Daily State of the Markets

Working Through The Issues
Make no mistake about it; there is no shortage of issues to work through in this market. In short, this is what corrective phases are all about - dealing with the "new normal" when things change. Remember, the stock market is a discounting mechanism of future expectations. And I think we …

Are We Having Fun Yet?
It's been a very busy start to the new year and there are a great many pieces to the puzzle that make up this market. While I am short on time this morning, let's see if we can't run through the host of issues that investors are attempting to deal with at the present time.
Let's s…

Two Thoughts Before You Panic
Unless you've been living in a cave, you are likely aware that markets are in the midst of a rather violent "reset" as traders/investors reprice things for the changing environment in fast fashion. To be sure, Friday's option expiry and corresponding record day for options trading, as wel…

Markets Rethinking The Outlook
From my seat, the key driver to the current action in the stock market remains the spike in bond yields. This morning's early dance to the downside represents an exclamation point on this concept. In short, yields are breaking out to new highs for the current cycle, and stocks are followi…

Higher, Sooner
One need look no further than the bond market to understand the current correction happening in the major stock indices. As is often the case, traders appeared to flip the switch the moment the calendar turned to 2022. Gone is the steady march higher based on earnings expectations. Gone i…

Bidding 2021 Adieu
I try to take some time away from the keyboard at this time of year to spend more time with the family and to recharge the batteries a bit. So, until 2022 gets rolling on Wall Street, here's wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year!
Now let's review the "state of…

Market Gets Moody Again
Traders appear to have returned to a risk-off mode to start the holiday-shortened week. The drivers of the move are fairly obvious as Senator Manchin's announcement that he won't support the Biden "Build Back Better" plan and the bad news surrounding Omicron are causing a rethink of the p…

Santa Is Getting Tested
While there is still time for the traditional Santa Claus rally to begin, the current correction in stocks, which so far at least falls into the "garden variety" category, goes against the positive market vibe typically seen at this time of year.
It would be easy to say that the r…

Learning A New Letter
Longtime readers know that the primary purpose of my oftentimes meandering market missive is to identify the primary drivers of the market action. The idea is that if you know what is driving prices on a daily/weekly basis then you have a decent shot at staying in tune with primary trends…

Fed Decision, Inflation Data, EPS, and Most Importantly...
We are on the road heading back home to Colorado this morning, so I'm going to keep this brief. The key focus in the markets has returned to the spread of COVID as new lockdowns have been announced in places like Austria and Germany. With cases on the rise again here in the U.S., investor…