DowJones - Are we poised for a move higher

It was a strong day for US equities on Friday and we could be on course for a breakout.  Financial stocks led the way after bullish job market data gave rise to expectations that the economic recovery is back on track and that interest rates may rise sooner than previously thought.  I must add that we do need a follow through at the beginning of next week to confirm this move however.

DowJones - Retesting all time highs

Disappointing US jobs data is keeping equities well bid as expectations that the tapering of the FED stimulus package is not going to happen quite as soon as people had previously expected.  Combine this with an impressive earnings season for US stocks and you can understand the strength seen recently.

Were having a 3rd attempt to break the 15,700 level which is proving to be a strong resistance level with double/triple top chart formation developing.  A failure on the upside will result on the focus back on the support area around 14,850/14,700 and the 2008 high of 14,167.  A break on the upside could propel the index up to around the 16,825 on the 138.2% Fibonacci projection.

DowJones - Nice recovery but where next?

 

Equities saw a good recovery yesterday after the prospect emerged that the western intervention in Syria could be resolved without dropping any bombs.  We are seeing further follow through again today.

We are trading back above the 15000 mark on the Dow Jones Ind. Av.  and more importantly above the high made on the 26th August at 15054 which should give the bulls some encouragement.  On the upside, we could see some resistance however around the 100 & 50day MAs given the strength they displayed as a supports at 15161 and 15256 respectively.

DowJones - are we heading south too?

Weak close for the DowJ last night, closing below the resistance level of 14825, we need more downward pressure today however to confirm the follow through.  A further move south and all eyes will be on the previous significant low at 14570 level and the Elliotticians on 38.2% Nov12-Aug13 retracement at 14440.  The ultimate test would be for it to try the bottom of the trend channel support at approx. 14200  Watch for a close back above 15050 because we may start to change our tune.

'Fiscal cliff' is a dirty word once again

The fiscal cliff is rearing its ugly head once again as the Obama administration has warned that the current debt cap could be reached by mid-October, rather than the mid-November originally forecast.  The markets could be in for a bumpy road ahead, or the next couple of months at least, as we'll most likely watch the Democrats vs Republicans play chicken with the US economy once again!

If we looked back how the markets reacted in the run-up to the past votes both in 2011 & 2013 we might have an idea of how people might react in the run-up to the event, as well as looking at what happened straight afterwards.