US Interest rates have been steadily rising since the lows in July last year, as the market reacts to both inflation pressures, FED commentary and 2 rate rises in 15 months. As a consequence interest rates have risen around 1.2% for US 10 year Government bonds since July 2016. Rising rates has created a major headwind for the US economy, as the weight of the massive debt levels for consumers and companies are starting to have a weakening effect on demand dragging the US economy towards slower growth. In spite of slowing growth economy the US stock markets are or near all time record highs as bullishness over the Trump presidency have overridden a weakening macro environment as stock investors look to the future with optimism.

Market Pricing 100% For FED Rate Rise For March

Over the last few weeks the probability of FED rate rise in March has been climbing, as a series of press releases and comments from various FED officials, including FED chairperson Janet Yellen have shown their eagerness to raise rates this month. Due to FED officials comments the market has priced in a 100% probability of rate rise when the FED holds their Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and release their statement on the 15th March US time. 

US  Government 10 year Bond Yields Set To Break Out Towards 3.00%

With the recent talk regarding interest rate rises by the FED this week and the market now pricing a 100% certainty of FED funds rate rising by 0.25%, Government bond yields have once again started to climb higher for two straight weeks reaching previous resistance of 2.62% last Friday. (See chart below)

The important factor to note for the 10 year bond yields is if the 2.62% level is broken and closes above the resistance level indicated for the week, we will see interest rates move progressively higher towards 3.00% which is the next level of resistance.

Higher Rates To Hit Corporate & Consumer Credit Debt At Record Highs

If US Government bond yields move towards 3.00% over the coming months, a situation which is likely if the FED raises rates this week. This is going to have a major effect on slowing the US economy even further. The extremely high debt levels in the US, that were built up during a low interest rate environment created by the FED is now beginning to cause some serious problems for the economy and eventually stocks as well with small increases in rates having a larger impact on considerably higher debt levels.

The reason rising US Government 10 year bond yields is such an important factor in determining the health of the US economy, is because the majority of debt products for consumers and companies are priced from Government 10 year bond yields. In other words everyone will experience a rate rise and be negatively effected because the US is drowning in debt, with consumer credit and companies debt levels excluding financials are at record highs. (See charts below)

Crush The Market addressed the negative effects that a significant rise in rates would do towards the US economy back in November as rates began to spike higher in November with the election of Donald Trump. To view this article click the link below:

Surging Bond Yields Signalling Pain Not Growth Ahead For US Economy

Since November's article the rise in yields has played out as predicted with a slowing in a number of key macro economic data announcements, as the economy continues to slow in a rising interest rate environment causing pain for consumers, companies and the economy overall.

Consumer Credit  Debt Led By Student & Auto Loans

The picture is no different for the average consumer who is struggling under record levels of debt, with debt levels rising by approximately 1 trillion since the previous peak reached before the global financial crisis in 2008 & 2009.

The majority of the gains in debt levels have come across from an exponential increase in student debt as tuition fees for college are far outpacing CPI increases. The other main contributor for such a significant rise in consumer credit has been the boom in auto loans to the average consumer. Auto sales had previously been booming from increasing in credit for a number of years. Now as consumers are tapped out with much more debt since 2009, delinquencies are rising in the auto loans market as higher interest rates are biting hard on consumers disposable income.

The rapid increase in debt since 2009 together with increasing rates since July last year, has already been felt within the economy as various parts of the economy are now showing further continued weakness.

Higher Rates Slowing Lending Growth For Consumers

The rise of around 1.2% in US Government 10 year bond yields since July has already started to impact demand for more debt by consumers over the last year. Since the start of 2016 loan creation growth has slowed dramatically from between 9 - 10% per year to a current growth level of between 4% - 4.6% pa. Although the growth rate are in the positive the accelerating of debt growth levels is impacting retail sales within the economy. For example auto sales from the Big 4 auto manufactures have fallen by up to 11% in January 2017 from a year ago. To view auto sales data shown in my recent US economy article Click here.

Atlanta FED Slashes Q1 GDP Forecast to 1.2%

In the beginning of February this year the Atlanta FED forecasting team had set Q1 GDP as high 3.4%. Since February economic data has been released showing further deterioration and slowing in the economy with economic data missing expectations. As a result of this the Atlanta FED has had to  continually reduce their forecasts all the way to 1.2% as of March 8th. Depending on pending new economic data releases in the coming weeks we could see Q1 forecast fall below 1%.

US Gasoline Sales Begin To Fall Again

US Gasoline sales have been in structural decline for several years now, as the chart has shown below falling by over 50% since 2005.  After reaching the lows in 2014 gasoline sales began to start rising again as the economy began to gather pace as jobs and debt accumulation began to accelerate. However recent data has shown Gasoline retail sales have once again resumed their downward trend and starting falling as weakness in the economy  from higher rates is started to effect consumer demand.

Federal Government Receipts Now Negative Y/Y - First Time Since Last Recession

Similar to Gasoline sales US Federal Government receipts were growing strongly up to 2014 reaching a growth rate close to 14% y/y. Since 2014 recent high Federal Government receipts have been falling dramatically over the last 2 years, having just recently turned negative falling -1.1% Y/Y for the first time since the last recession in 2008 /9. (See chart below)

Having a closer look at the chart on the right hand side, you will notice that the majority of the decline in growth rates occurred over a relatively short time frame in 2016. This coincides with the similar time frames when interest rates stopped falling and began to rise rapidly in the second half of 2016.

US Restaurant Operators Same Store Sales Falling

The most recent data available for restaurant same store sales has been released, showing that December 2016 same store restaurant sales are the weakest they have been for in 3 years. In addition Q4 comparable sales and traffic is also down from a year ago, indicating that the restaurant industry is reeling as consumers cut back spending out for food.

 Does A Rising Interest Rate Environment Matter To Stocks?

According to history a rising rate environment has serious implications to the future performance of the market. Since the 1970's 7 out of 8 occurrences where interest rates cycles began to tighten resulted in some large corrections in the stock market. With the last tightening cycle resulting in a 56% fall in the markets in 2009.

The tightening cycle has been running for close to 9 months now as has already had a major impact to the grow rates of the economy slowing dramatically over the same period. With the potential for another rate rise occurring this week, its quite possible we could see 3% US 10 year Government bond yields in the coming months playing further havoc on the economy. Based on the last 45 years of data a tightening cycle in the US has not be very kind to stocks either as the economy reacts to higher rates.

Warning! - The Insiders Are Rushing For The Exits

Company executives are selling around 10 to 1 relative to buying trades of company stocks despite record prices for stocks. The buyer / seller ratio is also on a downtrend since peaking in late 2015  and the beginning of 2016 (See chart below)

When executives are selling in such large amounts it usually means they are seeing the writing on the wall for future earnings and prospects for the companies they run. Perhaps since interest rates are rising and the economy is slowing its starting to place pressure on future earnings targets. The next quarter earnings may provide further insights, especially since companies are conducting record amounts of buybacks that are financed from previously low rates of  debt.

The recent strong performance of stocks in late 2016 and early 2017 has masked a serious deterioration in the US economy that started as early as 2014 - 2015. With interest rates about to break out higher on the way towards 3% we could see the last legs of the economy knocked out bringing stocks down with them as earnings will start to fall again with weaker consumer demand filtering through to lower sales results.

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US Stocks Bullish Run Fueled By Optimism Over Real Data

Since the election results in November US soft data (survey / optimism data) has deviated from hard data (actual US economic data). More importantly since December hard data has been falling as the economic news has deteriorated. Whilst soft data has continued to shoot higher along with a very bullish stock market. 

The Russell 2000 Index (Small Cap's) review shown below will show a very strong bullish uptrend. This pattern is quite similar to the 3 main stock indices DOW, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. This highlights that the recent market surge in US stocks is more a function of market euphoria and optimism rather than actual improving economic activity and growth within the US economy.

Russell 2000 - RUT (Small Cap's) Chart Review

Monthly Chart

The Russell 2000 (RUT) has been in an uptrend for several years now as seen in the chart below. After a 3 year consolidation pattern of mostly sideways action between December 2013 - October 2016. The RUT index broke out of resistance of 1252 in November last year after the US election result win of Donald Trump, as all indices moved higher.

Currently the RUT has established a new uptrend within its larger long term uptrend shown with the blue line on the chart below. This uptrend started after the index gave a false signal when it closed below support of 1100 back in January 2016. After hitting the lows one month later the index has been steadily climbing.

Momentum Stalling - Consolidation Or Pullback Ahead

Since the RUT has had a strong 13 month rally in prices, the momentum indicators shown in the monthly chart are indicating exhaustion of the current rally.

I have circled both the momentum and Stochastic indicator to show that both are indicating a reversal of the strength in the market. Momentum indicator is still high however has pulled back to 2.80. The stochastic currently is sitting at a bearish cross as the blue line has crossed below the red. The last time the Stochastic had a bearish cross in July 2015 (circled on chart price action) the RUT index experienced a correction in prices for the next few months.

Since its only early March, it would be appropriate to wait for confirmation at the end of the month. If the momentum indicator is confirmed we could see the price action retrace back to the current uptrend shown in the chart at around 1315 - 1320 price range.

Since the bullish rally is quite strong its unlikely we will see a retracement back to support of 1252 - 53 level. Keep this target in mind though if we experience volatility in prices in March. Especially since the FED is likely to raise interest rates by 0.25% this month.

Weekly Chart

The weekly chart is showing a similar pattern to the monthly chart with the strong rally in prices since late November. Currently the price action is at or near the upper band of the uptrend channel shown in the chart below.

RUT experienced a strong burst in price around 5 -6 weeks ago as it made a new record high above 1400. Since then the price has been consolidating as it has struggled twice to climb back above the 1400 resistance level, with 2 weekly rejection patterns shown on chart as the price failed to stay above 1400.

Weekly momentum indicator is showing more weakness compared to the monthly momentum as it has made lower lows as it now sitting at 0.06 after reaching a high of 1.88 a number of weeks ago. This indicates the strength in the market that was present as the price made new record highs has disappeared. This explains the hesitation of the index to move higher.

The weekly stochastic indicator is also indicating exhaustion of the current rally and a consolidation or minor retracement in price is likely in the coming weeks.

The weekly chart pattern is confirming the monthly price action as the recent bullish run is running out of steam at least in the short term for now. Most likely the price action will move towards the lower uptrend channel band around 1300 - 1305 level. Based on the current bullish optimism its unlikely the price action will move towards support of 1282 - 84 level.

For confirmation of the retracement in price on the weekly chart, look for a weekly close below the 10 week moving average line which is currently at 1377 level.

Daily Chart

The daily chart price action as of last Friday's close on the 3rd of March is sitting just above its support level at 1,394. After breaking out approximately 2 weeks above the 1388 level the price action has been moving sideways and above its previous resistance level which is a bullish indication.

Contradicting the price action above the 1,388 level is that both Momentum indicators are showing a loss of strength in the market. Momentum has recently moved negative to -0.02 and the stochastic has also had a bearish cross a number of trading days ago. This means in the short term its likely we will see the RUT index close back below the 1,388 level.

If the index does close below 1,388 level, pay attention that the index stays within the previous sideways range between 1345 - 1,388. If the RUT index falls below 1,345 support level over the next 1 - 3 weeks the next target of support is 1,313.

Wildcard Event

Based on the strong bullish run of the RUT index and the major US stock indices, its unlikely we will see a retracement / fall in prices greater than 10% over the short to medium term time frame. However the FED will be meeting on the 14th & 15th of March to decide whether interest rates are rising in March. The decision will be made on the 15th. Based on prior announcements of a rate rise the market may experience with 1 - 3 days of the announcement a lot more volatility. If this was to occur we could see a mini panic of selling as the market digests the news. Therefore the wildcard this month is the FED announcement in the middle of the month that you should be weary of.

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Disclaimer: This post is for educational purposes only, and all the information contained within this post is not to be considered as advice or a recommendation of any kind. If you require advice or assistance please seek a licensed professional who can provide these services.

US stocks are at or near all time record highs across all major indices, with the markets bursting out after the election win of Donald Trump back in November 2016. Since then investor bullishness has also spiked to 10 year high levels. While this bullish euphoria is occurring something else is taking place far more important. The US economy has been trending down for some time now and the slowdown momentum is gathering pace as it moves closer to a recession possibly as soon as this year.

Market Euphoria Clouds Judgement

The markets have a history of becoming totally blind to whats actually occurring in the real economy, instead focusing on the direction of the market to give them an indication of whats taking place. In the chart below you can also see that the composite bullish index (red line) back in mid 2007 was very high around 130 just before the markets began their 50% decline.

Currently the market greed / fear index (see chart below) is close to at the maximum level of extreme greed side, while the actual economy is rapidly declining with a similar dynamic playing out presently with a potential twist to the market outcome.

How Can The Market Be At Record Highs While The Economy Is Heading Towards Recession?

In a nutshell the answer is Central Banks, if you take a look at the chart below you can see how the Central Banks have massively increased their balance sheet since 2008 / 2009. This has been achieved by printing money and buying up assets to provide additional liquidity into the system. This extra liquidity has flowed its way into stocks all over the world, regardless of which Central Bank has been been providing the additional liquidity.

Recently though most Central Banks have once again picked up the pace in growing their balance sheet . So even though the US has effectively kept their balance sheet flat to slightly down over the last 2 years, the other Central Banks have effectively been adding to the pool of global liquidity pushing up prices of stocks, real estate and other assets. Clearly this practice is totally artificial and is giving false bullish signals to investors as the markets are not functioning on their own.

The S&P 500 Index No Longer Tracks Earnings

Further evidence that the Central Banks actions are providing false signals to the markets is shown in the chart below. S&P 500 earnings per share (EPS) are totally out of sync with the rise of the market and now represent a large divergence in their trends.


Earnings are now slowly tracking higher after falling for several years, however this is more a case of financial engineering of companies artificially raising their EPS by buying back their stock usually with debt. Since 2012 corporate profits are down so even companies themselves are misleading investors to the true financial health of their investments.

How Lower Corporate Profits Tie In With The Economy - Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Since 2016 global employment in S&P 500 companies has been slowing down (see chart below) and late 2016 turned negative as the slowdown accelerated with employment growth. The last time this occurred the US economy went into a recession shortly after.

If you look at US non-farm payrolls you will notice that its also trending down but a slower pace.

The interesting point about the non-farm payrolls data is that the data each month is provided based on the combination of a Government surveys (small sample) as well Government generated predictions of jobs, Ie Birth death model of estimated new businesses commenced to produce the monthly result. Several months later up to a 1 year later the actual data collected from companies are imputed and adjustments are made on prior months. Usually the number of jobs actually created is readjusted lower. So the true effect of a slowdown with companies in the S&P 500 will not show in the non-farm payroll data for several months.

Every Time The FED's Own Signal Falls Below Zero Y/Y A Recession Occurs

Scroll video to 12min 52sec.

This video indicates that an indicator that the FED actually monitors has fallen -0.3 in December and has fallen 5.8% y/y, which is the largest since 2010. Each of the last 8 occurrences of this indicator falling below zero y/y has resulted in a recession in the US.

Consumer Credit Grow Demand Drops 43% Month on Month

In December consumer credit grew by $14.2 billion  a 43% drop compared to November's $25.2 billion. Since consumer spending makes up over 70% of the GDP data and the savings rates is falling in the US, a large drop in the amount of new credit card debt also points to a slowdown in retail sales.

The credit data below is actual data collected from the banks rather than from surveys, so it shows a very accurate picture of demand for credit card debt. Given the big collapse in S&P500 employments levels the trend in credit demand will likely continue to move lower and lower the GDP result.

FED Senior Loan Officer Survey Demand Falls Over

The overall trend for credit demand going forward is not looking good with the latest results from the FED senior loan officer survey. Indications for demand for debt for Construction, credit cards and auto loans are all down at multi year lows.

This is important as credit demand overall has been tied to overall demand within the economy and especially with consumers. If the intentions from the survey follow through, the slowdown in the economy will begin to gather pace with the higher probability of the US starting a recession in 2017.

Auto sales have performed very strongly since hitting the lows in 2009, with demand for auto loans driving a large proportion of retail sales demand. Auto sales have recovered strongly also because interest rates for auto loans have fallen substantially over the last 7 years from the FED dropping interest rates and pushing down bond yields via QE purchases. This has allowed buying a new car more accessible for consumers and allowed consumers to own more expensive models that previously they have not been able to afford on higher interest rates.

Auto sales Decline Y/Y First Time Since 2009

The strong performance of auto sales bubble appears to be over as December and January figures have been very weak. Making things worse y/y auto sales have recorded its first decline since 2009 the same year the US experienced a recession.

The data below shows the big 4 car companies in terms of autos units sold all experienced declines in y/y figures. Since the FED senior officer survey results for demand for auto credit is also falling, US car sales declines will  most likely continue in 2017.

With Record Amounts Of Stimulus Why Is The US Economy Weak?

Each month the Government releases the wages growth figures and overall they are usually positive rising slowly over time. The data that the financial media show is the data in the chart below (red line) which is nominal growth in wages. Since 2000 nominal growth has risen 40.2%, however when you take into account inflation real wages have declined 1.1% over the same period.

When the Government calculates inflation, the data they release is usually under reporting the true state of inflation due to various statistical measures like hedonics applied to the data to bring the level of actual inflation down. Therefore the average workers real wages have probably fallen by more than 1.1% since 2000.

Since the average worker has to spend more of their wages to buy the same amount of goods and services, this impacts on their spending power and ability to borrow. Lower spending and borrowing capability translates to weaker GDP growth since consumer spending makes such a large proportion of the calculation.

Weaker Economy = Higher Bankruptcies

The 2009 US recession caused bankruptcies to rise for several years and after peaking in 2011 the overall trend in bankruptcies continued to decline for the next 5 years as the economy recovered from record stimulus implemented by the FED and the Federal Government.

The declining trend has shifted when bankruptcies began to surge in November 2015 and continued to move higher in 2016. This has resulted in bankruptcies recording their first y/y rise since 2010 after rising 26% from the prior year.

Given bankruptcies is a lagging indicator due to the time required to process and complete bankruptcies, the deterioration of the economy has been occurring for an extended period of time now. Since other economic data  is showing further weakness, bankruptcies will continue to rise further in 2017 and into 2018.

Stimulus High No Longer Effective

Despite continuous stimulus of some form or another from Central banks and the US Federal Government growing their debt levels at record pace, the 2016 GDP growth came in at only 1.6% matching the 2011 low read after hitting 2.6% growth in 2015.

Based on the actual data from the US Government, the economy is slowing and no longer receiving a boost from the various stimulus options in place currently to support the economy, consumers and businesses.

Whilst the economy was slowing in 2016 another setback for the economy occurred in November last year, when the US 10 year Government bond yields soared over 0.60% within short period after the US election results.

Given the majority of consumer and business debt products interest rates in the US are priced from the 10 year Government bond yield rate, consumers and businesses effectively experienced two 0.30 rate rises over a 2 month period in late 2016. To view the article written back in November outlining the impact of higher Government bond yields on the US economy click the link below:

Surging Bond Yields Signalling Pain Not Growth Ahead For US Economy

A Rising Stock Market During A Recession Is A Possibility

After viewing this article you might come to the conclusion that despite the stock market sitting at record highs in the US, stocks are set to fall if an imminent recession is arriving in 2017. Well not exactly, since we are not in normal times and the actions of Central banks and the US Government are unprecedented.

When you take into consideration several of the previous FED QE programs occurred after US stocks began to correct by around 10%. In addition the odd market behavior in stocks over the last 6 - 12 months where we have not experienced a fall of greater than 5%. Its a reasonable possibility that stocks may stay elevated or even rise higher even if the US has an official recession. If this occurs this will be another new record in US history.

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The Election Honeymoon Is Over

It appears the honeymoon has ended for Trump and the markets after sparking a major rally in both the US dollar and the stock market since the election result.

The US dollar after topping at the end of 2016 has now started in a new down trend after falling steadily in January. It's now at the same level reached just after the election results in Mid November. (See chart above)

Over the last 2 trading days the US stock market has fallen the most in 4 months, as a series of actions taken by president Trump over its immigration policy in the last few days has shocked the market and brought about uncertainty and fear. Ironically the actions taken by Trump was already raised in his election campaign promises.

Adding to further uncertainty and fear in the market Trump decided to fire the acting attorney general for not following on his executive order over his immigration ban on seven countries. (For further information you can click the headline below)

DOW Reverses Breakout Trade

The Dow Jones Industrial index made a breakout out of its tight trading channel last week after moving sideways for nearly a month. However the last 2 trading days losses has seen the index fall back within the channel as the 20,000 level support failed to hold.

For traders and investors interested in the Dow index, watch the index to see if the previous support line shown in the chart will hold. A close below support could easily see the Dow fall back to pre-election results levels around 18,600.

Nasdaq Still Bullish Despite Uncertainty

The Nasdaq composite has been on a steady uptrend with little hesitation / pullback in price since the election rally begun. As a consequence of the strong uptrend rally late in the year the Nasdaq has made multiple record highs in January 2017.

Even though the index has fallen the last 2 days the index continues to remain well within the uptrend as well its current support. Compared to the Dow index the Nasdaq is showing strong bullish technicals despite the minor pullback in price from Trump's recent actions.

Note:

Despite the relative strong performance of the Nasdaq Composite, a potential close below its current uptrend line could see the Nasdaq fall back to the 5,500 level in price. With the current uncertainty and fear that is currently gripping the markets its quite possible for a reversal to occur.

S&P 500 - Hanging On To Breakout

The S&P 500 has experienced a minor pullback so far this week and depending on how you look at it, is just above or just below its breakout level that it crossed over in last week's breakout trade.

With the last 2 trading days showing some buying support despite falling both trading days, indicates the S&P 500 is likely to respect new support level around 2,275 - 2,278 in the short term. On the flip side with recent above average volume on both down days for the index does not bode well for market sentiment as fear remains within the market.

Weak Economic Data Adding To Market Weakness

Last Friday the US released its first look at last quarter's GDP as well durable goods orders for last month. Both pieces of key economic data missed market expectations, with GDP coming in at 1.9% versus 2.1% expectation. Durable goods missed heavily coming in at -0.4% vs 2.7% expected. 

Interestingly after the release of the key data the market barely responded initially. However after the unexpected immigration ban placed over the weekend by Trump's executive order and the firing of the acting Attorney General yesterday the market decided to react the recent deluge of negative news and shocks with the 2 day declines.

Market Bullish Exuberance Not Broadly Supported

Another key risk for the markets on top of the recent market uncertainties from Trump's actions, is the lack of bullishness among the majority of the stocks within the S&P 500. If you look at the chart below, the percentage of stocks above their 200 day moving average has diverged from the index back in September last year.  This indicates the larger stocks within the S&P 500 are driving the recent strong performance as the remaining stocks under perform. A divergence this large will most likely result in a reversal in trend to coincide with the overall strength of the index.

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Disclaimer: This post was for educational purposes only, and all the information contained within this post is not to be considered as advice or a recommendation of any kind. If you require advice or assistance please seek a licensed professional who can provide these services.

Ford Motor (F) Chart Review - Monthly Chart

Ford like many of the auto manufacturers in the US was able to take advantage of the surge in demand for new cars in the US. Looking at the longer term chart below you can see the strong run up from 2012 as it climbed from the low $9 price, all the way to the mid $17's a share in just over a year.

Since reaching the $17.40 - 17.50 level on 2 different occasions, the stock struggled to move higher and started to move down for the next 2+ years to form a new downtrend.

Potential Breakout

December 2016 appears to kind to Ford this year as the stock is performing strongly as it follows the overall strong performance of both the DOW (Ford is a Dow component) and the S&P 500.

We are approaching the mid-point of the month and if Ford stays at the current level or higher for the rest of the month Ford will have reversed its long term downtrend with a breakout to the upside.

Since it's still early in the month we can't review volume to see if the rally is supported, however momentum has been rising for several months making higher lows and higher highs supporting the move higher.

The $11.75 support level has held up well over the last 2 years as the stock respected the level and bounced higher.

Looking at the moving averages the 50 month moving average is comfortably above the 100 month moving average. This indicates support for the longer term trend. In addition the current price is sitting above the 100 month moving average.

Caution:

Ford has on a few occasions over the last few years made an attempt to reverse its downtrend on the month chart, only to fail and reverse and fall back within trend. It's ideal to wait for at or close to the end of the month for confirmation of the reversal of the down trend.

A close above the declining trend line and the current resistance of $13.85 would a very bullish sign for the stock going forward. This is a likely possibility given the bullish indicators present on the monthly chart and several weeks to go to the end of the month.

Ford - Weekly Chart

The medium term outlook with the weekly chart for Ford shows a less bullish picture overall, with the share price still conforming within the downtrend line on the weekly chart.

I have noted on the chart at least 2 prior attempts to close above the down trend line which quickly failed. With the chart showing the closing price from last week, the stock is currently sitting on the trend line, with the current week trading key for the direction of the stock.

The key bullish signs for the stock is that momentum is rising and is now positive at 1.06 on the weekly chart. I have not included in this chart but Volume has been above average supporting the strong rally of Ford over the last 3 weeks.

Similar to the monthly chart review, the weekly chart needs to close above the $13.85 resistance this week to confirm the reversal of the downtrend. Failure to close above this level could lead to the stock falling back down to support at $11.30, with this scenario unlikely to happen.

Tesla Motors (TSLA) Chart Review - Monthly Chart

The long term shareholders of Tesla have done extremely well, especially if you purchased the stock prior to 2012. At the end of 2012 year Tesla was trading around $34 a share and with the current price at $192.18 a share, shareholders have experienced a 460+% return over that period.

Loyal long term shareholders have been well rewarded, however the last 2 years have been more frustrating as the stock has been stuck in a sideways consolidation period.

The US stock index's over the last few weeks have experienced a strong rally since the election in late November, however Tesla has not really participated in the bullish euphoria compared to the general market. Hence with Ford strong performance this month, Ford has been able to outperform Tesla recently which had been a rare occurrence.

The positive for Tesla is that for now the support level of $188 - $189 is well respected with every attempt to fall below that level quickly reversing.

The current price has for now continued to respect the 50 month moving average, with the current price beginning to bounce of this level. (See chart).

For Tesla to begin to recommence its longer term uptrend the stock would need to close above its resistance level of $270 level, to confirm the trend has reversed. 

Potential Break Of Key Support

Since Tesla has failed to join the overall market rally, with the momentum on the monthly chart  extremely weak as it makes lower lows and lower highs. There is a strong probability that Tesla will break its support level of $188 and make its way to the $127 level.

All it would take would be a negative company announcement from Tesla or a brief correction with the overall market to break its support level. For investors and traders interested in this stock make sure you watch the key support level.

Tesla Weekly Chart

The weekly chart offers no more hope for Tesla than the monthly chart did. Although Tesla finished last week up for the week, the stock looks vulnerable to breaking support at $185 and moving to the $141 level.

Since Mid August Tesla has failed to retest the $279 resistance level as it continues to generate lower highs to form the current downtrend on the chart. The stock may be able to move towards the downtrend line (see blue line) with the current market bullishness.

The longer term prospects though are bearish for the stock. Momentum is currently at -13.22 confirming the bearish outlook for the stock as momentum has been making lower highs and lows indicating no strength in the stock to move higher.

Watch The Support Levels

Similar to the monthly review the key support level to watch on the weekly chart is $185 a share, which is slightly lower than the monthly support of $189. Depending on your time frame that you utilize for stocks will determine which chart time frame is the most important for you to follow going forward.

Wildcard - FED Meeting

This week is the last FED meeting for 2016 and also the last time for the FED to decide whether it will raise rates. Currently the market is pricing in a 90%+ chance of a rate rise this week at the meeting. The last time rates rose in Dec 2015, it was followed by heavy volatility only a few weeks later. With US market highly elevated the FED's meeting could provide the catalyst for the market to experience a minor correction.

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Amazon (AMZN) Chart Review

Amazon has been on an incredible bullish run over the last 6+ years for investors and traders that have held long term positions in Amazon.  For the loyal shareholders they have been well rewarded as the stock has climbed by over 370% since the lows reached in March 2011. If you had held the stock over a longer period the returns would be even higher.

Back in April of last year it broke out of a consolidation period and accelerated its uptrend pace as the stock started to climb faster, as the stock continued to make new record highs reaching a closing high back on the 5th of October of $844.36.

Fast forward to the end of November 2016, and it appears that Amazon has broken its most recent uptrend (See chart below) with the current price sitting at $762.52.

Amazon's Uptrend Within An Uptrend

The good run for Amazon appears to be slowing down for now, as the current uptrend has ended on a monthly chart. With one more trading day left for the stock it appears unlikely to jump back within the uptrend. If the break of the uptrend occurs the most likely target over the medium term for Amazon is a move towards its previous uptrend which is highlighted within the chart.

The first level of support for the stock to reach is around the $676 level. Given the price is above $500 per share you have to give a little bit more flexibility with support and resistance levels as the levels are not as closely defined.

Consolidation Pattern Possible

Amazon may not necessarily fall considerably over the next few months, as its a very strong bullish stock relative to the S&P 500 market. Its quite possible that you could see the stock struggle to move higher with the likely outcome that it move sideways to slightly down as it heads for the previous uptrend forming a consolidation pattern.

Lastly the momentum has fallen sharply over the last few months making a lower low even though the stock is near all time highs, indicating there is divergence and the rally is running out of steam.

The break of the uptrend for weekly chart below is not as clearly defined. The stock had recently closed below the uptrend 4 weeks ago only to pop above the uptrend again, with a rally to coincide with the overall market move higher from the US election results.

With only 1 trading day completed into the week the stock has once again closed below its uptrend. As its a weekly chart it would be ideal to wait for a completed weekly candle at the close on Friday to confirm that Amazon has also closed below its uptrend on a weekly chart.

If the confirmation is complete for a reversal in trend, expect the stock to move towards its first support level around the $681 - 682 level. If support is respected and it holds that level you could see the stock once again attempt to reach its prior all time highs around the $842 - 843 resistance level.

I have circled the previous false attempt to close below its uptrend back in February this year, so make sure to be patient and seek confirmation.

Momentum is only marginally positive at 2.38 haven fallen from over 157 several weeks ago. This indicates that the strength of the trend has practically disappeared. Look for momentum to move to the negative soon to coincide with the stock moving towards support.

The trend is clearly over on the short term daily chart, where I have circled on the chart where it popped lower closing below the long term uptrend.

After breaking its previous support of $788 it proceeded to the $717 / 718 level of support, after retracing back to the new resistance level of $788 creating a change of polarity. Once it reached resistance it has proceeded to begin falling again confirming the new resistance level. This is a bearish signal as the bears are now in control on a short term basis.

The price is currently sitting below its 50 day moving average and the 10 day moving average has crossed below the 50 day moving average signalling a reverse in trend.

Caution Ahead

Normally based on the price action only I would say that the stock is moving next to its $717 / 718 support level again. However the momentum indicator is showing divergence having recently turned positive and accelerating higher. This indicates to me that we could see Amazon make a push higher to break above resistance of $788. If this was to occur it would also reverse it new daily chart downtrend.

Based on the conflicting indicator we would need to see more price action from Amazon to determine its likely direction in the short term.

By the end of the week we should have confirmation on all 3 charts the trend of Amazon moving forward.

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On Friday the Australian big banks which make up the majority of the Financials Sector finally were about to break out of its year long resistance, as it finished just above its 6,820 resistance at 6,823. The strong performance from the banks on Friday also lifted the Aussie XJO 200 index higher to 5,359.

Since the US election results were released some 2 weeks, the US markets have been on a strong V like sharp recovery which had lifted most world markets with it. This included the Australian stock index XJO 200 which up till recently had been struggling. The bullish performance of the US markets had also been the catalyst for the  reversal in banking stocks higher in Australia. Which in turn significantly helped the XJO index with its recovery.

The Key Questions To Answer Going Forward

Is the Financial sector breakout a false breakout, or will the financials sector hold its bullish momentum going forward?

Can the financials continue to lift the XJO 200 higher out of its downtrend and back into an uptrend?

Lastly will the strong run from the US markets continue and support the XJO 200 index higher?

Can The Financial Breakout Be Trusted?

Since the breakout on Friday for the Financials sector excl A- REIt's was not exactly an overwhelming strong breakout, as it closed 3 points above its year long resistance. The most sensible idea would be to wait for more information from the market.

Overall the technical's looks good for the sector, however it's usually best to wait to see if the sector moves higher and can be supported by the strong momentum. If the sector can than retrace and rests on its old resistance level of 6,820 to form a new support level this would confirm the breakout.

If the sector moves higher from here this week and later reverses to close considerably below the 6,820 level, to say the current 6,580 support level this would confirm it was a false breakout. Considering this is the seventh attempt this year to break out higher there is a higher probability that it will not be able to maintain the breakout.

Note: Why The Financials?

For investors and or traders who are not aware of the significance of the financials sector in driving the overall performance of the XJO 200, I wanted to quickly highlight that financials excl A REIT's sector has the largest weighting on the XJO 200 index. With 4 out the top 5 largest market cap stocks within the XJO 200 belonging to this sector.

Big Picture Review - XJO 200

The XJO index has had a mediocre calendar year so far, however before having a closer look at what's been happening I wanted to quickly review the long term chart for perspective.

The first thing to note is that even though the index is currently been trending lower, the index has been able to hold its 5 year long term uptrend. This is despite being within a mini downtrend inside its longer setup uptrend.

You can see on the chart below that on a monthly basis it touched its trend line 4 times over the last 5 years and respected the trend before heading higher each time.

Currently in the month of November you can see that the index had fallen considerably touching a low of 5,052 which was the day of the US election results. However just like the US markets the XJO was able to rally stronger to close on Friday at 5,359 and is currently up for the month.

Since it respected its uptrend and has completed recovered from its earlier monthly losses it's behaving very bullish on a monthly chart and based on previous history since 2011 it would indicate that the index will be heading higher over the coming months.

To confirm the bullish action and a continuation of its uptrend  on a monthly chart, we would need to see a monthly close above its down trend as indicated in the chart below with the rectangle box area. Otherwise its possible we could see a reversal of its uptrend if it its unable to close above the down trend and it respects the downtrend line.

Within a weekly chart (See chart below) the index does not look strong when compared to the strong uptrend performance over the last 5 years.

After reaching multi year highs in March 2015 the index has been steadily heading lower and has now formed a down trend that it has failed to close above on a weekly chart.

I have circled on the chart action the 2 times in the last 18 months where it has failed its uptrend. Once in August last year and again this year in late October. The first time it happened in August you can see the index fell sharply for several months.

Since the momentum on a weekly chart is negative at -156 and the index is still within its downtrend, it's likely we could see the index move higher in the very short term to the downtrend line (shown on the chart) before pulling back.

On the chart I drawn the 2 possible scenarios I see that could happen over the coming weeks.

1. We see the index move higher, than have a slight pullback before continuing higher and closing above its downtrend. (The Financials sector would have to hold its breakout to support the XJO 200)

2. The index moves higher, touches the downtrend line and reverses back down to 5,030 support level.

Daily Chart - Downtrend With Bullish Indicators

Whilst the daily chart is currently in a downtrend and has broken its long term uptrend, the chart has a number of bullish indicators present that could see the index reverse its downtrend.

* The momentum indicator has recently turned positive and is now at 130 after its strong rally from the lows reached on Election day.

* The current price of 5,359 reached on Friday is above the 10, 50 & 200 day moving average.

* After breaking support of 5,195 on the 9th of November the XJO 200 index quickly reversed back above its previous support level the next day, indicating a false breakout of support.

The Key Levels To Watch

For the daily chart of the XJO 200 to continues its strong move higher and reverse its current downtrend, we would need to see a confirmed close above its 5,390 resistance level. If it can close above that level and its downtrend line marked on the chart, we could see the index continue back on its previous long term uptrend.

Failure to close above 5,390 resistance and its downtrend line would result in the index most likely falling back to the 5,195 support level.

To finish the review of XJO 200, I wanted to take a look at the price action of the US S&P 500 index since the US markets usually moves the Australian index with it.

S&P 500 Stuck At Resistance

On Friday the S&P 500 index briefly touched a daily high of 2,189.89 which was just slightly below its current resistance level of 2,190.

You can see on the chart below that the index had reached the resistance 2 prior times already back in August this year before fading lower.

Considering the US index has had a strong rally higher since the Election results came out 2 weeks ago, the likely outcome in the short term is that the US index will pull back briefly over the coming days. Its even possible that after such a string of higher days over such a short period that the index could fall back to the 2,155 support level, before considering another attempt to close at an all time high.

If the S&P 500 index is unable to climb higher in the very short term, it would have a negative impact on the Australian XJO 200 index in its attempt to continue higher. 

So to sum up the review there are another factors in play that could effect the XJO 200 direction. The biggest factor in the short term being the strength of the US markets, which directly impact the direction of the Australian financials sector which considerably impacts the bigger XJO 200 index overall.

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Dividend.net.au

The US election results are in and the US stock market is enjoying a sharp rally over the shock news of Donald Trump winning the election and becoming the new President elect.

On the back of the big rally in US stocks there has also been another big shift occurring in another very important asset class, US Government bonds.

US Government Bond Yields Surging

Since the news of the results of the US election were released US Government bonds have experienced a huge sell off in prices causing the yields to surge on Government bonds ranging from the 2 year bond all the way to the long end with 30 year Government bonds. (Note: Bond yields move inversely to bond prices.)

Specifically the US 10 yr Govt bond has seen the yield jump from around 1.80% before the election results to the current price of around 2.13%. (See chart below)

In the chart below you can see the magnitude of the rise in US 10 yr bond yield reaching the same level of the S&P 500 dividend yield.

Traditionally bond yields help to price the relative value of stocks. If bond yields rise the dividend yield on stocks would also have to rise. Usually stock dividend yields are above bond yields to entice investors to own riskier stocks over more conservative bonds. For the yield to rise on stocks either  dividends would need to rise and or stocks would have to fall in price to lift the dividend yields.

So the fact that the 10 year bond yield has reached the same level of the S&P 500 dividend yield means that a bond investor can receive the same yield as stocks without the perceived risk.

Normally when Government bond yields rises considerably it indicates that either inflation is also rising and / or the economy is accelerating it's growth prospects. When the economy start to accelerate its growth prospects investors traditionally buy stocks in anticipation of higher profits and dividends from a stronger economy and sell bonds which are considered defensive assets.

Many analysts and financial commenters have already come out and suggested that growth is now back on the agenda for the US economy since the electing of Trump as the new president. Because of the Trump factor these commentators have suggested this is the reason why bond yields are rising and suggest it's a positive.  

Why Surging Bond Yields Signals Pain Ahead

However we are not in normal times and there is a very big reason why the FED has spend the majority its balance sheet trying to keep US Government bond yields low, by buying them through the various QE programs and artificially forcing the bond prices higher lowering the yield.

It's also the same reason why the FED has only increased the interest rates once back in December 2015 and has been terrified to rise them further since then. The reason is because the US has a major debt problem from a Government , corporate America and consumer level.

So if the FED has tried all this time to keep rates lows, how is it all of a sudden a good thing for the Government, corporate America, the consumer and the economy that interest rates are now rising. Especially when the debt levels in the US are higher now than before the 2008 GFC event that shook the US and Global economy.

Increased Government Spending

Back in August this year Trump gave a short interview  with CNBC, discussing some of the problems in the US and how he was going to fix them.

In the video below he specifically discusses increasing spending on the military as well contributing over $500 billion to the ailing infrastructure in the US.

How Will It Be Paid For?

When asked by the CNBC host how will he pay for all the new additional spending he planned for the US economy. Trump said that he was willing to increase Government debt to fund it as one of the possible strategies. He further added that since interest rates are so low it would be wise to take advantage of the current low rate environment and borrow.

Bond Yields Reacting To Trump Plan

Now Trump will be the new US president I believe Government bond yields are surging not because growth will skyrocket in the US, but because they know that US debt under Trump will rise even faster than under Obama.

If Trump does plan to massively increase Government debt to pay for military and infrastructure spending, he is going to find out quickly that interest rates will not stay low for long.

Bond yields will continue to rise simply because bond investors will reprice US Government debt and the subsequent yield they will demand, to reflect the anticipated surge in debt coming over the next few years. The repricing of US Government bonds will occur to reflect the higher perceived risk of a potential default from considerably higher debt levels.

China Reacts To Trump Presidency

The Chinese Yuan / US dollar pair has been depreciating for while now, however the depreciation against the US dollar has accelerated recently. The currency pair is following closely with the US 10yr Govt bond yield since news of Trump's win was released to the world. (See chart below).

Since China is a large trading partner with the US and China holds a large portion of US Government bonds this is important, as the devaluation of the Yuan and its correlation to the 10 yr yield could indicate that China has accelerated its dumping of US Government bonds in reaction to Trump become President and the potential shift in Trump's trade policies effecting China.

China A Seller Of US Government Bonds

The chart below shows that China has been slowly selling US bonds since August 2015 reducing its holding from over $3 trillion to just below $2.8 trillion with the latest data.

If China decides to dump their holdings of US bonds rather than a gradual selling as has been the case, you could see US bond yields surging significantly higher due to the large amount China currently holds.

Once again given the high debt levels in the US this would create a lot of pain for the US, as US Government bond yields are used to price consumer, corporate, auto and housing loans. If the bond yields continue to rise it will squeeze the cash flow of debtors in the US and the economy will quickly feel the impact as the economy will buckle with higher interest rates. 

US Debt Obligations Impossible To Repay

A number that has been raised a few times recently during the lead up to the election results was the total US Government debt of around $20 trillion. However what vary rarely gets mentioned is all of the total obligations or promises that the US Government has made. These include the pension obligations, medicare, social security to name a few.

Ray Dalio from Bridgewater has put together a brilliant chart that encompasses all the Government IOU's as well private debt. (See chart below)

What you will notice is that on the right hand side of the chart that total US debt to GDP stands at over 1000% to GDP. This means that debt is over 10 times to the yearly GDP of the US economy and is too high for the economy to be able to effectively grow out of it. This explains why the US recovery has been so sluggish despite zero interest rates.

With such a high proportion of IOU's relative to the size of the US economy, you can clearly understand why higher bond yields will cause a lot of pain in the future for the US.

The previous chart above on the US IOU's is actually a global trend with many countries having a similar looking chart with Government and Private debt rising rapidly over the years.

When you take a look at the chart below on the left, you can understand why Central Banks around the world have struggled to lift rates over the last 5 years. The reason they have not been able to normalize is that debt levels globally are too high to sustain in any interest rate rise.

In fact over the last 18 months or so many Central Banks have cuts rates to further spur economic growth without much success.

Central Banks Stuck In Interest Rate Limbo

In previous economic cycles after Central Banks cut interest rates to stimulate the economy they were able to lift them higher as the economies expanded. However in 2016 the debt levels have grown so high relative to GDP just like the US, the global economy is no longer able to handle higher rates without crashing the Global economy.

As an example on the global debt problem, I recently wrote an article about the huge ballooning debt in China  and how its negatively effect the economy. See: Chinas debt bubble threatens global growth.

The only solution to the debt problem for the Central Banks (CB's) is QE liquidity injections to keep the status quo going. The chart below on the right shows the global equities market addiction to CB's liquidity, with a strong correlation to movements in liquidity.  What this shows is that stock markets follow CB's liquidity above the actual strength or weakness of economies.

We Have Reached Our Debt Limits

In September Ray Dalio outlined very simply that we have reached the Debt limits globally, and low rates and lower interest payments no longer work because the debt is too high to have any additional stimulus effect on growth. (See video below)

If you have not seen this short video before take a look to hear Ray explain the current problem the world is facing.

Higher Bond Yields To Cause Economic Pain

Therefore on the flip side if the debt is too high that low rates no longer cause an stimulus boost or economic impact, higher rates will negatively impact the US economy. This is because as higher rates ultimately reduce demand as higher interest payments take a higher share of disposable income and reduce overall spending power.

If overall spending demand is reduced in the economy this will lead into another recession or deeper economic crisis.

Considering the US economy is already weakening as recent economic indicators is signalling a slowing economy or even recession see: US economy continues to weaken.

Higher bond yields will therefore only tip the US economy faster into economic contraction.


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The US election results overnight stunned the mainstream media, wall street, world markets and millions of people around the globe. After initially falling sharply on the news, the markets eventually recovered and moved to finish higher as the mood turned from fear to bullishness.

Once the markets saw that Donald Trump moved to the lead early in the election results, the markets around the globe began to panic as the DOW futures was down over 800 points, the S&P 500 futures was down 5%, Gold jumped up over $50 and currencies moved violently as the odds turned to Trump becoming the new President.

Markets 180 Degree Reversal.

Once the S&P 500 futures fell by 5% the index automatically went to limit down, and temporarily stopped trading. Once trading resumed the S&P 500 futures began to slowly climb as the limit down measures meant the index could no longer fall more than the 5% level for the trading day.

Once the S&P 500 began to climb with the DOW, the massive fear that was gripping the markets slowly moved to cautioned optimism as the markets slowly crawled back the losses. By the time Trump was giving his President elect speech early in the morning US time, the DOW had recovered to be down 300 points. By the end of the trading day in the US with the results in for the new President the equity markets swung to a strong gain for the day.

S&P 500

The chart below shows that initially when the markets opened that the S&P 500 fell to the support level of 2125 before slowly climbing during the day for a big swing towards an up day closing at 2163.

Since momentum is now back into the positive and the S&P 500 closed above the 2157 resistance level the next target is 2190 which is back to it's all time highs for the broad US equity index.

US 10 Yr Govt Bond

One of the interesting swings in the markets overnight was in the bond markets. During the initial fear stages of the market the US 10 yr Govt bond yields fell all the way down to 1.70 level as investors moved into bonds bidding up bonds as the selling accelerated out of stock futures.

Like the equities market the bond market began to turn around and swing from a 1.70% yield on the 10 year to as high as 2.09% jumping by 20 basis points by the end of trade. Currently the 10 yr is sitting at 2.005 level.

The previous resistance level which is now support is around the 1.97/98 level, with the next resistance level for the US 10 yr Govt bond at 2.13%.

Lastly you can see that since June of this year that bond yields have been climbing since reaching the low 1.30's level and have broken its downtrend on a daily chart.

Crude Oil

Crude oil had a crazy day after having been down considerably to as low as $43 and change which was also a key support level, to a swing to the green rising to 45.25. Currently in the next day of trading crude is sitting at just over $45.

Crude is currently in a middle ground with no clear direction at the moment. Having said that crude recently broke its long term uptrend which is displayed on the chart by the blue line which is a bearish signal for crude moving forward.

The key areas to look out for in the medium term are $46.25 to the high side and $43.05 on the low side. We would need to see a break out in either direction to determine its next move.

USD/JPY

Currencies around the globe experienced violent moves overnight as the market tried to digest the news that many did not expect to occur within the US election.

The USD/JPY pair fell sharply initially to a low of 101.18, before climbing sharply during yesterday's trade to also climb into the green reaching a high 105.88.

The technical's for this pair has recently turned bullish, after reversing it's long term down trend and clearing the previous resistance level now turned support of 103.88.

Momentum has now moved positive and with the strong reversal intra day the next resistance level for the pair is 106.83. Currently it's sitting at 105.57 at the time of writing this.

EUR/USD

The EUR/USD pair had a similar outcome to the USD/JPY but in the opposite direction. After climbing strongly when news first came out that Trump was in the lead and looking likely to win the election. The EUR/USD pair jumped as high as the 1.13 level which also market the high end of the down trend level for this pair (see chart for trend line).

The currency also reversed course during the day and swung from a strong gain for the day giving up all the gains and falling for the day to reach a low of 1.090 level.

Momentum is only just positive and looks likely to swing back to the negative. The likely next stop for the EUR/USD is down to the next support level of 1.088 as shown in the chart below.

Gold

One thing that the gold bugs had expected was that if Trump would win that Gold would jumped sharply higher.

Unfortunately for Gold investors their prediction did not remain true as the trading day continued. Gold initially jumped spectacularly higher to a high of $1,336 for the day, before giving up practically all the gains to finish around $1,277 level.

Currently in the next day of trading Gold is slightly higher sitting at $1,286 at the time of writing.

Looking ahead for Gold it has 2 key levels to clear before it could regain it's uptrend. Its first resistance level is around the $1,305 - 08 level which it breached intra day but could not close above that level. If it clears this level the next level to close above is its downtrend line shown in the chart. During the highs reached Gold hit its downtrend at around $1,336.

XJO - Aussie Stock Market

Australia was one of the stock markets that was trading as the results were unfolding for the election yesterday. The Aussie market index the XJO was initially up in the morning when the market believed Clinton was winning. It quickly swung to the downside sharply following the US futures market, hitting a low of 5,052 which was around it's strong support level reached back in late June, before recovering considerably by the end of trade yesterday.

Today the XJO has risen sharply on the back of the swing in the US markets to around 5,300 level at the time of writing.

Since the XJO is currently sitting comfortably above its previous support level of 5,190, its next target is around 5,390 - 5395.

Keep in mind though that Momentum is still well in the negative at -142 as well as the current price is sitting below its 50 day moving average. The XJO would need to see buying to continue in the US markets to help lift the XJO out of its current slump.

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Election uncertainty and fears of a rate rise by the FED in December rattle the US markets as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Index breaks key support lines.

It seems a shift in sentiment towards Trump over Clinton in the US election, due to the reopening of the Clinton email scandal investigation by the FBI has spooked the markets. To make things worse it seems the market is also convinced that a rate rise in December is going to ahead as the market is pricing a 75% probability. 

Too Much Uncertainty Breaks S&P 500.

Overnight the S&P 500 finally broke a key support line of 2125 (see chart) on increased  volume. Mild panic has begun to take hold as the market attempts to digest all the recent news with regards to the election. The break of support also confirms the recent reversal of the long term uptrend for the index  which occurred a few weeks ago (Circled on chart).

The S&P 500 closed at 2,111 yesterday with a 70 - 75 point  or 3.5% gap between the current price and the next support level on the daily chart. With rate rise odds rising and the US election still 4 trading days away, we could see the index under more pressure over the week.

Normally when stocks are under pressure and there is uncertainty in the markets, investors take refuge in bonds bidding the price up which brings rates down. Currently this is not the case as bond yields continue to rise in conjunction with the market probability of a rate rise in December moving higher (see chart below).

Will The FED Save The Market Again?

With the increased volatility in the markets it's very possible that Janet Yellen (FED chairperson) could deliver dovish comments in today's FED's committee meeting to try and soothe the market fears about a rate rise and spark a rally in the markets.

The Dow Jones index is showing a similar pattern to the S&P 500 index. You will notice before yesterday's price action to the downside the Dow Jones has been stuck within a tight sideways channel unsure which direction to go.

Considering that Dow Jones has made another attempt at breaking support on heavy volume after recently breaking it's long term uptrend (see boxed area in chart), could be the final confirmation of lower prices ahead for the index.

If break of support is to hold especially after today's FED committee meeting, expect the Dow's next support level to be around 17,130. Since the Dow Jones closed at 18,037 yesterday this is big gap to fill as there is 907 points gap between support levels. To be fair though there is a minor support level around 17,600 to first clear. However this is not a major support level for the index which is why I have not highlighted it within the chart.

The chart below show's simply what is probably causing the biggest grief for the US markets right now. The outcome of the election is now in jeopardy as the markets had previously priced in that Clinton was to win the election convincingly. Now the market isn't quite sure about the outcome.

The first of the red dotted lines was on last Friday when news was released to the market that James Comey the director of the FBI had reopened the investigation of Hillary Clinton and her emails scandal as fresh evidence was found compelling the FBI to take further action.

The news of the investigation caused panic in the markets on Friday (see chart), with further selling continued as new polls were released that Clinton was falling in the polls. While Trump has quickly jumped higher because of the latest scandal. Than more news was announced that additional evidence was found causing even more selling initially before recovering slightly.

The Nasdaq index below shows more resilience compared to the S&P 500 and the Dow with regards to its reaction to the uncertainty.

You can see that the Nasdaq is still holding support of 5125, after touching the support level during yesterday's trade, however recovered to close at 5153. If support is unable to be held over the next few days the next level of support is between 4965 - 4970.

The other interesting thing compared to the other index's reviewed is the fact that the Nasdaq is still within it's uptrend as the FANG (Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Google) stocks strong performance have kept the market strong relative to the other US indexes.

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