NFIB update: Revenge of the Proletariat?

The monthly NFIB update is always useful as a window on the economy. Small businesses tend to have little bargaining power and they are therefore sensitive barometers of economic trends. A month ago, NFIB small business optimism surged (see NFIB conservatives grudgingly turn bullish). The latest report saw optimism stall as readings edged back from...

Time is running out for the bulls

Preface: Explaining our market timing models  We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade.   The Trend...

Is the S&P 500 wildly overvalued?

Several readers asked me to address the valuation warning from Jason Goepfert of SentimenTrader, who found that the S&P 500 is wildly overvalued based on a combination of real earnings yield and dividend yield.     Let's begin by unpacking Goepfert's chart (annotations are mine). There were five instances since 1970 when the market appeared...

Don’t short a dull market

Mid-week market update: Even as the S&P 500 remains range-bound, market internals are constructive. I interpret these conditions to mean that the market can grind higher in the short-term, and the intermediate-term trend is still up.     Don't short a dull market.     A risk appetite revival A survey of risk appetite indicators...

The wall at S&P 4200

Preface: Explaining our market timing models  We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade.   The Trend...