BTFD

End of Day Update

MARKET BEHAVIOR
A fairly dramatic day.  We gapped higher at the open on stronger than expected GDP numbers, but sold off minutes later and tested 1,960 support.  The Fed rescued us midday with a rosy outlook, but those gains also failed to stick.  For as much as we moved around, we ended almost exactly where we started.  Volume was the highest in a month as many traders reacted to every headline and gyrations.

MARKET SENTIMENT
It was an interesting session with two energetic upside moves that failed to stick.  It’s hard to hang a bullish hat on that kind of performance, but can we infer we are on the verge of collapse?  Not yet.  All today’s price-action tells us is those with cash didn’t want to chase these bullish headlines.  While that limits our upside potential in the near-term, it is the other side of the house that determines if we keep declining.  Right now the market’s fate rests in owners’ hands.  Do they sell at a discount or do they assume we’ll bounce like every other time over the last year-and-a-half and keep holding?  A lot of people are throwing the complacency term around like it is a negative thing, but complacent owners don’t sell and it is really hard to get a correction started without supply.

TRADING OPPORTUNITIES
Expected Outcome:
So far this price-action looks like a vanilla Buy-The-F’n-Dip.  Of course with every BTFD, the challenge is figuring out when we’ve bottomed.  Given today’s weak follow-on buying, it doesn’t feel like we’ve reached the bottom yet.  1,960 is technical support and often the market likes to fool us by violating support before turning around and going the other direction.  If we breakthrough 1,960 but the selling stalls shortly after, that gives us an interesting entry point.

Alternate Outcome:
Every dip, correction, or crash is buyable, the only question is how long to wait before jumping in.  While most of the recent dips were buyable within days, we will eventually find ourselves faced with a longer and deeper dip.  Nothing shatters confidence and complacency like seeing everyone else rush for the exits.  Wait for the selling to stop before buying any dip.

Trading Plan:
Don’t be surprised if we slip under 1,960 in coming days.  But if the selling stalls shortly after, bears should consider locking in profits and bulls can buy-the-dip.  On the other hand, if selling accelerates and we blow through 1,950, hang on because the next stop is 1,930 and 1,900 if that one fails to hold.

Plan your trade; trade your plan