This morning, I am a bit foggy from lack of sleep. It is spring break here in San Luis Obispo, California, which means our 14-year-old boy has the week off, which means he has full reign to be a 14-year-old, which means he has friends spend the night, which means lots of banging around in the TV room and lots of noise late into the night, which means, I don’t get enough sleep.
This morning, the four of them are spread about the house, fast asleep here and there, as none of them got enough sleep either. Why not just ask them to be quiet and go to bed early, you ask? As parents, our philosophy is let them be kids – it only happens once. Boys will be boys, as the saying goes and as another saying goes, attributable to probably everyone who has lived life with gusto – I’ll get enough sleep when I am dead …
Euro-Zone Consumer Confidence Improves To 6-Year High
- U.S. consumer confidence rose in March to its highest in more than six years as expectations brightened, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday. The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes rose to 82.3, the highest since January 2008, from an upwardly revised 78.3 in February.
The US consumer must be getting enough sleep, as is the European consumer, which means we will all have more opportunity to make money in a market headed uphill. But not everyone is a fundamentalist. Some follow the laws of technical analysis, which means the up and down of the market provides the reason for the market to go up or to go down.
- The NASDAQ Composite tends to lead the rest of the market, up or down. To see it remain bearish could mean the S&P 500 and the Dow will start deteriorating pretty soon.
It is true the NASDAQ has been lagging the S&P 500 and the DJIA as of late, which I have seen here and there more than few times over the years, but never have I correlated the independent up and down with the rise and fall of the other two indices. It is something to watch, if for no other reason than interest.
- It appears more shares are being trading on positive trading days for XLE than negative days, a bullish sign for higher prices.
The energy sector as defined by the movement in the SPDR XLE has been rather hot lately. Do you remember the hyper fuel-cell movement? I do, and I am still playing it, although it has cooled down quite a bit. In any case, I expect a resurgence of this aspect of the energy sector as we near the peak driving season and the breathless media starts talking about gas prices that are way out of whack with the supply and demand reality of oil, as well as the current cost of oil.
Here in California, gas prices jumped to over $4.20 per gallon and have stayed there for some weeks now. As of this morning, crude oil is still under $100. Okay, so in this, I find some good news for the market – gas prices are higher everywhere (Europe too), and consumers are still upbeat, more upbeat than they have been in six years. This reality will help me sleep tonight.
The boys are now up and the house is vibrating with laughter and loudness. In our world, it is time to feed the pack, so off I go to help rustle up some grub for the appetites that never seem to abate.
Trade in the day; Invest in your life …
