Few Pockets of Strength

I’m not going to jump to conclusions and declare a top. The fact of the matter is, oil is correcting after a monster leg up and Alcoa is fucking up the metals, like always. Plus, the market like to ebb and flow between 12,000-12,500. Before I start liquidating my holdings, I need to see more carnage.

You know what is down, which is pretty much everything. But there are some outliers, like the airlines—called out yesterday by ChessnWine (AMR) inside 12631. For those of you not subscribed to Chess and RC for a mere $20 something per month, you are missing out huge. They are money.

Additionally, WMT, PG, HD, KKR, MON, MAC, NFLX, AKAM, FDX, UNP, TM, ZUMZ, ARO and TGT all stand out to me due to unusual strength in a bad tape. It is a pastiche of stocks, with a common denominator of benefiting from lower input prices, namely cotton and oil. I cannot tell you why KKR and NFLX are up, other than the fact that fund managers are desperate to park cash.

Bonds are up today; but the dollar is down. I must say, as bad as this tape looks, I am not scared. Perhaps I have too much money in the safe; but this tape is screaming “short squeeze” and is one press release away from punting the bears into outer space. Sure, you can listen to the zerohedgers, who only paint a story with a black brush, while sipping on a mug filled with black smoke. However, last I checked, this motherfucker of a market has been fucking mothers now for 3 years. I declare, there is a statute of limitations on your double dip calls of lunacy. The news cannot be worse, yet here we are within striking distance of recent highs.

Well, the earnings season has kicked off and I expect better than estimated results, across the board. There will be some pitfalls, as always. But the general consensus, whether you like it or not, is up.