“Ponder a wonderful passage in Paul Johnson’s “A History of the American People” (1997). Noting the “dismal succession of nonentities” to take the job of British prime minister from 1763 to 1782, Johnson observes that “this might not have mattered quite so much if the men they faced across the Atlantic had been of ordinary stature, of average competence and character.”
As it was, “the generation that emerged to lead the colonies into independence was one of the most remarkable group of men in history—sensible, broad-minded, courageous, usually well educated, gifted in a variety of ways, mature, and long-sighted, sometimes lit by flashes of genius.” Johnson calls the American Founders “the Enlightenment made flesh, but an Enlightenment shorn of its vitiating French intellectual weaknesses of dogmatism, anticlericalism, moral chaos, and an excessive trust in logic.” …
…When the authors of the Federalist Papers spoke of the “passions of men,” or of men consistently failing to behave like angels, they acknowledged themselves, too, as passion-prone and defective. The old understanding of man as inherently flawed had a humbling and leveling effect, just as the rejection of it has encouraged political actors across the West to treat their opponents as subhuman spreaders of evil. To recover a saner, less embittered politics may be as simple, and as difficult, as recovering the Founding Fathers’ anthropology.” – Barton Swain, Opinion Columnist, Unruly Republic, The Wall Street Journal. Commentary at…
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/what-the-founders-didnt-trust-787a9419?mod=author_content_page_1_pos_5
“Never, never, never, believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on that strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The Statesman who yields to war fever . . . is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.” - Winston Churchill.
“Consumer confidence moderated slightly in July, continuing a general downward sloping trajectory since late 2021,” said Dana M Peterson, Chief Economist, The Conference Board...” Consumer appraisals of current business conditions and, to a lesser extent, perceptions of the current labor market both softened. Looking ahead, consumers anticipate little improvement in business conditions over the next six months, but expectations for the labor market were slightly less negative. Expectations for household incomes moderated but remained optimistic overall.”
Report at…
https://www.conference-board.org/topics/consumer-confidence/
“Fifth District manufacturing activity was mostly flat in July, according to the most recent survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The composite manufacturing index was nearly unchanged in July…” Report at…
https://www.richmondfed.org/region_communities/regional_data_analysis/business_surveys/manufacturing
-Tuesday the S&P 500 rose about 0.2% to 7429.
-VIX declined about 2% to 18.21.
-The yield on the 10-year Treasury declined to 4.606% (compared to about this time prior market day).
QLD – Added 5/28/2026
“…the market appears to be pricing Nvidia as though its best growth opportunities are behind it. This is not the first time such a rerating has occurred with Nvidia. In earlier instances when Nvidia's forward P/E contracted amid consolidation or shifting sentiment, subsequent evidence of accelerating revenue and profitability triggered multiple expansions. This pattern is consistent: Once operational results confirm that the company's AI-driven growth is continuing, investors eventually reengage, and the valuation rerates higher… Patient investors who recognize that Nvidia's recent price action reflects investor caution rather than a fundamental deterioration of its thesis can position themselves to benefit from meaningful share price appreciation as the chip giant continues to execute.” – Motley Fool at…
Nvidia stock has only gained 5% so far in 2026. History is crystal clear on where the stock is headed next
At the close today, of the 50-Indicators I track, 9 gave Bear-signs and 10 were Bullish. The rest are neutral. (It is normal to have a lot of neutral indicators since many of the indicators are top or bottom indicators that will signal only at extremes.)
The daily, bull-bear spread of 50-indicators improved from -9 to +1 (1 more Bull indicators than Bear indicators), a NEUTRAL indication. I consider +5 to -5 the neutral zone. The 10-dMA curve of the spread (purple on the chart above) that smooths daily fluctuations improved, but continued down, a BEARISH sign.
I am bearish and will remain so until the S&P 500 climbs above its 50-day. Indicators did improve, but a neutral indication is not bullish enough for me. Both the chart and indicators remain concerning.
TODAY’S RANKING OF 15 ETFs (Ranked Daily) ETF ranking follows:
*For additional background on the ETF ranking system see NTSM Page at…
http://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/exchange-traded-funds-etf-ranking.html
I updated the Momentum Chart: Google has been added; Verizon deleted.
For more details, see NTSM Page at…
https://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/a-system-for-trading-dow-30-stocks-my_8.html
I trade about 15-20% of the total portfolio using the momentum-based analysis I provide here although I don’t trade as much as I used to. When I see bullish signs, I add a lot more stocks to the portfolio, usually by using an S&P 500 ETF as I did back in October 2022 and 2023.
