Three steps and a stumble?

Preface: Explaining our market timing models
We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on research outlined in our post Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade.

The Trend Model is an asset allocation model which applies trend following principles based on the inputs of global stock and commodity price. This model has a shorter time horizon and tends to turn over about 4-6 times a year. In essence, it seeks to answer the question, "Is the trend in the global economy expansion (bullish) or contraction (bearish)?"

My inner trader uses the trading component of the Trend Model to look for changes in direction of the main Trend Model signal. A bullish Trend Model signal that gets less bullish is a trading "sell" signal. Conversely, a bearish Trend Model signal that gets less bullish is a trading "buy" signal. The history of actual out-of-sample (not backtested) signals of the trading model are shown by the arrows in the chart below. Past trading of the trading model has shown turnover rates of about 200% per month.

The latest signals of each model are as follows:

• Ultimate market timing model: Buy equities*
• Trend Model signal: Neutral*
• Trading model: Bearish*

* The performance chart and model readings have been delayed by a week out of respect to our paying subscribers.

Update schedule: I generally update model readings on my site on weekends and tweet any changes during the week at @humblestudent. Subscribers will also receive email notices of any changes in my trading portfolio.


Some good news and bad news
The market action last week played out roughly as I expected. Stock prices were choppy and displayed a series of lower highs and lower lows, though the technically important 2040 support neckline of the head and shoulders pattern did not break decisively (see Waiting for the storm to pass). The short-term trend remains down and key intermediate term indicators has not reach oversold levels, as measured by the NYSE McClellan Oscillator (NYMO) breaching the -80 level and VIX Index moving above its Bollinger Band, which suggests that the current corrective action isn't finished.

There was some good news and bad news as stocks declined...

...specifically, I would like to explore the possibility of the bearish three steps and a stumble scenario, which follows the old trading adage of three Fed tightening moves will tend to lead to a stock market stumble. This scenario is becoming a real possibility as the US economy is still in a fragile state.

The full post can be found at our new site here.




Website notice
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