{"id":14644,"date":"2019-08-31T07:30:08","date_gmt":"2019-08-31T11:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jeffclarktrader.com\/?p=14644"},"modified":"2019-08-31T07:30:08","modified_gmt":"2019-08-31T11:30:08","slug":"the-stock-market-is-still-in-the-battle-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/the-stock-market-is-still-in-the-battle-zone\/","title":{"rendered":"The Stock Market Is Still in the Battle Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"

The stock market dodged a bullet in August. It may not be quite so lucky in September.<\/p>\n

Let me explain…<\/p>\n

For the month of August, the S&P 500 lost almost 2%. That’s not good. But, it’s nowhere near as bad as it looked a week ago, and nowhere near as bad as it could have been. If the market had broken to the downside of its recent trading range – which it looked close to doing so last week – the target for the S&P 500 would have been around 2750.<\/p>\n

That’s not a disaster. It’s a drop of only about 9% from the all-time high reached in July. It would have been painful, for sure. But most folks could probably handle it.<\/p>\n

What is much more difficult to handle would have been the bearish setup that sort of move would have created on the long-term chart. <\/p>\n

Take a look at this monthly chart of the S&P 500 plotted along with its 20-month exponential moving average (EMA)<\/a>…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Longtime readers know I use this chart to determine the long-term trend of the broad stock market. If the S&P 500 is trading above its 20-month EMA, then we’re in a bull market. If the index is below the line, then the bear is in charge.<\/p>\n

If the S&P 500 had declined to the lower target of about 2750, then it would have closed the month of August below its 20-month EMA. And that would have called into question the viability of the long-term bull market.<\/p>\n

So, like I said… the market dodged a bullet.<\/p>\n

But it’s still in the battle zone. It won’t take much of a decline in September to shift the longer-term trend to bearish. And, with the significant negative divergence on momentum indicators like the MACD<\/a> and RSI<\/a>, the next decline phase could be a BIG one.<\/p>\n

For now, though, we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. The market didn’t fall apart in August. And the short-term pattern looks more bullish than bearish<\/a>. But, traders should keep a watchful eye on this long-term chart of the S&P as we get through September. It could be setting us up for a scary October.<\/p>\n

Best regards and good trading,<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jeff Clark<\/p>\n

P.S. <\/strong>While there’s the potential for a scary October, I’m not worried… It’s a trader’s market right now. That’s because no matter which way the market moves, traders can make a fortune – especially if they use my strategy.<\/p>\n

It’s the strategy I use in Jeff Clark Trader<\/em><\/a>. I handpick just three stocks to trade – over and over again – to help you fund a comfortable retirement. And these three stocks are the best ways to make money off this volatile market… no matter how much experience you have with trading options.<\/p>\n

Click here and see what Jeff Clark Trader<\/em> is all about<\/a>. It’s only $19 for a whole year. But you’ll want to act quickly – that price won’t last long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The stock market dodged a bullet in August. It may not be quite so lucky in September…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"service":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"publication":[10],"person":[7],"newsletter-type":[],"ticker":[],"class_list":["post-14644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-minute","publication-market-minute","person-jeff-clark"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14644\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14644"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=14644"},{"taxonomy":"person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person?post=14644"},{"taxonomy":"newsletter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsletter-type?post=14644"},{"taxonomy":"ticker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ticker?post=14644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}