ISM Services…ADP Hiring

ISM SERVICE SLOWING BUT STILL EXPANDING (CNBC)
“The pace of growth in the U.S. services sector slowed more than expected in October, sliding for a second straight month to its lowest level since June, but employment hit a fresh nine-year high, according to an industry report released on Wednesday. The Institute for Supply Management said its services index fell to 57.1 last month from 58.6 in September…” Story at…http://www.cnbc.com/id/102155233
 
ADP HIRING UP (Business Insider)
“According to ADP, US companies added a healthy 230,000 jobs in October. This was up from the 225,000 added in September. It was also stronger than the 220,000 expected by economists. ‘Employment continues to trend upward as we begin the last quarter of 2014, driven mostly by small to mid-sized companies,’ ADP's Carlos Rodriguez said.” Story at…
http://www.businessinsider.com/adp-employment-report-oct-2014-2014-11
 
RSI
Today’s RSI (14-dSMA) was 88 and that remains an overbought value that is quite high. This probably indicates some pullback of the S&P 500 is coming, but it may be just a return to the lower trend line. We could test the recent low, but that is less likely. 
 
MARKET REPORT
Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.6%, to 2024 (rounded). 
VIX was down about 5% to 14.17. 
The yield on the 10-year Treasury Note again remained unchanged at 2.34%.
 
MARKET INTERNALS (NYSE DATA)
The 10-day moving average of the percentage of stocks advancing (NYSE) rose to 60% at the close Wednesday.  (A number above 50% is usually good news for the markets.) New-highs outpaced New-lows Wednesday.  The spread (new-highs minus new-lows) was +163. (It was +130 Tuesday). The 10-day moving average of change in the spread was +9. In other words, over the last 10-days, on average, the spread has increased by 9 each day. Internals remained neutral on the market; new-hi/new-lo data is still falling.  If this keeps up there will be a pullback of some kind.

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 2013, using these internals alone would have made a 16% return vs. 30% for the S&P 500 (in on Positive out on Negative – no shorting).  Of course, few trend-following systems will do well in an extreme low-volatility, straight-up year like 2013.
 
NTSM                                                            
The long-term NTSM system analysis remains BUY Wednesday.  Price and Volume indicators are positive. Others indicators are neutral.  This buy signal is not important now since a BUY signal was issued near the recent low in mid-October.
 
MY INVESTED STOCK POSITION                                         
I moved some funds back into the market on 17 October 2014 as a trade and increased my position in stocks from 30% to about 40% overall.  I added more 20 Oct, to bring my stock investments up to 50%. I am semi-retired, 50% is Fully-invested for me. I remain 50% invested in stocks.
                            --INDIVIDUAL STOCKS FROM A VALUE HOUND--
ENSCO (ESV): BUY
The chart looks good and oil prices are close to a bottom so I think Ensco is again a Buy. See related video on this page…
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=esv&ql=1
Ensco price is going to reflect oil prices.  If you think they are near a bottom, this is a great buy with high dividends.  If oil continues to fall, this stock will remain a dog.