In an age where everything has become a tempest in a teapot, the market is grappling with a bunch of simultaneous events and the non-stop swirl of speculation.
1. The market hung on every word from Fed Chair Yellen, even when inaudible or complete deflections from questions asked. If I had to sum it up on non-Fed speak otherwise known as Layman’s terms. I think the market feels like Janet Yellen is going to play ball and not to derail the economic revival or stock market rally.
2. The Senate is ready to drop its latest incarnation of a health bill that can find enough votes among Republicans to pass. From the look of things, that bill would be more akin to Obamacare than anything proposed thus far. Certainly not what voters were hoping for, but a bunch of elected officials would say they “didn’t let the perfect to be the enemy of the good.”
Meanwhile, I’m hearing ACA taxes on income and investments remain along with essential health benefits.
3. The drumbeats of trade friction continue to get louder as it appears the first salvo over Chinese steel is going to happen any moment now.
Through it all, the major equity indices have gone back and forth with early tech selling propelling the Dow which is now being helped by strong crude prices, as money retreats back into technology. High flying stocks and industries are still stalled for the most part as money seeks value in things like brick-and-mortar.
Remember, a bad company or industry can have oversold stocks just as great companies and industries can have overbought stocks. I would still rather have the latte, although if you are playing catch-up a big bounce, the former is appealing.
Ideally, your portfolio should be seeking to get ahead of the crowd by owning unrealized value, but some momentum also makes it easier to play the buy and hold waiting game.