Stocks Buffeted by Macro Forces

by David Brown, Chief Market Strategist, Sabrient Systems

What does the market want, anyway? I know that's the name of this newsletter, but it's not an easy question to answer in recent months, and especially in the last couple of weeks.

Fed Walks Fine Line Between the Short-Term & Long-Term

by David Brown, Chief Market Strategist, Sabrient Systems

Seeking a New Catalyst

by David Brown, Chief Market Strategist, Sabrient Systems

The market sputtered into negative territory today (Monday), with the S&P 500 closing at 1142 (-0.57%). Still, the index is well above the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

The market is off to a great start this week, powered by last week's momentum and further buoyed by a lessening of fears about Europe's sovereign debt. All the major indices are above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, with the S&P 500 finally breaking out of the 1120 resistance level, closing today at 1141, a new 4-month high. As an interesting historical aside, the 1120 resistance level was first encountered way back in April 1998.

The market continues to creep upward, with the short-term trend clearly positive albeit on quite low volume.  The S&P 500 remains above its 50-day and 200-day moving average, but as we head into the current week, our concern is about conviction within the marketplace.  The ECRI (Economic Cycle Research Institute) finally gave a positive uptick last week, but it would be early to conclude that we’re on a strong uptrend.

The abundance of news last week -- most with a positive slant -- finally boosted the S&P 500 out of the Channel of Gloom in which it was mired for so long. Not only did the S&P 500 break out of the channel, but it is now threatening the 200-day moving average, having surpassed the 50-day MA last week.

Tipping Point Deja Vu

by David Brown, Chief Market Strategist, Sabrient Systems

This week should be another interesting one, but it’s hard to say whether it can match the market’s behavior last week when it donned rose-colored glasses to view four days of mixed economic data.

Last week brought us murk and fog in an otherwise bright New Year. All style/caps were down for the week, though not drastically. The worst was Small-cap Growth (- 1.12%); the best was Large-cap Growth (-0.6%); and the rest crowded between these uninspiring returns. But given the tremendous amount of cash on the sidelines, the market seems unlikely to turn disastrous.