Thursday, March 12, 2020

STOCK MARKET BEARISH -- SHORT -- CAUTION -- TURN MAY BE IMMINENT

Keybot the Quant whipsaws back to the short side at SPX 2815 as the US stock market goes into crash mode on the collapse in utilities. The quant flips short after yesterday's opening bell on the failure in the utility sector. S&P futures are down 130 points, -4.7%, placing another limit-down day as a possibility for Thursday morning.

Bulls need utilities to rally for equities to recover. Bulls cannot sigh relief until they see UTIL back above 847. Bears are in clover slashing at the bulls with the blood flowing on Wall Street. WHO declares China's coronavirus as a global pandemic tanking stocks. President Trump appears back on his heels worrying more about the economy than actually handling the health crisis. Trump appears nervous and worried as he tells everyone not to be nervous and worried which immediately tanks index futures. The ECB and Madame Lagarde are on tap this morning and she needs to deliver the goods to help stabilize the global markets, if not, look out below, crash helmets will be required.

Stay alert for a potential whipsaw back to the long side at anytime. The VIX is over 60 which means these massive intraday and day to day price moves will continue. Keybot prints a pre-scheduled number tomorrow morning on Friday the 13th, how apropos.

On the last trade, which humorously lasted for only 12 minutes of trading time late Tuesday into early Wednesday morning, the quant program loses -2.1% and the actual trading loses nearly -4%. The benchmark SPX is down -13% on the year and headed into a bear market which is -20% off its peak. The actual trading generated by Keybot the Quant is up +11% on the year. Keybot exits SSO and enters SH a single 1x ETF that shorts the S&P 500. The quant slips back into single ETF mode due to the whipsaw and will remain with 1x ETF's for 35 days (until 4/15/20) to reduce risk. Markets remain too volatile, erratic and unstable to employ 2x leveraged ETF's due to the whipsaw choppy moves.

Okay, Christine, show the world what you got and we do not mean your toned Olympian body. The world wants to see stimulus and big globs of it. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell did not sleep a wink last night.

3/15/20; 7:00 PM EST =
3/13/20; 10:00 AM EST =
3/11/20; 9:36 AM EST = -52; signal line is -27; go short 2815; (Benchmark SPX for 2020 = -12.9%)(Keybot algo this trade = -2.1%; Keybot algo for 2020 = +7.8%)(Actual trading results this trade = -3.7%; Actual trading results for 2020 = +10.5%)
3/10/20; 3:54 PM EST = -20; signal line is -26; go long 2875; (Benchmark SPX for 2020 = -11.0%)(Keybot algo this trade = +11.0%; Keybot algo for 2020 = +9.9%)(Actual trading results this trade = +8.0%; Actual trading results for 2020 = +14.2%)

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

STOCK MARKET BULLISH -- LONG -- CAUTION -- TURN MAY BE IMMINENT

Keybot the Quant flips to the long side in the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, 3/10/20, at SPX 2875. The utilities are the key driver of broad stock market direction currently. S&P futures are tanking a hundo points one-half hour before the opening bell for the regular Wednesday, 3/11/20, US trading session. VIX is above 54 so there is panic in the air.

Bears need UTIL below 851.72 (now at 860) which would create an immediate deterioration in the stock market. Bears then need UTIL to fall through 847 which is a trap-door for the stock market. There will be near-term bloodiness (a crash scenario would be on the table) and long-term negativity if UTIL loses 847 and remains below. If you see this low for UTIL tested and a bounce occurs, you are relatively sure that the relief rally for the stock market is beginning.

Bulls need SPX above 3000 as soon as possible. This will go a long way to indicating that up is the direction forward for equities.

If one or both of the utility parameters fail above, Keybot will be champing at the bit to whipsaw back to the short side but will likely need to see the SPX below 2734 which is 148 points below the current SPX price at the 2882 palindrome. S&P futures need another 50 points of negativity to get down toward that level.

SPX 3000 (bulls win), UTIL 851.72 and UTIL 847 (bears win) are the only three parameters that matter. All else is noise. If stocks sell off as the futures indicate but the utes remain firm and do not fail, the bulls will come in and buy the dip and launch a relief rally. Likewise, if there is a bloodbath of selling, and the utes fail, but minutes later the utes recover, same dealio, stocks will likely recover. Bulls would not receive a strong all-clear signal, however, until the SPX regains 3K.

On the last trade that ran for about 3 weeks, the Keybot computer program gains about +10% and the actual trading gains +8%. The PSQ ETF underperforms because many traders still believe in tech and keep buying any little dips. The benchmark S&P 500 is down -11% this year thus far, that is a big change from last year's joy, while the actual trading generated by Keybot the Quant is up over +14% after two months of trading. That is a 25 percentage-point difference in performance. Keybot exits PSQ and enters SSO returning to the 2x leveraged ETF's after the whipsaw timer expired. If the algorithm flips short in quick order that would drop the quant back down into 1x ETF mode. For now, Keybot is dancing with the devils with the double-leveraged long SSO ETF as the futures tank. There will be huge intraday and day to day moves continuing as long as the VIX remains elevated.

Keybot prints a pre-scheduled number tomorrow morning, Friday the 13th, shortly after the opening bell. The beat goes on.

3/15/20; 7:00 PM EST =
3/13/20; 10:00 AM EST =
3/10/20; 3:54 PM EST = -20; signal line is -26; go long 2875; (Benchmark SPX for 2020 = -11.0%)(Keybot algo this trade = +11.0%; Keybot algo for 2020 = +9.9%)(Actual trading results this trade = +8.0%; Actual trading results for 2020 = +14.2%)
3/10/20; 3:44 PM EST = -36; signal line is -27
3/10/20; 3:35 PM EST = -52; signal line is -28
3/10/20; 3:23 PM EST = -36; signal line is -28
3/10/20; 11:28 AM EST = -52; signal line is -28
3/10/20; 11:24 AM EST = -36; signal line is -27
3/9/20; 3:28 PM EST = -20; signal line is -26 but algorithm remains short
3/9/20; 2:59 PM EST = -36; signal line is -25
3/9/20; 2:35 PM EST = -52; signal line is -24
3/9/20; 2:20 PM EST = -36; signal line is -21
3/9/20; 2:08 PM EST = -52; signal line is -20
3/9/20; 1:55 PM EST = -36; signal line is -18
3/8/20; 7:00 PM EST = -20; signal line is -16
3/6/20; 9:36 AM EST = -20; signal line is -15
3/6/20; 9:00 AM EST = -6; signal line is -14 but algorithm remains short
3/5/20; 3:37 PM EST = -6; signal line is -12 but algorithm remains short
3/5/20; 3:17 PM EST = -20; signal line is -11
3/4/20; 9:36 AM EST = -6; signal line is -9 but algorithm remains short
3/3/20; 3:59 PM EST = -20; signal line is -6
3/3/20; 3:06 PM EST = -6; signal line is -4
3/3/20; 2:05 PM EST = -20; signal line is -1
3/2/20; 3:06 PM EST = -6; signal line is +2
3/2/20; 2:41 PM EST = -20; signal line is +4
3/2/20; 11:16 AM EST = -6; signal line is +7
3/2/20; 10:33 AM EST = -20; signal line is +9
3/2/20; 10:06 AM EST = -36; signal line is +12
3/2/20; 9:59 AM EST = -20; signal line is +14
3/2/20; 9:36 AM EST = -36; signal line is +15
3/1/20; 7:00 PM EST EOM = -52; signal line is +18
2/28/20; 10:00 AM EST = -52; signal line is +21
2/28/20; 9:44 AM EST = -52; signal line is +24
2/28/20; 9:36 AM EST = -36; signal line is +27
2/27/20; 3:57 PM EST = -20; signal line is +29
2/26/20; 11:49 AM EST = -6; signal line is +31
2/26/20; 11:23 AM EST = +8; signal line is +33
2/26/20; 11:13 AM EST = -6; signal line is +33
2/26/20; 10:32 AM EST = +8; signal line is +35
2/25/20; 1:21 PM EST = -6; signal line is +35
2/25/20; 10:51 AM EST = +8; signal line is +37
2/25/20; 10:42 AM EST = +24; signal line is +38
2/25/20; 10:35 AM EST = +8; signal line is +37
2/25/20; 10:00 AM EST = +24; signal line is +37
2/24/20; 12:10 PM EST = +24; signal line is +37; go short 3229; (Benchmark SPX for 2020 = -0.1%)(Keybot algo this trade = -1.8%; Keybot algo for 2020 = -1.1%)(Actual trading results this trade = -1.6%; Actual trading results for 2020 = +6.2%)