Quote of the Day: Latest Data Deserve A Bit of Skepticism

Last week we cautioned that the threat of a trade war could be skewing the latest data a bit positive:

This Week's Message: General Conditions Don't 'Yet' Justify The Recent Rotation To Defensives

The following is my summary of our weekly market analysis:

Last week showed some very short-term technical improvement – my subjective view in “daily chart character” -- virtually across the board. The binary (objective) technical analyses showed improvement in transportation stocks (recaptured their 200-day moving average), in home builders (recaptured their 50-day moving average) and in the positioning of the 50, 100 and 200-day moving averages for healthcare.

The S&P 500 Index itself continues to exhibit strong technical trends. The message being: probabilities suggest that the bull market has significant room to run, once it completes what, at this point, appears to be healthy consolidation.

Where Do We Go From Here?

In conversations with friends and clients (also friends), I hear over and over again how they (many of them) are concerned about the latest on foreign trade, but that they appreciate that something is finally getting done to "level the playing field."

What that tells me is that many folks -- given that they have lives -- either haven't had the time or desire to really dig into the issue, and/or they don't fully grasp it, and/or the sources where they dig offer up biased depictions of the present state of affairs.

While our primary purpose herein is to keep clients abreast of the whys and wherefores of how we manage their money, we also feel compelled to offer up some clarity on economic-related waters that politicians and the media are so adept at muddying up.

The one thing we can promise is that there'll be no politics in our depictions. Our ultimate aim is to forever see, and present to our subscribers, the world as it is, not how we or they may like it to be.

Where Do We Go From Here?

As you know, the first shots have been fired in what we can legitimately call a trade "battle"; call it a border skirmish, maybe. Whether or not it escalates to all-out war remains to be seen.

In the Face of a Looming Trade War

To give you a feel for what's inspiring today's action, here's this morning's entry to our internal market log:

A Very Brief Reprieve?

Here's what has the market jumping this morning (Dow futures point to a 200-point surge at the open):

No Mystery What's Troubling the Market (podcast)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!
 

This Week's Message: Technicals Mixed, Fundamentals Strong, However.......

We'll make this week's main message short and sweet (or sour, given our take on recent developments) by sharing my weekend entry to our internal market log. There'll be much more to come herein over the next few days: