The Patience Game
From playing
in my flag-football league on Sunday, to skiing two feet of new snow
up on Mt. Hood, it was a great three-day weekend… What’s that? I’m
supposed to write about the market? Well, to be honest, there’s not a lot to
write about since Thursday’s
column. The indices got hit Friday on lighter trade but appear to be under
some distribution as I write this at 12:40 pm ET, but as usual, the closing bell
will have the final say.
The market has already flashed its
cautionary signals to buy very hesitantly or not at all. Individual stocks have
confirmed those signals for the intermediate-term player by providing us with
very few potential plays. Direct Focus
(
DFXI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
has been one of the rare exceptions, as it managed to bounce back above its pivot
point for the time being.
Kronos
(
KRON |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) has been another success story in the sea of all that has not
worked. It has maintained its pivot of 53.15 for the past two weeks.
Other than some lagging technicals,
Coinstar
(
CSTR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) has managed to paint a solid technical picture
and hang on to its move through 25.90.
In the meanwhile, I found very few
setups over the weekend that are worth keeping a close eye on. This is one
indicator I will be following closely as I await profitable opportunities.
Coupled with the general market averages, these two indicators take the lead,
but there are also others that are worth watching and noting. Less than four
months following what could be the bottom of the worst bear market in the past
30 years, I really don’t like the complacency I see in other such indicators.
Investment Advisors are showing 51.6% bullish and 24.7% bearish…far from the
levels a rally would need to continue. The Put/Call ratio has been creeping
higher in the past few sessions, but a reading above 1.0 would make me much more
excited. I will also be keeping an eye on the indices’ position in relation to
their 50- and 200-day moving averages.
For now, it is back to the patience
game…and don’t ever doubt that it will pay off, because it will eventually
return more in profits to us than any other game in town.
Until Thursday,
Â