stock market today

About Shark Watch


Friday, August 15 - 4:29 PM

Afternoon Comments

Although they ended up off the highs of the day and in mixed territory, the averages were able to do a respectable job of holding on to their recent gains. Like we’ve said, the drivers behind the improvement are no mystery, but even though it’s a pretty big stretch to think that all of the woes in the credit, housing and labor market will be made moot by lower oil and a stronger dollar, that hasn’t stopped the parade of market pundits who are absolutely convinced that we are at the cusp of a new bull market.

Even if we assume for a moment that we have clear sailing from here, that doesn’t change the fact that we are dealing with a very difficult trading environment. We’ve pointed out repeatedly the problems with failed breakouts and lack of leadership. The action has been extremely choppy, and many traders we speak with on a regular basis are getting whipsawed if they stick with positions for any length of time.

This kind of environment can be extremely frustrating, especially with the constant cheerleading from the financial media who are likely desperate for better ratings. However, as long as we keep plugging away and make sure we focus on protecting our capital, we will be in good shape to take advantage of the opportunities that will surely come our way.

Have a great weekend and we will see you on Monday.