9/4/23.  Weekend Report - The Week That Was.  Week Ended 6/3523.

XJO Monthly Chart.

We've had only one week so far in April.  XJO is up, so far, +0.57% and remains within the range of the month of March.

The three Supertrend lines are showing a non-trending long term index, one Supertrend line above the chart and two Supertrend lines below the chart.  All three Suprertrend lines are horizontal - indicative of a sideways trend.

PPO is above 0 - that suggests a bullish trend.  It's been that way since Dec. 2020.

DZ Stochastic is above its buy line, but turned down - indecisive.

Schaff Trend Cycle is just below its "buy" line.  It wouldn't take much to turn that bullish.

This is only at the beginning of the month, so no decisions made on this chart.

XJO Weekly Chart.

                                            

The weekly chart shows the XJO in a counter-trend rally against the big fall from early February to late March.  We need to see all three Supertrend Lines to turn yellow to presume that we have a new upside trend.  

DZ Stochastic has turned up but hasn't crossed above its "buy" line.  Schaff Trend Cycle remains under  its "do not buy" line.

PPO is marginally above its zero line.  We need to see it turn up from there to be confident of a new bullish trend.  

XJO Daily Chart.

XJO was up +0.57% this week.

XJO was up eight days in a row until the negative day on Thursday. That's an unusually strong short-term rally, and it appears to be faltering with three narrow-range doji candlesticks in a row.  That's occurring at a support-resistance line at 7226.  XJO finished the week at 7219 - marginally below horizontal resistance.

That Horizontal Resistance Line also coincides with the 50% retracement of the fall from early Feb. to late March.  Reversal of trends often occur at the 50% level.

DZ Stochastic has turned down but remains above its "sell" line.  Schaff Trend Cycle also remains above its "sell" line.  PPO is marginally above its zero line.

All that suggests that the coming week could be crucial to the future of the XJO.  

Weekly Changes in Sectors.

XMJ (Materials) was the dog in the major this week.  (Not quite an appropriate metaphor in the Easter Week).

XMJ was the only negative sector - down -2,72%,

Defensive Sectors were fairly strong this week:  XHJ +3.83%, XSJ +1.78%, XUJ + 1.78%, XTJ +1.68%.  

That suggests we've seen a rotation into defense against the usually strong XMJ.  It should be kept in mind that XMJ was up +7.01% in the previous week.  So it's not surprising that it had a fall this week.

Sector Momentum.

All three columns sloping up - bullish trend.  XDJ, XIJ, XTJ, XHJ, XSJ, XNJ, XGD, IAF.

All three columns sloping down - bearish trend.  XMJ, XPJ

Down then up - counter trend bullish rally.  XXJ, XEJ, XUJ.

Up then down - counter trend bearish rally.  No sectors.

Some sectors were affected this week, XHJ moved into the bullish section.  Materials moved from "bullish counter trend rally" to "bearish".  Again - this emphasises the shift into defense from offence.

Gold Miners and Composite Bonds (IAF) are bullish - both of those tend to be safe havens.

XJO remains in a "counter trend rally"

NewHighs-NewLows.

This is a long-term indicator, but a good guide for long-term investors.

NH-NL Cumulative started falling on 9 Feb.  This week it moved back above its 10-Day MA.   That's a promising sign for long-term investors.

Stocks/Bonds Ratio.

The recent strong 8-Day bullish rally took the Stocks/Bonds Ratio into an upside movement.

Then, the past couple of days has seen it equivocate.  It nudged above the zero line, then fell back below the zero line.  The zero line is the demarcation between medium tern bullish and bearish.

Historical and Implied Volatility.

When Historical Volatility falls below Implied Volatility - the market is usually in a short-term bullish trend.  (HV is based on historical data of the XJO.  Implied Volatility is based on data from the VIX Index.)

When HV gets down to around the 5 level, a reversal in the XJO trend usually occurs.  HV is not far off that level.

(This is often a leading or co-incident indicator.)

% of Stocks above key moving averages.

1.  % of stocks above 10-Day Moving Average: Last Week 77%, This Week 77%.  

2.  % of stocks above 50-Day Moving Average, Last Week 40%, This Week 51%.  

3.  % of stocks above 200-Day Moving Average, Last Week 50%, This Week 60%.

Stocks above the 10-Day MA has stalled this week at 77%.  Medium term and long term the market improved.

Conclusion.

 

XJO has had a strong counter-trend rally but appears to be stalling at Horizontal Resistance.

I've outlined plenty of pluses and minuses, and maybes about the market this week.  Nothing convincing one way or the other.

The coming week may be crucial for the near-term future of the XJO.

XJO resumes trading on Tuesday.  America will resume on Monday so that could provide an indication of where our market will go.

Addendum.

Asian markets, which were not closed on Friday, were up, Japan +0.17%.  Korea +1.27%, Hong Kong +0.28%, Shanghai +0.45%.

In America on Friday, Non-Farm payrolls indicated a slowing in employment.  CNBC commented: 

Nonfarm payrolls growth in March was about in line with expectations, but showed signs that the jobs picture is in the early stages of a slowdown.

That might give the American market hope for a slowing or pause in Federal Reserve interest rate rises and a boost to stock markets.

U.S. Futures were mildly positive on Friday.  Dow Jones +0.19%, SP500 +0.23%, Nasdaq +0.1%.

That's all relatively positive for America on Monday night - but anything can happen.  Wait for Tuesday morning.

Finspiration Australia.

     26/2/23.  Weekend Report - The Week That Was.  Week Ended 24/2/23.

XJO Monthly Chart.

After almost four weeks, XJO down so far -2.27% after stalling at the top of the strong January candle.  XJO has also reached a zone where it has failed in the past.

So far, the Index is above the 8-MEMA, Hull MA13, 50-MMA, 200MMA, Supertrend (7/1.5).  Not much damage done yet.

  

Monthly RSI is at 54.68.  50 represents the dividing line between bullish and bearish.

XJO Weekly Chart.

                                            

XJO remains in an up-trend, with higher highs and higher lows.  In the past five days, XJO fallen -0.54%.

XJO began to fall three weeks ago at a major resistance level.  

8-Week EMA and Hull MA13 turned turned down, which is bearish. Supertrend is providing support at this moment.  Events overnight in America could see a break to the downside of Supertrend.

Weekly RSI is at 55.2 - bullish but falling.  

CCI remains above its zero line (but falling).  It's been above its zero line since 24 Oct. 2022.  That marked the start of this bull market.

XJO Daily Chart.

XJO was in a strong up-trend in January.  It is currently in a short-term down-trend.

Daily RSI has fallen below its mid-line of 50.  That's bearish

XJO may be finding support at the 50-Day MA.   As stated previously, events on Friday in America could see a decisive break below that support level.

Weekly Changes in Sectors.

Despite the fall in the XJO this week of -0.54%, breadth was quite healthy.  Only two sectors fell this week, XMJ (Materials) -2.96% and XDJ (Discretionary) -1.23%.  XSJ (Staples) was flat, +0.09%

A couple of sectors showed quite healthy gains, XUJ (Utilities) +6.05% and XPJ (Property) also +6.05%.

The damage to the XJO was mainly done by XMJ (Materials) after both BHP and RIO presented gloomy reports to the market.  That's largely a result of events in China, where the country was in lock-down for the second half of 2022 - the time covered by the reports from BHP and Rio.  (The biggest markets for those two countries are in China.)

Monthly, Weekly and Daily RSIs. - Sectors + XJO + Gold + Composite Bonds.

This week's chart:

Each sector has three bars representing the RSI on Monthly, Weekly and Daily bases.

The following is a rough guide to interpreting the chart.

Bullish:  Rising bars.

Bearish:  Falling bars.

Counter trend rally:  Falling then rising.

Pull-back:  Rising then falling.

Bullish Sectors: XIJ, XNJ.

Bearish Sectors:  XXJ, XMJ, XEJ.

Counter trend Rally:  XUJ, XPJ.

Pull-back:  XDJ, XTJ, XHJ, XSJ.

XJO is in pull-back mode.  Composite Bonds (IAF) and Gold (XGD) are also in pull-back mode.

NewHighs-NewLows.

This is a long-term indicator, but a good guide for long-term investors.

NH-NL have been pulling back since the end of January.  That's a warning sign to long-term investors to stay defensive,

Stocks v Bonds.  Relative performance.

On a relative basis, Bonds are currently outperforming Stocks, i.e., the chart is below the zero level.

This is a reasonable picture of bullish and bearish status of the market.  It's probably a good idea to remain bearish on stocks while this chart remains below zero.

% of Stocks above key moving averages.

1.  % of stocks above 10-Day Moving Average: Last Week 42%, This Week 44%.  

2.  % of stocks above 50-Day Moving Average, Last Week 61%, This Week 56%.  

3.  % of stocks above 200-Day Moving Average, Last Week 70%, This Week 65%.

In the short-term, breadth, as measured by stocks above the 10-Day MA, improved a little this week as indicated by the Sector changes shown above.

The longer term measures remain above the 50% mark.  So the market is not in bad shape.

SP500.

I mentioned early in this report, the poor results in America on Friday.  Here's the SP500 chart.

SP500 began a steep decline six days ago and has fallen five of the past six days.  Friday saw a fall of >1%.  That could result in a follow-on fall in the XJO on Monday.

But a lot of strange things are happening in this chart.  Three of the candles show "hang-man" candles.  A small body at the top of the candle and a very long lower wick.  That indicates plenty of intra-day buying.

Although the bears have been dominant in the past six days, bulls have been fighting good rear-guard actions on three of the days, pushing back against the bulls.

The chart is now down to a crucial level.  It bounced strongly off the 200-Day MA on Friday despite the initial big fall.  Such action could spell the end of this push down by the bears.  We need to see a big upside candle on the SP500 on Monday to be confident that this fall is over - at least in the short-term.

It would be very interesting on Monday if the XJO pre-empts the SP500 by rising, or at least showing good strength in intra-day trading

 

Conclusion.

 

February has been a poor month for the XJO.  Although the past week showed a net loss for the XJO, internal strength wasn't nearly as pessimistic as suggested by the -0.54% fall in the XJO.

The long-term trend for the XJO is still bullish with higher highs and higher lows. 

Markets here and in the U.S. are now at a crucial stage.  Watch carefully for events on Monday.

Finspiration Australia

   12/2/23.  Weekend Report - The Week That Was.  Week Ended 10/2/23.

This week has seen a dramatic change in investor sentiment.  The previous week, the market was all gung-ho and seriously overbought.  This week, investors sobered up and a pull-back has started.

XJO Monthly Chart.

We've only had ten days so far in February.  XJO down so far -0.58% stalling at the top of the strong January candle.  XJO has also reached a zone where it has failed in the past.

So far, the Index is above the 10-MMA, Hull MA13, 50-MMA, 200MMA, Supertrend (7/1.5).  Not much damage done yet.

  

Monthly RSI is at 56.57.  50 represents the dividing line between bullish and bearish.

XJO Weekly Chart.

                                            

In the past five days, XJO fallen -1.65%.  

The weekly chart shows a bearish engulfing candle.  That's occurred at a major resistance zone.

Candlesticks are a graphic depiction of buying and selling in the market.  A big dark engulfing candle shows the sellers were in complete control of trading this week.

8-Week EMA, Hull MA13 and Supertrend remain in bullish configurations, so not a lot of damage done yet.

Weekly RSI is at 60.58 - bullish but falling.  

Stochastic was showing a negative divergence and has now turned down below its signal line.

XJO Daily Chart.

XJO was in a strong up-trend in January.  That's all changed now.

Daily RSI is now at 53.71 - that's well below the weekly RSI of 60.58.  A fall by the Daily RSI below the Weekly RSI is indicative of a pull-back.  That's not something to trade from - but a filter to alert you to look at the charts and trade the charts.

Daily RSI remains above the bullish level of 50.

The indicator overlays on the chart (8-DEMA, Hull MA and Supertrend) all indicate the dramatic nature of the reversal that's occurred in the XJO.

STW Daily.

XJO can be a bit deceptive on a chart as it always opens at the same level as the previous day's close.  Never any gaps on an XJO chart.

STW is a tracking ETF for the XJO and can often give clues as to investors' thinking not available from the index.

The above chart shows a big gap opening to the down-side on Friday and breaking below key indicators (8-DEMA, Hull MA and Supertrend).  That's a key sign that a trend reversal has occurred.

Of course, the market always tries to play with the minds of investors.  Looking at the right hand side of the chart, an investor might think that further downside is immediately probable.  But looking at the left hand side of the chart shows a key support at 67.08.  STW closed at 67.07 on Friday - so we might get some upside here before another move to the downside.  

Monthly, Weekly and Daily RSIs. - Sectors + XJO + Gold + Composite Bonds.

This week's chart:

In the week prior to this now, five sectors out of eleven were 70 RSI.  Now there are none, with only one sector above 60 - XXJ - but it is also in pull-back mode.   

Bullish sectors with RSIs arranged in ascending order are:  XDJ, XIJ, XSJ.  In the previous week, eight sectors were bullish.  That's a big change in breadth.

Sectors in pull-back mode (Daily RSI falling below Weekly RSI) XXJ, XMJ, XEJ, XTJ, XHJ, XUJ, XPJ and XNJ.  That's eight out of eleven sectors.

Gold (an industry group within XMJ) is in pull-back mode. 

On the daily time-frame, we've switched from eight out of eleven bullish sectors, to eight out of eleven sectors in pull-back mode.

NewHighs-NewLows Cumulative.

This is a long-term lagging indicator, but a good guide for long-term investors.

NH-NL Cum is represented by the blue line.  It is now marginally above the 10-DAY MA but remains well above the 21 and 34 Day Moving Averages.  The Moving Averages are all aligned in bullish fashion from 10DMA at the top, then 21, then 31.  This provides a buffer against pull-backs.

I've developed another long-term metric "StrongStocks-WeakStocks" which is similar to NH-NL but gives signals a little earlier than NH-NL  SS-WS is up for the 13th week in a row and has moved well above its 5-Week MA.   This week there were only 6 Strong Stocks compared to 34 the previous week.  Weak stocks remained at four.   While this remains above its 5-Week MA, long-term investors can remain calm.

% of Stocks above key moving averages.

1.  % of stocks above 10-Day Moving Average: Last Week 67%, This Week 26%.  

2.  % of stocks above 50-Day Moving Average, Last Week 78%, This Week 61%.  

3.  % of stocks above 200-Day Moving Average, Last Week 76%, This Week 71%.  

All metrics have pulled back, but only the shortest time-frame one is showing bearish tendencies.  At this stage, we are seeing a pull-back and nothing more serious.

Stocks above 200-Day MA have fallen from 76% to 71% but remain above the 5-Week MA.

 

Conclusion.

 

Daily chart of XJO was in a strong uptrend.  That has now reversed to the downside.

STW (ETF for XJO) suggests we could see some consolidation here or some upside in the near term.  

Overall, however, investors' mind-set has now taken a turn for the worse.  Expect more downside before this pull-back is over.

Finspiration Australia. Chart Analysis for Australian and International Stock Markets.

Weekly Wrap, Week ended 14 October, 2022.  Is the Bear finished?

XJO Monthly Chart.

This chart is almost identical to the one shown last week.  XJO made a good start to the month, but this is only Week One of October.  Week Two has been flat.  The chart remains in a down trend.

XJO Weekly Chart.

 

This week's candle is a "dragonfly doji" - which means the XJO finished almost where it started after having a big dip down during the week.  XJO finished down just -0.06%, essentially flat.

This week's candle remains marginally above the 8-Week EMA.  One of the two Supertrend lines has switched from blue (bearish) to yellow (bullish).  That suggests the XJO is in non-trending mode.  Hull MA13 remains headed down.  This chart is more bearish than bullish. has run into the resistance of the other Supertrend lines.

XJO has, however, bounced off horizontal support - so it may be headed higher to again test the 50-Week MA as resistance.

XJO Daily Chart.

 XJO was down strongly on Monday, waffled around on Tue-Thur, then surged higher on Friday.  

The Index remains within the confines of the descending broadening wedge shown on the chart.  A break to the upside of that wedge would be bullish, but then it faces the resistance of the 200-Day MA.  As a general rule, it is best not to enter long-term positions while the chart is below the 200-Day MA.

This week saw the XJO test the 50% retracement of the previous rally, and then bounced.  That could be the start of another test of the oblique restraining line of the descending wedge.  A break above that should see the continuation of the counter trend rally

Action on Friday raises the possibility that Tue-Thur is a higher low.  We need to see a higher high to call this a bull rally, i.e., XJO must rise above 4 October.

SP500 Daily.

 This is a fascinating study in chart analysis.  From the high in August, the chart has made lower highs and lower lows - the definition of a down trend.  The lower highs have all occurred after counter-trend rallies up to the descending 20-Day MA.  Each time, the chart has declined to form a lower low.

Momentum is slowing as shown by the MACD Histogram.  It shows a positive divergence from the chart.  This suggests the possibility of a trend change.

Thursday saw one of the biggest reversal days on the SP500 for the past 50 years.  That produced a lot of euphoria - to be dampened by a big down day on Friday.  Volatility like this often occurs at the end of trends as the bulls/bears battle for supremacy.

It will mean down day on the XJO on Monday.

ASX Sector Results for this week.

 Three out of eleven sectors were up this week, two of those (Consumer Staples and Consumer Discretionary) were only up marginally.  XJO finished flat for the week, but it was largely the good performance of Financials (XXJ) which kept the XJO more or less on an even keel.  XXJ up +3.61%.   

Relative Strength of Sectors.

RSI (Relative Strength Index) is calculated using the default setting of 14 days - almost three weeks of trading.  It provides a more reliable guide to changes in sectors than the one-week results which can jerk around quite a lot and, thus, RSI is probably a more reliable guide to recent strength in the sectors. (Click here for a description of RSI.)

 Four sectors out of eleven are above 50:  Financials (XXJ), Materials (XMJ), Energy (XEJ) and Industrials (XNJ).  That's the same as the previous week.  Leadership has now shifted from Energy to Financials.  Energy and Materials were weak this week, but a return to the upside should lead to an improvement in the XJO as a whole.

NewHighs-NewLows Cumulative.

  

This is a metric for the long-term investor.  While NH-NL Cumulative remains below its 10-Day Moving Average, it is best for long term investors to remain cautious and defensive regarding the market.

% of Stocks above key moving averages.

1.  % of stocks above 10-Day Moving Average: Last Week 76%, This Week 54%.  

2.  % of stocks above 50-Day Moving Average, Last Week 26%, This Week 27%.  This remains bearish.

3.  % of stocks above 200-Day Moving Average, Last Week 21%, This Week 29%.  That's an improvement but still bearish.

The long term metric (% Stocks below 200-Day MA) remains very bearish but above its 5-Week MA.  That's promising. I'd like to see this above at least 40% before feeling comfortable.

Conclusion.

 

Overall, our market remains bearish, but we may be seeing a nascent counter-trend rally.

Remember that bear markets tend to reverse quickly.  Just because the market is bearish doesn't mean it can't change to the upside in the blink of an eye.  The stock market tends to be forward thinking - and can reverse when everything looks bleak.  While the Federal Reserve keeps chanting their mantra of higher rates, that is capturing the thinking of many investors.  Irristible forces in the stock market might have other ideas.

I'll leave you with the same thought I gave you last week.

Interestingly, the stock market in 2022 has generally followed the downward path typical for a midterm election year since 1962, according to Dan Clifton at Strategas. The S&P 500 is down slightly more than the typical 19% intra-year decline, but the news improves if stocks stick to the script. Stocks have historically bottomed in October and rallied by an average of almost 32% in the next twelve months. Clifton notes that stocks have been positive in the year after every midterm election since 1942!

Stay Safe.

  

     Weekly Wrap - Week ending 10 June, 2022.

XJO Monthly Chart.

XJO is only ten days into a new month (June).

The monthly chart remains range bound 6930-7539, but now at the lower edge of that range.  XJO finished Friday at 6932

The chart is  is essentially sideways as indicated by the two flat Supertrend lines, one above and one below the monthly candles.  

The MACD Histogram has fallen this week to the down-side, indicating that momentum is to the downside.

Weekly Chart.

XJO This week, XJO has its worst week since April, 2020, down -4.24%.  That broke a three week positive run.

The chart is range bound, in concert with the monthly chart, but clearly at the lower end of the range  

Medium term, the chart remains bearish..  Hull MA13 is blue (bearish); two Supertrend lines are blue (bearish) and the chart is just below the 8-Week EMA (bearish).  RSI and CCI are below their mid-lines (bearish). MACD Histogram is falling - momentum to the downside is increasing.

The chart is, however, rising from the lower edge of the range

Last week XJO finished at 7239, this week it finished at 6932.  

Daily Chart.

Both Supertrend Lines are bearish, Hull MA13 is bearish; Chart is below the 8-DEMA which is bearish.

On the bright side, there is a double positive divergence on the MACD histogram and the MACD itself.

That has a reasonably reliable leading indicator.  It suggests that the Chart will move up in the coming week.  

ASX is closed on Monday, 13 June for Queen's Birthday celebrations in the southern states.  So our market might escape the catastrophic fall in the U.S. on Friday if the U.S. bounces on Monday.

The ASX this week was knee-capped by a huge fall in Financials, down -9.01% after the Reserve Bank raised interest rates by more than expected +0.5%.

I'm a bit perplexed by the fall in the Financial Sector.  Rising interest rates are supposedly good for Banks as they can increase margins.  So the "big boys" who control the market must be assuming that economic activity will be so poor that will impinge on banks, and, possibly, they are expecting a large number of customers to fail in their loan repayments.

In yesterday's post, I looked at ANZ, one of the four big banks which dominate the Financial Sector.  That examination was hopeful of a rebound in ANZ, which would be reflected in the other three big banks.  So we may have seen the worst of the falls in Financials, at least in the short-term

SP500.

On Friday night, SP500 gapped down at the opening and continued falling to finish down -2.91%.

That move takes the SP500 down into a support zone from which it has bounced several times in the past.  After such a big fall, it is likely that SP500 will bounce again.

Sector Changes - past week.

This chart shows the performance of each sector (plus Gold Miners, XJO, BEAR and IAF) over the past week.  

Two sectors up, one flat and eight down. The best was Energy XEJ +4.97%, followed by Utilities XUJ +0.46%.  Energy fell heavily on Friday, down -1.64%.  It's run up might be coming to an end.

Financials (XXJ -9.01%) is the biggest sector in the market and a major drain on the performance of the XJO this week.  Not far behind is Real Estate XPJ -7.67%.  XPJ is an interest rate sensitive sector, so the big fall in XPJ is understandable.  The other sector highly sensitive to interest rate movements is Information Technology -4.81%.

New Highs - New Lows Cumulative.

This is one of the important breadth indicators.  Unless breadth is solidly positive, the market is always under threat.

NH-NL Cumulative continues to fall and is now well under its 10-Day Moving Average, that's a big red danger sign for long-term investors.  

ASX Advance-Decline Line.

This is another important indicator of breadth.

ASX Advance-Decline Line is also bearish, and in sync with NH-NL Cum.

 

% of Stocks above key moving averages.

1.  % of stocks above 10-Day Moving Average: Last Week 53%, This Week 17%.

2.  % of stocks above 50-Day Moving Average, Last Week 31%, This Week 18%.

3.  % of stocks above 200-Day Moving Average, Last Week 38%, This Week 29%

This is another indicator of weak breadth.  

Once these instruments fall below 20, that's a contrarian signal that the market might bounce.  Two out of three instruments are below 20.  It would be even stronger if the third one was below 20, but we are looking at a very weak oversold market, so the chance of a bounce is good.

I don't think there's any point in jumping the gun, if we're reaching an inflection point in the market, there'll be plenty of time to hop on a new trend.

Seasonally, we often see a medium term up-trend in stock markets.  I'd wait and see how this pans out.

Conclusion.

1.  Monthly, Weekly and Daily Charts are at the lower end of their ranges.   I could speculate that we'll bounce here, and there is some evidence for such a view, but jumping the gun could be dangerous move.

2.  Breadth is poor, so poor that contrarians will be salivating at the prospect of new buying coming into the market.  Contrarian signs are not always reliable, and sometimes well ahead of what could happen.  

3.  We need to see a move up on the Stochastic Daily chart.

4.  Double positive divergence on MACD and its Histogram point to the possibility of a move to the upside.

Finspiration Australia. Chart Analysis of Australian and International Stock Markets.

 9/6/22.  XJO fell heavily again today.

XJO fell today -1.42%.  Financials (XXJ -2.07%) again smashed.

XXJ has now lost all of the big rally from early March to late April.  I'll be looking for a floor under XXJ about these levels.

Best performing sector today was Energy +0.56%.  It was the only sector with a positive result.

Breadth remains poor.

NewHighs-NewLows Line continues to fall steeply.  The Advances-Declines Line confirms the bearish outlook.

I think it is best to stay defensive until we see definite improvement in these instruments.