Nasdaq Continues Ascent Into Record Territory

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]
  1. Moving the Markets

The major indexes limped around their respective unchanged lines all day with only the Nasdaq crawling above it and in the process setting another record close (10 up days in a row). Another soft economic data point disappointed as the Philly Fed survey missed expectations and slumped to its lowest point since November 2015. The survey summed up that “new orders collapsed, employees tumbled and the average work week slumped.” Not exactly awe inspiring, but in this new normal environment, any type of news are good for stocks.

The VIX tanked and thereby was the savior of the day as hawkish talk from BoJ and ECB could not derail the major indexes. However, what was derailed was the US dollar, which took another hit as UUP (-0.61%) dove to its lowest level since last August and making it 8 down days out of the last 10 sessions.

Interest rates leaked lower helping utilities (XLU) gain +0.69% while the 20-year T-Bond managed to tack on +0.29% and keeping its rebound off the 200-day M/A alive and well for the time being. Gold knee jerked and closed in the green while Crude oil went the other way and lost -0.83%.

  1. ETFs in the Spotlight (updated for 2017)

In case you missed the announcement and description of this section, you can read it here again.

It features 10 broadly diversified and sector ETFs from my HighVolume list as posted every Saturday. Furthermore, they are screened for the lowest MaxDD% number meaning they have been showing better resistance to temporary sell offs than all others over the past year.

The below table simply demonstrates the magnitude with which some of the ETFs are fluctuating in regards to their positions above or below their respective individual trend lines (%M/A). A break below, represented by a negative number, shows weakness, while a break above, represented by a positive percentage, shows strength.

For hundreds of ETF choices, be sure to reference Thursday’s StatSheet.

Year to date, here’s how the 2017 candidates have fared so far:

Again, the %M/A column above shows the position of the various ETFs in relation to their respective long term trend lines, while the trailing sell stops are being tracked in the “Off High” column. The “Action” column will signal a “Sell” once the -7.5% point has been taken out in the “Off High” column.

  1. Trend Tracking Indexes (TTIs)

Our Trend Tracking Indexes (TTIs) edged higher with the International one showing a better gain.

Here’s how we closed 7/20/2017:

Domestic TTI: +3.87% (last close +3.84%)—Buy signal effective 4/4/2016

International TTI: +8.96% (last close +8.67%)—Buy signal effective 7/19/2016

Disclosure: I am obliged to inform you that I, as well as my advisory clients, own some of the ETFs listed in the above table. Furthermore, they do not represent a specific investment recommendation for you, they merely show which ETFs from the universe I track are falling within the guidelines specified.

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