Divot's Account Talk

New Blog Post

Keep your eye on the ball

You may have heard - there was some big trouble in Shanghai yesterday. They're at it again: the Shanghai SSE index was down over 5% earlier in today's trading, but has recovered somewhat to about 3% south from the open.

Shanghai is - honestly - irrelevant to how I manage my money...

Read the rest of the blog post to understand why.


 
Increasing strength... you sure it wasn't "BUY in May"?

Increasing strength... you sure it wasn't "BUY in May"?

Bottom line up front: Short term indicators strengthened today. No reasons to move away from stocks.
  • Fund allocation is currently 20% G / 70% S / 10% I.
  • My YTD gain is 5.7%.
I've been asked quite a few excellent questions from readers concerning how I use bullish percents to accomplish risk management.

Read the rest of the post for a discussion of my favorite market gauge.
 
The F fund is not your happy place right now

My latest blog post shows graphically why this isn't the time to be in the F fund.

This is still a bull market, and I can prove it...

Feedback welcome, enjoy the weekend.
 
Cracklin' new blog post!

The (un)importance of Shanghai

Lots of discussion on China lately. After all, the Shanghai sell off at the end of February was to blame for our own markets' dip at the end of February... right?

Read the rest on the blog...
 
New Blog Post - Tomorrow will be a telling day

Warning Signs Ahead

The last two days in the markets have been really interesting - tomorrow is really important. If this is just a little temporary dip in a continuing uptrend, we'll know it tomorrow. So far, all we've seen is a 1-2 % pause. So, the Bottom Line Up Front: if the markets decline out of the gate tomorrow morning, I will scale out of stocks to a 50% Government bond / 50% Small Cap allocation.

Peruse the rationale at my blog:
 
Yep - that's kinda what I thought we'd see

Rather than the 11AM buy programs, today we're seeing the 11AM sell programs. This doesn't smell like Mr. Retail Investor to me. I said last night I'd consider going 50% Small Cap / 50% Gov't Bond. Based on what we're seeing (and at the risk of getting whipsawed a second time this year) - I'm going 100% Gov't bond as of close of business today.
 
New Blog Post

Swoop, there it is

For all those expecting, waiting, holding their breath, knowing it was just around the corner... this was your correction. If my calculations are correct - it may actually be just the start of something more substantial.



Read the rest of my scintillating analysis on my blog!
 
New Blog Post

A day early, and a dollar short

After my last post, and the market's Friday rally, some might be waiting for my public retraction and repentance from all thoughts bearish. I hate to disappoint my readers... but don't hold your breath.



Read the rest of my post to understand why...
 
Blog Post for Tuesday's Markets

No, no - you go first



Buyers and sellers had on their best poker faces today. No one really wanted to lay anything on the line, which is interesting from both the bullish and bearish points of view.

I'll be making a change to my allocation effective today. Read the rest at my blog.
 
You have an account talk thread to discuss your moves. Do you have an account thread where you post and track your moves?
 
R2D2 -

I tried to establish that today, but the "TSP Talk Powers That Be" have not yet enabled my account for that. For now, you'll just have to follow my blog.

Thanks very much for your interest!
 
New Blog Post

Sometimes you can be right and wrong


As the title of my post suggests, I was right about interest rates - and my move to the AGG (F Fund) was well served. Boy, I would have been more profitable in any of the other stock funds, though...

Read the rest of my post for this weeks "Mid-Week Mid-Life Crisis of the Week".
 
New Blog Post - Bias and Self Validation

Bias and Self Validation

It's important to look at the markets without bias. Being unaware of one's own bias can result in at least missed opportunities, or worse, swimming upstream with a poor risk/reward profile. For most, it's tough to avoid a "bullish" bias. This is, of course, the predominant "retail investor" perspective. This perspective on the markets believes that the only way money is made is for prices to rise.

Read the rest of the post at my blog, where I discuss expectations and game plans for this coming week.
 
New Blog Post - Asking the right question makes all the difference

It's not a question of why - but what


I've skimmed quite a bit of market analysis this afternoon/evening. Ask ten analysts why the market sold off lower today, and you'll get at least 15 opinions. Their opinions - blame interest rates, oil inventories, whatever - are irrelevant. It doesn't matter WHY.

The important thing is WHAT happened today.

I'll explain the rest in my blog post.
 
Divot,

Any opinions on Kevin's comment on a double top formation. I agree with him that this summer could be tough for stocks. Kevin is a daily read for me.

http://kevinsmarketblog.blogspot.com/


100% G Fund in my TSP account, and swing trading in my brokerage accounts. Closed out all shorts today. Made some money following Atilla this week at xtrends. Also a daily read for me since I'm a trader/investor and respect his work.

http://xtrends.blogspot.com/


Friday, June 22, 2007
Stocks Sell Off As The Bears Take Control


Today stocks sold off sharply with the dow down 185 points. For the past two weeks I've been posting as to why I didn't want to be long stocks. In fact, I'm short and we're now starting to see downside momentum pick up.

Above is a daily chart of the dow. It appears that a double top formation has taken place and an important trendline was broken today.

Notice on the last two down days how the volume has increased which helps confirm my bearish outlook.

Many of the interest rate sensitive stocks that I have short are leading this market down such as the utilities which I will post about later.

I'd like to stress one more time that I am NOT looking for a crash in the market...I just feel this summer we will see stocks consolidate and trend lower and I'm sure at some point in a few months there will be a good opportunity to buy stocks. Yesterday I pointed out that I'm watching the Asian stocks for potential longs if we get a good dip in the market....but as of now I am all short.

http://kevinsmarketblog.blogspot.com/
 
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