Calm After the Storm

After Friday’s drubbing, the market managed to hold on Monday.  The market was in no mood to attempt a recovery from Friday.  In fact, it barely managed to stay positive.  For a Monday, the trading was unimpressive.  Normally, after a Friday options expiration where stocks took a hit, there would be some bounce back rally and there was a modest one but nothing that the bulls would have liked.

Now is when everyone is looking around to see if there is any sign of buying and then if there is any follow through to that buying, meaning the buying can be sustained.  Such was not the case on this Monday.  It did appear that the bears were resting but after Friday it only appears that way.  There should have been a good sized rebound.  Now the buyers are going to get a little more timid.  The sellers seem to have taken the upper hand for now, but we continue to watch.

Two items in the news Monday, the first is the LEI, the leading economic indicators.  The LEI showed a little strength as it was up 0.1%.  This is certainly nothing that played into the market today as it was largely ignored.  

The other item has to do with RIMM, Research in Motion, the makers of the popular Blackberry handset.  The Supreme Court refused to hear the case.  RIMM is a Canadian based company competing fiercely here in the US against NTP Inc. on a patent dispute.  We have commented on RIMM in the past and wonder if it can now settle its problems with NTP.  NTP would like to shut them down here in the US and that remains a possibility.  RIMM was down about 4% on that news today.

As we wait for future confirmation of the bear market reasserting itself, we continue to watch the markets for signs of what it wants to do.  Friday was a big clue we think so we are waiting patiently for future weakness.  As the weeks progress, we expect a number of people will be talking about how they should have sold in the first couple of weeks of January but now it’s too late—COME ON, don’t be one of those people.

Be careful and watch for good selling opportunities, those would be when the market or your stock rallies.  

Dow Industrials: 10,688.77  +21.38
RYVNX:  18.68
RYAIX:  21.95
TLT:  92.35
BEGBX:  13.48