This week I sat down with Irusha Peiris of Investor's Business Daily to talk markets and life lessons.

I was invited on to the Investing with IBD Podcast where we discussed the current market environment, including US and International equities. We talked about interest rates and their intermarket relationships with other asset classes like currencies and commodities. Most importantly, in my opinion, I lay out 4 very critical levels, in 4 indexes specifically, that I think will be the biggest hurdles to jump over in order for stocks to continue higher.

This was a fun conversation.

Here's the interview in full:

Two weeks ago we outlined our thesis for near-term weakness in stocks in India and around the globe.

Since then we've outlined additional information that seems to support the thesis that the next few weeks, and potentially months, are to be a choppy environment. (Feb 1, Jan 27, Jan 26, and Jan 25).

After some downside follow-through, many are asking: How low can we go?

In this Episode of Allstarcharts Weekly, Steve and I discuss all the reasons why we're buying bonds right now instead of stocks and commodities. The big point here for me is that it's not just one chart. There is no single holy grail suggesting we buy bonds. This is a weight of the evidence conclusion. It's not one chart, it's hundreds of them all pointing to the exact same thing: Sell stocks and Buy bonds!

I can't believe I'm publishing the 100th Episode of this podcast that I started in the summer of 2017. My first guest ever was Ralph Acampora! I mean, how could it not be right? Since then I've had the privilege of interviewing Portfolio Managers, Traders, Analysts, Best Selling Authors and even a World Series of Poker Champion! People all over the world have approached me how much they've learned from listening to the podcasts. It's been an amazing experience for me all around.

I like to keep an open mind. When the data suggests getting more aggressive towards stocks, that's what we're going to do. When the data points a more defensive approach, then that's what we'll do too.

We've had a heck of a run in stocks since the summer, and now I think it's time for a break, at least at the index level. Remember, regardless of overall market conditions there will still always be some stocks going up and some going down. In fact, I think Utilities see some outperformance here and I listed which stocks we want to own. So far they're working.

Anyway, so why the new defensive position? Well, the things we said needed to happen for us to pull back are starting to happen. It's really as simple as that.

Let's get into it:

You guys know that I just tell it like it is. I don't care what happens. The stock market can double or can get cut in half. Gold can go to zero tomorrow or to 10,000/oz and I won't care. I'm too old to worry about the economic or social implications of market moves. Been there, done that and it doesn't help. We have to look at everything as objectively as possible.

Now, with that said, I have some thoughts that some of you may not appreciate. But I'm not here to tell you what you want to hear. I'm here to tell you what I'm seeing right? So bear with me.

For those of you who have been around here a while, you remember just how bearish I was towards the US Dollar coming into 2019. The Dollar rolling over was a big catalyst for why we were so bullish of precious metals throughout the first 3 quarters of 2019. It wasn't until September last year that we said, ok it's time to get out.

From the desk of Tom Bruni @BruniCharting

Thank you to everyone who responded to this week's mystery chart.

A lot of mixed responses on this depending on their timeframe. Some were shorting the failed move and seeing how it developed, while others were patiently waiting for another breakout attempt to get long.

With that as our backdrop, let's take a look at this week's chart. 

There are a lot of people out there who would rather fight trends than take advantage of the ones that are already in place. The idea is they are always looking for the reversion to the mean. And while some think prices always come back to the mean, it's often forgotten that the mean can also catch up (or down) to price. I learned this lesson the hard way in 2013 and it has served me well ever since. This episode is short and sweet but I think adds a tremendous amount of value.

When I asked Phil to comment on the subject, he said, "Give me someone who can adapt, someone who is flexible over someone who is a rocket scientist any day because I can teach him to ignore that voice inside his head telling him that breakouts must revert.

I'm really fortunate that I get to interact with traders and investors from all over the world on a regular basis. I receive emails with great questions all the time. And while I'm happy to share my thoughts, it's these questions that really help force me into thinking about a lot of different things. So I'm learning every single day from this simple exercise. Please keep them coming!

Here is a good example of some of the questions I get. This one comes along quite often, in fact. So I wanted to share it with you and include my response.

This week on the podcast I'm thrilled to have Quint Tatro join me as our guest. I've been following his work for a long time and have always appreciated his technical approach to managing portfolios at his advisory firm Joule Financial. This was a great conversation where Quint walks us through how he got to Technical Analysis in the first place and how he applies those methods on a daily basis. We went over the overall stock market and how he wants to overweight International Stocks and Emerging markets heading into 2020. He also likes Gold bigger picture here and the mining stocks that come a long with it. I really enjoyed this one. Give it a listen!

I was down in New York City this week and dropped by the Nasdaq to chat with my old pal Frances Horodelski on BNN Bloomberg. Frances and I have been rapping about the markets for the better part of the past decade. It was great to chat with her once again.

In this short clip, we talk about the new bull market for stocks, rotation into Emerging Markets and Energy, where we think gold goes and how bad bonds are going to get hit if interest rates get to the 3% mark we're looking for in the US 10-year Yield.

Here's the clip in full:

There seems to be more data available than ever as we head into the end of this decade. It's up to us to decide how we use it, or ignore it in many cases.

I have my process and everyone else has theirs. But one thing that is a common denominator among all of us is this current period of resetting before we begin a new year.

This week I asked Phil if this calendar thing was something we made up as humans or if this is something real that we should embrace. This was his response:

Rebirth is a universal theme. Dates are milestones adding rhythmic structure. Not "required" but common across cultures and eras."

I'm glad he said that because I enjoy this time of the year. I like thinking about the things we're thinking about.

We'll have a lot more charts and trade ideas this week, of course, as we approach our Monthly Conference Call Thursday (email me if you have not registered).