Tortoise and the Hare

July 31, 2008

Down a bunch, up a bunch, up a bunch, and down a bunch. That’s the best way to describe the market’s action this week, which leaves us scratching our head as to what Wall Street will deliver tomorrow. Up to this point we are pretty close to break-even for the week across the indices. Needless to say the market will be volatile once again with the looming employment numbers being announced tomorrow morning. Preliminary numbers from earlier this week got Wall Street all excited, which makes us cautious heading into the announcement. Usually this type of behavior is met with disappointment. We’ll See! Either way, the market will run hard in the direction of the employment numbers.

Doesn’t this market remind you of the tortoise and the hare? Here we have the market hopping all over the place at rapid speed like the hare, but in the end, it really doesn’t get us anywhere. I think I speak for many when I say that nice steady gains, like a tortoise, in a stair step fashion would be desirable, but nonetheless, you have to play the hand that the market deals you, and there is plenty of opportunity to make money to both the long and short side of the trade. You just have to be patient and wait for the right setups to occur. Don’t chase after stocks in either direction, let them come to you before you pull the trigger. Keep tight stops, and let those winners run.

Regardless of what tomorrow brings, keep a cool head, and don’t let rapid price movements stir you crazy. Be calm in the midst of a storm.

Here’s the NASDAQ and S&P Charts…