Monthly Archives: December 2023

29Dec1:47 pmEST

One Final Chart for 2023

Courtesy of Hi Mount Research, the chart below has been making the rounds on Twitter of late.  Here we can see that when we have excessive equity exposure, on a historical basis, by households, it leads to prolonged periods of sideways/down markets as a contrarian measure.  There can be a little of a lag before this kicks in, as we saw with the...

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28Dec1:36 pmEST

Holiday Malaise

We are right smack in the middle of that awkward period where Christmas is clearly in the rear-view mirror, with leftovers having been exhausted and playing Christmas music seems out of place, but New Year's is still a few days ahead of us and the calendar has not yet flipped. It is still the holiday season, for all intents and purposes, but a...

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27Dec3:22 pmEST

I Feel Sorry for Your Latte

Starbucks continues to act poorly into the final days of 2023, a surefire sign that fund managers have little interest in having the name on their books. For a good while now, we have noted the SBUX relative weakness both here and with Members.  Despite that, on the long-term SBUX quarterly chart, updated below, the major uptrend for years is...

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26Dec2:02 pmEST

Putting Out a BOLO This Week

I am putting out a BOLO this week.  Used mostly by law enforcement, BOLO is an acronym that means "be on the lookout." And when we note that this final holiday week of the calendar year tends to, usually quite handily, be the lightest trading volume days of the year, we simply must be aware of trading stocks which normally are not considered...

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24Dec11:15 amEST

Merry Christmas to You from Market Chess

All the best for a safe and happy holiday week. Eat, drink, and be merry.  I did a holiday video for Members today, worth a look.  In the meantime, enjoy Rod Stewart's Christmas concert. 

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21Dec12:16 pmEST

Let's Just Chalk it Up to Cultural Differences

The "Santa Rally" is an actual and seriously tracked phenomenon on Wall Street, not just some urban legend. It officially starts tomorrow, since the market is closed on Monday for Christmas. In a way, it almost seems like an entirely different market culture during the holidays.  Specifically, the Santa Rally is the last five trading days of...

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20Dec1:21 pmEST

Quite the Picture

Freeport-McMoran, the domestic (Arizona-based)  molybdenum producer with tons of copper and gold exposure, too, used to be one of the most prominent stocks in the entire market about thirteen-fifteen years ago.  Back then, we had some ephemeral inflation head-fakes, where folks keyed off FCX for inflationary tells during its exhilarating...

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19Dec3:10 pmEST

Extremely Rare, Extremely Precious

Of the four major precious metals (palladium, platinum, gold, and silver), palladium is said to be the most expensive and rare. In fact, it is about fifteen times rarer than platinum, which probably surprises most people. In addition, in this brave new green world, palladium is an essential part in making pollution-control devices for...

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18Dec11:53 amEST

Steel Yourself for This Sector {Video}

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17Dec11:11 amEST

Weekend Overview and Analysis 12/17/23 {Video}

The following video is a brief, condensed version of the full-length Weekend Video Strategy Session which I present each weekend to members of Market Chess Subscription Services. In the longer version, I offer tons of actionable trade ideas, educational content, and in-depth objective analysis across all markets.  Please click here  for more...

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