The DJIA continues to present itself as the standout index year to date and is by far outperforming the Nasdaq and considerably outperforming the S&P 500. 

Yesterday morning investors were bracing for reactions to disappointing earnings results among several big tech names, but… 

Year-to-date there’s been a big divergence between growth and value if we consider the Dow vs the Nasdaq. 

A couple of weeks ago I observed that the CBOE VIX — “fear index” — might be forming a significant head-and-shoulders formation. I saw that as a constructive indication that… 

For investors seeking technical evidence that the stock market may be bottoming and even turning to the upside, the 50-day moving average trend lines among the major market indices might be something worth considering, but… 

On 10/19/1987, there was no CBOE Volatility Index. That index would not be established until 1993, but if there was a VIX at the time, there likely would have been records that would not have been broken since. 

For a number of weeks now my more constructive outlook for the stock market has been based on a bottom-up perspective… 

We are just two days away from the 35th anniversary of the October 19, 1987 stock market crash. This serves as a reminder that October can be a pretty brutal month for volatility and trading swings. 

Given the hectic stream of data and information, it’s not surprising that investors are very focused on the here and now, on the hour-by-hour action in the stock market. This might be obscuring the longer-term view… 

To a certain degree the real feel of this market environment is probably dependent upon the way that one’s portfolio is positioned. I think this climate argues for strategic diversification.