Douglas Busch

"Handling" Its Business: The Nasdaq continues to ascend and it feels if as the bears have had ample time to push this lower. Of course, they did with a 4-week losing streak between the weeks ending 7/19-8/9 that slipped 16% from top to bottom of the range. Notice that the week ending 8/9 did record a bullish counterattack candle off the 50 WEEK SMA to give a clear indication that a short-term bottom was in place (and the doji candle the week ending 7/12 should have had bulls shaving partial longs). And the bears gave it yet another shot with the 6% haircut the week ending 9/6, and the bulls put up a strong defense with the very next week gaining it all back and then some. Bears must be feeling irritable at this point. On the daily chart below, one can feel the air coming out the naysayers sails with a nice bounce off the upward-sloping 21-day EMA, and now a handle, hence the "handling" its business reference, has formed on a cup base that commenced with the nasty bearish engulfing candle on 7/11. With everyone talking big round numbers now on the S&P 500 with 6000 targets, why not a 10% move for the Nasdaq into year-end here with a 20000 objective. With sizable gains YTD, as the S&P 500 is higher by more than 20%, October can be volatile, but Q4 overall tends to be very strong as the Almanac Trader shows here.

Conflicting Signals:  As we head into Q4 the markets overall are acting well with all 11 major S&P sectors in the green YTD by at least double digits with utilities leading and energy in the basement. Technology has had a mediocre year up 16% right in the middle of the pack via the XLK. The MONTHLY chart of the Nasdaq below has been a head-scratcher. It has felt trendless and the last 3 candles have been debatable. On the WEEKLY chart, one can see last week traded right into the doji candle (well known for their ability to predict changes in the prevailing direction) from the week ending 7/12, the middle candle from a bearish evening star. In my opinion, this type of wide and loose trade is indicative of toppy behavior. Many are speaking to the bullish seasonality and perhaps that will make any meaningful upward trajectory for tech difficult. The daily Nasdaq chart Wednesday filled in a small gap (rare for a benchmark) from the 9/18 session and is retesting the breakout above a symmetrical triangle. I would not be surprised which way this traded over the near term. Keep powder dry for a potential late 2024 election rally.

Buy the Cannons? With the escalation broadening out in the Middle East, is the old stock market adage meaningful? Looking at the WEEKLY chart below of the ITA this has been delivering all year long. Over the last year period, it has declined on a WEEKLY basis in back-to-back weeks just twice, a very strong showing of consistency. The daily chart Tuesday broke above a 150 bull flag pivot which carries a measured move to 160, and one of just a handful of firm overall groups on a weak tape. GE is the top holding at nearly 20% of the fund and has behaved powerfully since the break above a MONTHLY cup base pivot of 142.60 in April in a base 8 years long. Notice during the last 2 years it has declined just 4 months, an extraordinary feat and it has registered a bullish golden cross. The second largest component in RTX broke above a short cup base trigger of 123.80 not long after a push through a bull flag. Less impactful plays with nice technicals include CW which broke above its own bull flag trigger of 330 which carries a measured move to 370.