I think it is clear that volatility will be part of the investment landscape and despite a strong bounce on Friday, it wasn’t enough to pull the market back into the black for the week. This is the first losing week for stocks in the last seven weeks.
4
Economic Calendar
Last week saw only a few economic numbers released, but the ones we got painted a big piece of the real estate picture in the US – but the information was conflicting.
The Good News – existing home sales increased, new home sales increased and homebuilders’ earnings expected to increase for that two-year timeframe. Also, Aircraft sales rose and auto sales were higher.
The Bad News – MBA Mortgage Index fell and the FHFA Housing Price Index was only up 0.7% for June. (It is up but it remains a very slow improvement trend.) Also, durable orders fell marginally.
As for the coming week, it’s a pretty big one with :-
- Consumer Confidence figures for July
- Michigan Sentiment Index score for July
- Personal income and personal spending figures for July
Stock Market
First and foremost, the longer-term trend is still bullish. Even if the market does indeed end up going through a near-term correction, we’ve yet to hit a major top. Specifically, the upper 52-week Bollinger band has yet to be tested. Since 2009, and really for the last several years, the one-year upper band line has marked the point where the bigger trend usually starts to stall and even then it doesn’t always kick-start a major market pullback.
That said, whether or not the longer-term trend is still in place won’t change some of the red flags we’re seeing. For instance, the CBOE Volatlity Index (VIX) (VXX) remains uncomfortably low – at levels frequently seen at near-term tops. And once again, volume remains at eerily low levels, and was even weaker on the way up over the past seven weeks.
So what’s next? That’s the problem – what’s next? It remains unclear whether or not the new-market level is going to become a floor or a ceiling for the foreseeable future.
My opinion has not changed – a little bearish in the short run, but still bullish in the long run. I still expect the markets to be volatile, with a market pullback followed by a market rally. My clients are positioned ready for this downward correction and upward rally. The question is, when will it happen?
Next week is apt to be quite unremarkable, with late-summer, back-to-school, last-minute-vacations, and other distractions in the lineup. That will lead us into the first full week of September, which kick-starts what’s usually a tough first half for the month for stocks. The weakness in early and mid September leads into potentially the best period of the year (Quarter 4), but it’s still not going to be an easy ride.
I expect t would be something of a miracle if stocks didn’t take at least a small hit soon. Although, that dip doesn’t have to be fatal. The dip just has to be big enough to humble the markets a bit. Moreover, the dip could and I expect would be a huge buying opportunity for a bullish finish to the year.
welshmoneywiz 