Fighting the Good Fight

Whereas smooth, bull market uptrends often raise expectations of market players to the point where they become accustomed to the market delivering a plethora of home run long trades and much excitement to the upside, corrective markets often lower those expectations over time to the point where we simply applaud a good effort by bulls. 

This dynamic, not unlike the expectations we would have for a Major League Baseball player versus a child playing Tee-ball, is simply a byproduct of the various failed bounces along the way we see in a downtrend, as opposed to the stunning, seemingly unstoppable rallies which become the norm in a strong bull run.

Currently, we are in the midst of another one of those "good effort at Tee-ball, Johnny!" types of rallies, as bulls defended 2630 on the S&P 500 Index yesterday and are now trying to prove that elusive upside follow-through to stave off a bear raid into Christmas and New Year's. While not pretty, bulls have little choice but to pick up their swords and fight the good fight, else risk one of the worse Decembers in stock market history setting a harsh tone into 2019. 

Indeed, as we speak we are seeing a true test of dip-buyers' resolve. On the SPY (ETF for the S&P) 15-minute updated chart, below, the yellow arrows points to a dip off the opening bell gap higher. A gap-fill below would feel rather ugly and not look much better, to boot. 

But if bulls present themselves into the afternoon and turn in a strong close it may be enough to buy bull some more time at the bottom end of our multi-month, corrective range. 

A few names of note: TWTR has been quietly acting very well and would become all the more bullish over $36 again. NBEV continues to be one of the more technically attractive speculative pot-related stocks.