The broad-based Financials ETF $XLF has gone basically sideways for the majority of the year, but under the surface there has been strength in individual names and sub-sectors like Broker-Dealers and Exchanges. We've spoken a lot about them in the past, so today I want to talk focus on several stocks showing relative strength that are setting up on the long side.
The Nasdaq Composite closed at another all-time high yesterday, but some are questioning this rally's sustainability due to the under-performance of the Semiconductor Index. Given we're open-minded about our bullish Technology thesis, we want to use this post to take explore the sector's recent performance and its possible implications.
This week I was in New York meeting with partners and old friends. On Tuesday I was down at the Bloomberg Headquarters chatting with Catherine Murray about what we're seeing from a technical perspective. We discuss Technology, Medical Equipment stocks and where we are within this secular bull market. Here's the video of the interview:
One of the most underrated tools we have as U.S. Stock Market participants is the Dow Jones Industrial Average. I often hear how because it's price weighted, or because it only has 30 stocks, it cannot be relied upon as a gauge of market health. In the past, I've written about how I use it and why these criticisms are irresponsible. I encourage you to read through our Free Educational section to see how we use the Dow Jones Industrial Average and other various tools that we have at our disposal.
We're in the middle of a bunch of really exciting things here at All Star Charts. We're growing as a team and as a community of investors. This summer we brought on our new Chief Options Strategist Sean McLaughlin and added new Technical Analyst Tom Bruni. With this growth comes a lot more data that and analytics that we get to dive into every day. Some of the stuff we're building is so cool and beyond anything I thought was possible 10 years ago. We're living in some pretty amazing times and I'm really enjoying using and exploring the new technology.
Cryptocurrencies have enjoyed a nice few days after a long rout, meaning my timeline is now filled with Bitcoin charts and the like. To be honest I've been so busy with charts for Allstarcharts India that I hadn't checked my crypto charts in a while. Well, I'm glad I did because the chart of Ethereum is a textbook example of a core Technical Analysis concept, polarity.
I have a Google Home at my house and we ask it questions all the time. I asked: "Hey Google, do we really need to call google Alphabet?" and she responded: "Sorry, I don't understand the question."
Yeah, me neither.
In case you've been living under a rock, Google $GOOG printed a new all-time high today (Tuesday) and continues to ignore headlines like a good soldier. And with earnings on deck, scaredy-cat options market makers are bidding up prices in options ahead of July 23rd's release. This sets up a nice trade for us.
This past Wednesday, the founder of Sierra Alpha Research, David Keller, CMT presented to the New York Chapter meeting of the CMT Association on the topic of timeframes. He spoke about how he defines and uses three frequently referenced timeframes: short, medium, and long-term, as well as the common pitfalls he's seen people fall into over the course of his nearly 20 years as a Technical Analysis practitioner.
This past week I came across a potential trade setup in an Indian micro-cap stock that really got me thinking about the question, "Who am I as a market participant?". With all the noise created on a daily basis, it's easy to lose sight of your answer to this simple question, but doing so inhibits your ability to make any decision about markets responsibly.
