Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Stocks Continue Rising As Geo-Political Tensions Ease, January Top Still Distant

The Dow Scorecard shows strong gains for April, yet a long way from returning to all-time highs set on January 26 of 26,616.71. Etch that number into your brain. In the near term, for all intents and purposes, as long as the Dow remains below that level, you should consider this a bear market.

Longer term, the market will resolve the issue. If the Dow makes another fresh low below the one put in on February 8 (23,860.46) or March 23 (23,533.20), it's near 100% certainty that this is a bear market. It's important to be positioned correctly, but at the present time, many traders are confused. Even some followers of Dow Theory, which confirmed a primary trend change to bear market conditions on April 9, are not convinced. All manner of arguments have been made, calling the confirmation false, due to extraordinary conditions, such as President Trump wanting to bomb Syria.

Such talk is pure hubris and rubbish, not worth the breath to speak of in real analytical terms. Geo-political risks are always paramount in markets; the current condition is nothing out of the ordinary.

For the present, this is a bear market and the recent gains, even if they run for days and weeks, are to be considered exit points for those who are still engaged in the equity game. Bonds, cash, tangible goods are preferred at this time.

Dow Jones Industrial Average April Scorecard:

Date Close Gain/Loss Cum. G/L
4/2/18 23,644.19 -458.92 -458.92
4/3/18 24,033.36 +389.17 -69.75
4/4/18 24,264.30 +230.94 +161.19
4/5/18 24,505.22 +240.92 +402.11
4/6/18 23,932.76 -572.46 -170.35
4/9/18 23,979.10 +46.34 -134.01
4/10/18 24,407.86 +428.76 +294.66
4/11/18 24,189.45 -218.55 +76.11
4/12/18 24,483.05 +293.60 +369.71
4/13/18 24,360.14 -122.91 +247.80
4/16/18 24,573.04 +212.90 +460.70
4/17/18 24,786.63 +213.59 +674.29

At the Close, Tuesday, April 17, 2018:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 24,786.63, +213.59 (+0.87%)
NASDAQ: 7,281.10, +124.81 (+1.74%)
S&P 500: 2,706.39, +28.55 (+1.07%)
NYSE Composite: 12,705.76, +77.55 (+0.61%)

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