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Market Direction Is Important –
Updated Chart of the S&P 500 and Secondary Signals
Of our Four secondary indicators under our MTI:
Relative Strength Index (RSI)-Negative
Chaikin Money Flow (CMF)-Positive
MACD- Negative
Money Flow Index-MFI-Positive
More on the Market and the Economy:
Stocks slipped early last week as China’s currency devaluation sparked concerns about the health of the global economy. The S&P 500 recovered and closed higher on Friday on news of an agreement for a third bailout program for Greece, finishing the week with a .7% gain. After falling to the lowest point in two months in the middle of the week, Treasury yields finished slightly higher.
Source: dshort.com
A “death cross” appeared on Tuesday in a chart of the Dow, as the 50-day moving average crossed below the 200-day moving average, a point many technicians see as signaling a long-term downtrend. The last death cross was seen on December 30, 2011.
This week data will be released on housing starts, inflation, existing home sales, and the Fed’s FOMC meeting minutes.
Speaking to the Atlanta Press Club, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said of a rate hike that “I think the point of ‘liftoff’ is close. The economy has made great gains and is approaching an acceptable normal … conditions are no longer extraordinary.”
In an unexpected move, the People’s Bank of China devalued the yuan by almost 2% against the US dollar, sending the currency to drop by the most in over two decades. The central bank said the move was in response to the market, and that “the market will play a bigger role in exchange rate determination”.
Speaking of China’s move, New York Fed President William Dudley said it was appropriate of the Chinese economy is weaker than expected: “Obviously if the Chinese economy is weaker than maybe what the Chinese authorities anticipated, it’s probably not inappropriate for the currency to adjust in consequence to that weakness. It’s very early days to judge what’s happening in China in terms of the changes in their currency policy. Clearly what was happening is the Chinese yuan was appreciating along with the US dollar”.
The European Commission confirmed that an agreement for a new bailout program for Greece had been reached which will lend the country up to $96 billion over three years. In a statement, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde praised the deal: “It not only reverses much of the policy backtracking that caused the previous program to run seriously off track, but puts in place wide-ranging policies to restore fiscal responsibility”.
American students have improved, but still stand behind students in many industrialized countries. The US ranks 35th out of 64 countries in math, and 27th in science, according to Pew Research. Americans believe that math and science skills are less important for success than communication and reading skills…90% site communication as one of the top skills needed to get ahead, while 79% named math.
