Tuesday, April 11, 2017

The Morning Call--Another day of big moves that go nowhere

The Morning Call

4/11/17

The Market
         
    Technical

The indices (DJIA 20658, S&P 2357) inched higher, but as has been occurring with some frequency of late, only after a big early intraday move.  Both remained below the upper boundaries of their very short term downtrends. Volume fell; breadth was mixed.  The VIX (14.0) rose 9 %, ending above the lower boundary of its very short term uptrend, above its 100 day moving average (now support), above its 200 day moving average (now resistance; if it remains there through the close on Thursday, it will revert to support) and above the upper boundary of its a short term downtrend (if it remains there through the close on Wednesday, it will reset to a trading range).  Complacency remains an issue and we may be looking at its demise.
               
The Dow closed [a] above its 100 day moving average, now support, [b] above its 200 day moving average, now support, [c] in a short term uptrend {19281-21635}, [c] in an intermediate term uptrend {11915-24768} and [d] in a long term uptrend {5751-23390}.

The S&P finished [a] above its 100 day moving average, now support, [b] above its 200 day moving average, now support, [c] within a short term uptrend {2256-2589}, [d] in an intermediate uptrend {2084-2688} and [e] in a long term uptrend {905-2591}.

The long Treasury rose, remaining above its 100 day moving average (now support), below its 200 day moving average (now resistance), below but near a minor resistance level, in a very short term downtrend and in a short term trading range.
               
GLD was unchanged, closing above its 100 day moving average (now support), below but nearing its 200 day moving average (now resistance) and within a short term downtrend. 

The dollar was down, ending above its 100 day moving average (now support), below its 200 day moving averages, negating Friday’s break to the upside (now resistance), below the upper boundary of its very short term downtrend and in a short term uptrend.

Bottom line: yesterday, the Averages continue to trade in a very tight range dating back of late March.  As I noted above, they again followed a frequent pattern of late, opening with a major directional move and spending the rest of day giving most of it back.  They have also faced a number of, what would normally be considered, Market moving events---without moving.  As a result, I have I opined that ‘it seems like no matter the import of a headline (development), it is not enough to jar either buyers or sellers loose from their pre-existing investment scenarios.  So it would appear that it will take something extraordinary to break that mindset.’  I am sticking with that conclusion.
           
    Fundamental

       Headlines

            It is a holiday shortened week with almost no economic data releases.  In addition, congress has gone home for the Easter vacation.  So we can transition from nothing getting done on the Trump/GOP fiscal agenda while it was in session to nothing getting done while it is not---it should be less stressful.  But not to worry, international issues have stepped up with Syria and North Korea now capturing the headlines.

            ***overnight, February EU industrial production disappointed; March UK inflation came in over the BOE’s target; March German economic conditions index and investor sentiment both rose; and March Chinese auto sales were better than expected.

            Bottom line: in the absence of groundbreaking developments in fiscal policy, I don’t see how I can alter the assumptions in our Valuation Model beyond the modest changes that I have already made as a result of the Donald’s efforts at deregulation.  Unfortunately, every day that goes by, it seems like the odds of any major adjustments grow smaller. As a result, at least according to our Model, equity valuations are very rich.  If you don’t believe me, read the below review of multiple valuation measures.  If you haven’t taken profits on your winners and/or sold your losers, there is still time.

            A thorough look at valuation (medium):

            Can the current market resilience last? (medium):

            My thought for the day: admitting that you are having problems in your portfolio/investments is the first step toward solving them.

       Investing for Survival
   
            Investors underperforming their own investments (medium):

           

    News on Stocks in Our Portfolios
 
Economics

   This Week’s Data

            The March small business optimism index came in at 104.7 versus expectations of 104.8.

   Other

            More on student loans (medium):

            More on auto loans (medium):
            http://www.acting-man.com/?p=49043

            Bankruptcies are rising (medium):

            The hard road to tax reform (medium):

                The looming national debt (medium):

            The gap between hard and soft data continues to widen (short):

Politics

  Domestic

Trump scraps his tax plan (medium):

The millennial metamorphosis (medium and a must read):

  International War Against Radical Islam


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