Tariffs to the left, tariffs to the right…Contrarians buy China!

The news about the Sino-American trade war seems to get worse every day. Callum Thomas pointed out that corporate managements are increasingly raising concerns about rising tariffs.     Chinese stocks have cratered, along with the stock indices of China's largest Asian trading partners. However, a couple of contrarian buy signals are appearing. First, trade...

The surprising conclusion from sector leadership analysis

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...

Wall Street: Where the Wild Things are

Mid-week market update: There is a children's book called Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak that stands as a metaphor for the stock market's action. Here is a summary from Wikipedia: This story of only 338 words focuses on a young boy named Max who, after dressing in his wolf costume, wreaks such havoc through...

Trade War Apocalypse, or Sell the rumor, Buy the news?

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...

What you may not know about the Smart Money Index

This is one in an occasional series of articles highlighting hidden investing factors. For the previous article in the series, please see What you may not know about small cap stocks. There has been some buzz in social media about the following chart that correlates the Fed's balance sheet with the Smart Money Index (SMI)....

A looming global recession, or buying opportunity?

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...

A trader’s guide to spotting market bottoms

Now that the SPX flirted with the combination of the 2700 level and its lower Bollinger Band (BB), it's time to see if the market is ready to bottom on a short-term and intermediate basis.     Let`s analyze outlook from the perspective of breadth, momentum, and sentiment.   Breadth and momentum The readings from...

How close are we to a recession?

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...

What you may not know about small cap stocks

This is one in an occasional series of articles highlighting the hidden investing factor exposures, starting with small cap stocks. Small caps have been on an absolute tear lately, both on an absolute basis and relative to large caps.     Does that mean you should jump on the small cap momentum train? Momentum is...

Is the trade war correction over?

Mid-week market update: The fate of this market is becoming highly news dependent. Ed Yardeni recently stated in on CNBC that he has never seen a "president this bullish and bearish at the same time". The market wants to go up on earnings, but it has been held back by Trump`s protectionism. Will stock prices...

What Trump won’t tell you about the price of a trade war win

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...

Can America still lead the world?

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...

What June swoon?

Mid-week market update: Sell in May? June swoon? Not so far! As the SPX convincingly staged an upside breakout above the 2740 resistance level, the bull case is easy to make. We have seen fresh all-time highs this week from the following: NASDAQ Composite Russell 2000 small caps NYSE Advance-Decline Line NASDAQ Advance-Decline Line I...

2 contrarian trades that will make you uncomfortable

Do you really want to be a contrarian investor? Most of the time, being contrarian means that your investment views are far from the crowd, and you will feel very isolated and uncomfortable. With that preface in mind, I offer two uncomfortable contrarian trades, based purely on technical analysis.   Fading a NAFTA breakdown Let’s...

Revealed: The market timers’ dirty little secret

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...

The hidden MACD message from the markets

Mid-week market update: Callum Thomas conducts a regular weekly (unscientific) Twitter poll of equity market sentiment, and the latest results show that both fundamental and technical bullishness are falling. These readings suggest that bullish momentum is waning.   Indeed, daily MACD has been decelerating and turned negative this week, indicating that the bears are taking...