May 2019 - Ninth Inning Investments

No question the T-word has done it again aka tariffs. The week started off with China’s retaliation to the Trump tariffs with a market sell-off on Monday sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average (see chart here) down 600 points. The trade war also sent volatility soaring earlier in the week as well $VIX (see chart below). This after the market set all-time highs. No matter what the case is, stocks will continue to sell-off on any negative tariff news. Why not? Tariffs can essentially act as a tax on American businesses and the consumer at least in the short term. Without question the tariff tape bombs have hit the market and had nearly doubled the price of vol over the past week or so. (see chart here)

Now that the wild market swings are back, what’s next? Whenever I see a pick up in vol I take a closer look at the technical shape of the key indexes. Let’s start with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (see chart here). Since volatility kicked back in the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost around 1000 points, but found support at its 100 and 200-day moving averages and bounced off of those key support levels. The S&P 500 (chart) also sold off sharply over the past week or so but it too bounced off of key support zones. The Nasdaq Composite (chart) sold off almost identical to the S&P and bounced back nicely. Last but not least, the small-cap Russell 2000 (chart) actually fell through its 200-day moving average and found support at its 100-day. So technically speaking and if you are in the bull camp this is a very good sign for the continuation of the latest upward trend in the market. I am always a fan of pullbacks that meet support, holds that support and resumes its uptrend and that’s what we seemingly have now.

Let’s see if we get any positive developments on the trade war to calm the markets down a bit. Good luck to all 🙂

~George

$VIX - george mahfouz

The economy posted a 3.2% gain in the first quarter and as the saying goes, a strong economy equals a strong stock market! Is it any wonder as to why the Nasdaq Composite (see chart here) hit an all-time high on Monday! The same rings true with the S&P 500 (see chart below). The S&P 500 hit an all-time high on Monday as well. Now the Dow Jones Industrial Average (see chart here) has a bit more work to do in order to tap its own record as does the small-cap Russell 2000 (see chart here). However, I am sure the bulls will take 2 out of the 4 major averages setting all time highs. What is also helping the stock market is how the Federal Reserve has taken a cautious approach to raising rates any further. In fact, there are calls out of Washington DC asking the Fed to start lowering rates to stimulate the economy even further. Now I am not so sure that the Fed will accommodate Washington’s request, but I do think it is safe to say that we should not see a rate hike in the near future or maybe not at all for the rest of this year.

One note of caution to me is that with nearly half of corporate America reporting their Q1 earnings so far, we are seeing on average a year over year decline in earnings. There are still 100’s of companies set to report over the coming weeks but if this trend continues, this will be the first year over year decline in corporate earnings in years. I will be keeping an eye on this development.

The technical shape of the aforementioned indexes remain intact. The Dow, Nasdaq, S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 all are trading above their respective key moving averages. However, both the Nasdaq Composite (see chart here) and the S&P 500 (see chart here) have entered into overbought territory according to the relative strength index also know as the RSI. That said, I would not be surprised to see at the very least some consolidation or an outright healthy pullback. Good luck to all 🙂

~George

S&P 500 - Paula Mahfouz

Ninth Inning Investments

Month: May 2019

The T-Word Has Done It Again!

Strong Economy Equals A Strong Stock Market!