Thursday, December 7, 2017

Jobless Claims … Stock Market Analysis … ETF Trading … Dow 30 Ranking

JOBLESS CLAIMS (Reuters)
“The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting a rapid tightening of the labor market that bolsters expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next week…Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 236,000 for the week ended Dec. 2…” Story at…
 
MARKET REPORT / ANALYSIS         
-Thursday the S&P 500 was up about 0.3% to 2637.
-VIX was down about 8% to 11.16. (The Options Boys don’t believe a correction is brewing.)
-The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.363%.
 
The aircraft carrier of indicators is the new-high new-low data. It is very slow to shift direction so it can be a canary in the coal mine for sniffing out a downturn. New highs outpaced new-lows today, but on a %-basis the 10-day and 40-day moving averages are falling. At this point, I’ll watch the daily new-highs vs.new-lows.  If the new-lows outpace the new-highs we will be a little more worried.
 
My sum of 17 Indicators remained -2 on the day and was down on a longer-term basis too. Bottom line: not much change from yesterday. (A “-” number means there are more bearish indicators than bullish.)
 
I don’t expect much of a pullback – probably in the 3-5% range – but these things can get out of hand should we have some bad news. With the Politicians rattling their cages, that’s a possibility.
 
All in all, I am leaning bearish in the short-term, but I wouldn’t short this market unless we see some more compelling evidence of a correction.  I remain bullish longer term.
 
TODAY’S RANKING OF  15 ETFs (Ranked Daily)
The top ranked ETF receives 100%. The rest are then ranked based on their momentum relative to the leading ETF.  While momentum isn’t stock performance per se, momentum is closely related to stock performance. For example, over the 4-months from Oct thru mid-February 2016, the number 1 ranked Financials (XLF) outperformed the S&P 500 by nearly 20%.
*For additional background on the ETF ranking system see NTSM Page at…
Financials (XLF) was #1. The markets look a bit strained so perhaps I’ll get a better buying opportunity.  I’ll wait before adding any positions.
(I hold XLK, DVY and SPY.)
 
TODAY’S RANKING OF THE DOW 30 STOCKS (Ranked Daily)
The top ranked stock receives 100%. The rest are then ranked based on their momentum relative to the leading stock. 
 
Walmart (WMT) took over sole possession of #1. (I hold Intel.)
Avoid GE and Merck. Their 120-day moving averages are falling.
*I rank the Dow 30 similarly to the ETF ranking system. For more details, see NTSM Page at…
 
Intel is down 4.8% since I bought it 31 Oct 2017.  This is a risk of a momentum strategy. The hottest stock can get identified after an earnings surprise and the stock has already moved.  The momentum then slows and profit taking follows.  I am going to hold Intel because I think buying will pick up again if they are able to keep up earnings growth. In addition, its PE is a low 15.4 vs the average DOW PE of 25 as of the end of October. The Yield on the S&P 500 (SPY) is 1.9% while the Dividend for Intel is 2.3%. I think it is worth holding.
 
SHORT-TERM TRADING PORTFOLIO - 2017 (Small-% of the total portfolio)
My shorting rule is as follows:
-“In a bull market, you can only be long or neutral.” – D. Gartman
-“The best policy is to avoid shorting unless a major bear market is underway and downside momentum has been thoroughly established. Even then, your timing must sometimes be perfect. In a bull market the trend is truly your friend, and trading against the grain is usually a fool's errand.” – Clif Droke.
-“Commandment #1: “Thou Shall Not Trade Against the Trend.” - James P. Arthur Huprich
 
THURSDAY MARKET INTERNALS (NYSE DATA)
Market Internals remained Neutral on the market. (Market Internals are based on a package of internals and all must be positive to create a positive indication. 
Market Internals are a decent trend-following analysis of current market action, but should not be used alone for short term trading. They are usually right, but they are often late.  They are most useful when they diverge from the Index.  In 2014, using these internals alone would have made a 9% return vs. 13% for the S&P 500 (in on Positive, out on Negative – no shorting). 
 
LONG TERM INDICATOR                                                        
Thursday, Price indicator was positive; Sentiment, Volume & VIX indicators were neutral. With VIX recently below 10 for a couple of days in May, June, July, August, September, October and now November, VIX may be prone to incorrect signals. Usually, a rising VIX is a bad market sign; now it may move up, but that might just signal normalization of VIX, i.e., VIX and the Index may both rise. As an indicator, VIX is out of the picture for a while.
MY INVESTED STOCK POSITION:
TSP (RETIREMENT ACCOUNT – GOV EMPLOYEES) ALLOCATION
I increased stock allocation to 50% stocks in the S&P 500 Index fund (C-Fund) 24 March 2017 in my long-term accounts, based on short-term indicators. The remainder is 50% G-Fund (Government securities). This is a conservative retiree allocation, but I consider it fully invested for my situation.