I usually share more of my observations of the stock market trend when the shit hits the fan. The truth is, I enjoy volatility expansions more than the quiet, calm trends. There isn’t as much for me to talk about when the trends are calm and quiet.

I also try to point out, in advance, when I believe we may see a volaltity expansion like we are now. You shouldn’t expect it from me as I’m ultimately an investment manager, not a Mark Twain, so my own tactical trading decisions are my priority. Also, what I share here doesn’t necessarily represent what I am trading in our managed portfolios. In fact, I usually try to avoid mentioning any symbol, stock, ETF, etc. that I may be trading or invested in. As such, use my observations at your own risk as it is not investment advice. With that said…

Here is the one year chart of the S&P 500 with some basic technical analysis applied. The blue trend line I drew overhead is where we would have expected to see “resistance become support,” but it hasn’t. So, there wasn’t enough buying demand to overcome selling pressure today. Based purely on quantitative measures as I’ve shared over the past week, it isn’t a surprise to see a volatility expansion and price trends widen out.

I marked how the current decline relates to the past two. This one has turned down rather sharply and quickly as of today. The SPX stock index is down about -6% from it’s high of which nearly half of the loss is today.

I now expect we’ll see some buying interest step in… at least temporarily. Only time will tell if this becomes a waterfall decline like we saw October to December, or worse.

I haven’t mentioned any news items that could be used as catalysts. Last week it was the Fed and employment, today it’s China, Hong Kong, and Trump tweets. Contrary to what most people probably believe, the range of prices broadening out and price trends falling is something I thought we may see as a normal quantitative reaction. Whatever may get the blame, it’s just the market, doing what it does. I can assure you of only one thing: I’ve heard a wide variation of reasons today from different levels of people. On the financial news, it’s one thing, from global macro hedge fund managers, it’s another. For example, one mentioned the Chinese PLA army is building on the Hong Kong border…

“May you live in interesting times” 

Ironically, it is an English expression purported to be a translation of a traditional Chinese curse.

In the meantime, my short term momentum systems are showing the broad stock index reaching its lower range of probabilities, so we “should” see it retrace up at some point, at least temporarily. Of course, there is always a chance of a waterfall decline the moves much deeper than a normal range of probabilities. In fact, we have already seen that now if you look at the chart. The price trend has moved below the “normal range of the market” as measured by the lower band.

We’ll see how it all unfolds.

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Mike Shell is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Shell Capital Management, LLC, and the portfolio manager of ASYMMETRY® Global Tactical.

Mike Shell and Shell Capital Management, LLC is a registered investment advisor and provides investment advice and portfolio management exclusively to clients with a signed and executed investment management agreement. The observations shared on this website are for general information only and should not be construed as advice to buy or sell any security. Securities reflected are not intended to represent any client holdings or any recommendations made by the firm. Investing involves risk including the potential loss of principal an investor must be willing to bear. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. All information and data is deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. The presence of this website on the Internet shall in no direct or indirect way raise an implication that Shell Capital Management, LLC is offering to sell or soliciting to sell advisory services to residents of any state in which the firm is not registered as an investment advisor. Use of this website is subject to its terms and conditions.