Another sigh of relief

S&P500 daily at end of day

End of Day Update:

Stocks continued last weeks rebound and closed just shy of the 200dma. Quite a reversal of fortune from the breathtaking plunge to 1,820 only days ago. Today’s strength is especially encouraging since it came on the heels of another European selloff. This shows many in the US are coming to terms with global weakness and they feel it is already baked into current US equity prices.

Getting to the technicals, 1,900 and the 200dma are significant resistance levels and seeing the market struggle with them in coming days will be no surprise. But ultimately they should only be speed bumps on our way to the 50dma. How the market trades when we return to 1,950 will be far more insightful in determining what comes next.

The big concern is if 1,950 forms the right shoulder in a much larger head-and-shoulders topping pattern. Failing near 1,950 and then undercutting the 1,820 lows means we have a lot further to fall and this could be the 20%+ correction many have been waiting for. But don’t worry too much about this since it is the worst case scenario. Most likely recent volatility flushed out any would be sellers and anyone who held through the plunge showed they are married to their positions. While this is a reckless attitude for traders to take, if we know they won’t sell, then we also know supply will be tight and that supports prices in the near-term.

A down-day or two is nothing to get excited about as long as the selling is rational and orderly. Some people who were paralyzed by fear during the dip to 1,820 will naturally sell the bounce they were praying for. But once these regretful owners finish selling, look for a surge of buying to follow a break above 1,900.

Jani