“Trade what you see; not what you think.” – The Old Fool, Richard McCranie, trader extraordinaire.
“Over the weekend, I embedded with the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza, where I saw the enormous quantities of humanitarian aid the United Nations has been refusing to distribute. What struck me most were the thousands upon thousands of pounds of baby food, baking under the Middle Eastern sun—jar after jar of mashed carrots, pureed potatoes and fruit blends. This food could have gone to children like Mohammed al-Mutawaaq.
Those who don’t know his name will almost certainly recognize his face. Pictures of him, gaunt and fragile, staring vacantly into the camera, were plastered across the homepages of major media outlets last week, from the New York Times and Politico to the BBC. Mohammed, more than anyone else, was made the face of a devastating allegation: that Israel is deliberately starving Palestinian children. That wasn’t the truth about Mohammed, nor is it the truth about what’s happening in Gaza. Mohammed suffers from cerebral palsy...Another notable omission from virtually all media coverage were the photos of Mohammed being held by his mother with his older brother standing nearby. Both mother and brother appear healthy and fed...In addition to rejecting IDF protection, the U.N. has declined to cooperate with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, despite its backing by the U.S. The result is that food meant for children like Mohammed is left to rot. Put simply, the U.N. would rather work with Hamas than the Israelis or the Americans.” - Eitan Fischberger, American-Israeli journalist. Commentary at...
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/gaza-starvation-photos-tell-a-thousand-lies-palestine-israel-aid-1d689cc8?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=ASWzDAjpEu1Kk92MTTbSsvmbw2JUFJjOa79HOgq2GtSYWJV21vKHK_pXeZGi38yYNq4%3D&gaa_ts=688cff12&gaa_sig=JPcYw3gj5VXNYQqKUQedJj0Q0ooZAGJD5uo1uW_sOti4FTDB_gLqe_UJsaVAt4lFWRgFlO5520RwjJjVH94kgw%3D%3D
“Sanders, a Vermont independent who has been critical of Israel, introduced two resolutions the Senate voted on Wednesday. Although both failed to receive majority support, they received record support from Senate Democrats. One resolution that would block the sale of assault rifles to Israel received support from 27 Democrats, while one to block the sale of more than $675 million in arms sales received support from 24 Democrats.”
· Angela Alsobrooks (Maryland)
· Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin)
· Lisa Blunt Rochester (Delaware)
· Tammy Duckworth (Illinois)
· Dick Durbin (Illinois)
· Martin Heinrich (New Mexico)
· Mazie Hirono (Hawaii)
· Tim Kaine (Virginia)
· Andy Kim (New Jersey)
· Angus King (Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats)
· Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota)
· Ben Ray Lujan (New Mexico)
· Ed Markey (Massachusetts)
· Jeff Merkley (Oregon)
· Chris Murphy (Connecticut)
· Patty Murray (Washington)
· Bernie Sanders (Vermont)
· Brian Schatz (Hawaii)
· Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire)
· Tina Smith (Minnesota)
· Chris Van Hollen (Maryland)
· Raphael Warnock (Georgia)
· Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts)
· Peter Welch (Vermont)
Story at...
Full list of senators who voted to block Israel arms deal
“Job growth totaled a seasonally adjusted 73,000 for the month, above the June total of 14,000 but below even the meager Dow Jones estimate for a gain of 100,000... Friday. June and May totals were revised sharply lower, down by a combined 258,000 from previously announced levels... the unemployment rate rose to 4.2%” Story at...
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/01/jobs-report-july-2025.html
My cmt: One pundit called the report a “gamechanger” showing the “labor market is deteriorating quickly.”
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in July for the fifth consecutive month...“In July, U.S. manufacturing activity contracted at a faster rate, with declines in the Supplier Deliveries and Employment Indexes contributing as the biggest factors in the 1-percentage point loss of the Manufacturing PMI®.
https://www.ismworld.org/supply-management-news-and-reports/reports/ism-report-on-business/pmi/july/
-Friday the S&P 500 declined about 1.6% to 6238.
-VIX rose about 22% to 20.38.
-The yield on the 10-year Treasury declined to 4.216% (compared to about this time prior market day).
SPY – added 6/5/2025 & 6/27/2025
XLK – added 6/27/2025
Today, of the 50-Indicators I track, 18 gave Bear-signs and 6 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
I wrote yesterday that I wouldn’t sell if the S&P 500 dropped more than 1% Friday. That’s a recognition that big down-days are often followed by up-days so one may be able to sell Monday at a higher price. I abandoned that strategy when the payroll numbers were much worse than expected. That news could generate more selling on Monday as investors fret over the weekend.
-The Panic Indicator flashed sell.
-The 5-dEMA of the S&P 500 fell below the 10-dEMA of the S&P 500. This is a momentum indicator.
Concerning signs got more concerning; I’m bearish in the short-term.
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
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. 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.
