Stocks have continued to zoom higher, and our contributors have found a very nice variety of investments for your consideration this month, beginning with our Spotlight Stock—a company that has been in existence since 1879.
Wall Street’s Best Dividend Stocks 299
[premium_html_toc post_id="137210"]
Market Views
Short-Term Top May Be in Store
The Dow Jones Industrials Average continued to make new highs, above 22,000, but the NASDAQ Comp remains in a short-term top, extending its short-term failure from recent relative highs against S&P 500. Neutral short-term; the short-term composite indicator has turned down after failing at resistance at 70. The latest Advisors Sentiment reading also calls for defensive measures. We think a correction in indices is much more likely, taking into account the analysis above. Bullish medium-term.
John Gray, Investors Intelligence, www.investorsintelligence.com, 914-632-0422, August 7, 2017
Getting a Bit Nervous
The emphasis has shifted back to large stocks with growth and value being a push while a lot of rotation continues under the surface. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I am starting to get a bit nervous about stocks. The worst time of the year to own stocks is just ahead of us, the advance decline line has flattened and has not confirmed the recent highs, there has been a small bump up in the number of new lows, the VIX is very low, valuations are very high, mid-sized and smaller stocks are lagging, the High Low Index has rolled over from a high level, interest rates are rising, and the High Low Logic Index has turned up. None of these things are damning on their own, but taken together, I am feeling uncomfortable enough to cut back our allocation for U.S. stocks to 60% (from 70%) in favor of cash. I know that it is a small step, and it’ll either be wrong, in which case it’ll be easily reversed, or it’ll be the first of several cuts leading to a bottom and buying opportunity late in the year. To put this succinctly, I feel that it is time to pay attention.
John Bollinger, The Bollinger Band Letter, www.bollingerbands.com, 310-798-8855, August 5, 2017
Bearish Here, too …
The current corporate earnings season is progressing “better than expected” as per many in the financial press. As such, it is no huge surprise that major stock indices continue to push higher and higher. In response, insiders have started to pick up the pace of selling. That, too, is not a huge surprise and in keeping with the historical behavior of corporate executives and directors—who often sell into market upturns, thereby taking profits on shares that in many case cost them little to nothing to acquire.
Vickers’ broadest measures of insider sentiment, the eight-week sell/buy ratios, currently indicate 4.91 insider sales for each purchase on Vickers’ NYSE/ASE measurement and 4.71 sales for each purchase on Vickers’ Total measurement (which includes transactions on the Nasdaq). Any reading north of 2.50 is bearish.
Argus Research, Vickers Weekly Insider, www.Vickers-stock.com, August 7, 2017
To read the rest of this month’s issue, download the PDF.
THE NEXT Wall Street’s Best Dividend Stocks WILL BE PUBLISHED September 13, 2017
Neither Cabot Wealth Network nor our employees are compensated by the companies we recommend. Sources of information are believed to be reliable, but are in no way guaranteed to be complete or without error. Recommendations, opinions or suggestions are given with the understanding that subscribers acting on the information assume all risks. © Cabot Wealth Network. Copying and/or electronic transmission of this report is a violation of U.S. copyright law. For the protection of our subscribers, if copyright laws are violated, the subscription will be terminated. To subscribe or for information on our privacy policy, call 978-745-5532, visit www.cabotwealth.com or write to support@cabotwealth.com.