Keep The Faith

• August 21, 2001
• Tim Truebenbach

Just
when everyone thought the doldrums of yesteryear had ended, they are
back and slower than ever. The indices
are working on a rally as seen here through the Nasdaq and S&P 500.

There are two
problems with this scenario as it unfolds:

• Volume
  on the initial rally on 8/20 was less than the day before, and

• There are few if
  any growth stocks setting up to break out. 

As the market wades
through this extremely boring time, it is important to remember a few things as
intermediate-term traders. First
off, don’t look too hard for action that is not there. 
Secondly, it is important that we don’t over-analyze things that are
happening in the market right now. 

The
current situation can be summed up as follows: 
The market has shown clear distribution and awaits a rally and subsequent
follow-thru on the rally. As slow as
things may seem right now, this only takes four quick days to happen and things
can be as good as ever…remember, the market can turn on a dime and investors,
usually, cannot.

Once I see a
follow-through day, I will begin going through stocks by the handful.
Until then, I will run the business, water-ski, play tennis and reiterate
how important patience is in this column!

I recently had a
run-in with several computer viruses which wiped out my systems.
I apologize for those of you who had submitted comments/questions and I
have not responded. Please feel free to
send whatever thoughts you may have as everything is back up and running again.

Keep the faith…it
will eventually turn good again!

Tim