Tricky Trading

While the afternoon session was a little tepid, the market managed to climb higher for a third straight day.

This morning's "there's no recession in America" GDP, initial jobless claims, and falling oil prices and dollar strength were cited by many as positive catalysts. With that said, I think three other things are also in play. Along with end of the month window dressing, the fact this market has yet to put two straight weeks of declines since March (yes it has been that long) continues to embolden the troops. In addition, the overwhelming fear of being left behind as oil prices drop especially ahead of another first day of the month rally is playing a role, whether subconsciously or not.

In the meantime, making things especially tricky for short-term traders is that every day is a new day where the trends from the day before don't seem to stick for the next. Today we saw strength in financials, tech, retail, and healthcare / biotech while the commodities were sold. On an intraday basis, as soon as short-term overbought readings were hit late this morning, stocks pulled back this afternoon.

All in all, I am glad that I'm not trying to grind it out this week. Based on what I'm seeing within my end of day scans, I'm sure I would be having a tough time of it if I were.

For tomorrow, I'll be here at the open and share some more chart reviews, but I'll be gone for the rest of the day after that. I appreciate your patience this week as I'm juggling quite a few unusual tasks. Have a great evening!