CONSUMER CONFIDENCE
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) –
“The final reading of the University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters consumer
sentiment index climbed to 79.3 in May - the highest level since October
2007…The index averaged about 87 in the year before the recession.” Full article at:
The fact that Consumer
Confidence is as high as Oct 2007 shouldn’t necessarily be encouraging. In 2007 the market inched a little higher
after October, but then began its long fall and bottomed in 2009 with more than
a 50% loss in value.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
(25 May 2012)
“Weak Reports
in U.S., Europe and China Suggest Economies Are Slipping in Sync
New signs of a
global slowdown are darkening the economic outlook.”
“On Thursday,
the U.S. reported that businesses were slowing their orders of computers,
aircraft, machinery and other long-lasting goods. Measures of business sentiment
in Europe slipped, and reports from purchasing managers at manufacturers around
the globe turned down. Among them, China, the world's second-largest economy,
registered its seventh straight drop in an important manufacturing index.”
The above WSJ story was the front page article
with the title: “New Signs of a Global Slowdown.”
MARKET
The S&P 500 fell (0.22%)
Friday to 1318 (rounded off). VIX rose 1%
to 21.76. Volume was very low today in
advance of the Holiday so we didn’t learn anything.
NTSM
The NTSM analysis is SELL
again Friday.
MY INVESTED POSITION
I reduced my stock
holdings to 30% (0% in stock in the 401k) at S&P 1358 after the SELL signal
on 9 May 2012. (See the page “How to Use the NTSM System” – the link is on the
right side of this page). I cut my stock
position to 15% on 17 May in order to maintain a 10% gain in a
trading/longer-term position I had in the QQQ.
