Wall Street Craps – 2012 Global Ebook Finance Award-Winner

STOCK MARKET STRATEGY FOR APRIL 28, 2018: The stock market may be setting itself up for an intermediate-term bottom next week. The internal breadth indicators below are all close to oversold readings and additional weakness is sure to trigger buy signals. If a decline next week starts to materialize, then look at it as an opportunity to go long and ignore the “bad news” that has to happen in order to create the public selling. The trick will be if this happens mostly on Friday when it will take more guts to make trading commitments over an uncertain weekend.

Key underlying short-term timing indicators show the following:

• NYSE McClellan Oscillator – Ultimate Indicator Reading – 37 (neutral)
• Nasdaq McClellan Oscillator – Ultimate Indicator Reading – 34 (neutral)
• Volatility Indicator – Ultimate Indicator Reading – 55 (neutral)
• S&P 500 % Above 50-Day Moving Average – 39 (neutral)
• Nasdaq 100 % Above 50-Day Moving Average – 39 (neutral)

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THE BOTTOM LINE: The Fear/Greed Index is currently reading 40 or “Fear.” This reading is after it has been in the “Extreme Fear” range for many weeks. I would expect a brief one or two day return to the “Extreme Fear” zone to coincide with a new intermediate buy signal on any weakness next week. If so, this “correction” will have scared enough weak hands out of the long game with only strong hands left to ride the next rally up. Of course, if we rally straight up from here then this scenario goes out the window and the deck will be “shuffled” once again.

The “Fear/Greed Sentiment Index: What Emotion is Driving the Market Now?” has a current reading of 23 which is in the “Extreme Fear” zone. This suggests that the market is in a buying range and not a selling range. Tactically, this means that you should either buy or hold depending on your situation.

This indicator has remained in the “Extreme Fear” area for an abnormally long time. I would guess that it will leave this “oversold” area shortly and not return for some time. (After perhaps, one more spike down)

I would look to buy on any 2 to 3 day weakness that is accompanied by “obvious bad news” as the cover story for a good bottom in the market. I think that the next retest of the recent bottoms will be successful and that a sharp rally should follow. The only trick will be if the weakness occurs on a Friday where traders will have to sweat out the weekend of potentially more bad news.