Odd Behavior? Or...

It is a well-known fact that Janet Yellen is an uber-dove when it comes to interest rates. For those not schooled in the world of Fedspeak, the term "dove" means that the central banker in question errs on the side of lower rates and higher economic growth. This is diametrically opposed t…

Green Means Go, Right?

Good Monday morning and welcome back. Apparently all it took was one utterance of the word "phenomenal" by Mr. Trump in order to remind traders that tax reform hasn't been forgotten and that the plan is likely to be pro-business. Since the President used one of his signature adjectives to…

The Bears Tell Us...

One of the big questions at this point in the game is, can stocks really go higher from here? After all, the S&P 500 is up 10% from the pre-election low and the NASDAQ Composite has added 12.6% since November 4th. So, with stocks having run a long way in a short period of time, isn't …

Where I Stand - Clarifying My Position

I've been saying for a while now that from a big-picture perspective, this is not a low-risk environment. Today I thought I would do some "esplainin" on my point of view. First, let's dispel the idea that my position suggests it is time to take a cautious stance. This is certainly…

Bull Starting To Show Some Wear and Tear

Good Monday morning and welcome back to the land of blinking screens. My guess is that after the big game, the last thing anyone is thinking about is a bunch of market models and indicators. But this is what discipline is all about. So, let's buckle down and run through a review of my fav…

Quick Take: What We're Watching

On one hand, the action since mid-December would seem to suggest that there isn't much going on in the market. On the other hand, there is an awful lot happening these days. So, this morning I thought I'd run through the keys and what we're watching - in executive summary, bullet-point fa…

Lions, Tigers and Bears? Or...

Just about the time you think the new Administration is going to really shake things up in D.C. and the bulls are gonna "keep on rockin in the free world" (hat tip to Messrs Young, Vedder, McCready, Gossard, and Ament for one of th…

Is This a "Good" Overbought Condition?

Good Monday morning and welcome back to the game. Well, that didn't take long. The President doing something controversial, that is. So, with stocks in an overbought condition, it looks like traders have found a reason to do some selling in the early going. And with a decent-sized gap on …

Traders Finally Don the Caps

Well it finally happened. Dow 20K, that is. And yes, there were hats - lots of hats. After struggling with the big, round number since the middle of December, the venerable Dow Jones Industrial Average finally broke above the 20,000 level and closed Wednesday at a new all-time hig…