Entries by Bob Loukas

Laying Out Bear Traps

The Bollinger Bands on the S&P are as tight as I’ve ever seen and there is no doubt now that the Daily Cycle has topped.  This being Day 37 (of an expected 40 day Cycle) this action is certainly part of a decline down towards a Cycle Low.  But the problem (for bears) is that the S&P isn’t dropping in price!  I will grant you that the chart is looking a little “toppy” here, but at the same time the bears have unsuccessfully tried to roll this market over for 17 sessions now.  You will notice that from a technical and detrended price standpoint this Cycle is well and truly approaching DCL levels. 

Midweek Market Update Report

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Gold is Following Through

This post is a small excerpt from the weekend Financial Tap member report.

Gold spent 11 sessions moving lower from the top of the Cycle, giving back 6% of the gains.  Judging by the blogosphere reaction during that decline I get the impression that very few people believed in this Cycle.  From what I can tell a majority expected gold to once again rollover in a steep decline.  That’s just the problem with bear markets; they scar us to the point where we can’t fully embrace potential when we see it. 

As the longs started bailing out in fear and the bears gained confidence again, gold come out with a 2 session $40 pop.  In its wake gold confirmed an end to the 1st Daily Cycle that in retrospect turned out to be a bullish Cycle.  From the table below we see that 1st Daily Cycles (excludes bear market Cycles) top on average after gaining 10.6% in some 20 trading days.  This daily cycle gained 14.3% to a top taking just 16 days.  In the end it was a bullish 1st Daily Cycle which from a timing standpoint ran the expected 27 day average.

The surge out of the Cycle low regained back half of the prior Cycle losses in just one session.   By the close of Day 2 gold has regained the 10dma and closed above the declining Cycle trend-line, ending what has been a fairly textbook Cycle transition.  In my opinion we’re still looking at a bullish Daily and Investor Cycle that have none of the characteristics matching the Cycles that haunted investors since last summer.  What I expect now is for more follow through early next week with a quick move above $1,348 (current IC high).  This next target will likely offer some resistance with a possible 2-5 session consolidation period.

Building Blocks

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The Dollar Showing Signs of a 3 Year Cycle Top

This is Day 3 of a new Daily Cycle that is struggling to lift off.  Normally after a long decline and consolidation we would be looking at a much more powerful response here.  Since the first Daily Cycle rallied 17 straight days to make new 3 Year Cycle highs, this 2nd Daily Cycle should be following through with more upside.  It's a little early to tell, but so far I'm not impressed with the muted response.

The DCL is showing up clearly on the Weekly chart, but the 4 week drop it left behind so early in the Investor Cycle is not bullish.  If the powerful start to this Investor Cycle was a true bull market move, then this recent consolidation should have formed as flag pattern and a move to new highs already in motion. 

God Save the King

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The FED Keeps the Party Going

Yesterday’s GDP release of a 1.7% gain underscored just how lethargic the economic recovery remains.  Now 4.5 years since the last recession, the fear for the FED is that the business Cycle is in the process of turning over.  Forget the rhetoric that the economy is going to gain steam and start growing quicker; we’ve been hearing this same nonsense since 2010.  The fact remains that the FED is keeping the economy artificially elevated and the best they can do is keep it right above stall speed. 

So when we hear talk of tapering asset purchases, I really do not see how they could do this.  The last time that thought gained any traction bonds sold off very quickly and this forced borrowing costs to spike.  I seriously doubt the FED is going to allow the stock market to tank and interest rates to spike right when the economy looks the most vulnerable.   

The FED’s message in the end was that as long as the economy remains near stall speed then asset purchases at $85 per month will continue.  They say if the economy improves enough then they will begin tapering purchases, but I still see that as being years from reality.  To me the new black swan event is the need for even larger asset purchases.  The thought of a new round of QE is never discussed, but I believe there is a greater chance we see more QE before we see any tapering. 

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Morning Coffee

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