The stock market correction is likely going to push the S&P 500 to test its long-term rising trendline and support at 232.20. The bearish divergence on the Twiggs Money Flow likely signals that the pull back is not over yet.
A few traders have asked me if now is the time to buy or if they should wait on the sidelines while the market pulls back. We all know that history does not predict future price direction nevertheless, it is useful to know what has and hasn’t happened in the past.
Looking at the last 110 years of stock market price action, the data reveals that waiting for a correction when the market was expensive would have reduced investor returns significantly. The reason is that the term “expensive” is a subjective term. Even if you use a more objective approach of looking at the P/E ratio, the data still shows that staying out of the market for months or even years waiting for a correction is a losing strategy.
Where long-term investors get themselves in trouble is that the correction they are waiting for may occur at a much higher market level than it is at today. Also, sitting on the sidelines for months or even years runs the risk of the investor losing patience and ultimately capitulating to the Bulls and buying back in to the market at a much higher level.
Few investors believe markets efficiently follow a random walk even though it’s a key component of market theory.
Short Term Stock Market Correction
Timing a stock market correction for profits is best done using a short-term swing trading strategy. The idea is that you don’t want to try and catch a falling knife.
Looking at QQQ, the Russell 2000, and the S&P 500, over the last week, you can see that the Russell 2000 and QQQ are leading the S&P 500 lower:
The market is telling us that what happens in the FANG stocks and QQQ will likely dictate market direction on the S&P 500.
With the Twiggs Money Flow breaking below zero for the first time in 2017, I think a retest of the $136 support level is likely.
Right now being in cash is an excellent move. Continue to stalk your favorite stocks for a swing long entry. I wouldn’t be too quick to jump back into this market yet. Consider using stop limit orders as taught in the lesson here.
The main thing to watch out for is the Establishment ‘Defeat Trump’ propaganda in the WSJ, CNBC, CNN, and elsewhere. These media groups are so dishonest that some were even claiming that the stock market went up because Steve Bannon left the White House. That was the propaganda narrative with CNBC claiming that traders on the NYSE floor cheered as proof. First of all, those old left-leaning talking heads in stock exchange clothing walking around looking stupid on the NYSE floor are not representative of the stock market as a whole.
Just as the Establishment media was advancing the false narrative that markets were up because of Steve Bannon being out at the White House, markets turned back down and so they quickly killed that false narrative. Another example is CNN’s propaganda that the entire market is worried because of Trump.
For the first time in our life-times, we have a President who is exposing the Establishment propaganda media in this country. There is a major information war going on right now.
As a trader, you can’t get caught up in the propaganda and the power struggle going on for control of public perception. You have to check yourself every day and make sure you aren’t making trading decisions based on propaganda. If you think the mainstream media is getting into your head too much, cancel your subscriptions like I did with CNBC Pro last week, and the WSJ and Barron’s the month before. Just turn it off because these propaganda machines are not going to help you make more money at stock trading.
Remember folks, markets mostly do random walks, especially during intra-day trading. No left-leaning propaganda media outlet can peer into the minds of millions of traders around the world and claim to know what they are thinking. These propaganda publications believe that perception is reality so if they can control the public’s perception, they can control reality.
The U.S. stock market is overbought, and the weak seasonal period is upon us. May through October marks the weakest 6 months of the year.
I don’t want to beat up on the mainstream media too bad so I’m not going to mention where I read the following bogus analysis:
Overbought markets look for excuses to sell off. Will Trump’s lack of leadership become an excuse for a big selloff in stocks?
The mainstream media is actually talking about a stock market correction as if it is some type of external beast that thinks for itself and makes up excuses. Reality check: you and I are the markets. People that work at institutional trading firms and hedge funds are the markets. Are you looking for an excuse for the market to sell off? I’m not either. Nobody is. We’re just reading the charts, analyzing the fundamentals, weighing external news events, and making our decisions. Nobody is searching under desks and looking everywhere for excuses to sell out of their positions. Especially not some make-believe entity called Overbought Markets.
Did you notice the Establishment propaganda “Trump’s lack of leadership…”? You can criticize the President on a lot of things but one thing you can’t criticize him on is a “lack of leadership”. President Trump is a strong leader with strong ideas and a vision on which he is moving to execute those ideas. Get in his way and “you’re fired”. Trump demonstrated his very strong leadership skills for over a decade on the hit-show The Apprentice. President Obama isn’t even in the same ballpark as President Trump when it comes to having strong leadership skills.
The main factors influencing a short-term stock market correction right now are: the speed of Fed rate hikes and balance sheet reduction, North Korea, the debt-ceiling, the economy, and the speed at which the Trump America First agenda is moving forward. Anything outside these main themes is likely Establishment propaganda by powerful groups battling to control public perception and thus reality.
