This is a follow up to yesterday's newsletter in light of what happened in the market today.

 

While the market finished the month on a down note, for the week the averages are all up.  In fact, this is the third up week in a row.  Stocks took a step back today, but all in all the indexes finished higher for the third straight week.

For the week, the Dow gained 6.8%, the S&P 500 6.2%, the Nasdaq 6% and the NYSE composite 5.5%. 
 
What happened?  Again the Market is telling us it is still not yet ready to sustain a turnaround across all categories.  While the market continues to gyrate up and down, client funds are too precious to trifle with in a market that continues to give mixed signals.

 

The one good sign from Friday's activity, and generally one of the key barometers in watching the Market, is that today overall volume trading fell sharply.  When volume falls sharply when the market goes down, it is a clear indication that the big money (i.e. institutions, mutual funds, Pension Plans, Foundations) didn't do a lot of selling today.  The conclusion is that the big money is anxiously waiting too to buy.  That is a good sign, and we will have to see when volume from these groups picks up on the buying side.  After all, the key to prices going up remains very basic;  Supply and Demand, with demand exceeding supply.

 

Although we gave you an indication of six of the stocks we are monitoring (there are around 20 we are watching carefully) the market again is telling us it is not yet ready to turn the corner to the upside with any sustained momentum.