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ASX 200 closes up 88 points to 7020 rebounding from yesterdays rout with CBA up a huge 3.2% after jobs numbers surprised with a drop to 5.5% unemployed but a reduction in jobs. Banks were teh stand out with APT having a sold bounce following a broker report with a PT of $120. QAN rose 3.5% after a business update on continued cost cutting and EML rose by 3,9% after the rout yesterday Well off the days high though. NXL back on the front page and slipping 6.8%. Asian markets modestly higher and Bitcoin remains volatile.

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Volatility has picked up overnight (Bitcoin down 31% then up 33%) and today Technology has bounced in our market. Was that the bottom or a pick up in volatility that says "Watch out"? Hard to know. We've been watching our market sentiment indicators and they are all coming off the top, or in the case of gold, off the bottom. See the newsletter for a list of them plus charts. We have been selling Technology (selling 'exuberance') and buying Gold (buying caution) this week and today we are also taking our overweight holdings in resources down to neutral holdings (selling a bit) as the iron ore price froths over and the sector falls 5% from the top of the range.  Quietly cashing up as the market looks peaky. 

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A nasty day today with few places to hide as the ASX 200 dropped 134 points or 1.9% to 6932. Banks were hit hard with the Big Bank Basket dropping $4 to 173.83. Big miners were hit too by news that China is looking to increase domestic supply and diversify its sources of iron Ore. BHP dropped 3.4% and FMG down 3.1% despite reaffirming guidance. Bargain hunetrs and a bounce no where to be seen. 
The big loser of the day was EML crashing nearly 46% on news from the Irish Central Bank that it is looking at the company in regards to AML issues and corporate governance. Not great news.

Fed minutes tonight and maybe some stability tomorrow.

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Which bank is the best bank? We find out in the Strategy piece today. Its a clear win. We talk about the current sell-off - no more than a loss of momentum so far. But we've been cashing up and wondering whether to do more.  The Chinese upset BHP and RIO and the rest of the resources sector. A few stocks that brokers like - one of which is an income stock. Plus a few broker opinions you might find interesting. 

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Take a deep dive into whether cryptocurrencies should be considered an asset class worth having allocation for, find out how much cash and gold are currently held in the growth portfolio and engage in the debate over whether you should be positioning your portfolio for higher interest rates.

Settle in and join Tom, Ben and Chris On the Desk this week as they discuss all of this and more.

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ASX 200 closes up 42 points at 7066, off highs but firm none the less. Resources led the charge with commodity price rises in base metals and gold dragging buyers in. OZL rose 6.4%, BHP up 1.8% and FMG up %. DEG rallied 4.6% with banks also doing well although CBA flat lined. The other three had 1.5% days whilst MQG recovered 2.3% as NXL reaffirmed guidance and rose 11.5%. SBM fell 9% on a production update and JHX lost 4.5% after warning of inflation pressures. RBA minutes failed to excite and once again reiterated inflation is transitory.

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Today we look at some of the sentiment indicators that should help us spot the top of the market. We also talk about ESG, BHP, iron ore and we note that we have moved a little bit "risk off" selling some technology stocks and buying gold stocks today. We also include some brokers changes on a few stocks including a record high in one of our stocks which is beginning to look a little bit "up with events". 

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The ASX 200 limped into the close up a mere 9 points at 7024 on its low for the day.  MQG ex dividend hit by NXL issues too with NXL falling 9.5% on media articles. Our two refiners got a lift from government plans to put $2bn into the sector , ALD and VEA up around 6% or more. 

CWN has asked for more details from SGR and knocked back BlackStone.
Gold miners were the stand outs today as iron ore rebounded slightly in Asia. NCM up 2.6% and DEG up nearly 9% with FMG up 1.4% the best of the miners. CBA saved the banks from blushes today at 1.2%

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Tech is back in fashion (at least for a day), with the “buy the dip” mentality is outweighing the bears for the moment. An interesting sentiment survey in the MT Stock Discussion Group shows our members don't think the bottom is in just yet on one popular tech stock. Elsewhere, it's a fairly uninspiring week on the corporate calendar, MQG is the last of the banks to go ex-dividend, and our jobs number headlines the economic calendar. 

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We've been doing a bit of selling at the "pointy" end of the market over the last couple of days and have moved to 10% cash. Most of the stocks we have sold have been in the technology space and need a bull market, upward momentum and a positive sentiment to underwrite their share prices. See which stocks we have sold in the newsletter today as we move to "DEFCON 4 - 10% cash and on alert for a more precipitous moment. Hopefully it won''t happen and if you look at the iron ore price over $230 and the resources stocks up again today, there's nothing much to worry a long term Australian investor.  NAB and WBC ex-dividend today. Bitcoin down 25% from the recent top as Tesla turns on it on environmental grounds. A few interesting fund manager comments and stock picks in the newsletter today as well as a bit of an education about stock market education.