As for the stock market specifically:
It was a split decision last week, US investors saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average rise a bit, the Standard & Poor’s 500 fall a bit, and the Nasdaq Composite have a substantial decline. International markets were off a bit, too.
A fair number of this year’s highflyers had declined, while some of the year’s earlier laggards are seeing some life.
Sellers pushed the bullish percent indicators down once again. There may be a change by the time you read this, but as I write, we shall continue with WEALTH ACCUMULATION.
Remember, X’s mean OFFENSE or wealth accumulation, while O’s mean DEFENSE, or wealth preservation.
Below is where our indicators stand as of August 11, 2023 (Courtesy Dorsey, Wright, and Associates).
**Update** As of COB 8/14/23 the BPNYSE and BPOPTI (optionable) did indeed move defensive with Monday’s trading, bringing the Defense onto the field. BPOTC remains ~ 1.5% from moving defensive. Some smaller BP’s such as BPSPX and BPNDX (Nasdaq 100) have also moved to a defensive posture.
On a general note:
The Department of Labor gave us inflation news last week. You likely have a slight disagreement with our civil service employees who do the math. The Department said the Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% in July when compared to June. This equaled the inflation rate from May to June. Core prices rose the same amount during the month.
Prices showed a 3.2% gain from July 2022, compared with 3.0% rate from June to June. The annual core rate of inflation for July to July was 4.7%, compared with the 4.8% rate of June to June.
Please contact me if you have any questions or want more information.