Apple a Bit Rotten; Exxon Weakens
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Now that bulls have had their slice of humble pie, the question is: Where do we go from here?
I always find it helpful to back out the charts quite a bit - to mute the noise and gain perspective on what’s taking place. Unfortunately, when I do, what I find ain’t pretty.
The financials are the first area of concern, as noted by the XLF below. The sector has yet to get back into its recent channel, and, while other major averages broke, the XLF was merely bouncing hard off lows.
The jury is still out, but this recent failure at the 50-day mark has me skeptical.
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On the tech side, old-time favorites also continue to look prone to further weakness with Apple (AAPL) leading the bunch. The stock has been stuck in a consolidation phase since early October and can’t seem to break back above the important level of $98. The latest slide seems to be picking up volume, and any break back below the $85 level would send this one toward the 60s.
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Last but not least, Exxon Mobil (XOM), the titanic of the group. Through all the credit mess and commodity debacle, Exxon has remained a rock - trading not far off recent highs put in 2007. Unfortunately, however, it looks as if the recent bounce is running out of steam, and as we know, multi-year channel breaks don’t drift off easily into the night. Many believe this has been the general market tell, and the current picture isn’t too inspiring.
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I've been short Exxon and Apple for some time now, holding through the gyrations and taking my fair share of criticism, however until these longer term charts change, I’ll remain a short and look to add on further weakness.
Rather than follow the noise traders, follow the tape - it’s much easier and a heck of a lot less annoying.
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Just wanted to let you know in a public forum that you did a heck of a job filling in on Fast Money last week.
I hope your friends who thought I was harsh to you understand two things: 1) As I told you, the nicest thing I can do for a guest is attack them. An attack gets them in the mix and puts them in the role of "Good Egg" as opposed to my Heel 2) Truthfully, I lean towards "harsh" by nature... hopefully that doesn't make me a horrible person.
Hope you and your lovely bride had a great time in NYC!
All the best,
Macke
