{"id":8134,"date":"2018-01-24T07:30:37","date_gmt":"2018-01-24T12:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jeffclarktrader.com\/?p=8134"},"modified":"2018-01-24T07:30:37","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T12:30:37","slug":"the-unmentionable-rally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/the-unmentionable-rally\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unmentionable Rally"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, dear reader, I have a question for you.<\/p>\n

Can you tell me, please, what are the three top-performing market sectors over the past six weeks?<\/p>\n

The answer might surprise you.<\/p>\n

Six weeks ago, the S&P 500 was at 2675. Yesterday it closed near 2840. That\u2019s a 6.2% gain \u2013 more than 1% each week \u2013 which is pretty remarkable for an index.<\/p>\n

The Dow has done even better \u2013 gaining 6.3% over the same timeframe. And the NASDAQ is 6.6% higher.<\/p>\n

Those are phenomenal returns in a short time period. Heck, many analysts figured the stock market would gain 7% or so during all of 2018. The major indexes have almost achieved that figure in just six weeks.<\/p>\n

Some individual market sectors have done even better. The energy sector (XLE), for example, is the top performer with a 16% gain over the past six weeks. The semiconductor sector (SMH) gets the silver medal with a 12.5% gain.<\/p>\n

That probably doesn\u2019t surprise you. The financial television talking heads have been gushing about oil since it broke above $50 per barrel back in October. And semiconductor stocks are traditional market leaders. So it makes sense that the energy and semiconductor sectors are on top of the pack for this remarkable stock market rally.<\/p>\n

Besides, you can\u2019t watch CNBC, Fox Business News, or Bloomberg Television for more than a few minutes without hearing about the big gains in energy and semiconductor stocks.<\/p>\n

But you probably haven\u2019t heard much about third-place sector. It\u2019s up 12.1% over the past six weeks. Yet almost no one talks about it.<\/p>\n

While all the talking heads cheer about the 8% gain in the financial sector (XLF), and the 10% gain in the transportation sector (IYT)\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026the 12.1% rally in gold stocks (GDX) goes unmentioned.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right. Gold mining stocks, as represented by the VanEck Vector Gold Miners Fund (GDX) are up 12.1% over the past six weeks. That\u2019s almost twice the return of the S&P 500 \u2013 and it\u2019s good enough to take the third position on the \u201cmarket leading podium.\u201d<\/p>\n

But outside of our humble little group here in the Market Minute<\/em>, most folks don\u2019t know the gold sector has been ratcheting up gains.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n

The farther the gold sector can rally without being noticed, the more likely that rally is to continue. The sooner that television talking heads get excited about a move, the closer that move is to being over.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I think we have a few more weeks left to the gold stock rally. Most folks still view the sector as they did when it was bottoming six weeks ago.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I wrote back then, when I suggested the gold pendulum was starting to turn<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

The mining sector is the worst-performing group in the entire stock market. It\u2019s hated by nearly every analyst on Wall Street. The financial television talking heads actually laugh at the thought of buying gold stocks. Investor sentiment is about as bearish as I\u2019ve seen it since the bottom of the gold stock bear market back in December of 2015.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today, the sentiment towards the gold sector is about the same as it was back then. The only thing that\u2019s changed is the sector has rallied 12.1% in the past six weeks.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t tell anyone.<\/p>\n

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

<\/div>\n

Jeff Clark<\/p>\n

Reader Mailbag<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Today, a mixed mailbag\u2026<\/p>\n

With a strong US economy, steep tax cuts coming next month, massive dismantlement of regulations, etc. the demise of the USD<\/a> is the wishful thinking of a Chinese Communist leader.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Douglass G.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

The NASDAQ, S&P, and DOW are making fools of you and me. \u201cWaiting for Godot<\/em>\u201d in gold is painful.<\/p>\n

Ray Dalio says we\u2019ll scream higher before blowing off the top and cash is for fools. Cramer agrees<\/p>\n

They make money. You lose money. If Armageddon never comes I at least have your six books on my shelves collecting dust.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Patrick V.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

I do like your position in GDX, thank you so much for that! I truly trust your opinion, and I REALLY appreciate you!<\/p>\n

\u2013 Dina P.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

The iPhone app<\/a> has become fantastic, very usable, and totally indispensable. Thank you for listening to my comments last year.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Henry M.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As always, feel free to send in your trading stories, questions, and suggestions\u00a0right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nobody\u2019s talking about the bronze medal winner\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","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-8134","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\/8134","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\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8134\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8134"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=8134"},{"taxonomy":"person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person?post=8134"},{"taxonomy":"newsletter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsletter-type?post=8134"},{"taxonomy":"ticker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ticker?post=8134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}