There was a little up and a little down, but by the time it was all said and done, the S&P 500 finished Wednesday almost exactly where it started.
This week’s pause is nothing more than cooling off following last week’s long string of up-days. Two-steps forward, one-step back. It doesn’t get any more complicated than that.
Confident owners are stubbornly holding for higher prices and that means every dip bounces within hours. In yesterday’s case, the selling was measured in minutes.
This calm and gentle climb higher cannot last forever and there will be multiple cases of extreme fear and uncertainty this year, but this is not one of those times. Until further notice, this bull market is alive and well and there is only one way to trade this.
No doubt, readers crave deep insights and criticizing the herd is one way pundits make themselves sound sophisticated. But more often than not, successful trading is as simple as going with the flow. There is nothing sophisticated about that. In fact, it’s downright boring and unimaginative. But as long as I’m making money, I’m okay with boring and unimaginative.
No doubt more challenging times are ahead of us. And chances are we will be longing for these boring and easy trades soon enough. But until then, stick with what has been working and that is riding this grind higher.
If this market was fragile, overbought, and on the verge of breaking down, it would have happened by now.