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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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Bears Still in Control

Charles Schaap -

On Thursday, the market opened up and advanced for the day, erasing more than half of the losses from Monday. The Nasdaq gained +45 points (+1.14%), the S&P rose +21 points (+1.24%), and the Dow increased by +188 points (+1.22%). Volume was lighter than Wednesday, so it will take a stronger surge for the market into reverse the correction.

Advancers won the day with a 3 to 1 advantage over decliners. Up volume had a 4 to 1 edge over down volume. Today's market action completed a pivot low for the Nasdaq and S&P, but given that price is still below Monday's high, the pivot is not a strong. The S&P closed well below its 50 EMA, while the Nasdaq nearly reached its 50 EMA. RSI 20 (TradeStation) still remains weak at 44, and it was unable to make a new high on today's up move.

Despite the "appearance" of a strong up day, volume is still lacking to the upside. Up days in a correction must establish higher volume levels to show a change of conviction for institutional investors. For now, we remain in bear mode. The current market action suggests that the downside volume has not yet been stopped by upside volume. The risk is still high for the market to test lower in a deepening correction. 

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