SPX Reaching Historical Extremes on Weekly/Monthly Chart

We are starting to see some very extreme readings on our monthly and weekly index charts since there has been no correction this year.  I posted below first the monthly chart of the S&P 500 going back 15 years showing bollinger bands – rarely do we get above the upper monthly one, and never have we been this far above during this time frame.  Then below that I posted…

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There is a Rotation Afoot

After breaking a key support trend line that connected the lows of November, December, February and April the S&P 500 has pulled off yet another "V shaped" upward move similar to so many others since 2009.  The index finished at new closing highs yesterday and is now up 7 of 8 sessions as we enter an economic and central bank heavy portion of the calendar.  The fact it has…

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Equities Rally But So Do Bonds – What Gives?

Chris Burba (@ChrisBurbaCMT on twitter) just posted this interesting chart showing a major divergence between how bonds and stocks are acting.  Normally bonds will sell off as equities rally as we go into 'risk on' mode.  However this week even as equities rallied, bonds held quite steady and on a day like today are acting very strong.  Yields continue to fall.  Even as equities "honeybadger" their way up.  So…

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Launch of Paladin Long Short Fund (PALFX)

Hanna Capital is proud to announce the launch of its flagship fund, the Paladin Long Short Fund (PALFX).  Available through a variety of brokers as well as direct purchase, this no-load fund seeks capital appreciation.  See the fund's prospectus here. Distributor: Capital Investment Group, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC , 17 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh, NC 27603, (800) 773-3863.  There is no affiliation between Hanna Capital LLC, including its principals, and Capital Investment Group, Inc….

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Mar26

Bernanke really needs to speak about how poor the economy is more often… could be back to NASDAQ 5000 in a few months if he does a Monday morning presser each weak bemoaning the wretched state of affairs.

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Mar26

The most likely answer to the above question if you ask the general populace is "the American citizen."  Unfortunately, it is not quite that simple.  In fact, one can make a wonderful argument that such actions, gaining in popularity among a certain political set, would be neutral to "the American citizen."  One group benefits, and another one would pay for it – there is no net winner from moving obligations from one hand to another.  Someone is owed that money, and with Fannie, Freddie, et al being run as large subsidization schemes guaranteed by the U.S. taxpayer – that is who loses.  That said, per this excellent story by the NYT's Gretchen Morgenson, ,there would be one clear winner – our oligarchy of mega banks.  Which makes me wonder why this proposal has not been approved long ago?  Oh yes, it is not something Congres can be paid off to do.

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Mar26

Barron's was out this past weekend with a negative article on Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN), stating a lot of things that are already known – namely that the current situation is this is a "one drug" story.  [Feb 12, 2012: Alexion Pharmaceuticals - One Drug is Enough When it Costs this Much]  But of course they have a very large megaphone.  Alexion was one of the few stocks in my watch list to actually open down today.

As with any high growth, high beta stock – eventually the super growth era ends, and "valuation once more matters".  When it does, it's usually a dark and ugly point for the stock as you lose the momentum growth investors and the "value" investors won't be touching said stock until a much lower point.  Barron's seems to be making a pre-emptive strike on ALXN in this regard.

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Mar26

The last week of the month has already gotten off to a roaring start in futures as Bernanke is out this morning with a speech saying the labor market remains poor, which the market is translating to more easing.  I am unclear why the market ever has gone off the more easing bandwagon, but they seem to be reassured today than Ben will continue full steam ahead and of course markets love easy money.

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Mar23

This is one of the few days of the year the NASDAQ, and especially QQQ ETF, is not leading the charge.  Apple (AAPL) is actually down while the S&P 500 and DJIA are the stronger indexes; in fact quite a few leading technology names are in the red.  Meanwhile, the most beaten of the "slowdown in China" names are rebounding a bit along with the energy complex which has had a rough week.  The S&P 500 is making an attempt to recapture the quickly rising 10 day moving average at 1397.70… the pullback this morning did not go as far as to touch the 20 day down at 1381-ish.  That is the level from which this leg of the breakout started, so its an important level to hold for sustained movement.

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