The Pickings Are Slim

Random Thoughts

The Ps started soft but reversed to rally. They didn’t quite make it back to the plus column though. This action keeps them in the middle of their range. Speaking of range, remember that near the top of the range things will look rosy and near the bottom of the range things will look a little ominous. So, don’t get too excited one way or the other while the market remains stuck in a range.

The Quack and Rusty did manage to close in the plus column. Both are still mostly sideways. This is especially true for the Rusty.

Metals and Mining continued to rise from the ashes. We could see some new setups here soon.

Bonds were a bit disappointing. They started strong but ended in the minus column. The good news here is that net net they have traded mostly sideways over the last 5-weeks. So, rates have stabilized—at least for now.

In a word, the market is mixed. The aforementioned Metals are waking up but previous high fliers like Banks and Biotech are beginning to lose steam.

It is a stock pickers market but right now. Unfortunately, the pickings are slim. The good news is that the longer the market trades sideways, the bigger the next move will be. And, in the meantime, we could see a few shorts setting up in the previous high fliers and some longs in those areas coming off of major lows. So, I think if you pick your spots carefully, in the near future there could be some opportunities.

So what do we do? For the most part, we continue to wait. Again, with the market sideways be selective and make darn sure you really like a setup before taking it. And if you do decide to trade, make darn sure you wait for entries. As we’ve seen lately, this, in and of itself, can often keep you out of new trouble.

Futures are firm pre-market.

Best of luck with your trading today!

Dave