April Begins, No Fools Here

Top Line: The stock market's big up move early in the day gave way to a last hour selloff that probably means there is some more to go on the downside in the next day or two.

The stock market staged a powerful advance during the day but failed to hold onto it all into the close. After hours, the market continued to sag setting us up for a weak Wednesday. This drop is part of the Friday jobs' report and first quarter earnings reports fears. We would like to see a little more selloff into Friday morning but it may not last that long.

In any event, the prices that we get in the next few days should be good enough to buy if you still have funds available. If not, just hang on and we'll just watch the market go up in a week or so. Our portfolio has taken a hit over the past few days due to the volatile stocks we own but the volatility should look very good in a strong market.

The Dow did manage to close higher on the day and the Asian markets are celebrating the new month as we write with Japan up about 3%. Apparently, April 1st is a new financial year in Japan.

Speaking of April 1st, don't miss out on your opportunity to play one practical joke on someone on Wednesday. We are reminded of one of our childhood riddles..."Why are soldiers so tired on April 1st?" And, of course the answer is, "They have just finished a 31 day March."

Well, we do think it's been a long month but it's been a strong one for the stock market, the strongest in about six years they say but the first up month since August. The bear market is now in a corrective move or, if you prefer a medical analogy, in remission, but it will return with a vengeance later in the year. We don't need to worry about that just yet.

Any of this selling is designed to encourage you to sell. We want to sell Strength, not weakness. Let the market or your stock tell you it is "overpriced" and then sell it. Right now, we are in the early stages of a big rally and none of these stocks are "overpriced". Take a look at what they were worth a year ago...yes, use bigcharts.com in the links to look at your favorite stock.

Speaking of the links to the left, we added some new links for you (and us). These are links we use a lot so we have them on the blog to get to them quickly and easily.

Don't forget, April Fools is here. Enjoy.