Today is the last day of school for our 14-year old. He is moving on from the 8th grade to high school, after a long summer of play, that is. Tonight is the dance, the last festive and public gathering for this 8th-grade flock of budding teens. I have volunteered to participate in their “Casino Night” and dance as a card dealer.
Given my long history as a tournament poker player, I believe I am ideally suited for the job, which is good, because the last thing any adult wants to do is screw up in front of a blob of 14-year-old males watching your every move. Then again, there will be young ladies at the dance, so maybe I am misjudging where the males will be looking.
- It has been a relentless 10 day assault by the bulls with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 scoring new highs while the S&P 400 and Russell 2000 are fighting to lead.
It was just about 10 days ago that I wrote about the “deadly” wedge/pointy triangle thing that some technical analysts said pointed to a serious and imminent setback in the markets. Well, so far that pattern of prediction has not come true. Maybe its formation was not exactly right, off just a bit, perhaps.
- The New York Stock Exchange Advance/Decline line continues to see all-time highs, which has very positive intermediate-term implications for stocks as it is an excellent sign of liquidity in the system.
Today, the market is booming higher than it has on any single day in the last 10, which is odd because the breathless media widely reported the “disappointing” job numbers and the Challenger report showing more planned job cuts than expected. More evidence the whole ball of wax is melting.
On the other side of reality, it is clear the market is trending higher, perhaps a bit too much and a bit too fast. Given that it is summer, the volume is light, and many are skeptical of the continued incremental trend upward, the following statement rings loudly.
- It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that stocks have been very strong over the past 10 days and clearly due for some kind of rest.
Skepticism about this upward push is normal and healthy. The market always seeks balance and balance is what it will find.
- Investors in U.S.-based mutual funds pulled $2.4 billion out of stock funds in the week ended May 28, as the rise in U.S. stocks to record highs made investors cautious.
Of course, the above number came in before this last week of gains, and if today’s pace holds, my guess is that many of those who are getting out will rethink their choice. After all, the past five years has created a whole class of investors who drank the Kool-Aid and regretted sitting out the five-year bull rally.
- Dow 17,000 and higher isn’t too far away.
Unless something catastrophic happens in the world, or the US economy falls apart, or Europe begins backsliding economically, I would agree with statement above. I just cannot see what the doomsayers see – the whole ball of wax is melting. Did I already say that? Sorry …
- Japan’s SoftBank Corp said on Thursday it will start selling human-like robots for personal use by February, expanding into a sector seen key to addressing labor shortages in one of the world’s fastest ageing societies
Driverless cars, Internet wired homes, and now this – personal robots. What is the world coming to? Better yet, where are we going? Even better still, how can we make money on what is coming?
Trade in the day; invest in your life …
