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Posted January 26, 2023

Sean Ring

By Sean Ring

Things I Like Right Now

  • The broad market will likely go on a bull run… for now.
  • Energy and tech are looking solid.
  • Tesla has gained 50% over the last two weeks.

Good morning from a crisp morning in Northern Italy.

I love my Lavazza (especially the Lavazza Riserva from my local caffé). But my wife and I decided to try another brand, just for a goof.

Let me tell you: this stuff is out of this world.

SJN

If you’re looking for a new coffee to brew at home, you won’t be disappointed. Especially if you drink it black.

No sugar, no milk… nothing is needed to enhance the flavor of this gem. Enjoy!

Now back to our regular programming.

Did you enjoy that rollercoaster yesterday?

The market opened down hard, continued down until nearly 11 am, turned around, rallied to recover, and finished flat on the day.

See for yourself:

SJN

The bears were thrilled for a little while, and then the bulls took them out behind the woodshed.

The tanking was allegedly due to Microsoft’s soft(er) guidance. Then, et voila, it popped. Via Zero Hedge, this interesting commentary came from JP Morgan’s Ron Adler, who said:

Today is proof of how hard it will be to fight the market for the time being. Simply, I think people are breaking down today like this: If you think MSFT just told you the world was ending (they didn’t), you don’t want to own anything in growth. But if you think things will be tough and want to weather the storm (and MSFT said it will be a tough few years), MSFT is a very warm blanket for many.

Let me be clear:

  1. The macro numbers (especially the regional Fed and PMIs) still suck.
  2. The Fed is still hiking, no matter the quality of hopium traders currently smoke.
  3. The world is on the verge of getting sucked into the Russia-Ukraine war.

But - and I shake my head as I write this - the market doesn’t give a good goddamn.

Let’s explore that sentiment.

All Things Being Equal

I read Jared Dillian’s Daily Dirtnap yesterday, and he mentioned a great point I hadn’t thought of. I was so fixated on the SPX that I hadn’t looked at the S&P 500 equal-weighted index in ages.

First, the difference between the two.

The S&P 500 is a market capitalization-weighted index, which means that the companies with the highest market capitalization (share price x outstanding shares) have the most significant impact on the index's performance.

In contrast, the S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index assigns an equal weight to each of the 500 companies in the index, regardless of their market capitalization.

This means that smaller companies have a greater impact on the performance of the equal-weighted index than the market capitalization-weighted index.

Ok, let’s look at the regular SPX once again:

SJN

Like we said yesterday, we’re clear of the 200-day moving average and the downtrend line. But we still need to break the 4,100 resistance level for me to be genuinely comfortable. That’ll likely happen in the next week.

Contrast this to the equal-weighted S&P 500 (SPXEW):

SJN

Whatever downtrend there was, it’s no longer evident.

Jared’s conclusion, with which I agree, is that tech stocks making up too much of the regular SPX composition have been dragging it down.

Speaking of tech stocks…

AI, Tech Stocks, and Tesla

I’m convinced the unveiling of OpenAI’s Chatbot has reinvigorated the tech space and massively increased the positive sentiment in the market.

Try it for yourself. You’ll be amazed.

And, apparently, it’s not even the best AI tool on the market.

I mention AI in my Morning Reckoning column today, by the way. You don’t want to miss it.

Look at the Nazzie:

SJN

We’re right at the 200-day moving average and the 11,300 resistance level. This is after the double bottom (orange), around 10,250.

After it breaks through, first look for 12,150 and then 13,000.

With all the talk of AI and tech stocks, it was nice of Hong Kong Nancy to remind me that TSLA is up about 50% in a month!

SJN

Onto the energy complex.

Energetic Energy Stocks

I still love energy stocks for the simple reason that government keeps screwing up.

We’d have cheap energy if there weren’t a self-inflicted gunshot wound to our economy thanks to sanctions that don’t work.

One way to keep your heating bills light is to be in the energy sector. Technically, when you own the stock, you’re the energy producer. That offsets your consumption. It’s like owning defense stocks because America is perpetually at war. Pay taxes for war, and get a return from the stock.

This is the energy sector ETF:

SJN

That chart goes from the bottom left to the top right. The price is above the 50-day moving average, which is above the 200-day moving average.

As legendary trader Ed Seykota is fond of saying, “The trend is your friend ‘til the end when it bends.”

And in a staggering bird flip to Sloppy Joe, Chevron has decided to repurchase some stock.

From Zero Hedge:

The Board of Directors of Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) today declared a quarterly dividend of one dollar and fifty-one cents ($1.51) per share, an increase of nine cents ($0.09) per share or approximately 6 percent. The dividend is payable March 10, 2023, to all holders of common stock as shown on the transfer records of the Corporation at the close of business February 16, 2023. This increase puts Chevron on track to make 2023 the 36th consecutive year with an increase in annual dividend payout per share.

The Board also authorized the repurchase of the company’s shares of common stock in an aggregate amount of $75 billion. The $75 billion authorization takes effect on April 1, 2023, and does not have a fixed expiration date. It replaces the Board’s previous repurchase authorization of $25 billion from January 2019, which will terminate on March 31, 2023, after the completion of the company’s repurchases in the first quarter of 2023.

Last October, Joke Biden had said:

My message to the American energy companies is this: You should not be using your profits to buy back stock or for dividends. Not now, not while a war is raging. Bring down the price you charge to reflect what you pay for the product. You still make a significant profit; your shareholders will still do very well.

Oh, their shareholders are doing very well, indeed!

Gold and Its Miners

JC Parets of All-Star Charts is one of the Street’s best technical analysts.

And for years, he’s hated gold.

So you can imagine my genuine shock when he wrote this in an email:

If the US Dollar sell-off that we've seen over the past few months is any indication of what further Dollar weakness can do to Gold, expect record highs for Gold prices real soon.

And if Gold breaks out above this decade+ long base, I think you could see $3000/oz real quick and then from there the possibilities are unlimited.

Goldbugs of the world, rejoice!

The gold chart is massively bullish right now as well:

SJN

Gold miners (GDX) and junior gold miners (GDXJ) sport similar charts.

There’s still time to get in.

Wrap Up

The market fiddles while the world burns.

But it may be a tremendously profitable fiddle while it lasts.

So let’s keep our eyes on the ball: to make ourselves as wealthy as possible!

Until tomorrow.

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