Boring Day Leaves Stocks Mixed As Volume Falls.

Stocks didn't do much today as traders appear to be doing what I was doing last week (taking a vacation) or are just out watching the World Cup. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up .3%, the SP 500 was flat, the Nasdaq was down .16%, and the SP 600 led the way down with a .47% decline.

Volume was lower today and was the second straight day of extremely low volume. This emphasizes the point I was making above that traders are simply not at their desk. Breadth was negative on both the NYSE and Nasdaq with decliners over advancers by a 9-to-7 ratio.

This was a boring day, without a doubt, and the gains that we seemed to have near the end of the day was wiped out by a wave of selling into the closing bell. This helped stocks finish near the sessions lows. This action is not indicative of a bullish tape.

However, while I was gone I covered many shorts that I took early in the selloff. Covering anywhere from 25-75% of stocks down 20% or more, was the safe play to make as I am starting to see signs that this selloff is nearing a short-term completion.

The oscillators that I follow are all at extreme lows seen near other bottoms. The market vain bullish numbers are at levels not seen since November 2003 right before a year end rally. The Investors Intelligent numbers show 38% bulls and 34% bears. Folks that is close to crossing. It is not often we have more bears than bulls with those numbers. When we do, a bottom is near. The AAII also shows bullishness at levels not seen since the March 2003 bottom.

Does this mean that we are going to rally into years end? No. It just means that the downside momentum is probably nearing its end. When the whole crowd is this bearish, it means that the majority of the sellers have sold and are now in the crowd that reflects there most recent actions. If these bulls in the downtrend are now selling, who is left to sell?

This action is boring and tiring. Trust me, I know. I can feel it too, even though I have not been chatting. I still had to manage my portfolio and scan my stocks. Trust me, IT IS BORING. This always bothers traders more than any other kind of market. But it is this kind of market you need to navigate through to make sure you have what it takes to do this for a living. If you can make it past this dead action, you will be twice the trader/investor you were before the downtrend started. This too shall pass.

I hope everyone did well while I was gone. It looks like another boring week is ahead for us as we wait the FOMC decision on rates next week. Keep your head up, have fun with your loved ones during this listelss action, and go do something fun!

Have a great day, I will see you tomorrow.

New Swing Longs: USEY

New Swing Shorts: GPI APOL NAL

Longs Outperforming: VLG-28 PSPT GPIC AOB ABI PAY-28 PCLN FCBP TSCM-138 DDS BWP IHS-31 WST ACTG-112 HGR BSML RAE IDEV EYE

Shorts Outperforming: Later

Stocks On Radar Screen: ILC