In German we have an expression: ‘Vom Regen in die Traufe’, which loosely translates as ‘from the frying pan into the fire’ – you get the idea. Looking at the insanity we just left behind and exchanged for a prolonged sideways churn across almost every market vertical I’d say either expression applies.
Unbeknownst to most retail rats a fight is taking place in the equities market, and it revolves around an exotic concept only known to a select few in the options trading world. I’m speaking of course about the weekly expected move, and what makes it so important is the fact that much of what drives stock markets these days is driven by the options market. How so? Let me explain.
Imagine my surprise when equities melted higher throughout yesterday’s session, then sold off most of it in the last 30 minutes, only to gain it all back overnight? No you’re right – it wasn’t much of a surprise, especially after the big players showed their hands late last week by seeding the financial MSM with bearish opinion pieces. That’s how the game is being played – and it’s got a name: the good ole’ rope-a-dope.
Everything I touch today seems to either be out of commission, requires maintenance, or repeatedly crashes. One of those U2 Mondays I guess, so after burning through two frustrating hours this going to be a pretty snappy post. That said – the two charts I was able to scrape together should be raising your eyebrows, especially if you’re bearish.
What a difference just three trading sessions can make. Here we were last Friday seemingly on course to exceed the April highs when suddenly the floor gave way on Monday morning and we sold off for three consecutive days. Of course the financial MSM didn’t miss a beat and immediately trotted out the likes of Stan Druckenmiller, David Tepper, and Jerome Powell who did their very best to jawbone this market lower. Are they right? Is this v-shaped recovery doomed to fail?
The market recovery over the past two months has been nothing short of miraculous. I’ve looked at a lot of historical wipe outs in my time and none of them even come close in regards to recovering lost territory and more importantly when it comes to the normalization of implied volatility.
If I could have a penny for every setup I felt enthusiastic about and that invariably blew up in my face I would be… well, a lot richer than I am. To be honest when it comes to picking juicy entries off a chart I rank about average. What may set me apart from the rest, and what has helped me survive in a wide range of market conditions over the years was learning to overcome my instincts and engage in setups that scared the heck out of me.
All political and social drama notwithstanding dirty capitalist pigs like us have been doing rather well throughout 2019. So the big question going into 2020 is whether or not we are finally ‘due’ for a large scale market correction upon which we are finally ready to embrace the new socialist utopia lurking at the horizon. Don’t ask me because I’d probably the first one in line being handed a cigarette plus a blindfold and as such I may be somewhat biased.
The teens are over and done with and we’re now heading straight into the roaring twenties. I know it’s supposed to be hip to be all cynical and black pilled these days; but let me be among the first to buck this nauseating trend and predict that it’s going to be an awesome decade for anyone serious about being successful – and most importantly the very few willing to put in the work.
I’m pretty ecstatic this morning! And although the prospect of a looming EOY holiday week may play some part, the main reason for my emotional exuberance is that I’m putting the finishing touches on a project that combined has taken me nearly 2 years to bring to fruition. It’s been a monster effort that launched in early 2018 has cost me literally 5000+ man-hours of hard work to get to this point.