Stocks

The US Consumer Confidence Index® came in much lower than expectations, and the Expectations Index fell to 72.9. A fall below 80 signals a recession ahead, enough to elevate the fear of economic weakness. As…

In the later stages of a bull market cycle, we will often observe a proliferation of bearish momentum divergences.  As prices continue higher, the momentum underneath the advance begins to wane, representing an exhaustion of…

The complexion of the market is changing. Aggressive sectors which have led the market higher are now beginning to show signs of strain as momentum slowly dissipates and prices turn lower. However, defensive sectors (XLP,…

Utilities enter top 5 Last week’s trading, especially the sell-off on Friday, has caused the Utilities sector to enter the top 5 at the cost of Industrials. Based on last Friday’s close, the sector ranking…

Let me start by reminding everyone that I believe the most important relationship in the stock market is how consumer discretionary stocks (XLY) perform relative to consumer staples stocks (XLP). This ratio (XLY:XLP) has a…

The market declined heavily on Friday likely setting up for more downside ahead. We had already begun to notice that mega-cap stocks were beginning to weaken. You can see this on the relative strength line…

With the market selling off into the close today, it’s too early to write my usual “best five sectors” article. The risk of ranking changes is too high. I will make sure that an update…

There’s been a lot of wild speculation surrounding gold’s bullish run. When you consider a gold investment, you’re likely to think of the more common factors that come into play: inflation, geopolitical uncertainty, and central…

Disappointing guidance from Walmart (WMT) may have hurt the stock market on Thursday sending the broader indexes lower. But something is churning beneath the surface you don’t want to miss. There’s a group of stocks…

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve released minutes from its January 28–29 meeting. There weren’t any surprises — the Fed wants to see inflation go lower before cutting interest rates again and would also like to…