of leverage with futures and the occasional need for a next day confirmation with the Scottish, I would be tempted to use the Scottish method exclusively for trading. Having the TA weather report gives me the confidence to act upon the early warning or preliminary Scottish signal.

If we do not get a sell here and rather soon, it's pretty obvious that we are going to new highs on the year in SPX. The SP small cap and mid cap indexes already have done so.




June 12, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


June 11, 2005Comments by Daniel W: Greenspan's "conundrum"Daniel W. commented:







""with due respect, i think the inflationists need to explain, convincingly, the action of the long bond. it is hard to accept greenspan's explanation of shortcovering by those who expected his widely pre-announced tightening campaign to produce the results history records. that may have had something to do with it, but the bond market is just TOO large to have had such a long and deep reaction. "




"also, the monetary aggregates are showing serious deterioration and suggest the beginning of an uncontrollable implosion. i hope this excellent site develops into a forum which fosters debate on these important matters and not just a trafalgar square soap box for one view. ""








Daniel, thanks for commenting at this site on several occasions. :) Blogs generally are part diary, part ego billboard, but you ask an interesting question about Greenspan's long bond "conundrum", and I'll give you my soap box opinion .  






Actually, as you know, a conundrum is a mystifiying event or question which is answered by or in a riddle. So what is Greenspan doing with this issue in this way? I owe part of my analysis, or at least the impetus to analyze, to two bearish analysts: John Hussman and George Slezak.








Hussman suggested that part of the pressure to buy bonds in quantity is coming from holders of pre-packaged mortgages who are suffering  from "duration gap" as mortgages in nearly all prior packages have been and are being pre-paid. The mortgages were bought as long term investments in a stream of income, but as these long term mortgages are refinanced--with the old mortgages paid off--the mortgage holders, who planned their own funding needs based upon coupon yield AND length in time, are being left stranded. Note that this is not an "at the margin" effect on new mortgage packages but affects each and every mortgage held from the past which gets refinanced. It's an on-going cumulative effect. The holders are thus faced with the urgent need to replace the yield and duration as best they can as rates fall. Thus it is very nearly a buying panic as they buy long duration treasuries to bridge the duration and coupon gaps.





Now we come to Greenspan's riddle: [size=1.4em]Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan
Central Bank panel discussion
To the International Monetary Conference, Beijing, People’s Republic of China (via satellite)
June 6, 2005




Here are a few excerpts:


"The pronounced decline in U.S. Treasury long-term interest rates over the past year despite a 200-basis-point increase in our federal funds rate is clearly without recent precedent. "

"A number of hypotheses have been offered as explanations of this remarkable worldwide environment of low long-term interest rates."

"One prominent hypothesis is that the markets are signaling economic weakness. This is certainly a credible notion. "
Then he talks about three other possible hypotheses. The second has to do with pension funding demands for future retirees, and he rejects this as not sufficiently robust. The third is bond buying by Central Banks. This he doesn't reject but finds the reality "modest" and "implausible" in the current environment.
Likewise number four:
"A final hypothesis takes as its starting point the breakup of the Soviet Union and the integration of China and India into the global trading market, developments that have permitted more of the world's lower-cost productive capacity to be tapped to satisfy global demands for goods and services. Concurrently, greater integration of financial markets has meant that a larger share of the world's pool of savings is being deployed in cross-border financing of cost-reducing investments."
Thus of four hypotheses which have been  bruited about, he finds only the first, economic weakness "plausible", but doesn't endorse it.
Later in the week: [size=1.4em]Testimony of Chairman Alan Greenspan
The economic outlook
Before the Joint Economic Committee, U.S. Congress
June 9, 2005

After introductory remarks on the general economy he once again turns to the "conundrum":
"Among the biggest surprises of the past year has been the pronounced decline in long-term interest rates on U.S. Treasury securities despite a 2-percentage-point increase in the federal funds rate. This is clearly without recent precedent. The yield on ten-year Treasury notes, currently at about 4 percent, is 80 basis points less than its level of a year ago. Moreover, even after the recent backup in credit risk spreads, yields for both investment-grade and less-than-investment-grade corporate bonds have declined even more than Treasuries over the same period."
Note that he tempers the "plausible" but not endorsed  hypothesis of ecnomic slowing by mentioning that "yields for both investment-grade and less-than-investment-grade corporate bonds have declined even more than Treasuries over the same period." If economic weakness were the ghost in the attic scaring the treasury market, less than investment grade long duration bond yields would not be  dropping this much.
After repeating the conundrum for the Congressmen, he launches into the riddle:
"That said, there can be little doubt that exceptionally low interest rates on ten-year Treasury notes, and hence on home mortgages, have been a major factor in the recent surge of homebuilding and home turnover, and especially in the steep climb in home prices. Although a "bubble" in home prices for the nation as a whole does not appear likely, there do appear to be, at a minimum, signs of froth in some local markets where home prices seem to have risen to unsustainable levels."
"The housing market in the United States is quite heterogeneous, and it does not have the capacity to move excesses easily from one area to another. Instead, we have a collection of only loosely connected local markets. Thus, while investors can arbitrage the price of a commodity such as aluminum between Portland, Maine, and Portland, Oregon, they cannot do that with home prices because they cannot move the houses. As a consequence, unlike the behavior of commodity prices, which varies little from place to place, the behavior of home prices varies widely across the nation."
"The apparent froth in housing markets may have spilled over into mortgage markets. The dramatic increase in the prevalence of interest-only loans, as well as the introduction of other relatively exotic forms of adjustable-rate mortgages, are developments of particular concern. To be sure, these financing vehicles have their appropriate uses. But to the extent that some households may be employing these instruments to purchase a home that would otherwise be unaffordable, their use is beginning to add to the pressures in the marketplace. "

A riddle tells you part of the solution, but only a part, and usually in a deceptive manner. Here Greenspan is telling us that falling rates induce mortgage refinancing and rising prices in houses, as well as in bonds. but don't worry because the housing market, at least for owner-occupied homes, isn't homogeneous or fungible since owners can't move their inexpensive Portland Maine  home to dearer Portland Maine to sell it.
What Greenspan is hiding in the riddle is that the FED has caused the "bond-carry" bull market in bonds by excessively low short rates, and now  there is a rush to be the last man into the carry trade  while there is still a spread and before the yield curve inverts. What else Greenspan is hiding is that the mortgage refinancing binge is precipitating a mortgage holders' duration gap buying panic as we saw above.

In the process he has identified several scapegoats--definitely not including himself or other Central Bankers:  hedge funds and second home buyer/flippers. He implies that none of this is the fault of banks, for whom he works, but rather of hot money. Since Greenspan is already into lame duck and swan song mode with retirement looming at year's end, he is pre-writing his excuses why something went wrong after he leaves.  He is also explaining why he must continue to raise short term rates with the dual risks of choking off economic activity or causing a mortgage and housing disaster.

Finally, his conundrum and riddle also reinforce his reputation as a victorious inflation fighter. Every time he speaks he downplays  inflation, as if it were common knowledge that inflation is history, not the present. The reality is quite different , as everyone knows. By waiting too long and by being excessively cautious he now admits (in riddle form) that he underestimated how powerful the new demand inflation was and is, and how he stimulated it further through the bond-carry and mortage duration gap bond panic.

The conundrum and riddle are classic retirement "cover your ass" farewells. The riddle master caused the conumdrum. Inflation rules.





June 11, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (1)


June 05, 2005"It's Only Just Begun...."Naturally I could be wrong. But the weight of evidence from sentiment to chart analysis  tells me we have moved off the top for this recent up move which started in mid April. Two factors will help to  confirm it for me. One is for SP500 to break under 1190 and stay there. The other would be for on-balance volume (OBV) of the SP500 futures to break under the 65 day moving average (65 days~= one quarter of the year). OBV has stayed above this moving average, except for a day or two, ever since March 2003.  June is the month that SP500 futures switch from the June to the September contract so we'll also watch closely to see if the open interest (number of contracts held by overnight and longer traders) drops indicating that some players jumped ship.

The open interest of legal commercial or financial institutions who are hedging portfolios showed a major increase last week in net shorts in the combined, size-adjusted futures and futures options contracts. We don't know what they are seeing, but it might be somthing like their version of my chart: something  which makes them thinks stocks are in for a tumble. They are the "insiders"-- quite legally too-- and they are in a much better position than we are to know what's going on. (Click on the image for a full-sized popup of the chart.)




June 05, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (1)


Asset Allocation ChartsWe're in an era of nearly totally freely floating prices, not only for stocks and bonds, but for all interest rates, foreign currencies (plus one's own), commodities, and real estate. This has been true for thirty years now, but what is new about it  is that any small or large individual investor with a stock or mutual fund trading account at a brokerage can buy or sell any asset class. Most of this has occurred within the past five years.



Even if you want to keep all of your money in money market funds, do you want it in US dollars or in a basket of non-US currencies? I covered some alternative near cash income funds several weeks ago. All of the funds I mentioned are US-based and can be bought through any US brokerage with a mutual fund trading setup.

There are, of course both mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for real estate (domestic and foreign), gold or precious metals funds, commodity funds, and both long and short stock and bond funds. Rydex Funds will soon have both a long and short dollar fund.



For asset allocation either inside or outside a self-directed retirement account, it isn't sufficient merely to buy a stock index fund, a bond fund, and a money market fund. That worked in the 1990's, but this isn't the 1990's.  Both stocks and bonds are far closer to their thirty year highs than lows. That isn't to say they can't go higher, but they are far riskier now  than when they were much lower in the early 1990's or early 1980's.



I firmly believe that most people  should do their own research before investing. With the miracle of modern internet search engines one can get information on nearly anything in the investment universe.



I've found a great website to help me (and maybe you) evaluate stocks versus bonds versus gold versus commodities versus foregn currencies. It will not tell you specifically  what to buy, but you can see what is strong and what is weak. Obviously you want to be in something which was weak but is now getting stronger. Perhaps I should say you want to favor those things which are getting stronger. You'd never want to have all your asets in one asset class, and your price risk overall is less when you are diversified among three or more classes.



The website is maintained by StockCharts.com and is put together by James G Craig. I know nothing about Craig. The beauty of his site is that it consists of a huge number of comparative charts. Look at his index before you jump in. He has daily, weekly and monthly charts on different pages. It  is very easy to use the index to focus in on the comparison you want to learn about.  



GOLD & SILVER, and their Relationships to Stocks, Bonds, Commodities, and the Dollar

http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/Favorites.CServlet?obj=ID396524



I plan to spend a lot more time on asset allocation from the point of view of a private individual investor. Check the Portfolio Ideas section from time to time.



To be perfectly clear, and in case you haven't seen my statement elsewhere, I am a private investor only and do not manage or wish to manage other people's money. I don't work for anyone except myself, and I receive no fees or benefits from anyone or any company in the investment business.





June 05, 2005 in Portfolio Ideas | Permalink | Comments (0)


June 01, 2005Ms Market comes back to the buffet Still closed back under the range bisect. It's time!

(Click on image for larger pop up.)


June 01, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


AU/XAUA followup to the gold post of several weeks ago. Click on image for larger pop-up:












June 01, 2005 in Portfolio Ideas | Permalink | Comments (0)
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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 16:03 | 显示全部楼层
June 30, 2005SPX Monthly Gravestone DojiClick on images for larger pop-up chart images.


June 30, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


June 27, 2005RotationSmall capitalization stocks (small caps or small companies) have outperformed both mid caps and large caps since the late 1990's when large caps got grossly over-heated. If we look at the ratios of the SP Small Caps Index (SML) to Large Caps (SPX), Mid Caps (MID) to SPX, and SML to MID, we can see the progression out of the bloated SPX of the late 1990's and 2000. (Click on the thumbnail images for a full-sized image.)


What we see in 2005 is that small caps are beginning to lose strength to the mid caps, although both are still outperforming the SPX large caps.


While this may seem arcane, it tells us something about market dynamics at a time when the FED is increasing short interest rates and when the US Treasury yield curve is flattening.

Once again my favorite portfolio economists at Hussman Funds have an analysis on this very issue from 2003.


William  Hester wrote a brief and crystal clear  account of the diagnostics of portfolio rotation amongst small and larger caps against the background of a flattening or inverting yield curve such as
we are now seeing. As Hester puts it: "... for a sign that conditions for small companies might be weakening, keep your eye on the bond market."


In 2003 the yield curve wasn't flattening, but it certainly is flattening in the past year as the FED raises the short end and the bond rate has fallen at the long end--the famous "conundrum" of Greenspan.

As corporate profit growth begins to slow, small caps feel it first and large caps later. This was certainly the case in the later 1990's and may be starting again.

Hester writes, "As profits slow, value stocks lose their edge. In this environment, mid-sized and large growth stocks have done best, rising 18.5 percent and 16.5 percent, respectively, with small value stocks gaining 15.8 percent ......"


We care for two reasons. One reason is that we may  need to adjust or re-balance our own portfolios toward the larger caps and away from the smaller caps. This needn't be an all-or-none switch but a weeding or re-balancing.

The second reason is that the yield curve and the cap rotation may both be hinting of an economic slowdown in the future, and both do so predictively. See Hester's "The Yield Curve - A Multi-Talented Indicator" for further details.









June 27, 2005 in Portfolio Ideas | Permalink | Comments (1)


June 22, 2005Bondo wedgiehttp://img98.echo.cx/img98/7159/bondo8sr.gif


June 22, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


June 18, 2005Due DiligenceIn 2002 I began to look around and think about what to do with my life and money. Partly by luck, partly by fear, and partly by ignorance i got through 1999-2003 mainly in short term bonds, cash and gold. I never made nor lost a penny or a bundle in tech which i never understood. I felt foolish for a long time and people who asked me what I owned agreed...lol. Because of Long Wave studies I thought gold was making bottom, but i had no idea how well it would pay off.

I decided I wanted to retire while I still had half a brain and a healthy body. And I didn't want to spend full time trying to properly analyze and keep up with 20-40 stocks to make a classical low volatility, moderate growth and income portfolio.

At that time I happened upon Paul Merriman's fine basic set of articles on "The Ultimate Buy-and-Hold Strategy". Of course, "buy and hold" was totally discredited and mocked in 2002 as many people who had bought and held simply went down the tubes without benefit of roto rooter and were never heard from again. Being a contrarian by nature I thought it might be worth a look at "buy and hold". lol

My first realization was that here was a guy, Merriman, who had been doing mutual funds for thirty to forty years, so he might have a few good ideas. Merriman didn't really like "buy and hold" as an only or preferred strategy, but he knew it could be done. This was just the kind of test I like.

What I got from his short series of articleswas the notion of index and value funds divided into small and large capitalization US stocks, plus international funds, and interest bearing (bonds, money market) funds. We knew then that value funds had plunged in 1999 while index funds roared up, so this was initially intuitive that one might want to do both. Also small stocks had bad innings in the late 1990's but had outperformed from 1999/2000 to 2002.

The basic premise and main advantage of such a portfolio is diversification amongst asset classes so that risk is reduced in any one type of market. This is a strategy for nest eggs which one wants to grow steadily and not blow away in a freakish market. Also it works for an older investor who can't afford to lose too much in any one market environmemt as she or he wouldn't have time to make it up. But Merriman's point is that it also will work over time for people who really don't want to actively manage a portfolio, or who don't have enough to hire an advisor for, but have lots of years before retirement. Read Merriman's papers and see how it works.

I didn't really inherently like the idea of index funds very much as you are buying the good, the bad, and the ugly all in one fund, when you really want only the good. The SP500 funds, even with all dividends reinvested as received, are still under their peaks of five years ago. The chart shows two funds with all dividends reinvested (total return) for the last five years: VFINX is Vanguard's SP500 index fund (with very low costs), and DODBX is Dodge & Cox's managed middle of the road balanced fund with stocks and bonds in a variable allocation.











While I didn't totally dismiss the idea of index funds, I decided first to look for funds, like DODBX, which had actually made money during the 2000-2002 tech and bloated leaders crash. Not surprisingly there were not a lot of such funds, but they were there. Instead of trying to pick twenty to forty stocks I'd look for the best stock pickers for at least part of my portfolio. Any stock picker who made it through 2000-2002 and came out ahead must know something.



A good way to evaluate a stock picker's performance is to use the free service and data base at FastTrack:
They have an extensive database of total returns (as above) for mutual funds and for many dividend stocks and ETF's. They have software you can buy, but all I needed was well covered by their on line free service.



This was a learning and growing experience, and I did not wake up the second morning knowing exactly what to do. As a futures trader and former stock investor I had some technical analysis skills. Everything I knew said we were making a major low in 2002, but I needed some hand holding. It's one thing to trade futures where you are in and out whevever you want, but for mutual funds that doesn't work.

Three people convinced me that I was right and helped give me the courage to start the new plan: Don Hays, Joe Rosenberg (in an interview by Kate Welling), and Don Wolanchuk. Rosenberg is the chief investment strategist for Loewe's (and hence CNA Insurance), and the other two are seasoned technical market analysts. All three saw the market being grossly oversold. Personally I had never seen sentiment so gloomy, whether measured by market internals or by surveys or anecdotal data. As an example of the latter, internet investment chat sites were hilariously gloomy with all the usual suspects ranting and braying. And the closer we got to March 2003 the worse (and therefore better) it got.



I started buying in January 2003 all the way into the low. Since I was new to this type of investing I did not get more than 50% invested by the low, but as I learned and as we went up I added into the late summer low of 2003 and along the way in 2004.



Since I had been a Kondratieff Wave enthusiast for decades and knew that the wave was bottoming along with the four year cycle, I added to Merriman's mix by buying some specifically inflation-advantaged funds as well as the "generic" stock and bond funds. I bought several real estate funds (domestic and international), a gold fund and a polymetallics fund, Bill Gross's commodity fund, and several energy funds, but not in overwhelming percentages of total assets, since I really did (and do) want to stick to the basic idea of reasonable diversification. I also bought an inflation-adjusted US bond fund and a foreign bond fund



As I became more aware of individual long term fund returns and costs, I exchanged some of my original picks for better managements with lower costs. I decided not to limit myself to funds of one mutual fund management company, and to buy and sell mutuals through a "pick and choose" broker. For index funds, niche funds, and bond funds it's very hard to beat Vanguard on costs. Of 24 funds I own in various personal and family retirement accounts, cash accounts and trusts, seven are Vanguard Funds, two each are from Third Avenue and Dodge & Cox, three from Profunds and two are from Rydex. Rydex and Profunds are used for index funds in which I switch from long to short funds on a swing trade basis. Their costs are higher than the rest, but by using them as hedges on the short side and "augmenters" on the long side, I can boost my returns without disturbing the long term portfolio. On the short side I generally use the 200% leveraged funds to cover a larger part of the "good pickers funds".



My buddy, Perrin Gower, introduced me to John Hussman who runs a very good "hedged" fund, some of which I own: HSGFX. He picks stocks he thinks are undervalued and sells and buys OEX and SPX options against them on a variable basis depending upon the market and the valuation environment. This is the idea of being long the "good stuff" via managed funds and being short the "good, bad, and ugly" stuff via indexes. The chart again is a FastTrack total return chart of Hussman's fund in blue and Vanguard's SP500 index fund in red.











Hussman was "the man" from 2000 to early 2004, but hasn't done as well since then. On an annualized basis he is up about 16% per year compounded even so. Hussman is younger than I am so if I get tired of my hedging with Profunds and Rydex or become unable to continue, I'll let him take over since wifey isn't an investor. (He even has some gold stocks.) But I'm beating him handily since last year, and I'm having fun. :)



By using the Profunds and Rydex on the long side I am being true to the Merriman maxim of including index funds in a diversified mix, but by using them on the short side I am emulating Hussman as well.

I should mention that I am also trying to be a bit pro-active with bonds as well by occasional shifts from long term to short term or vice versa, but I've kept a core bond position of inflation-adjusted US Treasuries with Vanguard's VIPSX.



The only account where I still have some individual stocks is a taxable income account in which I have a some Canadian and US oil royalty trusts, some pipeline and infrastructure master limited partnerships, and Vanguard's REIT fund. These all pay pretty decent dividends which are either partly tax sheltered or are not taxed at the source and therefore only once. I also bought some GM preferreds and GM PET bonds paying 8-10% when bought. I have a few core gold stocks in there too. There is also a separate municipal money market and muni bond fund sub account.



I still trade SP futures and occasionally other futures, but I can take those or not as I please and travel whenever I want. I have cut down daytrading futures except if I see a "sure thing"...LOL. The rest are traded on a swing basis according to the principles in the Blue Series charts.



That's my voyage of discovery the past few years. Learning for fun and profit. Beating inflation and currency decay by a healthy margin in an inflationary age is the name of the game. It can be done.




June 18, 2005 in Portfolio Ideas | Permalink | Comments (1)


The Big Picture Click on image for full-sized pop-up.


June 18, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


Gold in WinMidas Click on image for larger pop-up version.


June 18, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


EURUSD in WinMidas Click on image for full-sized pop-up version.


June 18, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


How Buffett tripped over the dollarDespite this week's dollar rally, there are lessons still to be learned by dollar bears while glancing around


June 18, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (1)


June 15, 2005More on.....
the question unanswered there (or here in the last fed discussion/reply, though asked, and yes i DID notice ... lol) was how the low long term rates do not fit into the longwave view, herein and heretofore espoused, and the predictions for many, many moons of higher yields as the key ingredient in the inflationist gumbo.
something aisn't right, beauregard !
Posted by: | June 15, 2005 12:43 AM
************************

Every long term trend has large contra-trend reactions. In gold we have been playing the "little winter" scenario for a year or more (after a run from 1999), and in bonds for "a while". Unfortunately copper, iron ore, coal, and petroleum won't dance that tune. Nor CPI, PPI, GDP price deflator, etc.

In brief, we have been in a contra-trend period this year with players trying out the old idea that the FED or someone or something will overshoot and cause the deflation bogeyman to return. Everyone has been rushing around  rebalancing and re-allocating portfolios, causing waves in the bathtub.  But nothing has changed fundamentally, and the rubber ducky is still afloat even in the bathtub.







June 15, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)


June 14, 2005Sell signal failureThe "almost too good to be true" sell signal for 31 May/June 1 wasn't good enough. The SP paused, but never fell. Now there is a new buy signal to add to those of May. Unless SP September  futures print tomorrow under today's low of 1205.30, we'll have yet another reconfirmation of the buy. This projects to a high of at least 1235 by July 1. (Click on the thumbnail image for larger chart image.)




June 14, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)


Fed's Poole says low long rates no puzzlehttp://keyinvest.ibb.ubs.com/ki/pt/en/newsbody.ki?newsid=3732637


June 14, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (1)


June 05, 2005"It's Only Just Begun...."Naturally I could be wrong. But the weight of evidence from sentiment to chart analysis  tells me we have moved off the top for this recent up move which started in mid April. Two factors will help to  confirm it for me. One is for SP500 to break under 1190 and stay there. The other would be for on-balance volume (OBV) of the SP500 futures to break under the 65 day moving average (65 days~= one quarter of the year). OBV has stayed above this moving average, except for a day or two, ever since March 2003.  June is the month that SP500 futures switch from the June to the September contract so we'll also watch closely to see if the open interest (number of contracts held by overnight and longer traders) drops indicating that some players jumped ship.

The open interest of legal commercial or financial institutions who are hedging portfolios showed a major increase last week in net shorts in the combined, size-adjusted futures and futures options contracts. We don't know what they are seeing, but it might be somthing like their version of my chart: something  which makes them thinks stocks are in for a tumble. They are the "insiders"-- quite legally too-- and they are in a much better position than we are to know what's going on. (Click on the image for a full-sized popup of the chart.)




June 05, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (1)


Asset Allocation ChartsWe're in an era of nearly totally freely floating prices, not only for stocks and bonds, but for all interest rates, foreign currencies (plus one's own), commodities, and real estate. This has been true for thirty years now, but what is new about it  is that any small or large individual investor with a stock or mutual fund trading account at a brokerage can buy or sell any asset class. Most of this has occurred within the past five years.



Even if you want to keep all of your money in money market funds, do you want it in US dollars or in a basket of non-US currencies? I covered some alternative near cash income funds several weeks ago. All of the funds I mentioned are US-based and can be bought through any US brokerage with a mutual fund trading setup.

There are, of course both mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for real estate (domestic and foreign), gold or precious metals funds, commodity funds, and both long and short stock and bond funds. Rydex Funds will soon have both a long and short dollar fund.



For asset allocation either inside or outside a self-directed retirement account, it isn't sufficient merely to buy a stock index fund, a bond fund, and a money market fund. That worked in the 1990's, but this isn't the 1990's.  Both stocks and bonds are far closer to their thirty year highs than lows. That isn't to say they can't go higher, but they are far riskier now  than when they were much lower in the early 1990's or early 1980's.



I firmly believe that most people  should do their own research before investing. With the miracle of modern internet search engines one can get information on nearly anything in the investment universe.



I've found a great website to help me (and maybe you) evaluate stocks versus bonds versus gold versus commodities versus foregn currencies. It will not tell you specifically  what to buy, but you can see what is strong and what is weak. Obviously you want to be in something which was weak but is now getting stronger. Perhaps I should say you want to favor those things which are getting stronger. You'd never want to have all your asets in one asset class, and your price risk overall is less when you are diversified among three or more classes.



The website is maintained by StockCharts.com and is put together by James G Craig. I know nothing about Craig. The beauty of his site is that it consists of a huge number of comparative charts. Look at his index before you jump in. He has daily, weekly and monthly charts on different pages. It  is very easy to use the index to focus in on the comparison you want to learn about.  



GOLD & SILVER, and their Relationships to Stocks, Bonds, Commodities, and the Dollar





I plan to spend a lot more time on asset allocation from the point of view of a private individual investor. Check the Portfolio Ideas section from time to time.



To be perfectly clear, and in case you haven't seen my statement elsewhere, I am a private investor only and do not manage or wish to manage other people's money. I don't work for anyone except myself, and I receive no fees or benefits from anyone or any company in the investment business.





June 05, 2005 in Portfolio Ideas | Permalink | Comments (0)


June 01, 2005Ms Market comes back to the buffet Still closed back under the range bisect. It's time!

(Click on image for larger pop up.)


June 01, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


AU/XAUA followup to the gold post of several weeks ago. Click on image for larger pop-up:












June 01, 2005 in Portfolio Ideas | Permalink | Comments (0)
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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 16:04 | 显示全部楼层
&laquo; June 2005 | Main | August 2005 &raquo;
July 31, 2005Blue 77The thicker colored lines are the major ranges and range bisects (Andrews medians). They are powerful supports or resistance levels, and can be important timers when they cross. The thinner vertical lines (mostly blue) mark timer change-in-trend (CIT) crosses. Note the cluster of two timers per day on two days last week.


http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/8518/blue778fj.gif





July 31, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


July 23, 2005Reply to Slider52's CommentCommentsDr. Drake, are you implying that the 11 week cycle topped at the end of June and that we have more downside? Also, what is your latest 2 cents reading now?
Thanks,
slider52
No, Slider52. It's quite clear that the 11 week cycle  was a low on July7. In fact if you go back to the 1997 and 1998 lows, on the long term chart below, which I use as a starting point, most 11 week cycles are lows. The two most notable exceptions were the March and September 2000 highs. Even in the bear market, except for January and December 2001 highs, nearly all 11 week cycle dates were lows. And look at the lows of July and October 2002 and March 2003
I'll be expecting another low approximately on September 22, although I wouldn't want to   leave the impression I'm rigid on that point or that the cycle overrides everything else in my analysis. I do, however, have several important geometrical timer lines due just before September 22. Often in a bullish environment the market will turn up before the cycle low.
Sorry being so late in responding to your question.
Tom Drake
PS: The five day 2CS sentimeter fell to an an "all-time" low (since 1996) of 40.6 on Monday, and the 2SO one day sentiment oscillator got to its most extreme readings of the year yesterday.







July 23, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


Blue 74All the elements  for a  pullback are in place for this coming week.

The expanding triangles or Reverse Point Waves of several degrees can be seen in the longer term charts below.

The 22 day (one month) momentum of cumulative SP futures volume has been  deteriorating for two months.

There are several geometric time lines due on Monday and again on Thursday. They are visible on the chart, and I will not go into them at this time.

My sentiment measures have finally got themselves into numerical territories resembling  last December, and January, February and March of this year.

Elliott Wave is not something I will cover very often as it is nearly ubiquitous in market analysis as well as contentious and wildly variable in results from different analysts. That said, my view is that the bear market from 1999 or 2000 to 2002 was followed  by a new bull market. A major upwave of that bull market may be completing here or perhaps a simple pullback before an extension of this first wave.

I do not buy the deflationist depression or credit collapse scenarios favored by many market philosophers. I see the markets and economies of the world as being in the early phases of a long term growth period which will have occasional hot and cold periods. The evidence of bonds and gold for the past 12-18 months suggests a cooling off. Whether this will result in a return of the "Goldilocks Scenario" of restrained or more modest inflationary growth, or go instead  to an eventual recession isn't clear to me yet. Recessions do of course occur in healthy growing economic environments, as we know from the decades of the 1950's through 1970's.

As always we will await the judgement of the markets and the economy and hope for the wisdom to adapt to that judgement quickly and profitably.


July 23, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


July 09, 2005SP500 Futures UpdateClick on images for larger pop-ups.






































July 09, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (1)
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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 16:04 | 显示全部楼层
&laquo; July 2005 | Main | September 2005 &raquo;
August 31, 2005Later (timerlines) Simon Ward asked about "timerlines". They are trend lines or Gann time and price "squaring" lines or geometric "moving averages" .  Those are all older ways of referring to proportional price movement over time.

The basic idea is that a trend move has an identity defined in part by its velocity. We hear more about market momentum, which is a derivative of velocity, but velocity may be more definitive.

Another aspect of geometric or arithmetic velocity is that it has a life even if  it didn't result in continuation to a previous price  extreme point.

So even if a meaningful trend line is broken, its continuation to a previous price extreme level identifies a time when the price move, or its correction, is complete.

I have no idea why this works, but many price analysts, investors and speculators have observed the phenomenon and used it. There are some empirical rules in constructing the right kind of charts, using the right price series, and/or computing lines arithmetically by proportional projection.  These are criteria that Gann and many others struggled with. They are easy to learn once the basic concept of time and price proportionality is grasped.

Timerlines are not absolutes, but they do define times to watch for  situational ends or beginnings of trends. If your own studies indicate an extreme is being reached AND you have a timerline for that period, you can have greater confidence in your investment decision in acting upon your work.




August 31, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


August 24, 2005Now or Later
The analysis and timelines we
outlined in July have worked,
albeit slowly. Instead of partying or patting ourselves on the back, it's beginning to be time to look for the next buy. It may be in a month or two from now, or it may be tomorrow. No one will call us up and whisper the buy to us on the appointed day. There is a timeline for today or tomorrow on the chart. See if you can find it.  Always click on the charts for larger pop-ups.

The sentiment oscillator (not shown) is in a zone consistent with being near a low. The maroon thick line is the time and price bisect of the July 7- August 3 range. These lines always have the power to support, as did the bright red one at the April low and many, many others in the blue series at MyCharts and the archives here.

Despite seasonal charts and market lore on the subject, August has not been a particularly bad month for stocks since 1990 except for 2001, 1998, and 1993. August has also seen some key gold lows and agricultural lows, so it is wise not to write it off without due observation.

Today also saw over one million SP e-mini's trade during what a has been a very dull vacation period. The last day with a front month's contract trading over one million  was July 7. The one before that was near the April low. Keeping our wits about us when everyone else is losing his is key to trading. If the market goes down it goes down, but don't be paralyzed or incredulous if it doesn't.


August 24, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (1)


August 21, 2005Why We Own Stocks Always click on the images for large pop-up versions of same.


August 21, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


Why We Own Mutual FundsDoug Fabian's Successful Investing has sent out a flyer soliciting subscriptions to the mutual timing service which his father started 30 years ago. Doug dumps on the mutual fund industry and the funds, saying how bad they are compared to index ETF's, and announcing that he will no longer recommend mutual funds at all but ETFs instead.

Doug talks on about the high fees and costs and corrupt practices, and the fact that many if not most mutual funds trail the indexes they are supposed to better. And I agree with him that 90% of managed US mutual funds are a total waste of capital. They trail the indexes, can only be bought at the close of business, and generally have higher costs per dollar invested than ETFs. ETFs can be bought and sold anytime during the market.

But I looked at some of Fabian's fantastic ETF's compared to a famous old style mutual fund in the same sector. Namely I compared Vanguard's health care mutual fund (VGHCX) with the cream of the crop health care ETFs, all on a total return basis since 2000.

http://members.cox.net/2.cs/rxfunds.gif

Vanguard's old time mutual fund (VGHCX)beat the socks off all the health care ETFs I could find who have been operating more than a few years. Also, according to MSN Money, VGHCX has a cost of 0.21%(!) per year, lower than the ETF's.

My conclusions:

1. Yes, most mutual funds are worthless

2. ETF's are easier to manage (buy and sell) in a portfolio

3. If you want a good brain picking your stocks instead of a cap-weighted index committee, research the mutual funds and find the consistently index-beating low cost pickers of stocks. There are a few companies out there with a few funds that have consistently performed better than the indexes for decades with stable managements.

4. Doug Fabian *failed to mention* that mutual funds have been trying to restrict fund timers like Fabian since it makes their own portfolio management more difficult on a day to day basis. Timing mutual funds is what the Fabian family has always done via moving averages and perhaps other indicators.

Fabian is dumping on the mutual funds because they won't let him time on their funds. But Fabian doesn't even mention timing restrictions as a reason for deserting mutual funds for no brain index ETFs, only the faulty assertion that index ETF funds are better than mutual funds managed by thinking humans.

Sorry Doug, you lose in truthfulness. No subscription from me, buddy. (&copy; 2005)


August 21, 2005 in Portfolio Ideas | Permalink | Comments (0)


Out the chuteIt's still what I call options "extirpation" week, so the darvish dance can continue.  But the trend change is out of the gate with today's action. The short term sentiment picture almost guarantees a bounce of some kind in the SP futures. The big issue for 17 August is whether the futures open up or down in Chicago. Down means that any rally must be sold. Up means it *could* bounce a day or so.




August 16, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


August 06, 2005TURNS
Click on the images for larger
pop-ups.


The images largely speak for themselves. Tops of some degree seem to be at hand.

Many stock indexes are at all time highs above the 2000 highs, especially those  indexes of smaller capitalization stocks and even larger cap unweighted issues.


Nevertheless, many traders and market commentators  continue to insist that 2003 to present is a bear market rally and that a sideways to down market is a given for the next 5-16 years. The deflationists among this grand majority of sidewinders believe that the "cleansing action" or "creative destruction" of 2000-2003 wasn't nearly complete ,and that a period of 19th century or 1930-33 deflation is mandatory. They cite debt levels, terrorism, US decline, and investment bubbles among their prime fundamental arguments.


The inflationist sidewinders bring up the 1966 to 1982 stock market as an example of what happens to markets during inflation. Their main arguments are  high stock valuations and high oil prices in addition to many of the same fundamental arguments as the deflationists count on.

This subject is one I plan to address here at the blog in great detail over the next months.

However, for the moment I'll just point out that the current market situation, with probable smaller degree highs in both stocks and bonds, does not  give the deflationist sidewinders much of a chance of success.


August 06, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)
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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 16:05 | 显示全部楼层
&laquo; July 2005 | Main | September 2005 &raquo;
August 31, 2005Later (timerlines) Simon Ward asked about "timerlines". They are trend lines or Gann time and price "squaring" lines or geometric "moving averages" .  Those are all older ways of referring to proportional price movement over time.

The basic idea is that a trend move has an identity defined in part by its velocity. We hear more about market momentum, which is a derivative of velocity, but velocity may be more definitive.

Another aspect of geometric or arithmetic velocity is that it has a life even if  it didn't result in continuation to a previous price  extreme point.

So even if a meaningful trend line is broken, its continuation to a previous price extreme level identifies a time when the price move, or its correction, is complete.

I have no idea why this works, but many price analysts, investors and speculators have observed the phenomenon and used it. There are some empirical rules in constructing the right kind of charts, using the right price series, and/or computing lines arithmetically by proportional projection.  These are criteria that Gann and many others struggled with. They are easy to learn once the basic concept of time and price proportionality is grasped.

Timerlines are not absolutes, but they do define times to watch for  situational ends or beginnings of trends. If your own studies indicate an extreme is being reached AND you have a timerline for that period, you can have greater confidence in your investment decision in acting upon your work.




August 31, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


August 24, 2005Now or Later
The analysis and timelines we
outlined in July have worked,
albeit slowly. Instead of partying or patting ourselves on the back, it's beginning to be time to look for the next buy. It may be in a month or two from now, or it may be tomorrow. No one will call us up and whisper the buy to us on the appointed day. There is a timeline for today or tomorrow on the chart. See if you can find it.  Always click on the charts for larger pop-ups.

The sentiment oscillator (not shown) is in a zone consistent with being near a low. The maroon thick line is the time and price bisect of the July 7- August 3 range. These lines always have the power to support, as did the bright red one at the April low and many, many others in the blue series at  and the archives here.

Despite seasonal charts and market lore on the subject, August has not been a particularly bad month for stocks since 1990 except for 2001, 1998, and 1993. August has also seen some key gold lows and agricultural lows, so it is wise not to write it off without due observation.

Today also saw over one million SP e-mini's trade during what a has been a very dull vacation period. The last day with a front month's contract trading over one million  was July 7. The one before that was near the April low. Keeping our wits about us when everyone else is losing his is key to trading. If the market goes down it goes down, but don't be paralyzed or incredulous if it doesn't.


August 24, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (1)


August 21, 2005Why We Own Stocks Always click on the images for large pop-up versions of same.


August 21, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


Why We Own Mutual FundsDoug Fabian's Successful Investing has sent out a flyer soliciting subscriptions to the mutual timing service which his father started 30 years ago. Doug dumps on the mutual fund industry and the funds, saying how bad they are compared to index ETF's, and announcing that he will no longer recommend mutual funds at all but ETFs instead.

Doug talks on about the high fees and costs and corrupt practices, and the fact that many if not most mutual funds trail the indexes they are supposed to better. And I agree with him that 90% of managed US mutual funds are a total waste of capital. They trail the indexes, can only be bought at the close of business, and generally have higher costs per dollar invested than ETFs. ETFs can be bought and sold anytime during the market.

But I looked at some of Fabian's fantastic ETF's compared to a famous old style mutual fund in the same sector. Namely I compared Vanguard's health care mutual fund (VGHCX) with the cream of the crop health care ETFs, all on a total return basis

Vanguard's old time mutual fund (VGHCX)beat the socks off all the health care ETFs I could find who have been operating more than a few years. Also, according to MSN Money, VGHCX has a cost of 0.21%(!) per year, lower than the ETF's.

My conclusions:

1. Yes, most mutual funds are worthless

2. ETF's are easier to manage (buy and sell) in a portfolio

3. If you want a good brain picking your stocks instead of a cap-weighted index committee, research the mutual funds and find the consistently index-beating low cost pickers of stocks. There are a few companies out there with a few funds that have consistently performed better than the indexes for decades with stable managements.

4. Doug Fabian *failed to mention* that mutual funds have been trying to restrict fund timers like Fabian since it makes their own portfolio management more difficult on a day to day basis. Tim



Out the chuteIt's still what I call options "extirpation" week, so the darvish dance can continue.  But the trend change is out of the gate with today's action. The short term sentiment picture almost guarantees a bounce of some kind in the SP futures. The big issue for 17 August is whether the futures open up or down in Chicago. Down means that any rally must be sold. Up means it *could* bounce a day or so.




August 16, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)


August 06, 2005TURNS
Click on the images for larger
pop-ups.


The images largely speak for themselves. Tops of some degree seem to be at hand.

Many stock indexes are at all time highs above the 2000 highs, especially those  indexes of smaller capitalization stocks and even larger cap unweighted issues.


Nevertheless, many traders and market commentators  continue to insist that 2003 to present is a bear market rally and that a sideways to down market is a given for the next 5-16 years. The deflationists among this grand majority of sidewinders believe that the "cleansing action" or "creative destruction" of 2000-2003 wasn't nearly complete ,and that a period of 19th century or 1930-33 deflation is mandatory. They cite debt levels, terrorism, US decline, and investment bubbles among their prime fundamental arguments.


The inflationist sidewinders bring up the 1966 to 1982 stock market as an example of what happens to markets during inflation. Their main arguments are  high stock valuations and high oil prices in addition to many of the same fundamental arguments as the deflationists count on.

This subject is one I plan to address here at the blog in great detail over the next months.

However, for the moment I'll just point out that the current market situation, with probable smaller degree highs in both stocks and bonds, does not  give the deflationist sidewinders much of a chance of success.


August 06, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0)
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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 16:06 | 显示全部楼层
&laquo; August 2005 | Main | October 2005 &raquo;
September 29, 2005Next TimeAs we move off last Thursday's 55 day cycle low in the stock market, we turn our attention to the next high. I think a good case can be made for a blast off into December, but there is a legitimate concern about an "energy expenditure" timeline into October 6th, a week from today. This is the trendline from the April low through the July low to the price  horizontal of the August high, on constant 3 month forward  SP futures using a geometrically neutral 5 day per week chart. (These are the parameters for my charts.)

In a bull market, sell signals do not always register in reality, as we saw this past summer, but one must give them the respect of awareness.


September 29, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


September 27, 2005Carl Futia's Domed HouseUsing George Lindsay's calculation for the final peak of his "three peaks and a domed house", Carl Futia has December 23, 2005 as the probable end of the entire bull market sequence from 2002.  http://carlfutia.blogspot.com/2005/09/three-peaks-and-domed-house-update.html#comments

Curiously, December 22-23  is the exact geometric timer line date for the outside uptrend line from the March 2003 low to reach the 2005 high price. On the chart that line is the forest green line from the March 2003 low through the April 2005  low to the lime green horizontal line from the August 2005 high. The cross at  December 22-23 is marked by the black skull and bones and the black down arrow.

Click on the image for a larger pop-up version.


September 27, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


September 15, 2005Options "Extirpation"It's quarterly rollover time again for stock index futures,  futures options, options on stocks and stock indexes, options on stock ETF's and Lord knows what else.

I'm seeing several unusual events which are somewhat contradictory. In SP500 futures the on-balance volume of trading is sharply breaking below the three month (65 day) moving average for one of the first times since March 2003. And the uptrend of SP500 futures open interest may be above the open interest for the second consecutive quarterly "extirpation". These two events suggest that the majority are getting  nervous and short.

However, the CFTC Committments of  Traders commercial hedger category has been lifting short hedges (getting more exposed to the long side) for the past few weeks.

Also on intra-market internals and sentiment measures I am seeing the extremely bearish readings that one sees at extreme sold-out low prices. Clearly the public and especially the media are totally panicked by Hurricane Katrina, Iraq, and gasoline prices or possibly (?) for political reasons. This could explain these striking dichotomies of opinion amongst different types of investors. The panicky element is normally nearly always wrong, but if they get too terribly spooked and take off running, they can stampede everyone, and it's wise not to discount this possibility entirely.

Nevertheless, I have had some substantial hard-won but fruitful outcomes from following my indicators in similar situations, and I believe we will go up. We may chop around for a week, but with next week's 11 week cycle low looming (September 22), I see a big rally coming. The market could go a bit  lower first but I won't get too greedy for bargains and miss the move up.

Click on the image for a larger pop-up version.

I am going to be on the road for the next ten days and may be unable to update the blog.


Gold remains in a great rally and is rising against all currencies. I am always reluctant to buy assets which are rolling up unless it is part of a long term regular monthly plan. I'm happy with the gold positions I have for now, but will always look to add on breakdowns for the long run. This is one area where I have been in "buy and hold" position since the late 1990's.

Oddly, both gold and bonds have done quite well since 1999. This does not exactly fit my long term inflationary view, and I'll get into that subject another time. Personally I think bonds are overvalued, but I would never short them until they prove my idea right.



September 15, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 16:07 | 显示全部楼层
&laquo; September 2005 | Main | November 2005 &raquo;
October 30, 2005Funnymentals Update and Bullish Wild CardIn "Some Funnymentals"(below) I wrote about some of the factors which explain why most stock indices markets have gone nowhere in 2004-2005.


The main reason is that despite enormous growth in corporate profits, both M2 money growth and the ten year treasury bond yield minus the FED funds rate have depressed growth potentials. See the analysis based upon Paul Kasriel's arguments earlier this summer which were buttressed by the Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators.


A second reason was the rising household debt to disposable income ratio which Kasriel and I showed as historically impacting spending, and hence GDP, thence stocks.


Nothing goes in a straight line, and we have had a substantial 5-10% sell off in market indexes which validates much of the above. However, in the past three months both M2 money and MZM money (cash) have begun growing again  after a year's pause. FED actions affect these short or no duration moneys, but so do stock market moves. When people take money out of stocks it's either because of profits or fear of losses. In either case it means there is more money for expenditures or for investment. Currently with short term rates rising, cash may also be a preferred investment, with some money market funds (Vanguard's Prime Money Market Fund comes to mind) yielding close to 3.4%. Neverthlesss there is no penalty or loss of investment principal when you take cash  money for another purpose, so cash is always "hot money" in a sense. If you are familiar with Terry Laundry's T Theory of cash build ups, you'll have a good idea where this can lead: http://ttheory.typepad.com


On another subject, I promised earlier last week to write about market analogies between now and 1934-35, because I think this may be the bullish "sleeper" amongst all the gloom and doom scenarios after a stagnant period and pullback.


Over the past four months, four different people have drawn my attention to the similarity of the NASDAQ 100 chart since 2000 and the DJIA chart from 1929 to 1935. I don't  believe any of these four knows any of the others, and each approaches the markets from a different perspective and with different tools. It's possible they all are being influenced by someone else of course. Two are very successful private traders, one in central Europe and one in the US, and two are money managers who publish investment newsletters.


There are whole websites devoted to comparisons of "now" and "before" with percentage similarities on a day to day or week to week basis.  Moore Research Center is one such: http://www.mrci.com/special/


I have always been biased against such minute comparisons as they seem to be favored especially by "crashistas" looking for a 1929 or 1987 crash next month or next week! But there are some superficial similarities of the economies and the markets of 2000 and 1929  and their aftermaths.


Disinflationary booms created manic bull markets followed by three year "crashes" of about 90% in the 1929 Dow and 2000 Nasdaq. Then there were major bullish recoveries of a year or less followed by nearly two years of high level consolidation when the market went nowhere. Don Hays of http://haysmarketfocus.com (this requires a signup process for a three day free look), one of my four sources, adds that the recovery off the 1982 multi year bear market low was much the same. Each of the three markets, 1933-35, 1983-85, and 2004-2005, spent 22 months, 27 months, and 22 (currently) months respectively  before taking off in major bull market extensions for two years more.


One of my other sources showed that the position of the 50 and 200 day moving averages of the current Nasdaq100 and 1935 DJIA are quite similar, and another source has cogent Gann timing reasons which are virtually identical to 1935.  Also it's probably a coincidence, but each of these examples ended in year 5 of its decade. This reminds me of the famous "Tides in the Affairs of Men", the original decennial pattern of Edgar Lawrence Smith,  discussed and/or extended by many including W. D Gann and Edson Gould. 2005 looks to be an exception to the general rule so far, unless............................


Here are the three charts involving the 1935, 1985, and 2005 ends of high level consolidations after runs up from major bear market lows. You be the judge. (Left click on the images for a large version .)


  



















October 30, 2005 in Market Economics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


Current Market ClimateThe plunge to the  consolidation lows of the past 2 1/2 weeks  was only three days long, and was due to leaked information about the purported New York subway terror threat. (See "Homeland Securities" below.) The rest of the month after the 13th was what a cyber-friend calls a "commercial loading zone".


And indeed they did load up. George Slezak of http://www.cot1.com combines all the CFTC legal professional portfolio hedgers who use stock index futures and futures options. There are about 200 of these entities worldwide, representing the very largest portfolio managers.
Slezak adjusts the emini's, and other contracts (Dow's, SP400, Russell's, Nasdaq's, etc. to the size of a large SP500 futures contract ($250 times the index) and adds them all up each week.


The total net positions of these big boys each Tuesday from the October 4th to October 25th reporting days were: -37,945, -13,382, +23,037, +42,199 total contracts. 37,945 + 42,199 = 80,144 contracts purchased. This is equivalent to $24 billion of stock which was held long which is no longer hedged short, or, for logical completeness, $24 billion of stock held short which is now  hedged long. As a practical matter most very large stock portfolios mostly hold stocks long.


This new net long position is the most, or highest or most positive, that it has been in five years. This means that portfolio managers are quite a bit more confident than they have been in five years that stocks will go up. While you and I have been bombarded by politicians and the news media in October and scared out of our longs, as well as our wits, these big boys have been on a buying rampage.


This is the  most direct and vivid  description of what the the big boys have been  doing, but there is much other evidence that the little guys have been absent from the market or getting short.


By courtesy of and with permission from Rainsford Yang of http://www.markettells.com the following chart of the daily NASDAQ/NYSE volume, with a 20 day simple moving average, show the small boys (NASDAQ players)  volume relative to big boys volume falling to levels not seen since the dramatic lows of 2002 and 2003. And we were but 6% off the SPX top, not at a long and dramatic crash low. Also see Yang's chart of the percent of shorts at the NYSE held by the public. (Always left click on graphic images for larger pop-up versions.)


There are many more examples I could show you of the terrorized condition of the average investor compared to the confident buying of the big boys. None of these indicators is the equivalent of the next day weather forecast, of course. they are not for timing: they are for a general sense of the market climate at this time. That climate is very favorable over the near to intermediate term.








October 30, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 27, 2005Getting chart


October 27, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 26, 2005Getting itI'm finally beginning to get the picture. The movement which started in early August is a "flat" in the traditional  or in Elliott wave terminology for corrections. The 4th part or wave of the third section of the flat began either at the October 6th or October 13th low. It may have ended on the 19th and the 5th and final section of the flat may have ended on the 20th. Or the 4th part may have ended at today's high and the market will dip down again to the lows for Hallowe'en.


The bigger question is what will this three section flat have corrected? Did it correct the advance from the April low(s)? Its duration and size would be appropriate for an advance of that size and duration.


Did this flat from the August high instead correct  the whole larger advance from August 2004? It doesn't seem quite long enough in time although it has retraced about 3/8 of that August to August move in about 1/4 of the time.


This flat cannot be considered to have corrected the whole move up from October 2002 to August 2005. Therefore one must look as honestly and objectively as one can at one's feelings about the state of the market at this time. If you go down the page and look at the article "Some 'Funnymentals'", you see that I have begun to get a little defensive or looking for the exits. I have been bullish most of the time since early 2003.


The SPX has barely gone up at all since January 2004 to now, although many other indices, stocks, and funds have done extremely well indeed. The economy recovered quite well overall, and corporate profits have soared. The Lagging Economic Indicators peaked this summer, and some people regard this as being "as good as it gets" for a normal cycle. Clearly it was timely for the markets to begin discounting a slowdown in advance of the actual event, and this may be what is happening.


If this is the case, and if the comments above about what the markets have been correcting have  merit, there is almost certainly more time and "size" to correct. That in turn suggests that what we have seen to date is the first section itself of a larger three section correction either of the 2004-2005 rise or the 2002-2005 rise. There will be plenty of time to get into details on those issues, but if we have completed a first section, or are about to, then the next section is going to be upwards. It could even go to new highs above those of August.


Based upon sentiment and other factors, some of which I've mentioned or hinted at, I think there is a good chance of going all the way back up or more into December. The forest (longer term) is very important, but we must not forget to look at the trees (shorter term) first.


I'll put up an illustrative chart later. This is just to think about while looking at your own chart.


October 26, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 24, 2005Got lines?
This bottom is much like the one in April/May 2005 and many before it. I won't even get into sentiment which is hard to talk about without insulting your best sources.


Falling below everyone's favorite 200 day moving average and my favorite range bisects (thick blue lines) is typical, with repetitive spiky  moves. If this one wants to replicate April and May exactly, it will rally some more and fall to a secondary low above the bisect line about November 8 when I have a major  timeline. But it needn't do that.


I hope to have time in the next few days to present some evidence  that we may track the 1935 to 1937 market move. In general I don't  like pattern repetition  games very much, but the current mood and economy  mirror that period as well, so it's worth a look.




October 24, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 16, 2005Some "Funnymentals"Paul Kasriel, economist at Northern Trust in Chicago, has been forecasting a slowdown in the US economy based upon his estimation that the FED has already pushed short term interest rates past the so-called neutral point. The closest Kasriel has come to the "R" word is to mention in passing  a possible "growth recession" for 2006. He recommends the ten year treasury note yield minus the FED funds rate and real M2 money growth rate as leading indicators of economic growth, as indeed does the Conference Board in its Leading Economic Indicator.


In a report from this past summer http://tinyurl.com/d9oqm Kasriel overlays a chart of  quarterly GDP with a one quarter forward-shifted (1QF-GDP) line which combines those two indicators above. Since 1959 these indicators turned down one to several quarters before GDP growth, and this is what we have already seen, as the  1QF-GDP and GDP growth peaked in early  2004. Each of eight prior occurences resulted in a growth slowdown and five of them led to true recessions.


Kasriel has also looked at the household (consumer) increase in debt as a percent of disposable income. http://tinyurl.com/8dhh7 In general the comments one sees on this issue bemoan the long term "implications" of this debt burden. Currently the four quarter moving average of debt/household disposable income is about 12.2%. In both 1977 and 1986 the figure was about 10.5%, so the peak of last year was not astronomically above previous peaks. Nor should we forget that debt/income fell to about 4% in 1992-93, and that it is quite cyclical with peak to peak periodicity of approximately 4-6 years.   This is not a parabolic rise.


What I found more interesting than the "long run" about this debt indicator was that it peaks during the rise to, but ahead of, inflationary peaks. One could say that the  household (consumer unit) begins to cut spending and pay down some debt as prices increases materially squeeze their budgets. We've been hearing anecdotal stories about this phenomenon recently with gasoline prices, but here is a data series which confirms it as a real event.

On a hodge podge chart I stacked a logarithmic Dow Jones 30 chart on top of the household debt/income chart from Kasriel on top a chart of year over year increases in CPI, on which recession periods are shaded pink or salmon. Clearly the debt/income downturns precede recessions, but even if a recession doesn't occur, there is a decline in CPI. This latter was the case in the early 1960's and 1986-87.

Even more interesting for investors is that downturns in household debt/income often, but not always, precede stock market highs. 1999, 1976, 1973, and 1955 were excellent examples. Even more compelling is the observation that upturns from lows in household debt/income occur at or shortly before market bottoms. (Keep in mind that the household debt/income chart is a one year moving average.)


While we have a downturn in the one year moving average of household debt/income from about 13% a year ago to just over 12% now, we don't of course know if this is just a wiggle in the rise from 2001 or a meaningful event which will lead to a major drop in CPI, a recession, and a major fall in stocks.


However, Kasriel's chart of M2 growth and the spread between the ten year treasury note yield and Fed funds have great reliability and are also pointing in the same direction as household debt/income.


"What does it all mean?", as my history professor was wont to ask after a long lecture. How do we  take this to the bank?


My hunch is that should be looking over our shoulder as we saunter down Wall Street. If we see evidence of technical deterioration in the stock markets, given this fundamental background, we should take the money and run.


I do see some technical deterioration in a number of sentiment measures, although short term it looks quite bright. The first hour minus last hour Dow 30 price differential points to long term distribution since early last year. SP500 futures' cumulative on-balance volume line has fallen below its quarterly (65 day) averages for the longest time since the 2003 low. SP500 futures open interest has also fallen on an expiration to expiration (3 month) basis since June. And so forth.


My timing and my hunch suggest another fourth quarter run up to Christmas before a larger decline perhaps lasting through 2006. Final runs are often more powerful than one would suspect, so even if one's hunches are correct, it's best to stay the course. Then too, one's hunches may not be right.




October 16, 2005 in Market Economics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 14, 2005Homeland Securities?No wonder persistent selling through all supports hit early last week and this. I had a suspicion that a lot of people knew about the New York subway threat well ahead of the rest of us. What a bunch of crap!!!!! It's even worse than the LTCM fiasco of 1998 when the FED and a million brokers and banks knew and told friends, but "don't scare the public, just take their money." Some scores of heads should roll on this one.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TERROR_THREAT_EMAIL?SITE=TXADT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT




October 14, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)


October 13, 2005May 17 gap filledOn perpetual 3 month forward SP500 futures the large breakaway gap of May 17-18 was filled today. At the same time approximatley 3/8 of the August 2004 to July 2005 advance was retraced.

Sentiment is typically horrendous and the internut  and airwaves are filled with crash predictions. Economic and political sentiment is beastly as well.

My guess is that SP500 gets above 1250 and perhaps even 1300 by Christmas.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/9872/blue923pr.gif


October 13, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 09, 2005Blue 91The past week's plunge took me by surprise. My sentiment measures suggested the market would hold up into Thursday's timeline cross, whereas the market fell  into Thursday. The public's share of all NYSE shorts rose to 59%   this week, the highest since the terror crash of September 2001. People I mentioned this to on internet trading sites wrote off the public short ratio as being due to less shorting activity by the NYSE specialists which in turn is written off to the specialists' declining fortunes with the rise in program trading. I still say that the public is not going to be correct in being that bearish so near the year's high, at least not for long. But they were right for three days .

The plunge took SP500 futures back down to the July 7 London terror low, yet another connection with this week's terror threat and the public's most bearish stance since 9/11/01. I also suspect there were leaks of the New York subway threats earlier in the week.


On-balance volume of futures  has fallen below its  65 day moving average for the longest period of time since 2003. But the Money Flow Indicator suggests that a divergence low has been set. Futures open interest remains below the trendline at quarterly rollovers since June.


My current best guess is that we will rally into December, and then have a decline.  However, several talented people I know in very different locales have independently  come to the conclusion that the market is following the same price and time pattern as it did from 1932 to 1937, and that we are ready to go up for several more years. There are many economic parallels to that period as well. Early in a long term inflationary cycle the breakouts in stocks are more likely to be to the upside. The most committed bears I read are those who think we are still in a deflationary cycle. Crude  goods (commodities) and consumer price evidence say otherwise.





October 09, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 04, 2005NYSE Public ShortsThe public or non-institutional private investors now hold >55% of the total NYSE short interest. This is a greater percentage than at the October 2002 low. Granted that we pubs are really smart....NOT


October 04, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 02, 2005Gold's Bull MarketIt's no secret  that Robert Prechter's persistently bearish bent since the early 1980's created a whole amateur underclass of market bears and pessimists who have made  internet chat sites their home. Less well-known is the fact that early in his public career  Prechter accepted the traditional interpretation of the Kondratieff Long Wave  cycle. In the second edition (1981) of Jack Frost's and Prechter's "Elliott Wave Principle", the "orthodox" Long Wave schematic chart is presented (page 148) with the LW inflection peak  said to be early 1970''s, the top formation "plateau " end in the early 1980's, and the final low scheduled for the early 2000's.

Here it is in Prechter 's own 1979-81   words: "As we  interpret  the Kondratieff cycle, we have now reached another plateau, having had a trough war (World War II), a peak war  (Viet Nam), and a primary recession (1974-75). This plateau should again be accompanied by relatively prosperous times and a strong bull market in stocks. According to a reading of the wave, the economy should collapse in the mid 1980's, and be followed by three or four years of severe depression and a long period of deflation through to the trough year of 2000 A.D."

This is, of course, almost exactly what did happen, and right on the time line.  The depression of the early 1980's was extremely severe for wages, employment, crude goods prices, and mining, agriculture,  and oil sector devastation, and rates of GDP growth slowed dramatically and stayed far lower that they had been from the 1950's through 1970's.

Where Prechter and his legions of intellectual followers missed the boat was that "creative destruction" of modern Kondratieff  Wave depressions happened earlier and far more effectively than in the credit-deficient 19th century. As soon as labor  unions lost their grasp  after 1980,   and both interest rates and prices began to fall, a tremendous energizing of American enterprise was set in place, led by technology. The industrial heartland became the Rust Belt and Silicon Gulches, east and west, replaced it.

So while economic growth rates remained lower than they had been until the late 1970's, interest rates and crude goods prtices continued to fall to 1999  and even later for some goods and rates. The Prechterite Kondratieff folks were (and still are!) waiting for the vicious  deflationary crash of 19th century dreams. But the initial crash was over by 1982. As one would expect there were further deflationary interludes through out the two decade period which followed, as in 1989-90   and 1996-99  and again in 2002. For all practical purposes, the Long Wave Kondratieff trough was in 2002, even though gold and other selected crude goods prices   (oil) bottomed in 1999.

The Prechterite Kondratieff folks have come up with a panoply of reasons why gold and oil and economic growth are up: mostly focused on market  "manipulation" and intervention. We began to see this remarkable rationalization develop in the gold market after 1996 when gold bugs turned deflationist and switched to market manipulation and "credit risks" as reasons for gold's bear market, never mind that nearly all commodities were down and the dollar up. I wrote a gold newsletter in the 1990's, and I was shocked to see gold bruited about by these folks as a  deflation hedge while it fell by nearly 50%.

Now that gold is but a rally away from doubling its 1999 low and crude oil up seven fold, many are nervous, and my mailbox is full of deflationary ads  for newsletters. No one who is bullish will deny that bull markets have to exhale and will do so after advances. Both gold and crude oil could reasonably be expected to have substantial pullbacks. But today I saw an analysis  of why that may not occur.

George Slezak is a self-proclaimed "perma-bear", but he is wise enough to know when bullish times are upon him. As far as stocks are conerned, he was short for most of 2000-2002, long from the summer of 2002 for two years, and he has recently turned bullish again on stocks. George's main analytical weapon is the net hedging position of the commercial portfolio managers, but in this gold and stock analysis he is using Long Wave cycles to project much higher prices for gold  after a probable pullback due to increased commercial hedging. And I agree.

Gold was a central bank fixed market for a very long time, so we have no decent price data before the late 1960's. But Slezek understands that gold went through a  rolling bear market from 1980 to 1999 just as stocks did from 1929 to 1949, and surmises that the outcome will be a much longer bull market like the stock market had fr0m 1949 to 1972. This is a "bottoms up" Long Wave analysis unlike the usual "tops down" application of derived cycles.

Read more about George's market approach at http://www.cot1.com/

I subscribe to his service.

Click on the image for a large version.





October 02, 2005 in Long Wave | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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October 30, 2005Funnymentals Update and Bullish Wild CardIn "Some Funnymentals"(below) I wrote about some of the factors which explain why most stock indices markets have gone nowhere in 2004-2005.


The main reason is that despite enormous growth in corporate profits, both M2 money growth and the ten year treasury bond yield minus the FED funds rate have depressed growth potentials. See the analysis based upon Paul Kasriel's arguments earlier this summer which were buttressed by the Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators.


A second reason was the rising household debt to disposable income ratio which Kasriel and I showed as historically impacting spending, and hence GDP, thence stocks.


Nothing goes in a straight line, and we have had a substantial 5-10% sell off in market indexes which validates much of the above. However, in the past three months both M2 money and MZM money (cash) have begun growing again  after a year's pause. FED actions affect these short or no duration moneys, but so do stock market moves. When people take money out of stocks it's either because of profits or fear of losses. In either case it means there is more money for expenditures or for investment. Currently with short term rates rising, cash may also be a preferred investment, with some money market funds (Vanguard's Prime Money Market Fund comes to mind) yielding close to 3.4%. Neverthlesss there is no penalty or loss of investment principal when you take cash  money for another purpose, so cash is always "hot money" in a sense. If you are familiar with Terry Laundry's T Theory of cash build ups, you'll have a good idea where this can lead: http://ttheory.typepad.com


On another subject, I promised earlier last week to write about market analogies between now and 1934-35, because I think this may be the bullish "sleeper" amongst all the gloom and doom scenarios after a stagnant period and pullback.


Over the past four months, four different people have drawn my attention to the similarity of the NASDAQ 100 chart since 2000 and the DJIA chart from 1929 to 1935. I don't  believe any of these four knows any of the others, and each approaches the markets from a different perspective and with different tools. It's possible they all are being influenced by someone else of course. Two are very successful private traders, one in central Europe and one in the US, and two are money managers who publish investment newsletters.


There are whole websites devoted to comparisons of "now" and "before" with percentage similarities on a day to day or week to week basis.  Moore Research Center is one such: http://www.mrci.com/special/


I have always been biased against such minute comparisons as they seem to be favored especially by "crashistas" looking for a 1929 or 1987 crash next month or next week! But there are some superficial similarities of the economies and the markets of 2000 and 1929  and their aftermaths.


Disinflationary booms created manic bull markets followed by three year "crashes" of about 90% in the 1929 Dow and 2000 Nasdaq. Then there were major bullish recoveries of a year or less followed by nearly two years of high level consolidation when the market went nowhere. Don Hays of http://haysmarketfocus.com (this requires a signup process for a three day free look), one of my four sources, adds that the recovery off the 1982 multi year bear market low was much the same. Each of the three markets, 1933-35, 1983-85, and 2004-2005, spent 22 months, 27 months, and 22 (currently) months respectively  before taking off in major bull market extensions for two years more.


One of my other sources showed that the position of the 50 and 200 day moving averages of the current Nasdaq100 and 1935 DJIA are quite similar, and another source has cogent Gann timing reasons which are virtually identical to 1935.  Also it's probably a coincidence, but each of these examples ended in year 5 of its decade. This reminds me of the famous "Tides in the Affairs of Men", the original decennial pattern of Edgar Lawrence Smith,  discussed and/or extended by many including W. D Gann and Edson Gould. 2005 looks to be an exception to the general rule so far, unless............................


Here are the three charts involving the 1935, 1985, and 2005 ends of high level consolidations after runs up from major bear market lows. You be the judge. (Left click on the images for a large version .)


  



















October 30, 2005 in Market Economics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


Current Market ClimateThe plunge to the  consolidation lows of the past 2 1/2 weeks  was only three days long, and was due to leaked information about the purported New York subway terror threat. (See "Homeland Securities" below.) The rest of the month after the 13th was what a cyber-friend calls a "commercial loading zone".


And indeed they did load up. George Slezak of http://www.cot1.com combines all the CFTC legal professional portfolio hedgers who use stock index futures and futures options. There are about 200 of these entities worldwide, representing the very largest portfolio managers.
Slezak adjusts the emini's, and other contracts (Dow's, SP400, Russell's, Nasdaq's, etc. to the size of a large SP500 futures contract ($250 times the index) and adds them all up each week.


The total net positions of these big boys each Tuesday from the October 4th to October 25th reporting days were: -37,945, -13,382, +23,037, +42,199 total contracts. 37,945 + 42,199 = 80,144 contracts purchased. This is equivalent to $24 billion of stock which was held long which is no longer hedged short, or, for logical completeness, $24 billion of stock held short which is now  hedged long. As a practical matter most very large stock portfolios mostly hold stocks long.


This new net long position is the most, or highest or most positive, that it has been in five years. This means that portfolio managers are quite a bit more confident than they have been in five years that stocks will go up. While you and I have been bombarded by politicians and the news media in October and scared out of our longs, as well as our wits, these big boys have been on a buying rampage.


This is the  most direct and vivid  description of what the the big boys have been  doing, but there is much other evidence that the little guys have been absent from the market or getting short.


By courtesy of and with permission from Rainsford Yang of http://www.markettells.com the following chart of the daily NASDAQ/NYSE volume, with a 20 day simple moving average, show the small boys (NASDAQ players)  volume relative to big boys volume falling to levels not seen since the dramatic lows of 2002 and 2003. And we were but 6% off the SPX top, not at a long and dramatic crash low. Also see Yang's chart of the percent of shorts at the NYSE held by the public. (Always left click on graphic images for larger pop-up versions.)


There are many more examples I could show you of the terrorized condition of the average investor compared to the confident buying of the big boys. None of these indicators is the equivalent of the next day weather forecast, of course. they are not for timing: they are for a general sense of the market climate at this time. That climate is very favorable over the near to intermediate term.








October 30, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 27, 2005Getting chart


October 27, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 26, 2005Getting itI'm finally beginning to get the picture. The movement which started in early August is a "flat" in the traditional  or in Elliott wave terminology for corrections. The 4th part or wave of the third section of the flat began either at the October 6th or October 13th low. It may have ended on the 19th and the 5th and final section of the flat may have ended on the 20th. Or the 4th part may have ended at today's high and the market will dip down again to the lows for Hallowe'en.


The bigger question is what will this three section flat have corrected? Did it correct the advance from the April low(s)? Its duration and size would be appropriate for an advance of that size and duration.


Did this flat from the August high instead correct  the whole larger advance from August 2004? It doesn't seem quite long enough in time although it has retraced about 3/8 of that August to August move in about 1/4 of the time.


This flat cannot be considered to have corrected the whole move up from October 2002 to August 2005. Therefore one must look as honestly and objectively as one can at one's feelings about the state of the market at this time. If you go down the page and look at the article "Some 'Funnymentals'", you see that I have begun to get a little defensive or looking for the exits. I have been bullish most of the time since early 2003.


The SPX has barely gone up at all since January 2004 to now, although many other indices, stocks, and funds have done extremely well indeed. The economy recovered quite well overall, and corporate profits have soared. The Lagging Economic Indicators peaked this summer, and some people regard this as being "as good as it gets" for a normal cycle. Clearly it was timely for the markets to begin discounting a slowdown in advance of the actual event, and this may be what is happening.


If this is the case, and if the comments above about what the markets have been correcting have  merit, there is almost certainly more time and "size" to correct. That in turn suggests that what we have seen to date is the first section itself of a larger three section correction either of the 2004-2005 rise or the 2002-2005 rise. There will be plenty of time to get into details on those issues, but if we have completed a first section, or are about to, then the next section is going to be upwards. It could even go to new highs above those of August.


Based upon sentiment and other factors, some of which I've mentioned or hinted at, I think there is a good chance of going all the way back up or more into December. The forest (longer term) is very important, but we must not forget to look at the trees (shorter term) first.


I'll put up an illustrative chart later. This is just to think about while looking at your own chart.


October 26, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 24, 2005Got lines?
This bottom is much like the one in April/May 2005 and many before it. I won't even get into sentiment which is hard to talk about without insulting your best sources.


Falling below everyone's favorite 200 day moving average and my favorite range bisects (thick blue lines) is typical, with repetitive spiky  moves. If this one wants to replicate April and May exactly, it will rally some more and fall to a secondary low above the bisect line about November 8 when I have a major  timeline. But it needn't do that.


I hope to have time in the next few days to present some evidence  that we may track the 1935 to 1937 market move. In general I don't  like pattern repetition  games very much, but the current mood and economy  mirror that period as well, so it's worth a look.




October 24, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 16, 2005Some "Funnymentals"Paul Kasriel, economist at Northern Trust in Chicago, has been forecasting a slowdown in the US economy based upon his estimation that the FED has already pushed short term interest rates past the so-called neutral point. The closest Kasriel has come to the "R" word is to mention in passing  a possible "growth recession" for 2006. He recommends the ten year treasury note yield minus the FED funds rate and real M2 money growth rate as leading indicators of economic growth, as indeed does the Conference Board in its Leading Economic Indicator.


In a report from this past summer http://tinyurl.com/d9oqm Kasriel overlays a chart of  quarterly GDP with a one quarter forward-shifted (1QF-GDP) line which combines those two indicators above. Since 1959 these indicators turned down one to several quarters before GDP growth, and this is what we have already seen, as the  1QF-GDP and GDP growth peaked in early  2004. Each of eight prior occurences resulted in a growth slowdown and five of them led to true recessions.


Kasriel has also looked at the household (consumer) increase in debt as a percent of disposable income. http://tinyurl.com/8dhh7 In general the comments one sees on this issue bemoan the long term "implications" of this debt burden. Currently the four quarter moving average of debt/household disposable income is about 12.2%. In both 1977 and 1986 the figure was about 10.5%, so the peak of last year was not astronomically above previous peaks. Nor should we forget that debt/income fell to about 4% in 1992-93, and that it is quite cyclical with peak to peak periodicity of approximately 4-6 years.   This is not a parabolic rise.


What I found more interesting than the "long run" about this debt indicator was that it peaks during the rise to, but ahead of, inflationary peaks. One could say that the  household (consumer unit) begins to cut spending and pay down some debt as prices increases materially squeeze their budgets. We've been hearing anecdotal stories about this phenomenon recently with gasoline prices, but here is a data series which confirms it as a real event.

On a hodge podge chart I stacked a logarithmic Dow Jones 30 chart on top of the household debt/income chart from Kasriel on top a chart of year over year increases in CPI, on which recession periods are shaded pink or salmon. Clearly the debt/income downturns precede recessions, but even if a recession doesn't occur, there is a decline in CPI. This latter was the case in the early 1960's and 1986-87.

Even more interesting for investors is that downturns in household debt/income often, but not always, precede stock market highs. 1999, 1976, 1973, and 1955 were excellent examples. Even more compelling is the observation that upturns from lows in household debt/income occur at or shortly before market bottoms. (Keep in mind that the household debt/income chart is a one year moving average.)


While we have a downturn in the one year moving average of household debt/income from about 13% a year ago to just over 12% now, we don't of course know if this is just a wiggle in the rise from 2001 or a meaningful event which will lead to a major drop in CPI, a recession, and a major fall in stocks.


However, Kasriel's chart of M2 growth and the spread between the ten year treasury note yield and Fed funds have great reliability and are also pointing in the same direction as household debt/income.


"What does it all mean?", as my history professor was wont to ask after a long lecture. How do we  take this to the bank?


My hunch is that should be looking over our shoulder as we saunter down Wall Street. If we see evidence of technical deterioration in the stock markets, given this fundamental background, we should take the money and run.


I do see some technical deterioration in a number of sentiment measures, although short term it looks quite bright. The first hour minus last hour Dow 30 price differential points to long term distribution since early last year. SP500 futures' cumulative on-balance volume line has fallen below its quarterly (65 day) averages for the longest time since the 2003 low. SP500 futures open interest has also fallen on an expiration to expiration (3 month) basis since June. And so forth.


My timing and my hunch suggest another fourth quarter run up to Christmas before a larger decline perhaps lasting through 2006. Final runs are often more powerful than one would suspect, so even if one's hunches are correct, it's best to stay the course. Then too, one's hunches may not be right.




October 16, 2005 in Market Economics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 14, 2005Homeland Securities?No wonder persistent selling through all supports hit early last week and this. I had a suspicion that a lot of people knew about the New York subway threat well ahead of the rest of us. What a bunch of crap!!!!! It's even worse than the LTCM fiasco of 1998 when the FED and a million brokers and banks knew and told friends, but "don't scare the public, just take their money." Some scores of heads should roll on this one.






October 14, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)


October 13, 2005May 17 gap filledOn perpetual 3 month forward SP500 futures the large breakaway gap of May 17-18 was filled today. At the same time approximatley 3/8 of the August 2004 to July 2005 advance was retraced.

Sentiment is typically horrendous and the internut  and airwaves are filled with crash predictions. Economic and political sentiment is beastly as well.

My guess is that SP500 gets above 1250 and perhaps even 1300 by Christmas.




October 13, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 09, 2005Blue 91The past week's plunge took me by surprise. My sentiment measures suggested the market would hold up into Thursday's timeline cross, whereas the market fell  into Thursday. The public's share of all NYSE shorts rose to 59%   this week, the highest since the terror crash of September 2001. People I mentioned this to on internet trading sites wrote off the public short ratio as being due to less shorting activity by the NYSE specialists which in turn is written off to the specialists' declining fortunes with the rise in program trading. I still say that the public is not going to be correct in being that bearish so near the year's high, at least not for long. But they were right for three days .

The plunge took SP500 futures back down to the July 7 London terror low, yet another connection with this week's terror threat and the public's most bearish stance since 9/11/01. I also suspect there were leaks of the New York subway threats earlier in the week.


On-balance volume of futures  has fallen below its  65 day moving average for the longest period of time since 2003. But the Money Flow Indicator suggests that a divergence low has been set. Futures open interest remains below the trendline at quarterly rollovers since June.


My current best guess is that we will rally into December, and then have a decline.  However, several talented people I know in very different locales have independently  come to the conclusion that the market is following the same price and time pattern as it did from 1932 to 1937, and that we are ready to go up for several more years. There are many economic parallels to that period as well. Early in a long term inflationary cycle the breakouts in stocks are more likely to be to the upside. The most committed bears I read are those who think we are still in a deflationary cycle. Crude  goods (commodities) and consumer price evidence say otherwise.





October 09, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 04, 2005NYSE Public ShortsThe public or non-institutional private investors now hold >55% of the total NYSE short interest. This is a greater percentage than at the October 2002 low. Granted that we pubs are really smart....NOT


October 04, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 02, 2005Gold's Bull MarketIt's no secret  that Robert Prechter's persistently bearish bent since the early 1980's created a whole amateur underclass of market bears and pessimists who have made  internet chat sites their home. Less well-known is the fact that early in his public career  Prechter accepted the traditional interpretation of the Kondratieff Long Wave  cycle. In the second edition (1981) of Jack Frost's and Prechter's "Elliott Wave Principle", the "orthodox" Long Wave schematic chart is presented (page 148) with the LW inflection peak  said to be early 1970''s, the top formation "plateau " end in the early 1980's, and the final low scheduled for the early 2000's.

Here it is in Prechter 's own 1979-81   words: "As we  interpret  the Kondratieff cycle, we have now reached another plateau, having had a trough war (World War II), a peak war  (Viet Nam), and a primary recession (1974-75). This plateau should again be accompanied by relatively prosperous times and a strong bull market in stocks. According to a reading of the wave, the economy should collapse in the mid 1980's, and be followed by three or four years of severe depression and a long period of deflation through to the trough year of 2000 A.D."

This is, of course, almost exactly what did happen, and right on the time line.  The depression of the early 1980's was extremely severe for wages, employment, crude goods prices, and mining, agriculture,  and oil sector devastation, and rates of GDP growth slowed dramatically and stayed far lower that they had been from the 1950's through 1970's.

Where Prechter and his legions of intellectual followers missed the boat was that "creative destruction" of modern Kondratieff  Wave depressions happened earlier and far more effectively than in the credit-deficient 19th century. As soon as labor  unions lost their grasp  after 1980,   and both interest rates and prices began to fall, a tremendous energizing of American enterprise was set in place, led by technology. The industrial heartland became the Rust Belt and Silicon Gulches, east and west, replaced it.

So while economic growth rates remained lower than they had been until the late 1970's, interest rates and crude goods prtices continued to fall to 1999  and even later for some goods and rates. The Prechterite Kondratieff folks were (and still are!) waiting for the vicious  deflationary crash of 19th century dreams. But the initial crash was over by 1982. As one would expect there were further deflationary interludes through out the two decade period which followed, as in 1989-90   and 1996-99  and again in 2002. For all practical purposes, the Long Wave Kondratieff trough was in 2002, even though gold and other selected crude goods prices   (oil) bottomed in 1999.

The Prechterite Kondratieff folks have come up with a panoply of reasons why gold and oil and economic growth are up: mostly focused on market  "manipulation" and intervention. We began to see this remarkable rationalization develop in the gold market after 1996 when gold bugs turned deflationist and switched to market manipulation and "credit risks" as reasons for gold's bear market, never mind that nearly all commodities were down and the dollar up. I wrote a gold newsletter in the 1990's, and I was shocked to see gold bruited about by these folks as a  deflation hedge while it fell by nearly 50%.

Now that gold is but a rally away from doubling its 1999 low and crude oil up seven fold, many are nervous, and my mailbox is full of deflationary ads  for newsletters. No one who is bullish will deny that bull markets have to exhale and will do so after advances. Both gold and crude oil could reasonably be expected to have substantial pullbacks. But today I saw an analysis  of why that may not occur.

George Slezak is a self-proclaimed "perma-bear", but he is wise enough to know when bullish times are upon him. As far as stocks are conerned, he was short for most of 2000-2002, long from the summer of 2002 for two years, and he has recently turned bullish again on stocks. George's main analytical weapon is the net hedging position of the commercial portfolio managers, but in this gold and stock analysis he is using Long Wave cycles to project much higher prices for gold  after a probable pullback due to increased commercial hedging. And I agree.

Gold was a central bank fixed market for a very long time, so we have no decent price data before the late 1960's. But Slezek understands that gold went through a  rolling bear market from 1980 to 1999 just as stocks did from 1929 to 1949, and surmises that the outcome will be a much longer bull market like the stock market had fr0m 1949 to 1972. This is a "bottoms up" Long Wave analysis unlike the usual "tops down" application of derived cycles.

Read more about George's market approach at

I subscribe to his service.

Click on the image for a large version.





October 02, 2005 in Long Wave | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 16:08 | 显示全部楼层
&laquo; September 2005 | Main | November 2005 &raquo;
October 30, 2005Funnymentals Update and Bullish Wild CardIn "Some Funnymentals"(below) I wrote about some of the factors which explain why most stock indices markets have gone nowhere in 2004-2005.


The main reason is that despite enormous growth in corporate profits, both M2 money growth and the ten year treasury bond yield minus the FED funds rate have depressed growth potentials. See the analysis based upon Paul Kasriel's arguments earlier this summer which were buttressed by the Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators.


A second reason was the rising household debt to disposable income ratio which Kasriel and I showed as historically impacting spending, and hence GDP, thence stocks.


Nothing goes in a straight line, and we have had a substantial 5-10% sell off in market indexes which validates much of the above. However, in the past three months both M2 money and MZM money (cash) have begun growing again  after a year's pause. FED actions affect these short or no duration moneys, but so do stock market moves. When people take money out of stocks it's either because of profits or fear of losses. In either case it means there is more money for expenditures or for investment. Currently with short term rates rising, cash may also be a preferred investment, with some money market funds (Vanguard's Prime Money Market Fund comes to mind) yielding close to 3.4%. Neverthlesss there is no penalty or loss of investment principal when you take cash  money for another purpose, so cash is always "hot money" in a sense. If you are familiar with Terry Laundry's T Theory of cash build ups, you'll have a good idea where this can lead


On another subject, I promised earlier last week to write about market analogies between now and 1934-35, because I think this may be the bullish "sleeper" amongst all the gloom and doom scenarios after a stagnant period and pullback.


Over the past four months, four different people have drawn my attention to the similarity of the NASDAQ 100 chart since 2000 and the DJIA chart from 1929 to 1935. I don't  believe any of these four knows any of the others, and each approaches the markets from a different perspective and with different tools. It's possible they all are being influenced by someone else of course. Two are very successful private traders, one in central Europe and one in the US, and two are money managers who publish investment newsletters.


There are whole websites devoted to comparisons of "now" and "before" with percentage similarities on a day to day or week to week basis.  Moore Research Center is one (this requires a signup process for a three day free look), one of my four sources, adds that the recovery off the 1982 multi year bear market low was much the same. Each of the three markets, 1933-35, 1983-85, and 2004-2005, spent 22 months, 27 months, and 22 (currently) months respectively  before taking off in major bull market extensions for two years more.


One of my other sources showed that the position of the 50 and 200 day moving averages of the current Nasdaq100 and 1935 DJIA are quite similar, and another source has cogent Gann timing reasons which are virtually identical to 1935.  Also it's probably a coincidence, but each of these examples ended in year 5 of its decade. This reminds me of the famous "Tides in the Affairs of Men", the original decennial pattern of Edgar Lawrence Smith,  discussed and/or extended by many including W. D Gann and Edson Gould. 2005 looks to be an exception to the general rule so far, unless............................


Here are the three charts involving the 1935, 1985, and 2005 ends of high level consolidations after runs up from major bear market lows. You be the judge. (Left click on the images for a large version .)


  



















October 30, 2005 in Market Economics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


Current Market ClimateThe plunge to the  consolidation lows of the past 2 1/2 weeks  was only three days long, and was due to leaked information about the purported New York subway terror threat. (See "Homeland Securities" below.) The rest of the month after the 13th was what a cyber-friend calls a "commercial loading zone".


And indeed they did load up. George Slezak combines all the CFTC legal professional portfolio hedgers who use stock index futures and futures options. There are about 200 of these entities worldwide, representing the very largest portfolio managers.
Slezak adjusts the emini's, and other contracts (Dow's, SP400, Russell's, Nasdaq's, etc. to the size of a large SP500 futures contract ($250 times the index) and adds them all up each week.


The total net positions of these big boys each Tuesday from the October 4th to October 25th reporting days were: -37,945, -13,382, +23,037, +42,199 total contracts. 37,945 + 42,199 = 80,144 contracts purchased. This is equivalent to $24 billion of stock which was held long which is no longer hedged short, or, for logical completeness, $24 billion of stock held short which is now  hedged long. As a practical matter most very large stock portfolios mostly hold stocks long.


This new net long position is the most, or highest or most positive, that it has been in five years. This means that portfolio managers are quite a bit more confident than they have been in five years that stocks will go up. While you and I have been bombarded by politicians and the news media in October and scared out of our longs, as well as our wits, these big boys have been on a buying rampage.


This is the  most direct and vivid  description of what the the big boys have been  doing, but there is much other evidence that the little guys have been absent from the market or getting short.


By courtesy of and with permission from Rainsford  the following chart of the daily NASDAQ/NYSE volume, with a 20 day simple moving average, show the small boys (NASDAQ players)  volume relative to big boys volume falling to levels not seen since the dramatic lows of 2002 and 2003. And we were but 6% off the SPX top, not at a long and dramatic crash low. Also see Yang's chart of the percent of shorts at the NYSE held by the public. (Always left click on graphic images for larger pop-up versions.)


There are many more examples I could show you of the terrorized condition of the average investor compared to the confident buying of the big boys. None of these indicators is the equivalent of the next day weather forecast, of course. they are not for timing: they are for a general sense of the market climate at this time. That climate is very favorable over the near to intermediate term.








October 30, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 27, 2005Getting chart


October 27, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 26, 2005Getting itI'm finally beginning to get the picture. The movement which started in early August is a "flat" in the traditional  or in Elliott wave terminology for corrections. The 4th part or wave of the third section of the flat began either at the October 6th or October 13th low. It may have ended on the 19th and the 5th and final section of the flat may have ended on the 20th. Or the 4th part may have ended at today's high and the market will dip down again to the lows for Hallowe'en.


The bigger question is what will this three section flat have corrected? Did it correct the advance from the April low(s)? Its duration and size would be appropriate for an advance of that size and duration.


Did this flat from the August high instead correct  the whole larger advance from August 2004? It doesn't seem quite long enough in time although it has retraced about 3/8 of that August to August move in about 1/4 of the time.


This flat cannot be considered to have corrected the whole move up from October 2002 to August 2005. Therefore one must look as honestly and objectively as one can at one's feelings about the state of the market at this time. If you go down the page and look at the article "Some 'Funnymentals'", you see that I have begun to get a little defensive or looking for the exits. I have been bullish most of the time since early 2003.


The SPX has barely gone up at all since January 2004 to now, although many other indices, stocks, and funds have done extremely well indeed. The economy recovered quite well overall, and corporate profits have soared. The Lagging Economic Indicators peaked this summer, and some people regard this as being "as good as it gets" for a normal cycle. Clearly it was timely for the markets to begin discounting a slowdown in advance of the actual event, and this may be what is happening.


If this is the case, and if the comments above about what the markets have been correcting have  merit, there is almost certainly more time and "size" to correct. That in turn suggests that what we have seen to date is the first section itself of a larger three section correction either of the 2004-2005 rise or the 2002-2005 rise. There will be plenty of time to get into details on those issues, but if we have completed a first section, or are about to, then the next section is going to be upwards. It could even go to new highs above those of August.


Based upon sentiment and other factors, some of which I've mentioned or hinted at, I think there is a good chance of going all the way back up or more into December. The forest (longer term) is very important, but we must not forget to look at the trees (shorter term) first.


I'll put up an illustrative chart later. This is just to think about while looking at your own chart.


October 26, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 24, 2005Got lines?
This bottom is much like the one in April/May 2005 and many before it. I won't even get into sentiment which is hard to talk about without insulting your best sources.


Falling below everyone's favorite 200 day moving average and my favorite range bisects (thick blue lines) is typical, with repetitive spiky  moves. If this one wants to replicate April and May exactly, it will rally some more and fall to a secondary low above the bisect line about November 8 when I have a major  timeline. But it needn't do that.


I hope to have time in the next few days to present some evidence  that we may track the 1935 to 1937 market move. In general I don't  like pattern repetition  games very much, but the current mood and economy  mirror that period as well, so it's worth a look.




October 24, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 16, 2005Some "Funnymentals"Paul Kasriel, economist at Northern Trust in Chicago, has been forecasting a slowdown in the US economy based upon his estimation that the FED has already pushed short term interest rates past the so-called neutral point. The closest Kasriel has come to the "R" word is to mention in passing  a possible "growth recession" for 2006. He recommends the ten year treasury note yield minus the FED funds rate and real M2 money growth rate as leading indicators of economic growth, as indeed does the Conference Board in its Leading Economic Indicator.


In a report from this past general the comments one sees on this issue bemoan the long term "implications" of this debt burden. Currently the four quarter moving average of debt/household disposable income is about 12.2%. In both 1977 and 1986 the figure was about 10.5%, so the peak of last year was not astronomically above previous peaks. Nor should we forget that debt/income fell to about 4% in 1992-93, and that it is quite cyclical with peak to peak periodicity of approximately 4-6 years.   This is not a parabolic rise.


What I found more interesting than the "long run" about this debt indicator was that it peaks during the rise to, but ahead of, inflationary peaks. One could say that the  household (consumer unit) begins to cut spending and pay down some debt as prices increases materially squeeze their budgets. We've been hearing anecdotal stories about this phenomenon recently with gasoline prices, but here is a data series which confirms it as a real event.

On a hodge podge chart I stacked a logarithmic Dow Jones 30 chart on top of the household debt/income chart from Kasriel on top a chart of year over year increases in CPI, on which recession periods are shaded pink or salmon. Clearly the debt/income downturns precede recessions, but even if a recession doesn't occur, there is a decline in CPI. This latter was the case in the early 1960's and 1986-87.

Even more interesting for investors is that downturns in household debt/income often, but not always, precede stock market highs. 1999, 1976, 1973, and 1955 were excellent examples. Even more compelling is the observation that upturns from lows in household debt/income occur at or shortly before market bottoms. (Keep in mind that the household debt/income chart is a one year moving average.)


While we have a downturn in the one year moving average of household debt/income from about 13% a year ago to just over 12% now, we don't of course know if this is just a wiggle in the rise from 2001 or a meaningful event which will lead to a major drop in CPI, a recession, and a major fall in stocks.


However, Kasriel's chart of M2 growth and the spread between the ten year treasury note yield and Fed funds have great reliability and are also pointing in the same direction as household debt/income.


"What does it all mean?", as my history professor was wont to ask after a long lecture. How do we  take this to the bank?


My hunch is that should be looking over our shoulder as we saunter down Wall Street. If we see evidence of technical deterioration in the stock markets, given this fundamental background, we should take the money and run.


I do see some technical deterioration in a number of sentiment measures, although short term it looks quite bright. The first hour minus last hour Dow 30 price differential points to long term distribution since early last year. SP500 futures' cumulative on-balance volume line has fallen below its quarterly (65 day) averages for the longest time since the 2003 low. SP500 futures open interest has also fallen on an expiration to expiration (3 month) basis since June. And so forth.


My timing and my hunch suggest another fourth quarter run up to Christmas before a larger decline perhaps lasting through 2006. Final runs are often more powerful than one would suspect, so even if one's hunches are correct, it's best to stay the course. Then too, one's hunches may not be right.




October 16, 2005 in Market Economics | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 14, 2005Homeland Securities?No wonder persistent selling through all supports hit early last week and this. I had a suspicion that a lot of people knew about the New York subway threat well ahead of the rest of us. What a bunch of crap!!!!! It's even worse than the LTCM fiasco of 1998 when the FED and a million brokers and banks knew and told friends, but "don't scare the public, just take their money." Some scores of heads should roll on this one.






October 14, 2005 in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)


October 13, 2005May 17 gap filledOn perpetual 3 month forward SP500 futures the large breakaway gap of May 17-18 was filled today. At the same time approximatley 3/8 of the August 2004 to July 2005 advance was retraced.

Sentiment is typically horrendous and the internut  and airwaves are filled with crash predictions. Economic and political sentiment is beastly as well.

My guess is that SP500 gets above 1250 and perhaps even 1300 by Christmas.




October 13, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 09, 2005Blue 91The past week's plunge took me by surprise. My sentiment measures suggested the market would hold up into Thursday's timeline cross, whereas the market fell  into Thursday. The public's share of all NYSE shorts rose to 59%   this week, the highest since the terror crash of September 2001. People I mentioned this to on internet trading sites wrote off the public short ratio as being due to less shorting activity by the NYSE specialists which in turn is written off to the specialists' declining fortunes with the rise in program trading. I still say that the public is not going to be correct in being that bearish so near the year's high, at least not for long. But they were right for three days .

The plunge took SP500 futures back down to the July 7 London terror low, yet another connection with this week's terror threat and the public's most bearish stance since 9/11/01. I also suspect there were leaks of the New York subway threats earlier in the week.


On-balance volume of futures  has fallen below its  65 day moving average for the longest period of time since 2003. But the Money Flow Indicator suggests that a divergence low has been set. Futures open interest remains below the trendline at quarterly rollovers since June.


My current best guess is that we will rally into December, and then have a decline.  However, several talented people I know in very different locales have independently  come to the conclusion that the market is following the same price and time pattern as it did from 1932 to 1937, and that we are ready to go up for several more years. There are many economic parallels to that period as well. Early in a long term inflationary cycle the breakouts in stocks are more likely to be to the upside. The most committed bears I read are those who think we are still in a deflationary cycle. Crude  goods (commodities) and consumer price evidence say otherwise.





October 09, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 04, 2005NYSE Public ShortsThe public or non-institutional private investors now hold >55% of the total NYSE short interest. This is a greater percentage than at the October 2002 low. Granted that we pubs are really smart....NOT


October 04, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


October 02, 2005Gold's Bull MarketIt's no secret  that Robert Prechter's persistently bearish bent since the early 1980's created a whole amateur underclass of market bears and pessimists who have made  internet chat sites their home. Less well-known is the fact that early in his public career  Prechter accepted the traditional interpretation of the Kondratieff Long Wave  cycle. In the second edition (1981) of Jack Frost's and Prechter's "Elliott Wave Principle", the "orthodox" Long Wave schematic chart is presented (page 148) with the LW inflection peak  said to be early 1970''s, the top formation "plateau " end in the early 1980's, and the final low scheduled for the early 2000's.

Here it is in Prechter 's own 1979-81   words: "As we  interpret  the Kondratieff cycle, we have now reached another plateau, having had a trough war (World War II), a peak war  (Viet Nam), and a primary recession (1974-75). This plateau should again be accompanied by relatively prosperous times and a strong bull market in stocks. According to a reading of the wave, the economy should collapse in the mid 1980's, and be followed by three or four years of severe depression and a long period of deflation through to the trough year of 2000 A.D."

This is, of course, almost exactly what did happen, and right on the time line.  The depression of the early 1980's was extremely severe for wages, employment, crude goods prices, and mining, agriculture,  and oil sector devastation, and rates of GDP growth slowed dramatically and stayed far lower that they had been from the 1950's through 1970's.

Where Prechter and his legions of intellectual followers missed the boat was that "creative destruction" of modern Kondratieff  Wave depressions happened earlier and far more effectively than in the credit-deficient 19th century. As soon as labor  unions lost their grasp  after 1980,   and both interest rates and prices began to fall, a tremendous energizing of American enterprise was set in place, led by technology. The industrial heartland became the Rust Belt and Silicon Gulches, east and west, replaced it.

So while economic growth rates remained lower than they had been until the late 1970's, interest rates and crude goods prtices continued to fall to 1999  and even later for some goods and rates. The Prechterite Kondratieff folks were (and still are!) waiting for the vicious  deflationary crash of 19th century dreams. But the initial crash was over by 1982. As one would expect there were further deflationary interludes through out the two decade period which followed, as in 1989-90   and 1996-99  and again in 2002. For all practical purposes, the Long Wave Kondratieff trough was in 2002, even though gold and other selected crude goods prices   (oil) bottomed in 1999.

The Prechterite Kondratieff folks have come up with a panoply of reasons why gold and oil and economic growth are up: mostly focused on market  "manipulation" and intervention. We began to see this remarkable rationalization develop in the gold market after 1996 when gold bugs turned deflationist and switched to market manipulation and "credit risks" as reasons for gold's bear market, never mind that nearly all commodities were down and the dollar up. I wrote a gold newsletter in the 1990's, and I was shocked to see gold bruited about by these folks as a  deflation hedge while it fell by nearly 50%.

Now that gold is but a rally away from doubling its 1999 low and crude oil up seven fold, many are nervous, and my mailbox is full of deflationary ads  for newsletters. No one who is bullish will deny that bull markets have to exhale and will do so after advances. Both gold and crude oil could reasonably be expected to have substantial pullbacks. But today I saw an analysis  of why that may not occur.

George Slezak is a self-proclaimed "perma-bear", but he is wise enough to know when bullish times are upon him. As far as stocks are conerned, he was short for most of 2000-2002, long from the summer of 2002 for two years, and he has recently turned bullish again on stocks. George's main analytical weapon is the net hedging position of the commercial portfolio managers, but in this gold and stock analysis he is using Long Wave cycles to project much higher prices for gold  after a probable pullback due to increased commercial hedging. And I agree.

Gold was a central bank fixed market for a very long time, so we have no decent price data before the late 1960's. But Slezek understands that gold went through a  rolling bear market from 1980 to 1999 just as stocks did from 1929 to 1949, and surmises that the outcome will be a much longer bull market like the stock market had fr0m 1949 to 1972. This is a "bottoms up" Long Wave analysis unlike the usual "tops down" application of derived cycles.

Read more about George's market approach at

I subscribe to his service.

Click on the image for a large version.





October 02, 2005 in Long Wave | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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 楼主| 发表于 2009-4-3 16:09 | 显示全部楼层
&laquo; October 2005 | Main | December 2005 &raquo;
November 21, 2005Push Comes to ShoveIn a series of posts since October 24 (See "Getting It" of that date), I have presented several scenarios: one or two posts for the bearish notion that the correction from August to October  was not sufficient, even though it was over. And later and most recently several posts outlining the bullish notion  that most of 2004 and 2005 has been a sideways correction which would lead to a large rally akin to the 1935-37 and 1985-87 bull markets.


Having more than one outcome scenario may make it seem to others like I don't have the confidence of a real opinion, but in  my personal experience it helps me enormously to analyze both the bullish and bearish chances and the opinions of others to see if they make sense. I see so many people get married to an outlook and stick with it when it's clearly wrong. And I have done that myself. So if I can see the rationales behind opposite market opinions and actually put them into words, I'm more than halfway home to a plausible market approach.  For me. Naturally, this doesn't guarantee that my final decision is going  to be correct, but I gave it my best thinking and analysis, given the resources and understanding that I have at my disposal.


In my Portfolio Ideas posts, and in other sections, I have explained what my porftolio approach has been since early 2003: basically long the stock market through stock pickers of various types and in various sectors. Then I used ETF's and stock index futures (and lately QQQQ) to augment returns on the upside during intermediate term moves and futures or inverse or 200% inverse mutuals to hedge the core long positions to a variable extent during declines. I sold out the long "augmentation" group  in the past ten days and got to about one-third cash in the total portfolio.


The 1935-37 bullish scenario is very seductive, and it has kept me long until now in funds of excellent stock pickers who have handily beat their benchmarks during a sideways to up market. But sentiment and value measures are overcoming my "hope" that we are going up right away. Value and sentiment are not geared to a large rise as they were in 1935 and 1985, and the last two years really do appear to have been distribution. I can and will get into all the indicators and data and cycles for this another time. For now I will simply say I have decided we have more down ahead. It could go up into New Year's Day as it did last year and as the Dow and SPX seasonal says. Last year it did so when sentiment was similar to now. But I am starting to build a more hedged and possibly an eventual outright net short position as of today. I plan to leave my core longs alone as they showed an ability to weather previous bear phases remarkably well. Most of those I have identified in the Portfolio Ideas posts and charts from the beginning of this blogsite. What I want to do is keep the above average and sell short the average or worse.


That's my st0ry, and I'm going to try to stick to it unless I am very wrong. In fact I hope I'm a bit early, as I was in selling the "augmenters", so I don't have to sell on the way down.


Bythe way, these are just my personal thoughts. I work for myself and my family only, am not an advisor, and this blog should be considered a personal diary of market thinking which could be completely wrong.




November 21, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


November 18, 2005The Crazy PutOdds favor being near a short to intermediate term high in many stock indices. My 2CS bearish sentimeter and a lot of other measures are close to levels from whence selling has occurred in the past two years. SPX has risen 7% in a month.


But, general public sentiment remains churlish and negative, and politics has already turned brutal three years ahead of the next presidential election in the US. Sentiment is rarely so pessimistic and defeatist at major highs, quite the contrary


The economy looks pretty good to those who accept accredited economic statistics and professional analysis. Even France may be turning the economic corner at last, and the ECB could even raise rates. Partly this is "jawboning" in  Europe to counter the recent nano-revolution's effects on the Euro, but it seems to have believability nonetheless.


The madness of full moon US negativism and congressional posturing cannot be completely  written off, since panic and further self immolation can follow such amazing displays on a mass scale. They can overcome normal responses and become self-fulfilling.


I saw the same things happen in 1974 and for the same political reasons and by the same people in some cases. So one has to buy a "crazy put" of some kind which in a worst case raises the cost of doing business but provides insurance.


The "crazy put" of choice in 2005 has been gold. Gold is up nearly 15% in dollars which themselves are also up nearly 15% against the US trading partners' currencies. (China still trades in dollars with a small recent cut.) 90 day US T bills are now yielding almost 4%. So the shotgun, T Bills, and gold folks are having a banner year and haven't had to fire a shot.


The left wing crazies have been short bonds and US stocks and dollars, and the right wing crazies have been long gold and t bills. I don't own a shotgun and have never fired a gun (yet), but the right wing look smarter to date. However, good stock pickers have beat everyone. I have stock mutual funds most of which are up 15-30% this year in a rising dollar environment and during sentiment as bad as 2002 and 2003.


My educated guess is that things are a lot better than they seem to the public since  they are not long the stock market on balance.


Despite my belief in  stats which suggest a downturn in the market, I think I have to mantain an open eye to a big breakout to the upside on grounds like but opposite to those often used to predict crashes: major breakouts occur in the direction of a strong trend.  I don't want to be very leveraged to the upside, but I want an exposure to it since it seems so unexpected.


I've come up with an Elliott Wave count for the first time since 2002 which I think fulfills all the criteria. I would never suggest that those who don 't know Elliott Wave spend the years needed to learn it, because it it is so subjective and controversial. The basic cookie cutter of 1-2-3-4-5-a-b-c can be grasped in an hour. The other, and essential, 5% takes about twenty years. You would do better studying trends and reversals in other ways. But here it is anyway:









The basic premise is that 2004-2005 have been  a complex Elliott market correction  sideways in three segments. 2004 had the choppy down segment into August plus the recovery segment to New Year's Day.  2005's segment had choppiness again. In some indexes like small caps and mid caps, the whole correction may have ended in May 2005, but in the SPX it is almost certainly true that October's "Homeland Securities New York Subway Leak" plunge was the end. A correction whose end is at a higher price than its beginning is a   "running correction" or  runner in Elliottese.  It leads to an acceleration of the trend.


An average target for the next larger trend segment  would be the old SPX highs of 2000 in the mid 1500's. I don't "know" that this will happen, but I can put together an economic and political scenario which would support this interpretation of the SPX chart


November 18, 2005 in Portfolio Ideas | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


November 16, 2005Economic Long Wave:PCE(CPI)The folks who missed the Economic Long Wave inflation peak of the mid 1970's were still insisting we hadn't seen a contraction yet, the last I bothered to look. But the curve of Consumer inflation as measured by the PCE shows the classic shape of 25 year increases and decreases in inflation.





















With all the talk this week of Greenspan's legacy and Bernanke's prospects, it is well to remember that FED heads do not produce  the economic cycle. In fact they follow it as fast as they can, sometimes making its swings more violent.


I am posting this chart from Paul Kasriel, and the classic long economic schematic chart below, several hours before the Consumer Price Index comes out. My view is that hang-wringing, wishing,  and fiddling  do not make a lot of difference in  the long run. For investing and living , a grasp of the long cycle is superior to reading the tea leaves  of daily economic releases. The longer tem fact is that  consumer prices, and much else, peaked in the 1970's and bottomed in the late 1990's. That's when gold and crude oil bottomed in price as well

Click on charts for larger versions.


November 16, 2005 in Long Wave | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


November 14, 2005Top Watch 3I sold out most of the add-ons or discretionary longs today. This is a safety move and, as I wrote over the weekend, may be way too early. But I have cash and time to reconsider.


November 14, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


November 13, 2005More on Top Watch"How do you square the possibility of a 1935-37 run with a short term top"? I'm glad you asked. :)


Normally when we have got to this sentiment level we have been or will soon be slithering up into  tops with both implied volitility (VIX,VXO) and price volatility (ATR14, etc.) dropping modestly. If we do that, I feel we will have a normal top between now and Christmas or the New Year.


If instead we see continued sharp moves upward in prices, and if range shifting in 2CS, because of VXO "collapsing", causes 2CS to fall under 40, then it's a new ballgame as in 2003. So I would watch ATR14, currently at about 12 and VXO currently at about 11. If either or both drop under 10, we are off to the races as from1935-37.


November 13, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


Top WatchBefore 1999  I was mostly a short term bullish trader  in futures on top a long term bullish stock and fund portfolio. Being long futures when also long stocks is sometimes called the "Texas cattle hedge" after those enthusiastic cattlemen  who believe so much in their calling that they go long futures too. :)


It wasn't due to great enthusiasm for the bear side that I went largely to cash in early 1999. Basically I didn't understand the market. I never invested in the mo-mo stocks and saw "value" melting away from the stocks I did understand. Lucky me!


In late 2002 and especially the first quarter of 2003 I got re-interested in stocks, but from a different perspective.  Look at some of the earlier articles under "Portfofio Ideas" for basics I learned (and adapted) from Merriman. Basically I decided to pick the stock pickers and perform sector balancing (in all asset classes) instead of buying the stocks.


The new program still retains a bit of the "Texas Hedge" of old. Twenty to twenty-five per cent of invested funds goes into favored sector exchange-traded funds (ETFs) when  I have short to intermediate term buys. Currently I am long QQQQ. If my schedule permits I also buy stock index futures for part or all of these moves, currently SP futures. The rest stays in long term core funds plus a few age-old stock positions.


When I get close to a putative  high I start scaling out of the ETFs and futures and into short funds and short futures. This is where I am today. These swing moves tend to last for a few weeks to a few months. The best way I know to focus in on identifying the change points is by using daily and weekly sentiment measures. There are scores of these indicators, and some good services which do much of the work. Two I subscribe to (and I hate to pay for anything!) are Rainsford Yang's
"MarketTells" http://markettells.com/ and George Slezak's "Committment of Traders" http://www.cot1.com/    Plus I have my own simple measures I do by hand each day, some of them since 1996.


Good sentiment analysts, like Yang and Slezak, have to "think like a criminal", to use Don Wolanchuk's very apt phrase.  What does the market  have to do to get the most people long at the top and short at the bottom, and not just positioned but absolutely committed? The only way that the really huge size of big traders and hedgers can be accomodated is by getting you and me, alas, committed the wrong way.


Having become  a small portfolio manager, I want to be able to do what the 150-200 largest global portfolio hedgers are doing, as best I can: hedging their long portfolios short near tops, and lifting (removing) short hedges near bottoms. This is measured  by watching the official and legal (registered with CFTC and showing proof of true hedging) portfolio hedgers via their positions in stock index futures and futures options. These are the big boys, and with a slight  time lag we can know what they are doing. It's also important to know what the little guys and the commodity and "hedge" funds are doing, and both Yang and Slezak help there as well.


At this time the very simple 2CS of bearish sentiment is edging into the area (40's) from whence sells have come this year. It is not a time prediction but  more like a two week general weather forecast. One thing it took me a long time to appreciate is that terminal moves can go farther than one suspects based on   indicators. By scaling out of those ETF"s I pay a bit more in commissions  with multiple sales (not  so in futures which are per contract commissions), but I don't commit everything at once, too early or too late. Likewise for the new short positions.




Click on the chart image for a larger version. I have not  put the number for each day, only the actual turn days.  Some turns occur very close to when the first low 50's or 40's day of 2CS occur. Other times, as in the run from early November of 2004 to New Years', the 2CS hung around this range for nearly two months while SPX went fr0m ~ 1165 to 1225 on a closing basis, so some judgement, guessing, and/or scaling is required.


Sometimes I have decent time lines or other timing indicators. There is a pretty good (logical) one for about November 28-29. This one comes up from the second low of late April 2005. And there is another rather more logically potent time line from the March 2003 coming due at about Christmas.


Also bear in mind that the Dow (from 1928) and SP futures (from 1982) seasonal charts show strong seasonal moves up from late October to the New Year. Even in the very bearish years of 2000, 2001, and 2002 these seasonals  still managed a gain. I have heard some internet chat folks laughing at the seasonal this year since it has been mentioned   by guests and employees on CNBC. "If everyone on CNBC knows and talks about the seasonal,  it can't work this year", say these folks. I won't point  out all the logical faults in this type of "contrarian" argument, but seasonals have never been a secret  that has been suddenly released to the public by CNBC. You have to go back to the bear years of the 1960's and 70's to find years when there was little or no rally in November and/or December. Some external economic or political event could cause a crash this year, but barring that, the seasonal chart lends support to the idea of a judicious approach to exiting or reversing portfolio hedges  into year end strength.




November 13, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


November 07, 2005Andrews, Gann, Darvas & FutiaI've found some interesting  relationships in the SP500 chart which fit together in a descriptive and predictive way. Some of them I've known about for several years, but I think I now see how they are related. More later, but here's the chart:

Click on the image for a larger version.


November 07, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)


November 02, 2005This is by now nearly a cottage industryFour  months ago I had never seen this comparison. Now it is seemingly everywhere  this week. Is this the financial information equivalent of  new fall fashions and fads? Is any new market insight instantly doomed once it gets into search engines and is  regurgitated into rss feed bowls throughout the universe?


Probably I'm just tired and a bit peckish.


This one's from Russia:




As always, click on the image for a large pop-up version.


November 02, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
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&laquo; November 2005 | Main | January 2006 &raquo;
December 21, 2005Close-up of Santa Click on image for large version.


December 21, 2005 in Technical Analysis | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


December 19, 2005Seasonals & SeasonalsIf we look at the seasonal of the Dow since 1928 there is a tendency for the Dow to top right at the New Year, like last year.






















But if we just look at more recent years, the SP500 futures seasonal from 1982 shows that the SP has topped later than a 77 year Dow history:









Since the 11 and 77 week cycles top (presumably) in February as shown in this chart, the rally could run longer.




















Near term all the seasonals have a mini-low in the 12/19-12/21 time frame before the Santa rally runs.




December 19, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


December 17, 2005Pretty Close...While cruising the "blognet" today, I came across this chart which was said to be from Bank Credit Analyst's (BCA) December 2005 issue. If so it would be typical of what I remember of that excellent publication from when I had a subscription ~25 years ago. Even before that, back in the  dark ages of the 1950's and 60's, BCA were like the Arab scholars and Chrisitian monks of the middle ages who preserved the wisdom of Greek and Roman antiquity. In their case  BCA  preserved and annually reviewed Elliott Wave analysis of the major markets, long before Bob Prechter even thought of going to Yale to study psychology, or perhaps even to kindergarten.
A. J. "Jack" Frost, who co-authored the Elliott primer blockbuster with Prechter, was one in a line of BCA analysts who worked with Elliott techniques after Elliott's death.


BCA has normalized  SPX from 2002 to now for comparison with the average of all eight prior post bear market bull rally phases. I didn't see BCA's text, so I'm not sure whether by "real" they mean total return with dividends reinvested, or whether they mean inflation-adjusted. But I guess it doesn't matter very much. What we see is that 2002 to now is a good proxy for all eight prior bull-after-bear phases in the first three years from the bear low. Put another way, it isn't "different this time": it's almost exactly the same pattern.


Using a nice little tool called Chart Overlay (www.OmniumSoftware.com), I measure the typical pullback into early 2007 at about 31% of the post 2002 low to 2005(?) high. Assuming that this past week's SPX high 0f 1275.8 holds, this would take us down to ~1120. Actually, based on the seasonal chart odds, I still think Miss Market will dance up until New Year's Eve. But think of a 30-35% retracement of the bull rally, or ~13% decline off the high, wherever it may be. This idea fits well with my own hunch I have outlined over the past month or so.


















I mentioned before Bill Hester's article this month at Hussman Funds: "Average Gain in Year Two of Presidential Cycle Hides Important Declines". http://www.hussmanfunds.com/rsi/prescycle.htm Hussman Funds does, of course, have a negative bias over their entire history, which has not, however, kept them from making money. I have some money in their strategic growth fund (HSGFX) to take advantage of their excellent hedge fund approach to controlling risk while making money.


Hester goes over some of the same ground BCA did, but he does it in terms of the secular four year US presidential cycle in which 2006 is year two. It's a short and well-written article, so I won't summarize it here except to say that Hester feels one  needs to take valuation into account as far as the size of the pullback is concerned. When valuations are high, as Hussman folk believe, the second presidential year pullbacks are deeper than when they valuations aren't high.


If you tie this and the BCA chart into the annual "learned seasonal" (from www.CSIData.com) which Hester hints at, you can see that we may be on the cusp of the correction in a week or two. The chart is the Dow learned seasonal since 1928, but the 20 year seasonal for Nasdaq100 and the 55 year seasonal for SPX are quite similar: basically downward from early January to late October, then sharply up for two months.


All three of these "cycle studies" are the stuff of statistical odds which I have gradually gained a greater appreciation for, especially after reading Vic Niederhoffer's "Practical Speculation" which a good friend gave me earlier this year. It is like handicapping a horse race or a football team for betting. You may not always win the race or the game, but it's the way to bet: previous similar places in markets after a bull run, a secular political cycle, and the annual "seasonal" pattern. Then there is all the rest I have written about below....from Paul Kasriel and others.









December 17, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


December 15, 2005Where Oh Where Are the Bears?Today my sentiment work has the lowest bearish reading I have seen since I started doing this work in 1996 (for some of it) and 2001 for the rest. I realize it is treble witching and options "extirpation", but that happens four times every year.  Whether or not we get the Santa rally, this market is skating on thin ice.
  
  
Using plain Jane VIX as a proxy (imperfect) for my stuph, now looks a lot like conditions in December 1993 and December 1995 before the next years' corrections  and subsequent big bull runs on increasing volatility.



  














Bill Hester of Hussman Funds, who does excellent statistical work, has recently posted an analysis of what the markets do in presidential second years, which basically is to reinforce the annual seasonal downward move from January to October. This would also fit with a bi-phasic pullback in 2006, which in Hussman eyes might be deeper than usual because of what they see (house bias) as persistent over valuation.
  
Personally, since I have to live on my money the rest of my life, except for trading profits--and I'm tiring of trading--I have been selling off parts of grossly appreciated sectors of the past year and gradually hedging long term (and hopefully superior) core holdings. For hedging I am using SP futures  (which now gives an interest rate kicker to short positions: three month SDP futures are eight handles ($2000) per contract above the expiring  contract, so you make $2000 being short even if the SP500 stands still for three months. In cash accounts (retirement IRA's) one uses Rydex or Profunds "double down"  or 200% short  funds the same way.
  
I thought last week that gold was done for a while, and my old buddy, I M Vronsky, put up the piece at Gold-Eagle which I had previewed in drat here at the blog. Durong 2005, people who got scared out of Euros and Yen, but eschewed dollars and/or also bought gold, are reversing that  play.
  
http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_05/drake121205.html


December 15, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)


December 11, 2005Gold Eagle First DraftWe have every right to celebrate gold's success of the past six years. Compared to the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPX,VFINX on the chart, in red), Newmont (in lime green), BGEIX (American Century Global Gold, in cyan), and VGPMX (Vanguard Precious Metals, in blue)have hugely outperformed SPX and have even surpassed long term outstanding global stock fund SGENX (formerly SoGen Global, now First Eagle Global, in fuscia). On a five year total return basis Newmont Mining has grown at a 25.27% compound annualized rate, and VGPMX, reflecting greater gains in copper and coal, has compounded at 31.18%, while SGENX has "only" compounded at 18.14%. On the same five year basis VFIMX (SPX)has barely returned to its level of December 2000, returning -0.14% annually.


Longer term, the news is not so wonderful. Looking at the same representative funds and stocks since the 1987 crash low, SGENX has a compounded total return of 13.5% annually, VFINX (SPX)11.42%, VGPMX 7.85%, NEM 4.21%, and BGEIX 3.48. (Barrick Gold, ABX, that great growth gold story of the 1980's and 1990's had an 11.9% annualized return from late 1987.)If we take the annualized return of gold from the first market day of 1975 when it became legal to own the metal in the US, the annualized return to the Friday New York cash close of 525.50 is 3.6% per year over nearly 31 years. This does not include storage and insurance, if any.

There are several positives one can offset against this abysmal long term return for gold. Holding a reasonable allocation of gold in a diversified portfolio did reduce portfolio volatility. In the late 1970's and 1980-81, gold contributed positively to overall return when stocks and bonds were in bear markets. From 1996 to 1999 gold was a drag upon overall return. A second positive could have arisen for those investors who persistently pursued a dollar cost averaging (DCA) approach, whether monthly , quarterly, or even annually. There were very few months or quarters when gold traded above $500 as it does today, so an accumulator would have a nice collection of gold coins or bars or shares of a gold mutual fund or major gold stock.
Gold investors have a better understanding than most others of the long economic wave of inflation and deflation known as the Kondratieff Wave. Even though gold's price was controlled at $35 per troy ounce from 1934 to 1969, gold investors know that it rose in little over a decade to $850 and then fell for two decades to $252. Now if we extend price history to a basket of commodities or crude goods or the CPA or PPI, we find that the cycle is actually a bit longer with an average of 26-27 years up and 26-27 years down. But gold's price behavior alone gives us great insight into the basic fact of the long economic cycle which affects nearly everything in economic life. Of course there are other shorter and perhaps even longer cycles which modulate the Kondratieff cycle, but the Kondratieff stands out clearly on long term charts. Gold investors have lived that cycle either personally or through study.
One thing we can say with certainty is that gold will be in a secular bull market for far longer than it has been since 1999. What I have learned from living and investing through an entire Kondratieff wave is that neither the tops nor the bottoms are usually spikes (although gold had one in 1980), and that not every commodity or crude good tops or bottoms at the same time. I learned that 1974 was the average or consensus top year of many commodities as well as interest rates, labor data series, personal incomes and a host of other economic data which cycle together with the economic wave. 1974 was also 54 years from the 1920 inflation high. ~54 years before that was the 1866 US inflation high, and ~54 years before that was the 1812-1814 inflation high. The lows are at about the halfway point and are ground out over five to ten years, as are the tops. 1999-2003 certainly qualifies as a Kondratieff wave low. Having lived through both the 1974-80 top formation and 1999-2003 bottom gave me an appreciation for the difficulty of entering and exiting various markets exactly correctly and "just in time".
Nevertheless, knowing that a Kondratieff wave low is probably forming gives one an enormous advantage for long term returns on capital. Being able to add to long term gold holdings between 1999 and 2003 and re-entering the stock market in 2003 adds immeasurably to returns. Even more valuable is knowing that, based upon a typical Kondratieff inflation half cycle, we can confidently predict that the gold bull still has two decades more to run. This will not be a straight line or parabolic rise, and there will be one or several multi-year bearish segments within the two decades which will devastate highly leveraged investors and producers. When investor sentiment and behaviors become outrageously bullish or bearish, the market corrects them, down or up. But the long term perspective which Kondratieff gives us is "priceless", as the credit card ad tells us.
In previous Gold Eagle editorials of 2000, 2001, and 2003, I analyzed the gold market in the midst of the bottoming formation: http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_00/drake080100.html http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_01/drake043001.html http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_03/drake100103.html

The Elliott Wave analysis I made in 1999-2000 of the entire modern history of legalized gold in the US remains unchanged. I believe it fits all of the facts, the dynamics, and the generally accepted rules of Elliott. My approach is what a trader friend calls "KISS wave": my Elliott interpretive bias lies somewhere in the great middle ground amongst Elliott's own work, the work of Frost and Prechter, and that of Neely. I am long past arguing with other interpretations. If you are comfortable with another "count", and if it consistently makes money for you and gives you the lay of the land going forward, keep it.
My view is that the last great bull market phase had its first wave ending just after US legalization in 1975 at just under 200, its second wave ending at just over 100 in August 1976, its third wave ending at the all time high in Janaury 1980, its fourth wave ending in March 1980 and its fifth wave--known as a "fifth wave failure"--ended at the fall equinox of September 1980. The long decline of the Kondratieff wave for gold is detailed in those previous Gold Eagle editorials, and I won't belabor it except to point out the 13-1/2 year B wave contracting triangle from 1982 to early 1996. One should ponder that very long brutal period as a brilliant example of what can and does happen in long wave formations! In fact, the first low (wave A in my chart) ended just below 300 in 1982 with the 1999 low being only $50 lower. Gold spent 17 years backing and filling before making that final low in 1999.
Although I believe at this point that gold is in the early stages of a multi-decade Elliott impulse third wave which will make higher highs than 1980, that grinding "killer B wave" from 1982-1996 should help us accept the possibility that we could be into another B wave at this time as part of an even larger correction from 1980. We needn't address that issue now. I mention it only to remind in another fashion that we should expect some long and vicious corrections to the uptrend in progress, not forever steady progress upwards.
So where are we? And where do we go from here? In re-reading my last attempt here I am humbled that I missed the top of the wave then in progress up from 2001 by being seven months early before the correction of 2004-2005. I was also off early by one impulse wave. In both cases the lesson to be learned is that things often go farther in price and longer in time than one generally supposes or would like the case to be. Despite my earliness, I was correct in the direction and implications: unless this is just the first wave of a B wave up from 1999 and not an impulse wave, as hinted above.
http://twocents.blogs.com/weblog/ This is a non-commercial (free) blogsite.
My current Elliott wave opinion is that we are near the completion of wave three (3) up from 1999. Wave two (2), from the 1999 high to the 2001 low, was so deep (97% retracement of wave one) that I don't think it is very likely that this current wave three (3) is instead wave C of a larger degree wave B as mentioned above. The "power" implication of such a deep wave B of B does not favor such an extended wave C of B from 2001 to now.
A viable alternative is that wave three either has subdivided or extended or is now in the process of doing so in its own wave 5. However,for the moment I will continue with the "KISS Wave" concept of a relatively simple five wave structure up whose only out-of-the-ordinary structure would be a complex or combined "double three" with labelling of a-b-c-x-a-b-c-d-e. Basic descriptions and implications of such formations are found in Frost's and Prechter's classic book and in Neely's. A strong move generally follows. Thus far wave 5 is about 100 dollars which fits neatly with wave 3's 162 points, and it is about 3 times wave 1's 34 points, while wave 3 is 5 times wave 1.
In writing a long term perspective it is tempting to get caught up in the moment and presume to know exactly where one is in wave structure and what "must" happen tomorrow or next week. Be assured that I do not claim clairvoyance or infallibility, and my 2003 editorial is humbly offered as proof! Nevertheless there are a few times in Elliott structure when outcomes are more certain than at other times. Assuming the outline form 2001 is correct, and we are now in wave 5 of larger degree three, it can only end or extend.
Instead of using Fibonacci projections from wave 1 of larger 3 and of 1 of smaller 5, I thought I'd show some Rule of 7's projections from the same initial moves. The method is described in Arthur Sklarew's "Techniques of a Professional Commodity Chart Analyst", published by CRB in 1980 and reprinted in recent years. One takes the length of the wave "projected from", multiplies it by seven, and then divides serially by 5, by 4, by 3, and by 2. Then each of these four products is added to (or subtracted from in downward markets) the base or origin in the same manner as with Fibonacci projections. In the present case, both waves 1 project 7/2 for 5 of 5 to be in the vicinity in which New York cash gold closed on December 9. If I happen to be right, consider it to be the cousin of winning the lottery: low odds but a large payoff. I can see five waves up from the blue 4 low at about 420, and both the inter-wave ratios and the Rule of 7's are consistent with an end to wave 5 and larger degree 3 (black). Sentiment is also quite exuberant, and rightly so, but that's when impulse moves often end: when things look really good. I don't see sentiment as wildly exuberant as gold was in 1980, NASDAQ was in 2000, or as crude oil was this past summer, but it's "exuberant enough".
If I'm correct now or in the near future, I would expect black wave 4 to last about two years (exceeding wave 2 from 1999 to 2001) and for wave 4 to retrace approximately one half of wave 3 (black). This would take gold, using current prices, to about 390. This level is well into wave 4 of the previous wave of smaller degree and is also ~150% of the 1999 low. Waves 4 needn't be longer in time than waves 2, but they frequently are longer as they are often complex waves rather than the simple abc's seen in wave 2 position. Frost and Prechter cast waves 4 as "waiting for everyone to catch up" or perhaps leading to early failed fifth waves as some participants "leave the party early".
If this analysis is anywhere nearly correct, the eventual wave 5 high might be under 600, unless wave 5 extends. It it doesn't extend, the ensuing larger degree wave two (or wave B correction), from a completed five wave structure up from the 1999 low, could retrace much of the same terrritory and last for two to four more years. Thus one can see how extended periods of sideways action can develop during secular bull markets just as a thirteen year B wave took up much of the bear market from 1980 to 1999.
This scenario does not mean I am bearish on gold or don't like gold. Quite the contrary. We all know that all paper currencies are doomed over long periods of time, even for the best, because they are run by imperfect political human beings. We have seen gold rise dramatically this year in Euro terms and even more so in Yen terms. And this while the US Dollar rose! Rome was neither built nor destroyed in a day. Decay of great currencies and great civilizations is not linear nor short term. Rebounds and real advances occur. So one must not expect the worst to happen on this watch and get overleveraged and wiped out by committment to an untenable expectation.
For more on the near term market fundamentals and economic technicals, as I understand them from others, please refer to my posts of the past few months on
In the long run gold is a better holding and a better trading vehicle if it does back and fill for a while. Blowoffs and crashes beget longer periods of dullness than KISS wave moves. Accumulate on weakness, since time works for those who accumulate gold during pullbacks. But also remember that the 31 year rate of return for modern US investors in gold is ~3.6% compounded annually, despite the dramatic bull market into 1980.




December 11, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)


December 03, 2005So Far, So GoodThe market scenario I chose last time in "Push Comes to Shove" remains in place. I think the market is working its way toward an intermediate term high which will result in a larger correction than we have seen since March 2003. Furthermore I think that high is likely to be in December or early January. I'll review the evidence.



The biggest piece of evidence is also the most recent. Long before I traded stocks, mutual funds, and stock index futures I was a commodity trader. One of the best of all sentiment measures is comparing the net futures (and futures options) positions of the insiders  with those of the speculators, large and small. Futures exchanges were first set up in Chicago in the 19th century to transfer risk from producers and banks to speculators. Guess who is most often  right about  danger ahead (and therefore putting on short hedges) and who is wrong?


My "pay for" guru on this subject is George Slezak http://www.cot1.com/ But you can read the weekly results for free from the US Government: http://www.cftc.gov/cftc/cftccotreports.htm  The big change is that the knowledgeable players, the commercial hedgers, also known as the insiders, have switched from a major long position at the October lows of six weeks ago to a major short position as of this last week. This is compelling news.




Other sentiment as I measure it, and as measured by others, is into a zone which has sent the stock market down over the past two years. We've had two or three short term tops in both years at new bull market highs or near new highs. So unless "it's different  this time", there should be a decline before too long. What could make it different is what last month I called the "bullish wild card", which is that the markets breakout and run up in a new bulish leg like that one of 2003. Part of my sentiment studies depend  upon interpreting VIX. The CBOE's White Paper on VIX is a good place to start to get up to speed: http://www.cboe.com/micro/vix/vixwhite.pdf


A chart from that White Paper shows the basic usefulness of VIX:





(Click on the image for a larger pop-up version.)


CBOE began publishing VIX in 1993 using options data back to 1990. I think of VIX as a fear index which goes up when market players are worried enough to pay up for hedging insurance, and goes down when they are more confident without insurance. This is a gross oversimplification
but it works for my purposes.
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