Friday, September 11, 2026

CPI … Consumer Sentiment … Momentum Trading DOW Stocks & ETFs … Stock Market Analysis

 

 
“Trade what you see; not what you think.” – The Old Fool, Richard McCranie, trader extraordinaire.
 
“Far more money has been lost by investors in preparing for corrections, or anticipating corrections, than has been lost in the corrections themselves.” - Peter Lynch, former manager of Fidelity’s Magellan® fund.
 
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.
 
“There’s a lot of exuberance out there,” Dimon continued. “But it was in 1972, 1986, 2000, 2007. That doesn’t give me comfort.” – Jamie Dimon
 
9/11 LESSONS (WSJ-Excerpt)
“America is in a sour mood these days, so it’s not surprising that on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks that September morning 25 years ago we are being told of the country’s failures. We are lectured that America overreacted, squandered blood and treasure, betrayed its principles, and set the country on the path to national decline. If you flew in this week after 25 years on Mars, you might think Osama bin Laden had won. Don’t believe it. We were there that day, across the street from the Twin Towers, and we see a different legacy… Two counterterror principles established after 9/11 were especially important. The first was to take the war to the terrorists overseas rather than play defense here. The second was to hold states that harbored terrorists as culpable as the terrorists… 
…By all means honor the firemen and police and others who gave their lives on 9/11. But honor the dead as well by recalling the horror of that day and resolving to do what is needed so it doesn’t happen again.” – The Editorial Board, WSJ. Opinion at…
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/9-11-25th-anniversary-twin-towers-terrorism-7fcb6674?mod=opinion_lead_pos1
 
CPI (CBS News)
“A hotter-than-expected inflation report has sharply raised the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates in September, which would mark its first rate hike since 2023.
The Consumer Price Index rose at an annual rate of 3.4% in August, in line with July's reading but higher than the 3.3% economists were forecasting.” Story at…
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fed-rate-hike-september-likelihood-cpi/
 
ODDS OF FED HIKE NEXT MEETING? 87% YES (CME Group)

From…
https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html
 
UNIV OF MICHIGAN SENTIMENT (Univ of Michigan)
“Consumer sentiment receded less than 4 index points for the second consecutive month of decreases…Year-ahead expectations for both personal finances and business conditions plunged. With a resurgence in fuel prices and trade tensions, consumers anticipate greater pressures on their pocketbooks to come.” Report at…
https://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/
The Index of Consumer Sentiment fell 13.2% year-over-year.
 
QUICK MARKET SUMMARY
-Friday the S&P 500 rose about 0.9% to 7657.
-VIX declined about 11% to 15.84.
-The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.971% (compared to about this time prior market day).
 
MY TRADING POSITIONS
QLD – Added 5/28/2026
NVDA – Added 12/1/2025, 2/6/2026 & 8/3/2026
XLK – Added 6/5/2026
 
CURRENT SUMMARY OF APPROXIMATELY 50 INDICATORS:
At the close today, of the 50-Indicators I track, 20 gave Bear-signs and 3 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.)
 

TODAY’S COMMENT
The daily, bull-bear spread of 50-indicators improved from -19 to -17 (17 more Bear indicators than Bull indicators), a very BEARISH 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 continued lower, a BEARISH sign.
 
Breadth remains weak.  This important condition for a correction has been met; over the last 10, 50 and 100-days, more than 50% of issues on the NYSE have declined.
 
As noted previously, the biggest concern in the indicators is that there aren’t many Bullish signs; Friday there were 3 as follows:.
(1) One of the Bullish signs suggests an oversold condition, because there have been only 7 up-days in the last month. Unfortunately, oversold conditions can remain in place for long periods. I’d need to see more positive signs before we think about a bottom.
(2) The size of up-moves has been greater than down-moves.
(3) The S&P 500 is outpacing Utilities (XLU). When investors are worried, they buy Utilities so if the Index outperforming XLU, it suggests investors are not worried.
 
A few more good signs:
(1) Market action recently has been uncomfortable since it hasn’t advanced much since early June. On a positive note, the S&P 500 is only 1.8% below its 13 August all-time high of 7799.
(2) The S&P 500 closed 0.6% above its 50-dMA so it avoided consecutive closes below it. Consecutive closes below the 50-day are a concern.
 
As noted yesterday, we have seen markets recover from this sort of low-bull indicator spread without much of a correction in the past, so it is not time to panic. However, we are still paying close attention.
 
I was very tempted to take some money off the table and sell stocks. In the end, I decided against it, because declines have been small and the S&P 500 is still above its 50-dMA. The weakness may still be just a retreat to the 50-day. Actually, I think market conditions will get worse; but I am following what I see, not what I think.
 
I’ll be watching the Index 50-day average and indicators.  If we lose the last 3 bull indicators, I’ll make changes to the stock portfolio. I’ll watch the 50-day too.
 
BOTTOM LINE
I remain neutral, but concerned.
 
ETF - MOMENTUM ANALYSIS:
TODAY’S RANKING OF 15 ETFs (Ranked Daily) ETF ranking follows:

The top ranked ETF receives 100%. The rest are then ranked based on their momentum relative to the leading ETF.
*For additional background on the ETF ranking system see NTSM Page at…
http://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/exchange-traded-funds-etf-ranking.html
 
DOW STOCKS - TODAY’S MOMENTUM 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.
For more details, see NTSM Page at…
https://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/a-system-for-trading-dow-30-stocks-my_8.html
 
FRIDAY MARKET INTERNALS (NYSE DATA)-
My basket of Market Internals remained SELL. (My basket of Market Internals is a decent trend-following analysis that is most useful when it diverges from the Index.) 
 
                                                                         
My invested position is about 60% stocks, including stock mutual funds and ETFs. 50% invested in stocks is a normal, conservative position for a retiree. (80% is my max stock allocation when I am confident that markets will continue higher; 30% in stocks is my Bear market position.)
                                              
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.
 

Thursday, September 10, 2026

PPI … Jobless Claims … Existing Home Sales … Momentum Trading DOW Stocks & ETFs … Stock Market Analysis

 
“Trade what you see; not what you think.” – The Old Fool, Richard McCranie, trader extraordinaire.
 
“Far more money has been lost by investors in preparing for corrections, or anticipating corrections, than has been lost in the corrections themselves.” - Peter Lynch, former manager of Fidelity’s Magellan® fund.
 
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.
 
“There’s a lot of exuberance out there,” Dimon continued. “But it was in 1972, 1986, 2000, 2007. That doesn’t give me comfort.” – Jamie Dimon
 
WHO REJECTED PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST (WSJ)
“In his op-ed “They Forget Who Started the War” (Sept. 1), Elliot Kaufman correctly criticizes a blatantly inaccurate statement made by the current leading candidate for United Nations secretary-general: that in 1948 Israel “violently rejected the two-state solution.” In reality, the Jewish Agency for Palestine accepted the U.N.’s two-state resolution, while the secretary-general of the Arab League promised a “war of extermination and momentous massacre” if Israel established its state pursuant to that resolution. Five Arab states invaded Israel the day after Israel did.
Fast forward 75 years—past multiple other Arab-initiated wars and rejections of two-state solutions—to Oct. 7, 2023, and the war of extermination and massacre Hamas initiated in its effort to galvanize Iran and its proxies to join a new final solution. A Palestinian state could have been created multiple times, over nearly a century, had the Arabs sought a second state instead of the destruction of Israel.
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In 1948, Israel’s U.N. representative, Abba Eban, noted that, under the 1922 League of Nations Mandate and the 1947 U.N. resolution, two Arab states—Transjordan and Arab Palestine—were to be established on seven-eighths of the land originally set aside for the Jews under the Balfour Declaration. He asserted that “many a Palestine Arab may come to compare this prospect, which was peacefully available, with the results of the ‘holy war’”—and that those who in the future would help the Arabs recognize Israel’s permanence would be deemed “in the historic sense, a friend of the Arabs,” because it would free the Arabs to concentrate on their own welfare, rather than on a genocidal war.
These days, the U.N. regularly vilifies the state that supported its two-state resolution—and misstates the history of those who violently rejected it.” - Rick Richman, American Jewish University. From Letters to Editor, WSJ at…
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/who-really-rejected-peace-in-the-middle-east-dca7ba40?mod=letterstoeditor_article_pos12
 
PPI (CNBC)
The producer price index, a measure of final demand costs for goods and services, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% for the month, in line with the Dow Jones consensus…On an annual basis, that put the PPI at 5.4%, still well above the Fed’s 2% inflation target and 0.1 percentage point higher than expected…Excluding food and energy, the core PPI accelerated by 0.2%, against the forecast for a 0.3% increase.” Story at…
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/10/ppi-inflation-report-august-2026.html
 
JOBLESS CLAIMS (RTT News)
“The report said initial jobless claims edged down to 206,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 207,000.” Story at…
https://www.rttnews.com/3690067/u-s-jobless-claims-unexpectedly-edge-down-to-206000.aspx?type=ts
My cmt: Economists has expected a slight rise I claims.
 
EXISITNG HOME SALES (NAR)
“Existing-home sales decreased by 2.0% in August 2026…“Mortgage rates and home sales move in opposite directions, so it's not surprising to see a mild dip in home buying activity due to high mortgage rates,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Still, home prices are rising, and existing home sales are actually up 1.6% year-to-date through the first eight months of the year.” News at…
https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/housing-statistics/existing-home-sales
 
QUICK MARKET SUMMARY
-Thursday the S&P 500 declined about 0.6% to 7592.
-VIX rose about 8% to 17.84.
-The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.969% (compared to about this time prior market day).
 
MY TRADING POSITIONS
QLD – Added 5/28/2026
NVDA – Added 12/1/2025, 2/6/2026 & 8/3/2026
XLK – Added 6/5/2026
 
CURRENT SUMMARY OF APPROXIMATELY 50 INDICATORS:
At the close today, of the 50-Indicators I track, 21 gave Bear-signs and 2 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.)
 

TODAY’S COMMENT
The daily, bull-bear spread of 50-indicators declined from -15 to -19 (19 more Bear indicators than Bull indicators), a very BEARISH 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 continued lower, a BEARISH sign.
 
Breadth has gotten worse.  This important condition for a correction has been met; over the last 10, 50 and 100-days, more than 50% of issues on the NYSE have declined. Others use the advance/decline line for breadth analysis. It is not in great shape either, as shown below.
 

As noted yesterday, the biggest concern in the indicators is that there are only 2 Bull signs, although today one has changed.
 
One of the Bullish signs suggests an oversold condition, because there have been only 7 up-days in the last month. Unfortunately, oversold conditions can remain in place for long periods. I’d need to see more positive signs before we think about a bottom.
 
The other bullish indicator is that the size of up-moves has been greater than down-moves. This is one of my oldest indicators – it just seems logical that in a down market, the size of down-moves will outpace the size of up-moves. 
 
The S&P 500 closed slightly below its 50-dMA, 0.2% below to be more exact. Consecutive closes below levels of support often suggest a trend-change. We’re still watching the 50-day, and the Index lower trendline.
 
As noted yesterday, we have seen markets recover from this sort of low-bull number without much of a correction in the past, so it is not time to panic. However, it is time to pay close attention.
 
Market action recently has been uncomfortable since it hasn’t advanced much since early June. On a positive note, the S&P 500 is only 2.1% below its 13 August all-time high of 7799.
 
Volume increased today compared to the prior low so selling doesn’t appear to be done yet, at least from technical indications.  Good inflation news or good news from Iran could always send markets higher.
 
I’ll be watching the Index 50-day average and indicators.  If we lose the last 2 bull indicators, I’ll make changes to the stock portfolio. We’ll watch the 50-day too.
 
BOTTOM LINE
I remain neutral, but concerned.
 
ETF - MOMENTUM ANALYSIS:
TODAY’S RANKING OF 15 ETFs (Ranked Daily) ETF ranking follows:

The top ranked ETF receives 100%. The rest are then ranked based on their momentum relative to the leading ETF.
*For additional background on the ETF ranking system see NTSM Page at…
http://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/exchange-traded-funds-etf-ranking.html
 
DOW STOCKS - TODAY’S MOMENTUM 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.
For more details, see NTSM Page at…
https://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/a-system-for-trading-dow-30-stocks-my_8.html
 
THURSDAY MARKET INTERNALS (NYSE DATA)-
My basket of Market Internals remained SELL. (My basket of Market Internals is a decent trend-following analysis that is most useful when it diverges from the Index.) 
 
                                                                         
My invested position is about 60% stocks, including stock mutual funds and ETFs. 50% invested in stocks is a normal, conservative position for a retiree. (80% is my max stock allocation when I am confident that markets will continue higher; 30% in stocks is my Bear market position.)
                                              
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.
 

Wednesday, September 9, 2026

… Momentum Trading DOW Stocks & ETFs … Stock Market Analysis

 
“Trade what you see; not what you think.” – The Old Fool, Richard McCranie, trader extraordinaire.
 
“Far more money has been lost by investors in preparing for corrections, or anticipating corrections, than has been lost in the corrections themselves.” - Peter Lynch, former manager of Fidelity’s Magellan® fund.
 
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.
 
“There’s a lot of exuberance out there,” Dimon continued. “But it was in 1972, 1986, 2000, 2007. That doesn’t give me comfort.” – Jamie Dimon
 
DEMOCRATS WANT 13 JUSTICES (WSJ – Excerpt)
“The future of the Supreme Court is on the ballot in November, as Democrats keep showing, over and over. On Wednesday the House voted on a proposal to amend the Constitution to fix the Court at nine Justices, its size since 1869. Passing an amendment takes a two-thirds majority as a first step. This failed, 212-206, with all but a lone Democrat saying no…
…Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said on the floor. “What’s going on here? Well, surprise, surprise, America, it’s another partisan power grab by MAGA.”
…The Democratic drive to pack the Court is about power, plain and simple. The Justices in today’s 6-3 majority are deciding cases based on the law as they see it. That includes landmark rulings against President Trump on tariffs, birthright citizenship, the Federal Reserve, and much more. Yet Mr. Raskin and his friends dislike the Court’s decisions on abortion, free political speech, the colorblind Constitution, and the separation of powers…
…Since Mr. Raskin poses as a defender of democracy, he might want to ruminate on what happens to a country when it turns its courts into a plaything of its politicians.” – Editorial Board, WSJ. Commentary at...
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/house-vote-supreme-court-nine-justices-democrats-jamie-raskin-9c47e2a1
 
QUICK MARKET SUMMARY
-Wednesday the S&P 500 declined about 0.5% to 7636.
-VIX rose about 5% to 16.46.
-The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.845% (compared to about this time prior market day).
 
MY TRADING POSITIONS
QLD – Added 5/28/2026
NVDA – Added 12/1/2025, 2/6/2026 & 8/3/2026
XLK – Added 6/5/2026
 
CURRENT SUMMARY OF APPROXIMATELY 50 INDICATORS:
At the close today, of the 50-Indicators I track, 17 gave Bear-signs and 2 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.)
 

TODAY’S COMMENT
The daily, bull-bear spread of 50-indicators declined from -5 to -15 (15 more Bear indicators than Bull indicators), a very BEARISH 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 reversed lower, a BULLISH sign.
 
The biggest concern in the indicators is that there are only 2 Bull signs: (1)  the 100-dMA of issues advancing on the NYSE remains above 50% and (2) the size of up-moves have been greater than down moves.  
 
We have seen markets recover from this sort of low-bull number without much of a correction in the past, so it is not time to panic. However, it is time to get pay close attention.
 
Market action recently has been uncomfortable since it hasn’t advanced much since early June. On a positive note, the S&P 500 is only 2.1% below its 13 August all-time high of 7799.
 
Further, the 50-dMA is a good level of support and the Index is now only 0.4% above its 50-dMA.
 
I’ll be watching the 50-day and indicators.  If we lose the last 2 bull indicators, I’ll make changes to the stock portfolio. We’ll watch the 50-day too.
 
BOTTOM LINE
I remain neutral, but concerned.
 
ETF - MOMENTUM ANALYSIS:
TODAY’S RANKING OF 15 ETFs (Ranked Daily) ETF ranking follows:

The top ranked ETF receives 100%. The rest are then ranked based on their momentum relative to the leading ETF.
*For additional background on the ETF ranking system see NTSM Page at…
http://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/exchange-traded-funds-etf-ranking.html
 
DOW STOCKS - TODAY’S MOMENTUM 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.
For more details, see NTSM Page at…
https://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/a-system-for-trading-dow-30-stocks-my_8.html
 
WEDNESDAY MARKET INTERNALS (NYSE DATA)-
My basket of Market Internals remained SELL. (My basket of Market Internals is a decent trend-following analysis that is most useful when it diverges from the Index.) 
 
                                                                         
My invested position is about 60% stocks, including stock mutual funds and ETFs. 50% invested in stocks is a normal, conservative position for a retiree. (80% is my max stock allocation when I am confident that markets will continue higher; 30% in stocks is my Bear market position.)
                                              
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.

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

NFIB Business Optimism … Momentum Trading DOW Stocks & ETFs … Stock Market Analysis

 
“Trade what you see; not what you think.” – The Old Fool, Richard McCranie, trader extraordinaire.
 
“Far more money has been lost by investors in preparing for corrections, or anticipating corrections, than has been lost in the corrections themselves.” - Peter Lynch, former manager of Fidelity’s Magellan® fund.
 
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.
 
“There’s a lot of exuberance out there,” Dimon continued. “But it was in 1972, 1986, 2000, 2007. That doesn’t give me comfort.” – Jamie Dimon
 
NFIB BUSINESS OPTIMISM (NFIB)
“The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index dipped in August to 98.7, just 1.1 points below July’s highest level since August 2025, but remaining above the 52-year average of 98.0…“Uncertainty remains elevated among small business owners as they face a mixed set of challenges with weakened sales, supply chain disruptions, and inflation pressures,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “While expectations for the overall economy dimmed, Main Street owners remain largely positive in the health of their own businesses.” Report at…
https://www.nfib.com/news/monthly_report/sbet/
 
QUICK MARKET SUMMARY
-Tuesday the S&P 500 declined about 0.6% to 7674.
-VIX rose about 8% to 15.72.
-The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.80% (compared to about this time prior market day).
 
MY TRADING POSITIONS
QLD – Added 5/28/2026
NVDA – Added 12/1/2025, 2/6/2026 & 8/3/2026
XLK – Added 6/5/2026
 
CURRENT SUMMARY OF APPROXIMATELY 50 INDICATORS:
At the close today, of the 50-Indicators I track, 13 gave Bear-signs and 8 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.)
 

TODAY’S COMMENT
The daily, bull-bear spread of 50-indicators declined from -4 to -5 (5 more Bear indicators than Bull indicators), still 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 reversed higher, a BULLISH sign.
 
The S&P 500 has been in a sideways correction since early August and it is only up about 1% since 2 June. It is normal for this sort of market malaise to last 2 to 3 months. Indicators aren’t particularly bad, but Breadth has been slipping and as of today, less than half of the issues on the NYSE have been up over the last 2-1/2 months. If we see breadth remain poor, we will get concerned that markets may slip into a real correction. So far, I am not seeing enough signs to draw that conclusion even though some of the bear signs are worrisome.
 
Hindenburg Omens are still hanging around. We saw one three days ago. And that was the seventh I the last 3 weeks. Clusters of Omens are usually giving a valid signal.
 
BOTTOM LINE
I remain neutral, but concerned.
 
ETF - MOMENTUM ANALYSIS:
TODAY’S RANKING OF 15 ETFs (Ranked Daily) ETF ranking follows:

The top ranked ETF receives 100%. The rest are then ranked based on their momentum relative to the leading ETF.
*For additional background on the ETF ranking system see NTSM Page at…
http://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/exchange-traded-funds-etf-ranking.html
 
DOW STOCKS - TODAY’S MOMENTUM 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.
For more details, see NTSM Page at…
https://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/a-system-for-trading-dow-30-stocks-my_8.html
 
TUESDAY MARKET INTERNALS (NYSE DATA)-
My basket of Market Internals remained SELL. (My basket of Market Internals is a decent trend-following analysis that is most useful when it diverges from the Index.) 
 
                                                                         
My invested position is about 60% stocks, including stock mutual funds and ETFs. 50% invested in stocks is a normal, conservative position for a retiree. (80% is my max stock allocation when I am confident that markets will continue higher; 30% in stocks is my Bear market position.)
                                              
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.
 

Friday, September 4, 2026

Payroll Report … Momentum Trading DOW Stocks & ETFs … Stock Market Analysis

 
Have a good Labor Day on Monday.
 
“Trade what you see; not what you think.” – The Old Fool, Richard McCranie, trader extraordinaire.
 
“Far more money has been lost by investors in preparing for corrections, or anticipating corrections, than has been lost in the corrections themselves.” - Peter Lynch, former manager of Fidelity’s Magellan® fund.
 
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.
 
“There’s a lot of exuberance out there,” Dimon continued. “But it was in 1972, 1986, 2000, 2007. That doesn’t give me comfort.” – Jamie Dimon
 
PAYROLL REPORT (Yahoo Finance)
“The August jobs report showed that hiring surged last month. The US added 162,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported on Friday.” Story at…
https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/live/august-jobs-report-live-updates-labor-market-155619193.html
My cmt: 162,000 is still not a huge number. It takes 200,000 just to provide jobs for new entries into the job market so I am not concerned that this number will cause the Fed to raise rates. The expectation was that only 55,000 jobs would be created.
 
QUICK MARKET SUMMARY
-Friday the S&P 500 declined about 0.4% to 7719.
-VIX rose about 1% to 14.53.
-The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.784% (compared to about this time prior market day).
 
MY TRADING POSITIONS
QLD – Added 5/28/2026
NVDA – Added 12/1/2025, 2/6/2026 & 8/3/2026
XLK – Added 6/5/2026
 
CURRENT SUMMARY OF APPROXIMATELY 50 INDICATORS:
At the close today, of the 50-Indicators I track, 13 gave Bear-signs and 9 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.)
 

TODAY’S COMMENT
The daily, bull-bear spread of 50-indicators declined from +5 to -4 (4 more Bear indicators than Bull indicators), still 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 reversed down, a BEARISH sign, but the 10-day value remained above the recent low ad that’s a hopeful sign.
 
Today’s action may have been profit taking after the big up-day Thursday.
 
The S&P 500is basically flat since early August. Indicators have been rising recently. Let’s hope they are pointing the future. We always keep in mind that indicators don’t predict the future – they show the current trend.
 
BOTTOM LINE
I remain neutral.
 
ETF - MOMENTUM ANALYSIS:
TODAY’S RANKING OF 15 ETFs (Ranked Daily) ETF ranking follows:
 
The top ranked ETF receives 100%. The rest are then ranked based on their momentum relative to the leading ETF.
*For additional background on the ETF ranking system see NTSM Page at…
http://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/exchange-traded-funds-etf-ranking.html
 
DOW STOCKS - TODAY’S MOMENTUM 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.
For more details, see NTSM Page at…
https://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/a-system-for-trading-dow-30-stocks-my_8.html
 
FRIDAY MARKET INTERNALS (NYSE DATA)-
My basket of Market Internals declined to SELL. (My basket of Market Internals is a decent trend-following analysis that is most useful when it diverges from the Index.) 
 
                                                                         
My invested position is about 60% stocks, including stock mutual funds and ETFs. 50% invested in stocks is a normal, conservative position for a retiree. (80% is my max stock allocation when I am confident that markets will continue higher; 30% in stocks is my Bear market position.)
                                              
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.
 

Jobless Claims … Productivity … ISM Non-Manufacturing… Momentum Trading DOW Stocks & ETFs … Stock Market Analysis

 
“Trade what you see; not what you think.” – The Old Fool, Richard McCranie, trader extraordinaire.
 
“Far more money has been lost by investors in preparing for corrections, or anticipating corrections, than has been lost in the corrections themselves.” - Peter Lynch, former manager of Fidelity’s Magellan® fund.
 
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.
 
“There’s a lot of exuberance out there,” Dimon continued. “But it was in 1972, 1986, 2000, 2007. That doesn’t give me comfort.” – Jamie Dimon
 
JOBLESS CLAIMS (AP News)
“More Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, but layoffs are still rare and jobless claims remain at historically low levels. The Labor Department reported Thursday filings for benefits ticked up to 206,000 last week from a revised 204,000 the week before.” Story at… 
https://apnews.com/article/unemployment-benefits-jobless-claims-layoffs-labor-3413da9e965fa7266cb62ea1d802badb
 
PRODUCTIVITY (Reuters)
“U.S. worker productivity growth picked up in the second quarter, ​the government confirmed on Thursday, ‌helping to keep labor costs in check.” Story at…
https://www.reuters.com/business/us-second-quarter-productivity-growth-unrevised-2026-09-03/
 
ISM NON-MANUFACTURING PMI
“ISM non-manufacturing PMI comes in at 55.4 in August, beating expectations.” Video at…
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/09/03/ism-non-manufacturing-pmi-comes-in-at-55-point-4-in-august-beating-expectations.html
 
QUICK MARKET SUMMARY
-Thursday the S&P 500 rose about 1.1% to 7748.
-VIX declined about 6% to 14.32.
-The yield on the 10-year Treasury declined to 4.764% (compared to about this time prior market day).
 
MY TRADING POSITIONS
QLD – Added 5/28/2026
NVDA – Added 12/1/2025, 2/6/2026 & 8/3/2026
XLK – Added 6/5/2026
 
CURRENT SUMMARY OF APPROXIMATELY 50 INDICATORS:
At the close today, of the 50-Indicators I track, 9 gave Bear-signs and 14 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.)
 


TODAY’S COMMENT
The daily, bull-bear spread of 50-indicators improved from -3 to +5 (5 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 reversed higher, a BULLISH sign.
 
Unchanged volume was very high today (Thursday) suggesting confusion among investors. Some think this represents a reversal. Since the S&P 500 chart is close to flat recently it is hard to say which way a reversal would go. Since this signal is often wrong, it is not one of my indicators, but RSI is down, suggesting a reversal is more likely to be higher if a reversal were to occur.

I mentioned yesterday that the market was too calm as measured by standard deviation of daily market moves. I call this the Calm-Before-the Storm indicator. I usually expect to see this sell-indicator warn in a rising market  within roughly 20-days of a top. I was worried about it yesterday, but on reflection, not so much today. That’s because the top was 3-weeks ago.  I scanned the data and only found a few instances when this indicator gave a sell warning when the markets were not rising. Those cases occurred near bottoms, but since there weren’t many instances, it may not be valid to conclude the bottom is in based on this indicator.
  
BOTTOM LINE
I’m neutral, but leaning Bullish.
 
ETF - MOMENTUM ANALYSIS:
TODAY’S RANKING OF 15 ETFs (Ranked Daily) ETF ranking follows:

The top ranked ETF receives 100%. The rest are then ranked based on their momentum relative to the leading ETF.
*For additional background on the ETF ranking system see NTSM Page at…
http://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/exchange-traded-funds-etf-ranking.html
 
DOW STOCKS - TODAY’S MOMENTUM 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.
For more details, see NTSM Page at…
https://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/a-system-for-trading-dow-30-stocks-my_8.html
 
THURSDAY MARKET INTERNALS (NYSE DATA)-
My basket of Market Internals remained HOLD. (My basket of Market Internals is a decent trend-following analysis that is most useful when it diverges from the Index.) 
 
                                                                         
My invested position is about 60% stocks, including stock mutual funds and ETFs. 50% invested in stocks is a normal, conservative position for a retiree. (80% is my max stock allocation when I am confident that markets will continue higher; 30% in stocks is my Bear market position.)
                                              
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.

Wednesday, September 2, 2026

ADP Employment … Factory Orders … Momentum Trading DOW Stocks & ETFs … Stock Market Analysis

 
“Trade what you see; not what you think.” – The Old Fool, Richard McCranie, trader extraordinaire.
 
“Far more money has been lost by investors in preparing for corrections, or anticipating corrections, than has been lost in the corrections themselves.” - Peter Lynch, former manager of Fidelity’s Magellan® fund.
 
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.
 
“There’s a lot of exuberance out there,” Dimon continued. “But it was in 1972, 1986, 2000, 2007. That doesn’t give me comfort.” – Jamie Dimon
 
CUT DOWN THE TREES (Irish Star)
“The Trump administration has removed 40 weeping willow trees that lined both sides of the embattled John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center… "They symbolized the mourning of a nation for President Kennedy following his assassination in 1963…" Story at…
Bitter Trump razes 40 weeping willow trees outside Kennedy Center commemorating assassinated president
My cmt: The story implies that Trump cut the trees out of spite. According to Forbes; “The weeping willows on the upper terrace were removed in October 2025 because they were decaying, unstable, and posed a safety hazard. The trees were planted in shallow soil beds built directly over concrete decks, which restrict root growth and require the trees to be replaced periodically (roughly every 10 to 15 years). Prior to the removal, a storm had already knocked down one of the trees, and others were visibly dying.”
 
TRUMP CUT DOWN CHERRY TREES (Snopes)
“A rumor circulating in late August 2026 claimed crews cut down dozens of cherry trees to pave the way for U.S. President Donald Trump's plans to renovate a Washington, D.C., golf course.  As of this writing on Sept. 1, we've found no evidence to support the claim dozens of cherry trees had been removed as part of the project.” Story from Snopes Fact-check site at…
Did Trump cut down dozens of cherry trees for DC golf course renovations?
My cmt: I am not a Trump fan, but I get tired of the Democrat lies.
 
ADP EMPLOYMENT (PR Newswire)
“Private employers added 38,000 jobs in August. Private employers posted their slowest pace of job creation since January. Manufacturing, professional services, and information shed jobs. Education and health care, construction, and leisure and hospitality all showed solid hiring.” Press release at…
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/adp-national-employment-report-private-sector-employment-increased-by-38-000-jobs-in-august-302867661.html
 
FACTORY ORDERS (Quartz.)
“New orders for U.S. manufactured goods rose 0.9% in July to $663.6 billion, rebounding after a 0.2% drop in June, the Census Bureau said on Wednesday.” Story at…
https://qz.com/us-factory-orders-july-2026-aircraft-090226
 
QUICK MARKET SUMMARY
-Wednesday the S&P 500 rose about 0.5% to 7667.
-VIX declined about 6% to 15.33.
-The yield on the 10-year Treasury declined to 4.782% (compared to about this time prior market day).
 
MY TRADING POSITIONS
QLD – Added 5/28/2026
NVDA – Added 12/1/2025, 2/6/2026 & 8/3/2026
XLK – Added 6/5/2026
 
CURRENT SUMMARY OF APPROXIMATELY 50 INDICATORS:
At the close today, of the 50-Indicators I track, 13 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.)
 

TODAY’S COMMENT
The daily, bull-bear spread of 50-indicators improved from -8 to -3 (3 more Bear indicators than Bull 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 continued down, a BEARISH sign.
 
There is now a very concerning indicator; markets are too calm. This indicator tracks standard deviation and it is usually accurate in calling for a top.  The only problem is that it does not make a timely call. The best we can say is that a top is likely within a month. The last time we saw this indicator warn was in October of 2025. The top occurred 2-1/2 weeks later and preceded a 5% decline.
 
Before that, this indicator warned of a top 3-days before the bottom of a 4% decline. Let’s hope that’s what we are seeing now – that the market is close to an end of its weakness.
 
I still wouldn’t be surprised to see the S&P 500 fall to its 50-dMA – about 1.2% below today’s close.
 
BOTTOM LINE
I’m neutral.
 
ETF - MOMENTUM ANALYSIS:
TODAY’S RANKING OF 15 ETFs (Ranked Daily) ETF ranking follows:
The top ranked ETF receives 100%. The rest are then ranked based on their momentum relative to the leading ETF.
*For additional background on the ETF ranking system see NTSM Page at…
http://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/exchange-traded-funds-etf-ranking.html
 

DOW STOCKS - TODAY’S MOMENTUM 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.
For more details, see NTSM Page at…
https://navigatethestockmarket.blogspot.com/p/a-system-for-trading-dow-30-stocks-my_8.html
 
WEDNESDAY MARKET INTERNALS (NYSE DATA)-
My basket of Market Internals remained HOLD. (My basket of Market Internals is a decent trend-following analysis that is most useful when it diverges from the Index.) 
 
                                                                         
My invested position is about 60% stocks, including stock mutual funds and ETFs. 50% invested in stocks is a normal, conservative position for a retiree. (80% is my max stock allocation when I am confident that markets will continue higher; 30% in stocks is my Bear market position.)
                                              
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.