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Staying in touch with current events and market action is important for trading success. This blog contains topics of interest that relate to individual stocks, market indices, market sectors/industries, and ETFs. 

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Market Slows Decline--Eyes on Fed

Charles Schaap -

Tuesday, the market fell lower off the open and set a new daily low. During the noon hour, the market began a slow rise that ended around 3 pm. when it gave up most of the gains by day's end. The market closed in the lower half of the day's range. The S&P lost -8 points (-0.49%), the Nasdaq gave up -44 points (-1.08%), and the Dow declined -41 points (-0.26%). 

Volume was lighter than Friday's but still above average. The Nasdaq closed slightly below its 50 EMA, so now all three indices are below their respective 50 EMAs. The S&P closed for the second day below the key level of 1,800. Market breadth was bearish, but improved from Friday. Decliners beat advancers by 2.5 to 1. Down volume won over up volume by 2.3 to 1.

The VIX made a new high today, but closed lower than Friday. That suggests the potential for a retracement move (rebound) on Tuesday or Wednesday. Durable goods and Consumer Sentiment are reported tomorrow, but all eyes will be focused on Wednesday's meeting of the Fed which may lead to more volatility in the market. The Fed's comments could spark a market rally given the deep sell off over the last 3 days.

September Could Be Worse than August
Charles Schaap - August 30, 2013

Historically, August is one of the 4 worst performing months for the S&P 500 (source: Stock Trader's Almanac). This year, the S&P's performance in August fit the history, falling -2.8% during a market correction. The large, blue arrow represents the month of August....keep reading