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technical analysis, trading systems, investing, market-timing methods, stock market, money management www.robertwcolby.com Technical Market Indicators Dow Theory, W.D. Gann, MetaStock, system tester, indicator builder, custom formulas, momentum, overbought, oversold, buy, sell, signals, top, bottom, Bull, Bear, consolidation, sentiment, contrary opinion |
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![]() February 6, 2023 Preview from my weekly report* Our clients have significantly outperformed the benchmark indexes while taking extremely low risk. We know that the safety of your capital is of vital importance, and your best interests are always our prime priority. Our clients are avoiding losses and preserving their capital, while we analyze and weigh the evidence every day, carefully calculating probable reward relative to probable risk. We offer complete transparency, anytime access to your funds, and low fees. You keep control over your money. See: ColbyAssetManagement.com Don't fight the Fed. The benchmark S&P 500 stock price rose 1.62% last week on the same old hopes that the Fed might moderate its restrictive monetary policy soon, that the economy might somehow avoid a recession, that corporate earnings may not be as bad as feared, or weaker earnings already may be discounted. Many corporations are cost cutting and announcing layoffs, which may help earnings but increase the probabilities of a recession, which could hurt earnings. S&P 500 corporate profit margins are on track to decline for the sixth consecutive quarter, according to FactSet. The fundamentals do not appear to be as strong as recent momentum and sentiment might seem to suggest, and stock valuations are not cheap by historical standards. Technical momentum indicators for the stock market and investor sentiment have been rising, which is normal when stock prices rise persistently for a few weeks. Momentum and sentiment simply follow the short-to-medium-term price trends, and they can change suddenly and frequently. Moving averages have been crossed, but these lagging indicators are far from perfect and sometimes produce unprofitable whipsaw signals. Stock prices do not move in straight lines, so false upside breakouts do happen in longer-term bear markets before stocks resume their downtrend. The most shorted stocks have been performing best, suggesting that forced short covering has been a stronger driver of the rally than longer-term investment demand. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) increased its Fed Funds Rate by 25 basis points to 4.5-4.75% on Wednesday 2/1/2023, as generally expected. The FOMC statement said, "Inflation has eased somewhat but remains elevated.... The Committee anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2 percent over time." The FOMC will continue to take into account "cumulative tightening" and "the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation" as it makes future decisions. In his press conference, Fed Chair Powell said that it is possible that the FOMC could update its policy path if the economic data comes in differently than the FOMC expects, and so the terminal Fed Funds Rate could be either lower or higher than the 5.1% the FOMC estimated in December. Powell said it was gratifying to see the disinflationary process getting underway with the labor market still strong, but there won't be a sustainable return to 2% in core services inflation ex-housing without increased labor slack. There is a path to getting inflation down to 2% without significant economic decline, but it may take more slowing in the economy than the FOMC expects. As we have seen in recent months, the perpetually-bullish Wall Street establishment was quick to conclude that Powell may be shifting from his previous very hawkish stance toward something more ambiguous, possibly to give the FOMC greater optionality to modify monetary policy when needed. Friday's surprisingly strong employment report made it clear, however, that the labor market is going in the opposite direction from the increasing slack that the FOMC is looking for. Such strong payroll growth will not contribute to disinflation, will not encourage the FOMC to ease off its tightening, and very well may lead to a more restrictive monetary policy. The Wall Street establishment seems to have forgotten this time-honored wisdom: Don't fight the Fed. The annual growth rate of the Real M2 Money Supply is collapsing like never before, which is likely to lead to an economic downturn. In year 2020, in reaction to the Covid lockdown economic crisis, the Fed inflated the money supply like never before, creating an economic and stock market boom. Such currency inflation means more and more money is chasing the available supply of goods and services, driving up prices and eroding confidence in the unbacked fiat money that the Fed creates out of thin air. Next, the Fed is forced to contract the supply of its fiat money (in an effort to save it from becoming worthless) and correct the Fed's own previous excess money printing. Rising interest rates and a contracting money supply lead to a contracting economy, placing severe stress on borrowers with weak financial positions. Debt defaults rise, lenders grow fearful and cut back loans, and credit markets collapse. Finally, the Fed is forced to reinflate the money supply and the cycle starts over with inflation rising again--only next time inflation starts rising from a higher starting point. The long-term result is declining purchasing power of the dollar. Over 104 years, the US dollar lost 96% of its purchasing power. The Yield Curve (the spread or difference between the 10-year yield minus the 3-month yield on US Treasury debt, $UST10Y-$UST3M) collapsed far below zero to its lowest level in more than 30 years. When it fell far below zero in the past, a recession followed. Recessions are bad news for corporate earnings and for stock prices. A collapsing Yield Curve means that monetary policy is restrictive. US dollar price reversed to the upside after completing a Fibonacci 50% retracement of its gain from January, 2021, to September, 2022. Short-term price momentum indicators RSI and MACD (not shown this week) did not confirm the recent 9-month price low and reversed sharply higher last week, suggesting bullish technical divergence. $USD remains systematically bearish below both SMAs (simple moving averages) and with the 50-day SMA below the 200-day SMA, but SMA systems usually lag at the trend turning points. Crude Oil price completed a Fibonacci 50% retracement of its gain from April, 2020, to March, 2022. Oil also closely approached its 10-year average (not shown this week), for a reversion nearly to the long-term mean. Trends don't continue in straight lines, and that 50% retracement ratio might be a likely spot for a consolidation or an upside correction. On-Balance Volume remains stronger than price and therefore is diverging bullishly. The 43% price drop from June to December had a major influence on the easing of inflation measures in recent months, but that oil price downtrend already may have ended. Copper price turned down last week after encountering resistance near a Fibonacci 61.8% upside retracement of its loss from March to July, 2022, and at technical chart resistance. Trends don't continue in straight lines, and this might be a likely spot for a rest or a downside correction. Copper remains systematically bullish, with price above both SMAs and with the 50 SMA above the 200 SMA. Copper is a leading indicator of the global economy. Lumber price encountered resistance near its October high and its 200-day SMA. Lumber remains systematically neutral. On-Balance Volume has been stronger than price since its December low and therefore is diverging bullishly. Lumber is an indicator of the health of the building and construction industries. Gold price reversed to the downside last week. Gold may have encountered chart resistance in the zone around its 2022 highs. On-Balance Volume also reversed sharply after reaching its 2022 peaks. Gold remains systematically bullish, above both SMAs and with the 50-day SMA above the 200-day SMA, but SMA systems usually lag at the trend turning points. iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) price turned systematically bullish on 2/2/2022, when the 50-day SMA crossed above the 200-day SMA, and with price above the 50-day SMA and the 200-day SMA. RSI price momentum slowed in recent weeks, however, possibly offering an early hint of uptrend fatigue. On-Balance Volume has been and remains much weaker than price and therefore is diverging bearishly. Still high inflation and a hawkish Federal Reserve monetary policy are bearish for bond price--and also for stock prices. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) price turned systematically bullish in January, when the 50-day SMA crossed above the 200-day SMA, and with price above the 50-day SMA and the 200-day SMA. On-Balance Volume has been and remains much weaker than price and therefore is diverging bearishly. There may be chart resistance around the August highs. And much more... Scroll down to get a free trial for our weekly report. Our full report reviews indicators that we monitor every day and offers clear and unbiased guidance on the following each week: Global stock markets The Defensive stock sectors The Health Care sector The Cyclical sectors The Technology sector The Financials sector U.S. bonds and notes Commodities (Oil, Metals, Agriculture) Objective Quantitative Rankings for hundreds of Exchange Traded Funds ![]() Now is the time to take action. Preserve your capital by placing your assets under our careful management--before the next major bear market of -20% to -50% devastates most portfolios. Make no mistake, the ongoing global economic and financial crisis has not been fixed by any sound or lasting solution. History shows that the authorities will not protect you or give you any advance warning--but we will. If you agree that making money while staying safe is better than taking big risks in the stock market and exposing your nest egg to potentially ruinous losses, we would be very happy to implement our time-tested strategies for all of your assets. It makes good sense to choose protection--especially at this time when the financial world is stretched out of proportion. We are always happy to discuss your goals and concerns and answer all your questions. Call us now for a free consultation. Please contact Bill Anderson by phone: 646-652-6879 or by email: anderson@colbyassetmanagement.com ![]() *For extensive coverage of major global markets with illustrative charts, take a free trial for my weekly report -- click here. This Technical Analysis is made possible by use of MetaStock software. Try it at no risk for 30 days. (Check out the new and improved version XVIII.) Click this link to save 7%-9% on MetaStock® software. ![]() 11-Year Outperformance by the Top 10 Exchange Traded Funds Weekly Rankings of Major Trend Relative Strength My weekly Top 10 ETFs ranked by the Major Trend Relative Strength outperformed the S&P 500 by over an 11-year period of real-time weekly tests. Click here for a graph of simulated performance. Please note that my ETF rankings are available by subscription--NOW WITH A NO-RISK FREE TRIAL. See The Colby Global Markets Report (click here). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . My latest book was named one of the top investment books by Stock Trader's Almanac 2005. This book also received an excellent review in the November 2003 issue of Futures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MetaStock® PC Software for Technical Analysis MetaStock® is a powerful technical analysis software program for your personal computer. It offers more than 250 built-in indicators and line studies to enable you to explore a wide variety of methods. And it empowers you to build, back test, and optimize custom trading systems to suit your own particular requirements. Click this link to save 7%-9% on MetaStock® software. Or, click the banner below for a one-month free trial. ![]() My ETF Rankings are not investment advice. Rather, they are an objective ongoing research study. Analysis of market forces may offer a sense of probabilities. But the many variables that can impact market prices are notoriously difficult to predict. And, market analysis is something less than an exact science. So, sound trading tactics are always recommended. See my Money Management Rules. According to CFTC Rule 4.41, hypothetical or simulated performance results have certain limitations. Unlike an actual performance record, simulated results do not represent actual trading. Also, since the trades have not been executed, the results may have under- or over-compensated for the impact, if any, of certain market factors, such as lack of liquidity. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profit or losses similar to those shown. Trading and investing involve risk of significant loss. Your use of this site means that you have read, understood, and accepted my Disclaimer. |
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