Thursday, January 2, 2014

Following up on Tuesday's "Indicators: Watching for a Down Start for the Market in 2014"

This is just a fakeout shakeout. As Tuesday's first post, "Chartology: A Longer Term View of The S&P 500", posited:
...It looks like more up, then down. Do click through for the larger charts....
From Reuters via Yahoo Finance:
Wall Street ends down on first trading day of 2014
U.S. stocks fell on their first day of trading in 2014 as investors booked profits in the wake of the S&P 500's best yearly advance since 1997, with many of last year's strongest performers down on the day.

All 10 S&P 500 sectors were lower, with tech among the biggest drags after Wells Fargo downgraded Apple Inc to "market perform" from "outperform," saying the company's market cap had limited upside potential without material market share gains.

Apple fell 1.4 percent to $553.13 and was the biggest drag on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 <.NDX> indexes. The S&P technology index <.SPLRCT> fell 1.1 percent.

Adding to the weakness in the group were stocks that had enjoyed the best gains in 2013, including Netflix , which was down 1.5 percent at $362.82, and Micron Tech Inc , which was off 0.4 percent at $21.66. Both names more than tripled last year....MORE
MoneyBeat opines:
Why Are U.S. Stocks Down? Ask Europe
If you’re looking for a reason for today’s big drop in stocks, just blame Europe’s bearish “outside-down” day, one chart watcher says.

Katie Stockton, chief technical strategist at BTIG, said given the negative pattern in European markets, the S&P 500′s pullback could last through next week. But investors shouldn’t fret too much, she said, as any weakness should be technically “constructive” for the U.S. market’s outlook.

The Stoxx Europe 600 opened 328.99, above Tuesday’s intraday high of 328.32, then traded up to a 5 1/2-year high of 329.39 intraday. The index then pulled an abrupt U-turn and closed down 0.7% at 325.82, or below Tuesday’s intraday low of 327.46.

When these patterns, also known by chart watchers as a “key reversal” or “bearish engulfing,” appear at a new high, they warn that the trend may be about to change....MORE
So what now? Best guess is another down day Friday but the conviction is lower than Tuesday's put-it-in-the-headlines/damn-near-a-lock.
Indicators: Watching for a Down Start for the Market in 2014
This is real short term stuff....
Not much help, I know.
DJIA 16, 441.35 down 135.31
S&P 500 1831.98 down 16.38