Losing steam

The S&P 500 has been in a tight trading range for the past 5 days.  Is this just a pause before the next move up, or is the market losing steam? 

After a big move up it is common for the indices to take a rest.  I have been anticipating it as an opportunity to get into stocks.  But there really has been no pullback to speak of; Just a consolidation.  So is that all we will get or will the market start to head down?

Sentimentrader.com listed their extreme indicators yesterday.  Both the ones in bullish extreme territory and those in bearish extreme territory.  You can see the list of extreme bearish indicators is getting much larger than the bullish list.  A few weeks ago the lengths of these lists were reversed. 

       

Let's take a look at one of those indicators:  The Put/Call Ratio 10-Day moving average, an indicator that tells us what the smart money is doing with options, is showing that the smart money is betting on a pullback as they are buying more puts compared to call options.  The highest reading (or lowest based on direction of the indicator) since the early September sell off.

Going back to prior times where this indicator hit this 1.45 level we see that the market was at or near a short term top.

Veteran's Day may be historically positive but with the Federal Holiday keeping us from making transfers Friday, trying to play the short term could back fire.  That is unless you make your move Thursday morning, then again Thursday afternoon.  I am not advocating that type of activity in your account and I will likely pass.  See below for more o the Veteran's Day trend.

Have you visited today's Item of the Day.  Thanks!

That's all for today.  Currently 100% G fund.  Waiting for a better buying opportunity before getting back in the stock funds.  Thanks for reading.