Ike, nice report...
...and in the main, I agree with your conclusions. SPZ 955 +/-3 appears to be a very important, perceived resistance area, and if the markets can break through this with conviction, the consensus is an ensuing buy programme carrying the futures up to 975 +/-5.
At these levels (I think) stocks like GE, and others on the DOW, would be at their recent high-levels, as Judy mentioned. Then another, even more serious test would ensue. Should this, perceived barrier be broken, one could look back and say, as Tom has speculated, "...a rally which no one expected to continue - but persists" has, in fact, happened.
I put myself in the Judy camp {grin} as I'd feel better moving up form a base of some sort, rather than a V-Bottom. Is the market strong enough to just plunge -600 DOW points, then "V" back up again? Perhaps foreign capital, with more respect for American power, have more faith in our equities than we do, at the moment!
******** OFF TOPIC ***********
Ike, your writing is becoming more and more clear - to the Western reader. Perhaps it is the point-by-point "outline" style you are evolving, resembling the morning "briefing" one would give an executive, which appeals.
I have been writing an important policy memo to my boss, who runs an aluminium company up in Norway, all this week. It followed a format that looked like this...
BACKGROUND:
SITUATION:
CONCLUSIONS:
RECOMMENDATIONS:
And was 2 pages, albeit a well-considered 2-pages(^_^) , long. As I was writing it, I was thinking, "How many times have I written this same format, over and over, ever since I was a young analyst?" Western executives expect and understand this kind of "outline" format.
Of course, the ultimate in brevity are the postings by Nemer and Kevin, consisting of nothing but content, eg.,
975 +/- 5
955 SPZ
In a way, I miss your longer, more literary style that wanders and takes the reader on a journey, more common outside The States, that you do so well. I'd rather read The Economist than USA Today, for example. The younger generation, is is said, favours "style, in the absence of content", or chartjunk as Edwin Tufte put it in his Envisioning Information. Don't be afraid, Ike, to simply WRITE and flow like a river - don't feel too constrained by people's frantic need for raw data.
But then again, what Americans expect is some kind of strict Briefing format, never changing in style from day-to-day, as most readers are, well, lazy! And, if you desire to maximize the comprehension of your readers, and expand your audience of Americans, you'll have to serve them some fast food along with Coq au Vin !
(^_^) Steve |
