Stocks Bounce After The Dalio Low

It was another wild week on Wall Street as A near term low was put in on Wednesday. The operative word is A, not THE, near term low. I’m calling last week’s low “The Dalio low” because legendary investor Ray Dalio went on TV last Wednesday (the exact low of the week) and said we might be headed for a depression. On Wednesday, the Dow turned higher after plunging 565 points intra-day and has been edging higher since. Interestingly, on September 29, 2015, Carl Icahn, released his doom and gloom video (I agree with his points) and that marked A near term low for stocks. Over the next five weeks, immediately after the video was released, the S&P 500 soared over 13%! That’s a huge move for the S&P 500. At this point, stocks are deeply oversold and way over due to bounce. Until Wednesday’s lows are breached we have to expect the market to bounce (or at the very least move sideways from here). Oil prices also placed A (not THE) new near term low last week which also helped sentiment. Central banks interfered again this week. China injected $50B to stimulate their market and the European Central Banks (ECB) hinted at more easy money in March. Central banks love interfering with markets and have distorted the playing field for years. Stepping back, any near term rallies (or more easy money aside), the market remains in lousy shape and we feel it is just a matter of time until the major indices fall 20% from their 2015 highs which officially defines a bear market. From our point of view, stocks topped out in 2015 and we are in the early innings of a new bear market (and a global recession). Several important areas of the market are already in a bear market (defined by a decline of 20% or more from a recent high) which means it is just a matter of time until the major indices play catch up to the downside. These are some of the important areas that are already in bear market territory: Commodities, The Small Cap Russell 2000 ($IWM), Transports ($IYT), Biotechs ($IBB), Retail ($XRT), Junk Bonds ($JNK), Materials ($XLB), just to name a few. Finally, if markets can’t bounce from here… Good Night Irene.   
Monday-Wednesday’s Action: Stocks Bounce After Dailo Low