Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Out of words for 'extreme' and 'unprecedented'

Mid-week market update: most of this rally (see Embrace the blow-off, but with a stop-loss discipline published last November), but the scale of the unrelenting grind-up has been breathtaking. I have run out of words to describe "extreme" and "unprecedented" conditions. In short, the market has been dominated by momentum.


Josh Brown recently highlighted analysis by Ari Wald outlining the positive price momentum gripping the stock market. The high level of monthly RSI readings is indicative of a "good overbought" condition that has led to further gains.



Positive momentum can also be seen from a fundamental viewpoint as well. Ned Davis Research observed that bottom-up aggregated FY2018 EPS has been displaying the unusual pattern of a surge in upward revisions. Historically, Street analysts have tended to be overly optimistic and publish overly high EPS estimates, and revise them downward as time passes. The upward revision was undoubtedly related to company guidance of the effects of the recently passed corporate tax cuts.


Despite the Fed's tightening bias, financial conditions have also been extremely easy, which is also supportive of the market's risk-on tone.


When will this all end? It may be soon, as some cracks are appearing in the foundation of this rally.

The full post can be found at our new site here.

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