ChartSmarter Friday Game Plan 3/4/16

Markets continue to operate in a bullish fashion as skeptics to this rally linger. That recipe can often add up to more frustration to the bull camp. The Nasdaq the last couple sessions has traded very taut, (back to back days ranges with 30ish handle moves top to bottom), after a rapid advance and CLOSED above its 50 day SMA. That type of action is positive and as much as I dislike using adages, John Templeton’s comes to mind. One can argue whether we are in a bear or bull market, and of course that bickering is part of what makes a market. The median length historically for bear markets is 11 months long, and if you are a bull and use the all time highs on the S&P 500 of 2134 and change the week ending 5/22/15 we are almost 9 months in, and you can make a case that the worst is behind us. We have rallied big time twice off the 1810 level, but as I mentioned earlier the dissenters are remaining steadfast in their opinions and back to referring Templeton’s quote, bull markets are born on pessimism. Looking at it through a political perspective marks tend to discount into the future 6-9 months out which puts the general election in focus. Perhaps the indexes are seeing something they like, and of course one can put forth their biases depending on their candidate. I will stick to the price action which does not lie and for the time being the path to least resistance is higher. Once again energy and materials led the way Thursday on the backs of a softer dollar or a brightening economic outlook? The transports are doing a lot of the heavy lifting, pun intended, and the IYT is looking at a potential 7th consecutive weekly gain. Ironically the last time that occurred marked the all time high for the ETF. Below we look at one of our old time favorites from years past, SAIA.