Getting a Little Chippy Out There

One-way markets tend to reveal the more obnoxious side of market players and pundits alike, which is likely being compounded by an extended, emotional election process amid a rare pandemic.

On a daily basis, you see a plethora of "I-told-you-so's" from traders who should probably know better but cannot help themselves. Such is the nature of speculation, however. And such is the nature of Wall Street. 

So as we officially have a new President in office, it begs the question as to whether we will soon have a new market regime, too. 

In reality, it is way too early and purely conjecture to make assumptions about anything close to a major market top. However, it is more colorable to argue that the daily melt-up on the indices alongside historical risk-taking by retail investors places us closer to an elusive shakeout or seasonal correction. 

Thus, although it may not be in vogue these days, observing possible changes in character, even if they have been false flags previously, is still instructive. As an example, despite gaps higher in tech monsters like BABA and NFLX this morning, the red hot semiconductors finally showed signs of being at least somewhat fallible, going green-to-red as we speak. The SMH sector ETF daily chart, below, illustrates as much. 

Again, this need not mean the end of the world, let alone the bull market, nor a "markets-must-crash-under-Biden" theme is emerging. But it ought to be tracked closely the rest of today to see if dip-buyers can muster their usual comeback or are relying a bit too much on boasting these days in lieu of broad-based, actual buying up at these levels.