{"id":8649,"date":"2018-02-28T07:30:46","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T12:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jeffclarktrader.com\/?p=8649"},"modified":"2018-02-28T07:30:46","modified_gmt":"2018-02-28T12:30:46","slug":"todays-action-is-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/todays-action-is-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s Action Is Important"},"content":{"rendered":"

All of a sudden, the action in the stock market is a lot like the weather in San Francisco. If you don\u2019t like it, give it a few hours. It\u2019ll change.<\/p>\n

Bulls were frustrated and bears were energized for a few days last week when the stock market reversed huge up-moves and closed lower. Then the bears got frustrated and the bulls got energized as the market blasted higher on Friday and Monday.<\/p>\n

Yesterday frustrated both sides as the S&P rallied to 2789 early in the morning \u2013 nearly tagging the 2800 upside target on the 15-minute chart we looked at Monday<\/a>. But it wasn\u2019t close enough to the target for bulls to cash out of long positions or for bears to establish short trades.<\/p>\n

Then the market reversed course, gave back all of Monday\u2019s gains, and the S&P closed the session at 2744 \u2013 pretty much right back to where it was almost two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen lots of volatility in the market lately, but no real movement. And it\u2019s frustrating the heck out of most traders.<\/p>\n

Remember, though, what I wrote on Friday\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

In this sort of \u201cnuts\u201d environment, traders will do well to remember one thing\u2026 You\u2019re not going to catch every trade. And\u00a0if you try, you\u2019ll likely end up taking losses<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a far better strategy to take a step back. Map out a plan for where you think the market is headed over the next few weeks. Then\u2026 ignore the short-term swings and stick to that plan.<\/p>\n

The stock market\u2019s job is to shake us out of positions. It\u2019s going to test our thinking. It\u2019s going to make us second-guess our well-thought-out plans. In short, the market is going to make us nuts.<\/p>\n

But, if we step back and look at the bigger picture\u2026 if we avoid the temptation to profit on every short-term move\u2026 then we can ignore the \u201cnuts\u201d moves. We can stick to our strategy and hopefully profit if\/when we\u2019re proven right on the trades.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

For what it\u2019s worth, I\u2019m bearish for the short term. I\u2019m sticking with the idea I mapped out a couple of weeks ago \u2013 that the S&P 500 will come back down and retest the 2580 closing low. That\u2019s where I\u2019ll be looking to put money to work in new long positions \u2013 especially if the technical indicators become extremely oversold.<\/p>\n

The bullish view would have the S&P 500 holding up here above the 2730 level and making an immediate attempt to get above yesterday\u2019s high at 2789.<\/p>\n

And, that\u2019s what makes today\u2019s action so important. You see, based on the look of the 15-minute chart of the S&P, both the bulls and the bears can make a compelling case. Take a look\u2026 \"\" The index closed yesterday near the 2750 level. The bears had to make a stand yesterday and reverse Monday\u2019s gains in order to keep the possibility of a retest of the lows alive.<\/p>\n

Now, in order to strengthen the bearish argument, the index needs to dip below support near 2700. That doesn\u2019t need to happen today necessarily. But the market needs to head in that direction.<\/p>\n

The bulls need to make a stand right here and get the S&P 500 back above the 2750 level. That keeps the immediate momentum bullish. And if the market can make a higher high \u2013 above yesterday\u2019s 2789 level \u2013 then it increases the odds that we\u2019ll just head right back up to new all-time highs from here.<\/p>\n

Personally, I favor the bearish argument. But both sides can make a compelling case.<\/p>\n

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

\n\n<\/p>\n

Jeff Clark<\/p>\n

P.S. <\/strong>No matter which way the market turns, my Delta Report<\/em> subscribers are set to profit from the low-risk\/high-reward trades I send them each week.<\/p>\n

To learn more about a Delta Report<\/em> subscription, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

How are you planning to take advantage of this volatile market? Do you find the bearish or bullish case stronger?<\/p>\n

Send in your responses \u2013 along with any trading stories, questions, or suggestions \u2013 right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

A Small Request<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Could you answer <\/span>this quick, 5-minute survey<\/span><\/a>? We\u2019d like to know a little more about where our readers see the markets headed in the near future. And please feel free to leave any additional feedback you might have.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your answers will help us find the most compelling investment ideas to share with you, and help improve our services. Click here to take the short survey now<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today will be the deciding factor in the fight between the bulls and bears.<\/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-8649","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\/8649","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=8649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8649\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8649"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=8649"},{"taxonomy":"person","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/person?post=8649"},{"taxonomy":"newsletter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsletter-type?post=8649"},{"taxonomy":"ticker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffclarktrader.com\/market-minute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ticker?post=8649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}