We just witnessed the best monthly performance for stocks in the Dow in decades. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (see chart here) closed the month of October up almost 14%. The S&P 500 (see chart here) finished the month up 8% while the Nasdaq Composite (see chart here) rose 4% and the small-cap Russell 2000 (see chart here and below) closed the month of October out up over 10%. Quite the performance considering how much pressure the markets have been under over the past several months. The one index that is standing out to me right now is the tech centric Nasdaq. Technology stocks remain under pressure as earnings reporting season for the tech sector has disappointed analysts and investors alike. Earnings out of Facebook, Amazon and Google underscores the pressures that the tech sector is currently facing. My feelings are that we are simply in the midst of coming out of an unsustainable bull market that got out of control and into a more balanced and fair valued market. By no means am I suggesting that the market is now at fair value, but it is certainly adjusting to more reasonable levels.

That being said, the Federal Reserve is not done with raising interest rates and inflation also remains at highs not seen in 40 years. Both factors may continue to put pressure on stocks. In fact, there are analysts coming out and projecting another meaningful leg down for the markets. Whatever the case may be, opportunities do present themselves in bear markets however, patience is also required and scaling in is always a good fundamental approach when entering stocks in this type of market environment.

From a technical analysis standpoint, I do see the aforementioned indexes approaching or at their respective 200 and 100-day moving averages could be a sign of pause in this powerful rally we just experienced or a continuation of the current rally.

Good luck to all 🙂

~George