You can probably already guess from the title of this blog that I'm none too pleased with the recent market action, and that may also help explain why I haven't blogged in over 2 weeks!
What's Wrong With This Market?
1. Volatility being endlessly sold
The broader market has become pretty dull, as the $VIX continues to be hammered lower. Lower the $VIX the slower the market moves. This explains why we're not setting any records.
I remember CNBC talking about how market corrections are a thing of the past, and it looks like they may have finally achieved that goal, but booms are always followed by busts.
2. The broader market is being driven by a few FAANG stocks - as usual. The mag 7 is just another cutsie name for it. Sure, we saw a few sector rotations along the way, but they were short lived.
Of course the lame stream media couldn't wait to report - after Friday's closing bell - that small caps rallied 2%, and that brings us to #3.
3. The Lamestream financial media continually lies
I watched the host on Bloomberg falsely imply that this means that the market rally has been broad based, which couldn't be further from the truth.
A Picture Says 1000 Words
$IWM Russell 2000 ETF 15 min. chart - Obviously not leading a rally, but rather consolidating sideways. More proof that the lame stream media will lie to investors in order to confuse them.
Speaking of the lame stream media lying, in order to try to make things sound better than they are:
This morning Bloomberg is seen reporting that the market has rallied more days than it's fallen, over the past week. I call this grasping at straws.
4. Financials also not leading
You may recall; I pointed out not too long ago, that the banks were not on as sound a footing as we were being led to believe, and all you have to do is look at some key bank stocks...
$SPX overweight - Bank of America $BAC. It recently got a dead cat bounce off the 50 day moving average, but a picture says 1000 words.
And if you think I'm cherry-picking bank stocks, in order to prove a point, just look at where $BANK was trading - relative to the $SPX - back at 2021 (bubble) highs.
You can't have a strong economy without a sound financial footing
4. Monday mornings surprises
Here's something that threw me off last week, and that's the taking down of Natural Gas, below support. Call this a nasty Monday morning surprise.
As it turns out it was reported last week, that Joe Biden had illegally halted LNG exports, in order to placate his environmental activist fanbase. You can't make this stuff up.
The Media Coverage of Biden’s Natural Gas Decision Is Ridiculous newrepublic.com
Is it any wonder that the lame stream media is more focused on Trump being fined for something he probably didn't even do, rather than focusing on the imposter in the White House?
And where's the coverage of Kamala? But I digress.
As it turns out, Biden's move is a token gesture to fool his base, and delaying the completion of a large, new, LNG plant is only going to negatively impact greenhouse emissions.
The Media Coverage of Biden’s Natural Gas Decision Is Ridiculous newrepublic.com
There had been a few good sector trades to be had, including last week's nasty correction in semiconductors, and the recent rally in energy, but sadly most traders are focused on the eternally rigged, and ever increasingly boring $SPX.
Until next time; good luck,
AA
