The 4th Quarter Starts in Lackluster Fashion

NASDAQ 100 stocks lagged the broader market lead by MSFT and AAPL as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000 were able to close in the green. Volume ended the day lower than Friday’s inflated figures from end-of-the-month rebalancing. Overall the session wasn’t that inspiring, but it wasn’t entirely awful. Early on in the session optimism ran high with positive news from the ISM Manufacturing Index report showing the sector expanded when expectations were for it to slow. Price paid were a bit higher, but weren’t alarmingly higher. The close was decent with buyers stepping up and lifting the markets avoiding closing on the lows. Our uptrend remains with very little distribution piling up despite the bearish opinions of the market. Today’s reversal is not what you want to see from the market. Last year, however, the first day of October was not that great either. Even the second day, 10/4/2011 at 3pm looked dire until we got a rumor of a new bailout for Europe. While things may look dire now you just never know what the market will hand you the next day. Guessing where the market will be next is not a recipe for success and continues to keep traders from maximizing potential gains. Stick to a disciplined approach and play the odds rather than simply guessing. The election is not far a way at all! It will be nice to get away from the constant stream of political ads and banter. However, for this market it does appear we are looking like an Obama victory. We can debate polling tactics and have yet to have a debate, but there is one thing that is certain: no one knows where the market is going. Will Obama help the US avoid the mandatory spending cuts and tax hikes? Will Romney? Will either candidate get our fiscal house in order? It is very doubtful either candidate will resist the urge to spend and inflate the deficit higher. Then again, the Federal Reserve is pumping $40 billion a month into mortgage backed securities and it won’t matter. In the end, focusing on leading stocks and their price action is the way to go. Leave the guess work to others. We aren’t off to the best start to the quarter, but it could be far worse. Cut those losses.