By Lawrence G. McMillan This past week saw further deterioration -- by the $SPX Index as well as the internal indicators. $SPX sold off, but then tried to snap back with a big rally on Thursday, but it is not all that convincing. But, in reality, the 100-point rally just seemed to be an oversold rally. It didn't even reach the declining 20-day Moving Average, much less challenge the downtrend (purple) line on the chart. The rally did accomplish one thing, though: it pushed $SPX back up into that support area. So, technically there is still support there, or slightly below. The market internals have been terrible. Specifically the "market internals" as far as our indicators go, are 1) equity-only put- call ratios, 2) breadth oscillators, and 3) New Highs vs. New Lows on the NYSE. All three
By Lawrence G. McMillan We’re excited to introduce McMillan Morning Market Commentary, a new subscription designed to give traders and investors a concise look at the broad stock market and our current market outlook at the start of the trading day. The commentary brings together four of the key areas we use to evaluate market conditions: S&P 500 ($SPX) price action, volatility ($VIX), equity-only put-call ratios, and market breadth. We’ll highlight important support and resistance levels, changes in our indicators, significant overnight developments, and the signals we believe are worth watching. Rather than simply recapping what happened, the goal is to provide perspective on where the market stands and what we’re watching next. Try It Free for 7 Days To introduce the new service, we
So, $VIX is defying seasonality and remaining low; What now? (Preview)
$UVXY$ $VXX$ $TVIX$ By Lawrence G. McMillan As we’ve been commenting for a couple of months now, “everyone” is expecting a rise in $VIX. In classic stock market contrarian fashion, $VIX has steadfastly remained at low levels – countering the majority opinion and frustrating volatility bulls. That would include us, to some extent, although it is not surprising to me to see the market act in a way that causes the majority to be wrong. That was our point in the article we wrote in last week’s newsletter. So what do we do now? There is still potential for a $VIX increase and a market breakdown, although some cynics point out tha
$TVIX$ $UVIX$ $DECP$ By Lawrence G. McMillan Stocks continue to slip after having made new all-time highs on August 14th. The 7600 support level for $SPX has now come under attack, and it was briefly violated yesterday. Today, however, the CPI number although "in line" was interpreted as a huge relief, and the market is rallying strongly. So support extends down to 7580 or so. The general support area is now 7580 7620. Overhead, there is a downtrend line on the $SPX chart (see Figure 1) that extends from the August 14th high through the last rally's high near 7750. For the bulls to reclaim control, $SPX needs to break out over 7770 or so. There is
$TVIX$ $UVIX$ $DECP$ By Lawrence G. McMillan After making new all-time highs on August 14th, $SPX has struggled a bit. There is a very minor downtrend line on the chart right now, after a series of negative days accompanied in general by terrible breadth. That pullback seems to have culminated with a retest of the 7600-7620 support level this past Tuesday, September 1st. That support level is marked with a thick red horizontal line on the $SPX chart in Figure 1. If it gives way, a much more negative picture will emerge, but so far support has held. As for resistance, one can see (from the same chart), that there is a minor downtrend line in place
$NVDA$ $DECU$ $TVIX$ By Lawrence G. McMillan Traders were a bit leery of some potentially volatile events this week, but so far they have not proven to be troublesome. The NVIDIA (NVDA) earnings were positive, and the stock rose. That was a relief to the market. Also, Fed Chair Warsh made the Keynote Address at the Jackson Hole Monetary conference this morning. The market's reaction is muted. There is still resistance at 7740 to overcome (blue horizontal line on the chart in Figure 1), but that is certainly doable. There is major support in the 7600-7640 area, which not only is the level of the previous all-time high, but is also where a gap exist
$GOTU$ By Lawrence G. McMillan Yesterday, I joined the team at tastylive for a conversation about the current market, some of the strategies I’m trading today, and how my approach to options has evolved over the years. We started with the broad market. I remain cautiously bullish, particularly as long as the S&P 500 holds above the 7,600 level. The subdued $VIX and positively sloped volatility term structures are also encouraging, although breadth and new highs versus new lows remain somewhat shaky. From there, we got into some of the strategies I’ve been using recently, including 0DTE index options, put credit spreads combined with upside calls, broken-wing butterflies, and rolling positions as the market moves. We also spent some time