Time For a New You?

Are you finding its hard to keep up with the ever changing world and it is passing you by?  The book, Reinvent Yourself by James Altucher provides some very poignant “take-aways” as he tells his reinvention story of how he handled the constant change and stress caused by our ever changing world. A few nuggets that hit home for me:

 “You are not just the average of the five people around you. You’re the average of the five habits you do, the things you eat, the ideas you have, the content you consume, etc.”

 “Many people die at 25 but are not put in the coffin until 75. The learning stopped for them early.”

 “If I want to sell an idea, if I want to convince, if I want someone to like to me, I have to figure out how to connect.”

 “It’s hard to be the greatest at any one endeavor, but by combining passions, it’s much easier to be the greatest in the world at the intersections of those passions.

“Not a single ounce of greatness in history ended with thoughts. It happened with hands. With actions.”

 “Money is a side effect of trying to help others: of trying to solve problems. So many people ask, “How do I get traffic?” That’s the wrong question. If you ask every day, “How did I help people today?” then you will have more traffic and money than you could have imagined.”

 “When people associate the worth of their lives with any one activity, it’s unhealthy.”

Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice with the clear goal of getting better every day does. Some people say that they have 10 years of experience, but they have actually repeated their first year ten times.

 “There are only two types of decisions: decisions made out of fear and decisions made out of growth.”

 “I still don’t like to lose. I hate it. It’s the worst feeling. But I never let a good loss go to waste. The only way to learn is to study something you never knew before. Losses are the maps that point you to what you never knew before.”

A Lot of Nothing

The S&P500 did a lot of nothing last week, continuing 2017’s trend of doing even more of absolutely nothing. That is unless you consider consolidating sideways and allowing the overbought, negative divergence to unwind something. As you can see below, the SP500 has been

sandwiched between 2,240 support and 2,280 resistance since the year started because traders are stubbornly sticking to their positions. Prices move when people change their mind and right now bulls are staying bullish and bears are staying bearish.  Headlines and economic data no longer matter when people stop trading them.

No matter what happens, we are within spitting distance of all-time highs and only the most stubborn bears are claiming the world is falling apart. The more times price tests a level the higher the likelihood it eventually breaks through. This, combined with the potential bull flag continuation pattern has me expecting higher prices in the near term. Markets tumble quickly from unsustainable levels and right now the market seems quite comfortable here. No matter what the market “should” be doing, when confident owners keep supply tight, prices continue creeping higher.

While I am optimistic, one thing does provide me pause, current sentiment.  As we know, sentiment is a contra-indicator and while advisors have reigned in some of their bullishness since the start of the year, it is still too high yet to be a tailwind to higher prices.

A Huge Disconnect

Since the election and into year end, the market has ripped higher. During this same time trailing earnings/share estimates have moved lower, creating the largest divergence during the past 10 years.

The question investors need to ponder is who is right?  Earnings estimates or the market? The larger the divergence the larger the potential correction so making sure you are on the right side of the next move is of critical importance. The good news is we will likely find out the answer to our question real soon as earnings season has already started but will be in full swing next week.

Regardless of what happens, are YOU ready?

I'm 95

Back on Sept 16, 2013, with major trepidation, I wrote my first blog post. As a member of a small worldwide community of exclusively trained Market Technicians (CMT), I wanted to get the word out and promote the craft. It seemed blogging was the simplest way to do it part time. While I can’t say it’s been a labor of love because I hate writing and it doesn’t come easy, ultimately I do hope it has helped readers. But because I struggle so with each and every post I often question whether it’s worth the hassle. I received something pretty cool over the weekend which gives me a whole lot of motivation to continue forward. My blog has been awarded one of the top 100 investment blogs for investors on the planet (http://blog.feedspot.com/investment_blogs/).

Ok, ok, so I am only #95 (it gives me something to shoot for) but I have to admit the recognition was a huge surprise and an honor to be mentioned among so many other bloggers I follow and respect. 

Thanks Feedspot.com for the recognition.

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