The market followed though very nicely on Friday’s strong action as the bulls were apparently energized by an extra hour of rest this weekend.  The sectors I like to see lead  faired well today led by the retailers and semiconductors. Breadth was solidly positive all day and while volume wasn’t extraordinary, it wasn’t a level that would be a cause for concern.

Today’s move was very classic follow through action after Friday’s reversal after things simply got too negative. Since then we have continued to rally on no specific positive news, which leads me to believe all the negativity had been priced in and many weak holders have been washed out. The lighter volume today is not a major concern since the price action and breadth is so strong. Many participants are still skeptical and are not going to believe this rally will stick which creates the possibility of some great performance anxiety should the strength persist. It will take time before investors start realizing this market is advancing at which time they will scurry to put capital to work for fear of underperforming the market averages.

On the agenda is tomorrow’s FOMC meeting which should produce another quarter point rate hike. Some have suggested that the strength today is due to hope that the FOMC may be a bit less hawkish tomorrow but that is an unrealistic expectation and I don’t believe that is what is moving the market today.  If the Fed does indicate that the hikes may eventually come to an end we are likely to see more buying.

After such a volatile last couple of weeks it is nice to see stocks acting well today, and I have taken the opportunity to book some gains and only added a small amount of new buys. I have a fair amount of long exposure and while I don’t expect another failed bounce, my selling is simply prudent money management.

Shark HQ continues to suffer with technology issues today so I once again feel as though I am flying a bit blind. Hopefully, these issues will be resolved shortly or I’m going to put my young apprentice on bike modem and see how fast he can peddle.