A Time for Caution

A Trend Model Status Report My Trend Asset Allocation Model has performed remarkably on an out-of-sample basis by beating the 60/40 benchmark almost every year since inception. It outperformed a 60/40 benchmark while exhibiting 60/40 like risk.     The Trend Model applies trend-following principles to a variety of global equity markets and commodity prices...

A ZBT Buy Signal Retirement Gift?

Mid-week market update: The stock market's weakness last Friday moved the Zweig Breadth Thrust Indicator back to oversold and reset the count for a ZBT buy signal. Monday's strong recovery was day 1, and we've seen three consecutive days of strong breadth. Have the market gods decided to give me a ZBT buy signal as a...

A V- or W-Shaped Rebound?

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...

Explaining the Resilient S&P 500

Why is the S&P 500 so resilient? Brent oil prices have breached the $100 level, but the index has only fallen about -7% on a peak-to-trough basis. The apparent divergence has led to a number of Street economists and strategists to call for a deeper pullback based on rising recession risk.   From a top-down...

Que Sera Sera

Mid-week market update: The words of the day seem to be patience and uncertainty. As the old Doris Day song goes, "Que Sera Sera". No one knows what will happen.   I've been monitoring the progress of major averages. Both the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ 100 staged brief breakdowns of support, though the NASDAQ...

Important Questions for Both Bulls and Bears

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...

What Happened to the TACO?

Mid-week market update: I wrote on the weekend that the Trump Administration was on the verge of a TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) pivot. The market had the hint of a TACO on March 9, when he told CBS: “I think the war is very complete, pretty much”, but changed his tune hours later: “we’ve...

How Do You Say TACO in Farsi?

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...