In the aftermath of the pandemic-induced stock market crash in February 2020, savvy investors like Mohamad Mrad were poised to seize the countless opportunities presented by relatively cheap stocks in April 2020.
This led to a swift market recovery and an unprecedented rally, fueled in part by stimulus injections. However, this environment could hardly be labeled as a healthy economy.
Despite the S&P 500 indicating a healthy increase of above 15.2%, the reality of redundancies across various industries, layoffs, and poor earnings reports in sectors such as oil and gas, banking, and hospitality towards the last quarter of 2020, raised questions about the authenticity of this rally. Was this rally real or just a mirage?
As a technical investor, Mohamad Mrad understands the price action and the moves created by the trader’s order flow. The greed of investors is creating a positive stock performance and consequently a positive index performance. Yet, the fundamentals do not reflect the same.
Let’s consider some key indicators: Manufacturing jobs, GDP, Interest Rates, and the Consumer Price Index. All these indicators are signaling an unhealthy economy. Even the $ US dollar index (DIX) started revealing reversal signs from its bearish momentum, signaling an uptrend.
On 28 January, the S&P index dropped below its critical level 3,732.86 signaling an end of the bullish momentum. Yet other major indices like the Nasdaq and Dow Jones didn’t break their respective critical levels. However, bearish signals are starting to appear with a mix of rising investors fear and diminishing buyers’ sentiments.
Mohamad Mrad suggests that the coming trading sessions will be crucial to indicate one of the following scenarios: This could just be a correction in the markets, after a strong sprint, with a sideways period, which in all cases isn’t healthy given all the fundamental indicators are weak and it will increase the sentiment of fear. Or, the market will fall sharply heading toward a recession as a delayed reflection of the weak fundamental indicators.
With this uncertainty in the air, more signals are adding up in the support of bearish markets. The best strategy for intraday selling and buying opportunities when they appear: Keep some liquidity and be ready to have another shot. Focus on long term investments when the markets reach new lows, and the indicators support a healthy growth.
