From the desk of Tom Bruni @BruniCharting
After last week’s move to the downside I figured there would be a lot of changes to the IBD 50, and there were, so I want to highlight the characteristics of some names that continue to hold up well.
Expert technical analysis of financial markets by JC Parets
by Tom Bruni
From the desk of Tom Bruni @BruniCharting
After last week’s move to the downside I figured there would be a lot of changes to the IBD 50, and there were, so I want to highlight the characteristics of some names that continue to hold up well.
by JC
Some of you guys have been reading my work for over a decade. But I understand there are many newer readers, so I think it’s important to address what’s going on here. I’ve been called a Permabull many times for over 2 years now, meaning that they believed I just always had a bullish bias towards stocks. The truth is that while so many were eager to pick a top during this entire rally, I was consistently bullish because the weight of the evidence pointed that way. This is no longer the case and our approach has had to adapt over the past week to a new environment.
We’re fortunate to have been accurate with our risk levels. As soon as Small-caps broke 169, things got bad. There was no reason to be in them for us if we were below that in $IWM. Large-caps broke our levels early this week and things got progressively worse after our prices were breached. That is why we set them. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I’m confident this is just the beginning.
I believe we are entering a period of what is, at the very least, a period of consolidation. I think we’re lucky if it’s another 2015. That wasn’t so bad and markets recovered quickly to begin one of the greatest runs in history. I hope you enjoyed it. [Read more…]
by JC
Is this 2008 all over again? 1987? 1929? I doubt it.
We’re not seeing any stress in credit, which is where the real problems start. In fact, some stocks and sectors are going up while others are going down. We’ve seen relative strength in Energy, Utilities and Consumer Staples. Remember, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a new all-time high just last week. It’s easy to forget right?
So what’s the problem? The problem is that we have failed breakouts in all of the major U.S. Indexes, and at the very least, it is going to take some time to resolve. The questions are: How long? and How low could we go? [Read more…]
by JC
It’s not just the U.S. that is breaking our important levels, stock market indexes all over the world are reacting to the volatility. Europe is flirting with dangerous areas but Brazil and Russia have bucked the trend, likely due to their exposure to Energy. Other countries like India and Tech based markets have been the ones coming off the most in the emerging group. [Read more…]
by JC
What else can we do with that money?
That’s the question we always want to ask ourselves.
I get asked all the time, “Hey JC, I own this stock, it’s down x amount and I’m not sure what to do?”. Man if I had a bitcoin for every time I got asked that one.
To me the answer is very simple. If you woke up that morning and you could do anything you wanted with that money, anywhere in the world, with any asset class, is that stock what you would buy?
If the answer is no, then you know your answer. Go buy whatever you want to buy. Transaction costs are nothing these days, so the pennies on that are no excuse to sit in something costing you way more. [Read more…]
CSX has been good to us.
We’ve been bullish $CSX all year. And we had a successful options play this summer that recently came to a profitable conclusion. JC calls CSX “a beast!” I can’t argue with that.
And low and behold, even as the overall market has hit a little bump in the road over the past week, $CSX just continues riding the rails, appearing to be in the final stages of completing a nice and tidy two-month base with eyes on a $91 price target and above.
With earnings on deck, the chairs are aligned for an opportunistic play to put elevated options volatility to work for us. [Read more…]
by JC
Over the past decade, I’ve been fortunate enough to do business with most of the largest financial institutions in the world. Banks, Hedge Funds, Family Offices, RIAs and other big buyers have counted on me, and now us as team, to help them allocate assets more successfully.
Our idea flow comes within the context of a global macro perspective. Individual stock trades are ultimately derived from both cross-asset analysis and risk vs reward, which we are always trying to skew in our favor. Many of our customers come just for the risk management strategies. They are fundamentally focused but want to better understand what the technicals are reflecting in terms of risk. Others come for the trade idea generation looking to add alpha, knowing the team is constantly reevaluating the current market conditions
While we have already been doing work with private clients over the past few years, we will now be officially opening it up to the public as a stand alone business. You can apply for an Allstarcharts Institutional Account here.
We’ve been around. We understand that the business has changed. It is not like the old days where Traders and Advisors had a team of analysts to help them with decision making. Wall Street firms can’t exchange research for trading commissions anymore, under the new laws changing. Even if they could, the spreads aren’t what they used to be anyway and the business has been flawed with the improvements in electronic access and trading. The lawmakers have just sped up the process and are helping them finally go extinct. A void has been left and we’ve been selected by all of you to fill it. So thank you for that.
We have built a team capable of providing excellent research and customer service. So far in 2018, we have already made two key acquisitions to our team. We have added Tom Bruni, formerly of Ernst & Young, to provide technical analysis in both the U.S. and foreign markets. Additionally, Sean McLaughlin joined the team in Q2 as our Chief Options Strategist, helping our clients better express their views in the derivatives markets.
With this new Institutional offering, the firm has hired Jonathan Bloom, who brings 20 years of experience on the Sell Side, as the new Head of Institutional Sales:
I’m beyond thrilled to be joining such a high caliber team of Technical Analysts led by JC Parets. I’ve known and consumed JC’s work since inception. Therefore, I understand why buy-side accounts have asked Allstarcharts to provide their trusted expertise. Business models have changed so much over the last 5 years. Clients want the best fit for their specific objectives these days, and this is the team to do it.”
The firm’s new offering has been formulated in tandem with buy-side clients wanting higher touch analyst interaction and responsive customer service for today’s dynamic environment. Each client will always have unique needs respective to their process. Allstarcharts’ new platform has been built with that in mind.
It really is a pleasure being in this business. Our clients are the smartest in the market. I learn so much from these regular interactions that I can then put back into my analysis. I would be a fool not to do it. So I encourage you, if you’re looking for more access and a higher touch point product, fill out an application and our Head of Institutional Sales Jonathan Bloom will get back to you right away.
Thanks again for all the support!
JC
by JC
There are a lot of interesting developments working through the markets these days. Whether it’s the relentless sector rotation underneath the surface or the divergences between small and large-cap stocks, there is no shortage of topics to discuss about the current environment. I have been in the camp that a breakdown in Bonds to new multi-year lows would likely be accompanied by a lower yen and higher stock and commodities prices. Through last week that strategy has worked really well.
Moving forward, however, how does this face-ripper in rates impact U.S. stocks? Is the relative strength in financials this week a positive sign for equities? Or are they just getting a sympathy bid because of rates? Are Semiconductors finally going to break out above their epic 2000 highs, which they’ve been flirting with all year? What about Gold and Crude Oil? How do they fit in?
This morning I was on the Benzinga Premarket Prep Show discussing what I felt are the most important topics in the markets right now. Here is the interview in full: [Read more…]