The current market structure has seen both bulls and bears squander golden opportunities countless times in recent months. It is almost as though neither side really wants to win out. Eventually, though, victory needs to be claimed by one side, rather than pussyfooting around and hoping for a quiet breakthrough.
To that point, consider the weekly chart of the Philadelphia Semiconductor index below (first one). The chart is a textbook bear flag breakdown in the making. It is awfully tough to be wildly bullish on stocks with that key sector giving an ominous look. And yet, it could easily be a trap to lure in eager bears, as we have seen many times since March 2009. That last fact is a good reason to choose cash over aggressively shorting with the still-rising 200 day moving average on the major indices.
We know the biotechnology sector, health & wellness stocks, and select issues like BRKA TGT WMT have been notable outperformers in recent months. Recently, we have also seen some impressive firming up in the ag space. Note the buy volume and improved price action in CF and MON below. Also check out the charts of MOS POT SQM.
It is still a mixed bag out there, but if the bulls can firm up more and more sectors like we have seen with the ags then the semiconductor weekly bear flag breakdown is likely to be another vicious “fakedown” in the making.
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
Ah, the taste of chilled steel in the morning…
like that SQM, also IPI
… Uhhh !
In a word … “Troyer” !!!
YAWN !!!
.
Excalibur?