The End of an Era?

So, did we learn anything from the resumption of the market's dance to the downside yesterday? Can the action be blamed on anything specific? Should we be concerned about the reversal of Monday's reversal? Or is this simply the latest edition of computers gone wild, or what I like to call, "Hedge Fund Follies?"

In my humble opinion, the answer to the first three questions is, yes. And as such, it is probably best to dig in and make sure we understand what the heck is going on here.

Cutting to the chase, it's all about bonds right now. Sure, oil is getting some attention. And yes, the action in the dollar is worth watching. But the bottom line is that fear and loathing in the bond market is the central theme here.

At issue is the macro fear that we're seeing the beginning of the end of the QE era. A period in time that will no doubt go down in history for an unprecedented degree of globally coordinated, central bank intervention. A period when interest rates around the world moved to all-time low extremes. A time when, according to Mr. Paul Singer, President of Elliott Management, some 30% of the world's government bonds yield nothing - or less. And a time that many folks expect to end badly.

I know what you're thinking. Dave, you're being melodramatic here. Please calm down and return to the land of objectivity asap!

Okay, okay. In looking at the charts of the bond market, perhaps it is a bit premature to get overly excited about the recent spike in bonds - a move that is really just 4 days old. A spike that began after Super Mario disappointed the market last week by suggesting that the ECB may need to re-evaluate what ...

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No New Message From Brainard

Down 2.4% on Friday. Up 1.5% on Monday. Such is life in the stock market these days when the computers think they've found a theme. Or rather, when the computers think they've found a theme one day and then realize ...

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Freak-out Mode Is Back

Good Monday morning and welcome back. On Friday, investors were reminded of why September is known for volatility. And with the computers likely cued up and waiting for a reason - any reason - to sell stocks, current rout would ...

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Why Tactical Strategies Aren't Working Very Well - Part II

Yesterday, I began a series of posts that I have been meaning to write for quite some time. The topic at hand is why so many technical stock market indicators and, in turn, so many tactical investing strategies have struggled ...

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Why Tactical Strategies Aren't Working Very Well - Part I

With traders waiting to hear what Mario Draghi has to say this morning, I'd like spend a few minutes on the idea that the character of the market has changed rather dramatically during the current bull run.

Cutting to the ...

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The Data Has Been Disappointing, But...

If you find yourself looking for something to worry about, the recent string of economic data just might fit the bill. In fact, immediately following the release of the reports on ISM Manufacturing (designed to indicate the health of the ...

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Are The Bears Finally Ready?

Good Monday - oops, I mean Tuesday morning, and welcome back to the game. As usual let's start the week with a review of the state of the market and our major market indicators/models.

The first step is a review ...

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A Game Changer?

There can be little argument that the focal point of the markets recently has been what I call "Fed expectations." In other words, the expectations for when Janet Yellen's bunch of central bankers will pull the trigger on the next ...

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Global Economy Not Crumbling From BREXIT Just Yet

With just a couple more days left in Wall Street's vacation season and the Big Kahuna of economic reports on tap for tomorrow, it would be easy to dismiss today's early news. However, there are several items worthy of note ...

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The Next Bubble Is In...

I've been accused by some of my less than bullish buddies of being a bit too optimistic in my writing of late. To be honest, I guess I am guilty as charged on this score.

What I have been attempting ...

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The Cycles Say It Is Time For A...

When thinking about the short-term outlook for stocks, I believe we can all agree that "Fed expectations" and the state of the U.S. dollar are the driving forces at this time. I also think it is a safe bet that ...

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The Action is Getting Sloppy...

Good morning and welcome back. The Fed is clearly the focus right now. But since it's Monday, let's get right to our weekly review of the state of the market and our major market indicators/models.

As usual, the first stop ...

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