Identifying Market Trends: Jump in Before the Masses do
A new trend can begin that is based on fake news or false data to create the illusion all is well. Remember that the truth or lies are just a matter of perception. One person will swear that he is telling the truth, while another will swear that he is lying. From an observer’s perspective, both are correct.
They are convinced of their position, so all you will do is waste your time and energy trying to sway them. Instead, you are better of letting them battle it out, while you sit down and take a look at the real events that are unfolding, most of which the masses are oblivious too. The main principle of trend investing is not to focus on the noise factor but to pay attention to the “reality factor”. In other words, trend investing focuses on what is going on minus the morality or judgemental angle.
The observer’s perspective to Identifying Market Trends
Personal views are on par with toilet paper regarding their relevance in determining trends. Oh, by the way, we also include ourselves into the equation. This is why we do not voice our personal opinions as nothing will change, and if we let our personal opinions cloud our judgement, then the ability to look at the situation objectively is lost.
Over time it gets easier and easier to do this, and then one day you wake up, and it is almost like breathing. Practice makes perfect, and there is no better time to start than today for tomorrow never comes. Today is the tomorrow you dreamed of starting something new yesterday but never did and most likely never will. If you want to spot new trends you can’t allow your emotions to do the talking; once you emotions talk, logic goes out the window and stupidity
Keep Your Emotion in Check when Identifying Market Trends
In order to spot new trends one should not allow one’s emotions to do the talking; once your emotions take over, your logic goes out the window and stupidity is in charge of the situation. This is the first principle you need to muster before you can develop the ability to spot new trends.
A Trend in Motion Is unstoppable
Whether you and I agree with it or whether it is morally right or wrong is irrelevant. Nothing can stop a trend in motion. This bull market is a perfect example of fake news driving a new trend; all the data imaginable has been manipulated to create the illusion that the economy is doing well. If we had allowed our personal opinions to dictate the way we trade, then like all the fools out there we would have missed the biggest bull run of all time.
Trend investing provides you with the opportunity to see the real picture as opposed to the one the mass media forces you to focus on. The idea is to sell when the masses are dancing and buy when they are nervous.
The trend is your Friend
Trend investing states that the trend is your friend, everything else is your foe. Mass Psychology clearly states that the crowds always oppose the trend and as a result, they are always on the losing end of a trade.
The Most hated bull Market is not ready to drop dead
Throughout this bull-run, a plethora of reasons has been laid out to indicate why this bull should have ended years ago. Mind you most of those reasons are valid, but that is where the bucket stops. Being right does not equate to making money on Wall Street. In fact, the opposite usually applies. The Fed recreated all the rules by flooding the markets with money and creating and maintaining an environment that fosters speculation.
So why is this the most hated Bull Market
The reason this is the most hated bull market in history is because there is nothing logical reason to justify it. In the 2008-2009 volume on the NYSE was in the 8-11 billion ranges and sometimes it surged to 12 billion. Before that, every year, the volume continued to rise, this indicates market participation. From early 2010 volume just vanished, it dropped to the 2-3 billion ranges and even lower on some days. Hence, all market technicians and students of the markets assumed that the markets would tank as markets cannot trend higher on low volume and that is where they erred.
Share buybacks are pushing this bull Market higher
We were and still are in a new paradigm, just as the US uses shell companies or brokerages to mask their trades in the US, they employ the same trick in overseas markets. The US government stepped in and started to support the market directly that is why volume dropped so dramatically. However as there were no sellers, the markets drifted upwards. Later on, they got the corporate world in on the scam. They set up the environment that propelled corporations to buy back their shares by borrowing money for next to nothing and then using this trick to inflate their EPS, without doing any work or even increasing the profitability of the company. Mass Psychology states that the masses are destined to lose; do not follow the crowd for they will always lead you
Mass Psychology states that the masses are destined to lose; do not follow the crowd for they will always lead you astray.In between a few minor corrections were allowed to transpire almost all of which took place on ever lower volume, to create the illusion that there was some semblance of free market forces at play.
Dark Pools could be contributing to Hated bull Market Run
We also have something known as Dark Pools, this, in essence, allows big companies to purchase large blocks of shares without the trade showing up on the NYSE or any other major exchanges. In essence, it gives the government an avenue to manipulate the markets without actually leaving a footprint. As the US can print as much money as it wants, this is a perfect backdrop to do whatever it wants. By the way, don’t believe the hogwash that our debt is only 18.9 trillion. There is no real mechanism in place to check how much money the US creates. Nobody is allowed to audit the Feds books.
How to handle this Hated bull Market
The Fed is hell bent on forcing everyone to speculate, and that is why we have moved into the next stage of the currency war games and the era of negative interest rates. Negative rates will eventually force the most conservative of players to take their money out of the banks and speculate. This process will be akin to another massive stimulus and will provide the bedrock for another huge rally.
Make a list of stocks that you would like to own and use strong pullbacks to add to or open new positions in. Some examples are OA, AMZN, BABA, GOOG, CALM, CHL, etc.
A contrarian investor focuses on the facts and not the noise
We are going to use the precious metals to illustrate some of the Psychological principles of being a Contrarian investor. Keep in mind that most contrarian investors are not real contrarians but fall under the category of Fashion contrarians.
Contrarian investing is based on taking a position that is opposite to that of the masses. In general contrarian, investors get in an investment too early as their analysis is based on doing the opposite of the masses. In contrast mass psychology dictates that you wait for the emotion to hit a boiling point, euphoria or panic before a position is taken. Mass psychology involves the actual study of what the masses are doing as opposed to just determining that their current action is wrong and using that information to take a position in the opposite direction.
A contrarian Investor takes a position that is contrary to the Masses
Contrarians only take a position that is contrary to the masses and that about wraps up the ideology of being a contrarian today. Very few of today’s contrarians are true contrarians; they fall into the category of fashion contrarians.
Investors that adopt the doctrine of mass psychology correctly look for something more. Mass psychology takes the principle of contrarian investing and then pushes it to the next level.
Mass psychology focuses on extreme situations
Students of Mass Psychology look for extreme type situations. In other words, sentiment should not just be bullish before an opposing strategy is put into play, it should be at the boiling point and only then will the student of mass psychology look for an exit and attempt to take an opposing position to that of the masses. To illustrate this point, we will use the following example.
The commodities sector has several components to it, two of them being the Gold and Silver. Throughout 2002 and early 2003, the hate and disgust for both these sectors were extremely high. Fast forward to 2004 and Gold was being mentioned everywhere; even CNBC had a little ticker that stated what the price of Gold was throughout the day. The hate or disgust for both these sectors was no longer there, and even though both these sectors have a long way to go before the masses fully embrace them, they did not provide a psychological basis for taking an opposing position to that of the masses in 2004.
Gold went on to soar to untold heights, heights that most would have deemed impossible in 2003. All along the way we continually stated that Gold would continue to trade higher and higher until 2011. We warned our subscribers to bail out of Gold very close to the top.
A Contrarian Investor pays close attention to what the masses are doing
Even though the masses have still not fully embraced Gold, this concept does not matter in the long run. A more important criterion would be to find out what % of investors has taken positions in these sectors or not. Next one would try to find out what the Gold bugs (the most bullish individuals ever created on earth) are doing. If all the Gold bugs are bullish, then based on the contrarian rules of investing you should take a contrary to a neutral position because all the individuals in your group are now optimistic.
Do not pay attention to the masses; they know not what they are doing when it comes to investing
Should one care what the masses are doing that much or focus on the Gold bugs (the group) that are emotionally tied up with Gold? The masses in general, will not embrace Gold fully until it becomes fashionable and by then a large portion of the Bull Run will be a thing of the past. In the last Gold Bull Run, the masses did not even know what was going on, let alone take a position in this sector.
So one measure would be to determine if all the people who believe in Gold have already taken positions if they have then the market has become saturated. The only way the market can continue its upward run is for momentum players to jump on the bandwagon. These players have very short time spans of concentration, and thus, they jump in and out very fast. Once they decide to bail out the corrective phase could be very painful as was the case of precious metals topped out in 2011. The housing collapse and internet bubble serve as two stark reminders of what happens once momentum has run its course.
A Good Contrarian Investor understand the core principles of Mass Psychology
Mass psychology is the constant analysis of the playing field to determine how the game is being played. Are the rules changing, are the players become more aggressive or docile, is the playing field soft, rocky or worse yet on extremely high and treacherous ground. One has to take measures at different levels and then compare it the pattern you have already established from past observations.
In this sense, mass psychology is dynamic compared to the methodology most contrarians put into play. Contrarians do not measure their position relative to those of other contrarians; they only measure their position relative to that of the masses, and therefore, they fail to obtain a vital piece of data. This usually results in pain, misery and taking on substantial losses In, other words; they do not measure the intensity of emotion in their camp.
The gold bugs are a classic example of contrarian investing gone wrong. They moved from the Euphoric phase to the having found religion period, to the gnashing of teeth and pure misery phase, as they watched Gold plunge from 1800 ranges down to the 1000 ranges. They still cannot fathom why this happened, especially as trillions of more dollars have been created since 2011.
The Internet boom lasted one-year longer after all the TA and contrarian indicators were in the extremely bearish zones. Euphoria for this sector was running sky-high. If one had shorted the markets based on these contrarian factors only one would have lost one’s pants and well as underwear. In other words, you would have most likely lost a small fortune.
Gold bugs should have banked some of their profits. Instead, they continued to plough money into Gold, and as it pulled back, they jumped in joy and added even more. Once the correction moved from the mild to the wild phase, they panicked and started to pray. Today the sentiment is almost as bearish as it was in 2003. From a long term perspective, a great buying opportunity could be at hand.
Be A true Contrarian Investor and not a fashion contrarian
Most so-called contrarians were caught flat-footed when the Equity markets mounted this huge rally from Oct 2004. Their contrarian indicators suggested that taking a short or neutral position was the right thing to do. Only 10% of the investors can win at any given time. The moment the number surges past this level (no matter what side of the fence they are on contrarian or the masses side); the markets will adjust to bring this ratio back to its norm.
Investing based on psychology amounts to not only taking a position against the masses but also against the fashion contrarians. Once sentiment has reached the boiling point, one should go into cash; risk takers can consider shorting the markets. Finally, less attention is being given to the precious metals sector, so establishing a position now could be viewed as a prudent long term investment.
On the same token, most investors and experts expected the Market to Crash after Trump won and we stated that it would create a buying opportunity just as Brexit did. In fact, since 2013 we have been stating that a stock market crash was a long way in the making and that all strong pullback should be viewed through a bullish lens.
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Tap water quality investigation: MONTREAL (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Canadians have been unwittingly exposed to high levels of lead in their drinking water, with contamination in several cities consistently higher than they ever were in Flint, Michigan, according to an investigation that tested drinking water in hundreds of homes and reviewed thousands more previously undisclosed results.
Residents in some homes in Montreal, a cosmopolitan city an hour north of the U.S.-Canada border, and Regina, in the flat western prairies, are among those drinking and cooking with tap water with lead levels that exceed Canada’s federal guidelines. The investigation found some schools and daycares had lead levels so high that researchers noted it could impact children’s health. Exacerbating the problem, many water providers aren’t testing at all.
It wasn’t the Canadian government that exposed the scope of this public health concern.
A yearlong investigation by more than 120 journalists from nine universities and 10 media organizations, including The Associated Press and the Institute for Investigative Journalism at Concordia University in Montreal, collected test results that properly measure exposure to lead in 11 cities across Canada. Out of 12,000 tests since 2014, one-third — 33% — exceeded the national safety guideline of 5 parts per billion; 18% exceeded the U.S. limit of 15 ppb.
In a country that touts its clean, natural turquoise lakes, sparkling springs and rushing rivers, there are no national mandates to test drinking water for lead. And even if agencies do take a sample, residents are rarely informed of contamination. Full Story
Trump may face fight over planned move from NYC to Florida
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump a Florida man? Not so fast.
Despite a stinging “good riddance” tweet from New York’s governor, the president’s home state may not let him go to Florida without a fight.
Trump’s plan to shift his permanent residence to Palm Beach will likely be heavily scrutinized by New York state officials, who are notorious for auditing wealthy residents seeking to flee to lower-tax states to make sure such moves are real and not just on paper. Full Story
Prosecutor reviewing Russia probe known for tenacity, ethics
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The man leading the inquiry into the origins of the Russia probe is no stranger to politically sensitive investigations.
In his 41-year career as a prosecutor, John Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut, has led investigations into the FBI’s cozy relationship with Boston mobsters such as James “Whitey” Bulger and the CIA’s use of tough interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects.
Former colleagues and defense lawyers who have squared off against him say he is unlikely to be concerned about any fallout from his findings during this new assignment. Full Story
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Will Bitcoin Crash or Backbreaking Correction? (Bitcoin Crash Chart)
The dot.com insanity experienced a backbreaking amendment before the market launched and beat out toward the finish of 1999. The picture below represents that Bitcoin likewise experienced such an adjustment, but since of the expansive finish move it has all the earmarks of being only a blip. Tactical Investing amounts to combining Technical analysis with Mass psychology creating a system that is second to none. The Trend Indicator is an example of such a system.
It combines the most important aspects of Mass psychology with the best of Technical analysis to yield a system that identifies the trend in advance of the event. Our technical indicators also enable us to identify crucial turning points in the market accurately.
Think about that from a high of 2977 (June 10, 2017); it dropped to a low of 1808 set on the fifteenth of July 2017; it shed generally 40% in that brief period (shown by the green box). Everybody recognizes what pursued.
Depressed people tend to depress everyone around them, however it keeps an eye on Pay’s all around inadequately over the long haul
It looks horrid, the media is siphoning apocalypse type situations, solid bulls are appearing of shortcoming, and even contrarian investing specialists are beginning to break. Unadulterated Contrarian Investors are more intelligent than the majority, yet they do have imperfections; the most astute financial specialists are the ones that put the standards of mass brain science into play.
They watch the mass outlook, and they comprehend that notwithstanding when dread begins to crawl into the condition, they are constrained to make this inquiry: Was the group in a condition of elation when the market beat out? On the off chance that the appropriate response is “no”, at that point regardless of how horrendous the image may look, the end amusement is that the group is being set up for a bogus descending move. Furthermore, the ordinary reaction would “why”. Basic answer, this is a propelled type of Pavlovian preparing.
The Bitcoin Crash Chart resembled the Tulip Bubble, it was a trick from the earliest starting point. The ones that made the cash were the ones that got in first, the ones that got in late were given their heads on a stinky tin platter. Never get into a speculation when the majority are euphoric, purchase when there is blood in the lanes and the other way around.
Financial exchange crashes are diverse as they don’t speak to one segment, so it is simply an issue of time before the business sectors will return to the standard. From a mass brain research point of view, financial exchange crashes are only long haul purchasing openings. Disregard the what occurs if the securities exchange crashes situation, and spotlight on what you would do if stocks you were biting the dust to possess before are currently selling for pennies on the dollar.
Pavlovian Type Training Is Being Used On The Masses
At the point when the market puts in a base subsequent to encountering a backbreaking remedy, and after that proceeds to mount an amazing rally; the group engraves the accompanying information in their brains. Purchase the pullback, since it is a phony snare to drive us out; they likewise begin to have confidence in the accompanying mantra “the more grounded the pullback, the better the chance”. Next time when the Market puts in a best, bullish slant will remain bizarrely high, and that will be the notice to understudies of Mass Psychology that the genuine skull pulverizing revision is en route. Once more, we point you toward the not very far off Bitcoin stupendous buyer advertise and the similarly fabulous accident. From low to high Bitcoin attached 11,000% in increases and the majority still expected that the main bearing it could exchange was up. When it bested the Bitcoin swarm was past overjoyed.
Concerning whether the bitcoin crash is finished, we trust that one should hold up somewhat longer before bouncing in and in every way that really matters, Bitcoin chart is exceptionally far-fetched to test the 20,000 territories for quite a while. On the drawback, bitcoin is probably going to test the 3000 territories with a conceivable overshoot to the 2,500 territories before a significant base grabs hold. Right now, there are numerous different stocks that look fascinating and unmistakably more appealing than bitcoin, for instance, PG, MRK, TCEHY, and so on.
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The Bond market is Indicating that The Rate of Inflation is not an issue in 2017
Bonds should have continued to plunge, but notice that bonds bottomed in April and have started to trend higher. After the July rate hike, bonds should have taken out their April lows, but they did not. Instead, they went on to put in a series of higher lows; higher lows are usually indicative of higher prices. Furthermore, the stock market hardly reacted to the last rate hike; after a very mild reaction, it has continued to trend higher.
We tend to focus more on the technical and psychological outlook, and both are indicating that inflation is still not an issue. The Gold market is also indicating that inflation is not an issue. Last July Gold traded past $1400; at that time rates were lower and the US dollar was trading at higher levels. But today rates are higher today, and the dollar is trading lower than it was in 2016, but Gold instead trading at or above $1400 can’t even trade above $1300 for a sustained period.
Mass Psychology seems to support the theory that US inflation is not a big problem
The psychological factor does not support higher prices; the economy is not doing well as the consumer is not spending wildly. Consumer confidence is increasing, but consumer spending is not marching in tandem with consumer confidence. Income growth is weak; the rise in incomes and net worth has primarily benefited high income and high net worth households. These are the same individuals that have the most money invested in the stock market which has tripled since its March 2009 lows.
We have listed a plethora of factors that illustrate that inflation is not an issue; at least not yet.
Even James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve of St Louis went seems to be in agreement
“Low inflation has been the major surprise of the era,”
He also went on to state that he was still waiting for inflation to return to the 2% ranges and would not support any increases in the Fed’s benchmark rate until 2018 to allow inflationary forces to recover. He might have to wait a lot longer than that. AI and technology, in general, are going to continue to fuel lower prices. The retail sector is in freefall; the remaining players battle it out, and price wars will continue for the foreseeable future. Food prices are going to plunge due to the price war that new entrants like Lidl and Amazon have triggered.
The bond market is not supporting the higher inflationary outlook, in fact by all measures the bond market appears to be building momentum to trend higher.
US Jobs Report misses the mark
The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4% and wages barely grew. Only 156,000 jobs were added as opposed to the 180,000 consensus number.
The retail sector continued to get hammered; retailers shed 9,00 jobs, while the public sector shed another 9000 jobs.
“In months where there are anomalies like this, we look at the three-month average, which is 185,000,” said Michael Gapen, chief United States economist at Barclays. “The labor market is healthy, but we still have the conundrum that solid employment gains haven’t translated into faster wage growth.”
One wild card in the second half of 2017 will be gasoline prices. The surge following Hurricane Harvey’s devastation in Texas will leave less money for consumers to spend on other goods and services.
“For the economy, it’s steady as she goes, but for the markets, it’s Goldilocks,” said Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank, referring to the not-too-hot, not-too-cold August payroll increase. NY Times
The markets are holding up well and trending higher as we stated they would all along in 2016 and now in 2017. Until the sentiment turns bullish the markets are expected to trend higher.
Price of Copper probably a bullish Development for the Stock market
Many pundits associate higher copper prices with inflation. This is the wrong metric to look at; higher copper prices are usually associated with an improving economy.
Copper has traded past a key resistance point ($3.00) and it has managed to close above this important level on a monthly basis. The long term outlook for copper is now bullish and will remain so as long as it does not close below 2.80 on a monthly basis. Copper is facing resistance in the 3.20-3.25 ranges and as it is now trading in the extremely overbought ranges. As copper is now trading in the extremely overbought ranges, it is more likely to let out some steam before trading past this zone. A healthy consolidation will provide copper with the force necessary to challenge the 3.20 ranges and trade as high as $3.80 with a possible overshoot to $4.00, provided it does not close below $2.80 on a monthly basis.
Now that copper has traded past $3.00 on a monthly basis, the Fed deserves another pat on the back for they have managed to further cement the illusion that this economic recovery is real. Copper is seen as a barometer for economic growth, so pulling off a Houdini here is probably going propel a lot of former naysayers to embrace this economic recovery.
Mass Sentiment is still Negative so Stock Market likely to Correct only
Combining this data with the action in the Copper markets leads us to believe that the stock market is more likely to experience a correction than an outright crash. Higher copper prices are usually indicative of higher stock market prices. Therefore, the copper markets are confirming that the long term trend is still intact.
What about the Inflation issue?
The chart below puts an end to that argument for now. If inflation were an issue, the velocity of M2 money stock would be trending upwards. Until it starts to trend upwards, inflation is not an issue and the focus should be on higher stock market prices.
Conclusion
Don’t focus on the noise; focus on the trend as it’s your friend and everything else is your foe.
Stock market corrections or stock market crashes: The Dow would have to drop below 9000 to break below the main uptrend line; an unlikely event in the near future. However, this does not mean it’s impossible. Every once in awhile the markets experience a monumental crash that can shave of as much as 60% of the Markets current value. In this is instance we are using weekly charts; each bar on the chart represents one week’s worth of data. Straight off the bat, you can see that back breaking corrections translate into long term buying opportunities. Remember when there is blood in the streets and the masses are in panic mode, the opportunity is knocking.
Market Crashes are Buying Opportunities
The first zone comes into play at 16,000. If the Dow closes below this level on a monthly basis then there is a chance it could trade as low as 13,000. However, based on the current market sentiment, there is very little likelihood of such a scenario coming to pass. Mass Psychology is very clear when it comes to dealing with stock market crashes. Market crash on a note of Euphoria and bottom on a note of despair. Mass psychology states that optimum time to get into the markets is when the masses are in panic mode.
A fortress of support comes into play at the 13,000-13,500 ranges
To trade any lower than this level, the Dow would need to close below the above ranges on a quarterly basis. If it were to do that then the main uptrend line could be tested. Note that this trend will continue to trending upwards, so in 12 months, the trend line could move from the 9000 ranges to the 10,000 plus ranges.
Buy the Fear Sell the Joy
The individuals who arrive at the party late are the first ones to come out and mistake a correction for a crash.The crowd panics when it sees blood in the streets; instead of joining the crowd do something different take advantage of stock market crashes and buy as the crowd dumps quality stocks and flees for the exits.
Crash or correction boils down to the angle of observance
What is stunning to one, could appear ugly to another; it comes down to the angle of observance. Alter the angle and the image changes. Mass media and most experts try to alter the angle and direct you to see what they want you to see. They are in the fear “Selling Business” because fear sells, so they focus on creating a mountain out of a mole hill.
History clearly indicates that the Astute investors build very large stakes when there is blood in the streets. Moreover, they keep building these positions as long as the main driving force is fear. Take a look at the current Bull market; the Dow is trading at 22,000 and the masses are still nervous. It’s history in the making. The masses are always on the wrong side of the markets in the long run.
The astute investor always views financial disasters through a bullish lens. Instead of panicking they take advantage of stock market crashes.
Normality highly values its normal man. It educates children to lose themselves and to become absurd, and thus to be normal. Normal men have killed perhaps100, 000 of their fellow normal men in the last fifty years.
R. D. Laing 1927-1989, British Psychiatrist
