Character Change?
Of course, one day does not make a trend and Tuesday most likely was just a bunch of repositioning, or it could have been something more ominous. I looked back at the last 3 years of the Nasdaq starting the year and not surprisingly there was a decent amount of volatility (here were the first few sessions of 2021, 2022, and 2023). The “Santa Rally” comes into play too as it finishes tomorrow after the last 5 days of 2023 and the first 2 days of 2024. The old adage “If Santa should fail to call, bears may come to Broad & Wall” could come into play as we are now below when it started on 12/22 and the averages do tend to underperform when the period is negative. The chart below of the Nasdaq shows the benchmark clinging onto its rising 21-day EMA, the green line, which has been supportive since gapping above the line in early November. There is nothing wrong with letting the market “shake the trees” to purge out weak shareholders. Let leading stocks show some stability and as usual buy on strength. Buckle your seat belts as the last couple of January’s were pretty rocky in diverging directions.