The Good Reverend Is Boring

Random Thoughts

Last night, in the newsletter unsubscribe section,  some dude wrote “borrowing.” A quick email confirmed that he meant to write “boring.”

Well, trading, if done properly can be boring: Waiting in less-than-ideal conditions. Waiting for entries. Giving positions time to work via protective and trailing stops. Planning a trade and trading that plan. All of this can be boring. There’s a whole lot of waiting. Yes, flying by the seat of your pants is much more exciting but it’s also going to be much more expensive.

I tried to explain this to the aforementioned gentleman and he told me it is my column that is boring, not trading.

Well, fighting the good fight—preaching about entries, stops, and waiting—isn’t always exciting. Yes, I’m occasionally tempted to throw in a fart joke but that would reduce me to the entertainer status. Those who hype and scream about the markets, though entertaining, aren’t really doing you a service. My wife, Marcy once commented about a guy on TV, saying, “You could be that guy!” I bit my tongue and waited. By the end of the segment she said, “Please don’t be THAT guy!”

So, let’s get back to the boring Big Dave’s commentary.

The Ps (S&P 500) peeped up to all-time highs but then came back in just a bit. This action has them right at the top of their range.

The Quack (Nasdaq) also had a decent day. It gained nearly 3/4% . It too is approaching the top of its range. It also has it just shy of decade plus highs.

The Rusty (IWM) was the strongest on a relative basis, gaining .84% but it has its work cut out for it. So far, it still looks like it could be in trouble.

Most sectors improved with the overall market with some even peeping up to new highs.

Back to the boring thing, I just can’t get excited about what the database is producing. As I often tell my peeps, in great conditions great setups usually pop up within the first few minutes of scanning. I get excited and then complete the rest of my work, essentially just to “dot my I’s and cross my T’s.” Lately though, I’ve found myself nearly nodding off, going for that second cup of coffee. The best setups tend to jump out at you. And recently, I haven’t seen many. This is actually a good thing. It’s the database saying that there’s not much out there at the present. It’s saying, let everybody else fight it out. Boring? Yes. Costly? No. I’d rather be bored and keep my money than to put it in harm’s way. I’ll look outside the markets for entertainment and excitement.

So what do we do? I still like the Gold and Silver stocks. The Juniors (GDXJ) is a good way to play here. The Metals overall, especially Aluminum, are also shaping up. Other than that, again, I’m not seeing a whole lot to get excited about. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that the Ps and Quack are approaching new highs. I just will remain in “show me” mode until this market can prove itself.

Best of luck with your trading today!

Dave