Staying Out of the WayBy Rev Shark
Street.com Contributor
8/24/2010 4:22 PM EDT
The question today was whether or not we would be able to shrug off the very weak housing news. It didn't come as a complete surprise, so there was a chance the news had already been priced in to the market, but we just weren't able to lose the negativity. We bounced a little after the news and stumbled around, but we closed weak and the bulls showed little conviction.
The primary problem is that the weak housing news isn't just an isolated event, but rather an indication that the overall economy is worse than expected. Reports like this really stir up worry and concern about a double-dip recession, which had been deemed out of the question not so long again.
The market has not fully embraced and priced in the chances of a double dip, and that is why bad news is being treated as bad news. Once the market really accepts the idea that the economy is in trouble and expectations are lower, then we'll have a better chance of rallying on bad news.
Volume picked up today, so we had a technical distribution day to help keep the downtrend under pressure. The bright spot was a bounce in oil [stocks], but otherwise all major sectors were in the red. Breadth ended the day about three-to-one negative, which was an improvement over the early levels, but still a cause for concern.
Bonds powered higher once again.
The iShares Barclays 20+ Treasury Bond Fund (TLT) is hitting the levels it saw back in early 2009, when the financial crisis was turning into some panic. Obviously, market players are happy to take no yield at all to be in the safety of bonds, which is not a market positive.
The way I view the market here is very simple. We are in a downtrend, and we are struggling to price in bad news. I just want to stay out of the way until we see some positive action. I'll do some short-term trades and some shorts, but I see no reason to build longer-term positions at this time.
Lots of market pundits like to try to call bottoms and catch the absolute low in the market, but I have no interest in that game at all. I will likely be holding almost all cash when this downtrend ends, and that is fine with me. When the market acts better, there will be plenty of time to buy stocks as they start to uptrend again. Keep your capital safe when the market acts poorly, and you'll do just fine over the long run.
[Mit der Methode "überlebte" Shark auch den Ausverkauf von 2008/Frühjahr 2009, während es manchem "Dip-Buyer, der auf die Bubblevision-"Wendehälse" hörte, das Genick brach, vor allem wenn er auf Kredit aufstockte - A.L.]