Trade the Charts, Not the News

The financial media mind warp has kicked into high-gear this month. Epic distractions abound... September 09, 2013 Trade the Charts, Not the News What the media can't tell you about stocks... Cutting through the noise Plus: What happens after gold $1,000? Greg Guenthner coming to you from Baltimore, MD... Greg Guenthner The financial media mind warp has kicked into high-gear this month. Epic distractions abound... But the message we're receiving from the charts right now is clear. The broad market has tested support. For the most part, stocks have held up well. "That's not to say that stocks are suddenly back in buying-frenzy mode. They're not. The S&P is still very close to its trendline," chimes in fellow trader Jonas Elmerraji. "But seeing buyers step in at support is a good sign -- and we're starting to see some minor signs of strength again in the market this month." "Not surprisingly, last week's market action was confusing to the media," Jonas continues... Of course, the financial media isn't making investing any easier these days. Check out the awkwardly-conflicting stories on Google Finance Jonas grabbed over the weekend: So let me get this straight... Friday's jobs number was good enough for the Fed to begin tapering. But it missed estimates, so the Fed won't taper just yet. Brilliant. This is why it's worthless to spend all of your time trying to dissect the incoherent (and often wrongheaded) media guesses about anything that could affect your financial decisions. It's theater--not analysis... "Yes, the Fed's taper is still in the spotlight in September. So is President Obama's Fed Chairman nominee -- another drama-filled piece of political theater," Jonas says. "Syria is guaranteed to be a headline-grabber too. But while CNBC was trying to make heads or tails of how Friday's jobs report made the market go up or down, you knew better." [Ed. Note: Give your portfolio a boost-- start trading with Jonas today... ] September is going to be a noisy month. Let everyone else worry about tapering, Syria and the new Fed chair. All you have to do is trade your plan. Small-cap and mid-cap names are showing strength. You should have a short list of names to buy in case we do see this bounce materialize into a stronger mover higher... Rude Numbers Targets, Predictions and Wild Guesses 48% of U.S. stocks remain above their respective 50-day moving averages. Even with the small bounce we enjoyed late last week, the broad market has some work left to do... $6 billion is all it's taking to buy luxury retailer Neiman Marcus. According to Bloomberg, courses report Ares Management is coughing up the money for the deal. 14,205 is where the Nikkei finished trading today. That's a 2.5% gain for the Japanese index... $1,382 is where you'll find gold futures this morning. The Midas metal is hanging tough just below $1,400 for the third straight trading session... 1,657 marks the spot for S&P futures early this morning. The broad market looks like it wants to open higher today... Rude Trends When to Buy... When to Sell "If you are correct and gold bottoms at $1,000-$1,100 do you expect it to stay in that area for long?" inquires a reader. How long is "long"? Months? Years? A decade? I don't know. But I do know that it takes time to repair price damage. If we do end up seeing my price target for gold within the next 12 to 18 months, gold will be suffering from a downtrend lasting more than two years. My best guess is that it will take a lot of sideways action and false starts before it gets its mojo back. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Quit obsessing over what might be. Instead, focus on what current price action can tell you. We'll have plenty of time to figure all of this out as gold feels out a new bottom. Right now, I'm much more interested in gold's new short-term uptrend that began back in early July and its battle for $1,400. How gold reacts in the next couple of weeks is critical to its performance this year... [Ed. Note: Send your feedback here: rude@agorafinancial.com - and follow me on Twitter: @GregGuenthner] Ignore At Your Own Peril Today's Must Read Links This "Chaffee Royalty Program" That Once Turned Every $1 Into $50. Congress requests the White House extend an exemption from "Obamacare" Try the Rude Pro for 30 Days, Without Charge BE SURE TO ADD dr@dailyreckoning.com to your address book. Additional Articles & Commentary: To end The Daily Reckoning's Rude Awakening e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from The Daily Reckoning and The Rude Awakening, click here. Please Note: If you unsubscribe from The Rude Awakening, you will also be unsubscribed from The Daily Reckoning. 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