My Favorite Posts

As you know, each weekend I post stats for my General Market Index (GMI), a collection of 6 indicators that help me to gauge the market’s trend. The GMI signal turns green after two consecutive days above 3. It then turns red after two consecutive days with readings less than 3. I am posting below two charts showing the QQQ during the periods when the GMI signal was red or green. I do not necessarily act quickly on a change in the signal, but the GMI does influence my trading greatly.

With the GMI signal turning Green, and the SPY breaking out of its descending trend line and above its 10 and 30 week averages, I started wading back into the market in my trading account and my university pension last week.

And here is the GMI table.

The current earnings report season is supporting this market while rising interest rates weigh it down. What happens after earnings season is over in a few weeks? Sell in May? The GMI2 is at 3 (of 8), indicating that only 3 of my very short term indicators are positive. A weak close of the QQQ on Monday could turn the QQQ short term trend count down after only 3 days of a new short term up-trend. I know that I timidly went to 100% cash early without waiting for the indexes’ 30 week averages to turn down. Was I wrong to exit? The jury is still out….

This weekly chart shows that the SPY is sitting right on its still rising 30 week average (red solid line) but below its 10 week average (blue dotted line). A close back below the solid red line would indicate to me considerable technical weakness and that a possible Stage 3 top is forming. Note the 4 week average (red dotted line) is below the 30 week and 10 week averages. Compare this to the pattern from last September through January, when the 4wk>10wk>30wk average, the pattern of a sustained up-trend (component #5 in GMI2) when holding stocks or index ETFs was likely to be profitable. When that pattern comes back I will be comfortable getting back into the market in my university pension and my trading accounts. (No, I never get in at the bottom, only after I think one is in  place—the fate of a trend follower.)

During weak markets like the one we have had recently, I find it useful to mine the daily new high list to create a watchlist of stocks hitting all time highs. A stock that can come through market turmoil and still hit an all time high is a stock that might take off when the market strengthens. That is how I found and wrote about the leader GMCR in April, 2009, when it emerged to an all time high early in the new bull market. Unfortunately, I cannot easily use TC2000 to search for stocks at all-time highs because that system returns a null result on a filter if the stock did not exist in the time period examined. For example, if I wanted to write a formula that gives me all stocks that hit a 10 year high, any stock that was not trading for the full 10 years would drop out. This is a major problem for stocks that came public in the past few years.

To get around this limitation I use barchart.com. I go to that site and click on “Stocks” at the top left,  then select “New highs and lows.” When the table comes up, I change the 1 month default drop down to say all-time high. Once I get the spreadsheet of stocks at all time highs, I drag down across all stocks and copy the information. I then open an Excel spreadsheet and paste the information into it. Then I select the column of symbols, copy them and open TC2000. I create a new watchlist for all time highs and paste the symbols into it. I now have a new watchlist containing all stocks that hit an all time high that day. I repeat this process periodically creating a larger watchlist of stocks.

Next I open my all time high watchlist and go to a monthly chart and perform two procedures. First, the barcharts.com list is not perfect and I delete from my watchlist any stock that is not really at an all time high. Second, I draw a horizontal green line at a monthly high that has not been surpassed for three months (3 bars). I then look at each of the stocks to find gems to focus on.  I monitor this watch list daily to see if any of the stocks exhibit any of my set-ups for purchase.

As an example, one stock on my recent all time high list had a green line break out to an all time high last Wednesday on above average volume and a green dot signal on Thursday — LULU.

As the GMI is on a Red signal and we remain in a QQQ short term down-trend (D-5), if I buy anything, I will set a very close stop loss to get out if the stock falters.