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S&P 500 Retests 50DMA And Other Positive Market Signs

Published 04/18/2013, 03:06 AM
Updated 07/09/2023, 06:31 AM
T2108 Status: 39.3%
VIX Status: 16.5 (an 18.3% increase!)
General (Short-term) Trading Call: Buy for a bounce off 50DMA only

Commentary
The sharp churn continues in the stock market. The S&P 500 (SPY) closed down 1.4% yesteday, after bouncing cleanly off its 50-day moving average (DMA). Adding to the “magic” is a close that exactly matches Monday’s close and Tuesday’s open. This is the same level that dominated trading from April 3rd to the 8th.

S&P 500 churns above its 50DMA
While the S&P 500 has gone exactly nowhere since Monday’s calamitous close, the VIX has lost some ground after spiking again Tuesday. It pulled back after surpassing Monday’s high – an early sign the selling pressure may already be receding to leave the 50DMA support intact.

The 15.2 line provides serves yet again as an important fulcrum point

T2108 is down by a rounding error from Monday’s close. At 39.3% it has yet again crossed through two major T2108 threshold levels. It is now in the 40% under-period. Unlike Monday, T2108 is not quasi-oversold since the previous day featured a large increase in T2108 (from 40.7% to 50.1%).

So, my anticipation of a bounce is not as strong as Monday’s when I used the T2108 Model to predict an increase for the S&P 500 with an 80% probability. That accurate forecast is the next step in solidifying the validity of my overhaul of using T2108. This time, the odds favor a bounce just based on old-fashioned technicals with the 50DMA support and a second day out of three featuring a strong move upward in the VIX, ending in a significant pullback from highs. Per my nascent VXX-strategy, I added to my puts as a hedge against my VXX shares. If VXX soars again soon, I will lighten up on the shares in at least enough quantity to pay for the puts.

In other trading news, I added to my ProShares Ultra S&P500 (SSO) calls yesterday in line with my thinking above. This is in addition to calls I bought near the open on Tuesday. Note that I did not lock in profits from my accurate forecast using the T2108 Model. I definitely appreciate the irony of making a nice profit when my 1-day forecast was wrong (I sold the puts on the 2nd day when the S&P 500 sold-off sharply) and failing to lock in profits when it turned out correct. However, these SSO calls do not expire until May, and I am looking a little forward in anticipation of at least one more significant move higher. Perhaps I am over-extending myself. Time will soon tell.

I am watching many other signs, four of which are Caterpillar (CAT), Intel (INTC), the Australian dollar (FXA), and, of course, Apple (AAPL). Let’s do a quick chart review.

CAT is close to retesting its 52-week lows. Yesterday, it managed to bounce of intra-day lows and form a hammer. If it can bounce from here, CAT moves from being a negative sign on the market to a hopeful one.

Catepillar has been sending warning signals for two months. Is it finally about to turn hopeful with today's hammer pattern
Intel (INTC) surprised me by reporting in-line. I went into earnings with a fistful of puts waiting to cash in. I thought certainly last week’s dire news from IDC on PC sales would weigh on INTC’s results. Not only did the stock survive earnings, but it soared into the close, reversing early losses. Granted, the 200DMA looms overhead as resistance, and the stock pulled back to close even on the day, but this is a stock that definitely should have joined the overall malaise of the day.

Intel provides another ray of hope simply with some relative strength going into the close post-earnings
The Australian dollar was pounded following disappointing economic news out of China. It continues to trade below the 200 and 50DMAs and cracked fresh post-data lows against the U.S. dollar.

The dollar index soared yesterday 1.2%, so on a relative basis, the Aussie did not fare too badly. The Aussie still has a lot to prove, but the story against the Japanese yen (FXY) provides some hope. The flight to “safety” in the yen seems to already be losing steam (as it should), and AUD/JPY did NOT crack new post-data lows. In fact, a bounce off the 50DMA is still holding. I am posting the daily chart to show this support. The following intra-day chart is even more informative as it clearly shows that the last two washout moves to the downside fell far short of retesting the first one – an encouraging sign of receding selling pressure and a potential precursor to a massive rally to complete the reversal of post-data losses throughout forex.

A perfect bounce of the 50DMA holds so far


Washouts are ending at higher points - potential indicators of fading selling pressure
Apple (AAPL) has long become a persistent disappointment. However, by sticking to my Apple trading model, I got the occasional big trading day that I expect to achieve with patience that is as persistent as the downtrend. In anticipation of a weak close to the week, I came into Wednesday’s disastrous plunge prepared with a thimble-full of puts that soared in value. I tried to wait out the selling as long as I could before bailing around $408. While I left a LOT of profit on the table, there is simply no way I was going to anticipate a loss of 5.5% on the close, much less a 6% loss at the lows. (As always, see my tweets on AAPL to follow my real-time forecasts of short-term movements. In today’s trading, I noted that the new 52-week lows placed Apple at risk to “easily” hit $400…but I was NOT anticipating that to happen in one day!).

I am now repositioned for a potential calamity (not likely) or a sharp rebound (more likely given Apple’s tendency to bounce within 1 or 2 days of a plunge below the lower-Bollinger Band®) using a small amount of the profits from the original puts and another put that I flipped during the day. Earnings are next week. I hope to post an update to my quarterly technical analysis of the Apple earnings trade over the weekend.

Finally, here is the AAPL chart in all its ugliness. While I freely bet against Apple from time-to-time, I am still a stubborn shareholder (a very small one), so I do feel some of the pain of you Apple loyalists who are still out there.

Apple plunges to a nasty test of the $400 level

Apple is now in what I am calling “the red zone.” It is an area are never thought I would see Apple revisit, and I find it quite alarming. I began to fear this red zone when I wrote “Apparent Lack Of Negative Sentiment On Apple Makes It Hard To Call A Bottom.” A refresh of my sentiment analysis will be a part of my pre-earnings review. I will be more optimistic if I see more pessimism (classic contrarian thinking).

I expect the rest of the week to test traders’ nerves just as much as the first three days. Brace yourself and trade favoring caution over confidence.

Daily T2108 vs the S&P 500
Black line: T2108 (measured on the right); Green line: S&P 500 (for comparative purposes)
Red line: T2108 Overbought (70%); Blue line: T2108 Oversold (20%)

Weekly T2108
Be careful out there!

Full disclosure: long VXX shares, calls and puts; long AUD/JPY (net long Australian dollar); net short Japanese yen; long AAPL shares, calls, and puts; long SSO calls; long INTC puts

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