Small Cap Network Blog

Let me get this straight….retail sales grow for five consecutive months, fall off a little last month, and the market tanks? Sorry - not buying it as “the reason”. Oh don’t hear me wrong…it was the catalyst and excuse, but not the reason. No, stocks are in the red today just because it was time for a little selling.

Bigger picture, the blip isn’t even registering with me. Why? We’ve seen this same thing three times already in the last month…literally. Those three dips were all short-lived, and countered with an even bigger rally. The pattern hasn’t been broken yet, so I’m not going to assume it will this time either.

In fact, I think today’s dip is a healthy thing - it’s bringing it all to a head.

As you can see on the chart, the S&P 500 is all the way back to what has become a fairly important support line (black). If we repeat the pattern, the index should push up and off from here.

In the meantime, we’ve also seen a cross above my ridiculously-simple bull/bear indicator…a 20 day moving average line (blue). [I like it because it works.]

We really haven’t been able to test the 20 day line all that well, having only crossed above it two surges ago. However, on the 7th and the 8th, the 20 day line sure looked like a rebound point.

As long as the S&P 500 can hold above the 20 day average - at 1270.80 - I’ll actually be in the bullish camp. Of course, I won’t be adding any new longs until we’re on the way up again. If the 20 day line breaks, I’m not interested in new longs right now.

(By the way, the Dow’s chart looks about the same. The NASDAQ’s and the Russell 2000’s chart are a little too erratic to get a good bead on right now, which is why we chose to use the S&P  500.)

For more on my ‘timing’ philosophy, you may want to revisit my recent blog/rant ‘Technical Versus Fundamental’. 

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We mentioned it when first announced, but that was back in July. So, here’s a friendly reminder about StockHouse’s (STKH) second quarter 2008 numbers and conference call.

Unlike previous announcement, the company intends to release its second quarter 2008 financial results on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 (today) after the market closes. They usually do it about 3 PM EST the day of, so this time’s a little bit different. Not sure why.

The conference call and webcast will be also be held at about the same time the results are released…. Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at 4:10PM EDT / 1:10PM PDT.

To participate in the conference call, please call 1-866-400-3310 five to ten minutes prior to the start time. To listen to the live webcast, please go to www.stockgroup.com (the old site still works for the time being).

We’ll be on the call as well, and plan to detail some of the highlights afterwards. Still, our take is no substitute for being able to ask your own questions. If you get a chance, I suggest calling in.

Are you a subscriber to the Small Cap Network newsletter? If not, you’re missing out on some great trading ideas and exclusive market commentary. To sign up, just go to the top right corner of any page of our website. You’ll be joining thousands of other subscribers who have already benefited from our news and views.