STOCK MARKET BULLISH -- LONG

Keybot the Quant flips back to the bullish side yesterday morning at SPX 5920. The choppy whipsaw slop continues. It is nauseating. The robot has flipped five times in only 9 trading days to begin the year. Obviously, the internals of the stock market are erratic and unstable.

The bulls came to play on hump day. They started by wrestling Uncle Vix to the ground and holding him down. At the same time, the bulls pumped the chips and banks and it was off to the races with an upside orgy. The bulls are in charge of the stock market with the algo number 25 points above the signal line.

Bulls need stronger retail stocks to prove that they got game going forward. Higher utilities would also help the bull case. Bulls need XRT above 79.65. If this occurs, the bulls will be sending the stock market higher. If XRT 79.65 does not occur, the stock market likely does not have much upside ahead.

Bears had to run for their lives yesterday or get run over by the bull orgy. They need to reverse the key metrics that slapped them silly; vol, chips and banks. Bears need VIX above 17.29, SOX below 5076 and/or XLF below 48.50. Chips are rallying in Europe so that will probably keep them in the bull camp. Bank yearnings continue so bears would need bad news to weaken the XLF. Looks like the bears only hope may be hoisting volatility and pushing banks lower if they want to get the stock market ball back.

On the last trade that ran for a week, the quant program and actual trading post more marginal losses. For the year thus far, that is only a couple weeks along, the benchmark S&P 500 is up a percent while the quant program is down -4% and the actual trading generated by the quant is down about -3%. The year is off and stumbling. The whipsaw price action is chewing up bulls and bears alike and spitting them out. Keybot exited RWM and entered IVV.

In the pre-market, VIX slips under 16 to 15.98 so the bulls cheer. XLF is rising to 49.64 so the bulls throw more confetti. SMH is gaining +2%. The bears are crying in their cafe latte. In this crazy whipsaw market, however, anything can happen. Markets are closed for Martin Luther King Jr Day on Monday, and the inauguration. Stocks typically rally into a 3-day holiday weekend.

1/19/25; 7:00 PM EST =
1/17/25; 9:00 AM EST =
1/15/25; 9:36 AM EST = +30; signal line is +5; go long 5920; (Benchmark SPX for 2025 = +0.7%)(Keybot algo this trade = -0.6%; Keybot algo for 2025 = -4.0%)(Actual results this trade = -0.3%; Actual results for 2025 = -2.7%)
1/15/25; 8:38 AM EST = -2; signal line is +2
1/14/25; 9:58 AM EST = -16; signal line is +2
1/14/25; 9:38 AM EST = +0; signal line is +1
1/13/25; 1:12 PM EST = -16; signal line is +1
1/13/25; 10:14 AM EST = -32; signal line is +1
1/12/25; 7:00 PM EST = -16; signal line is +3
1/10/25; 10:00 AM EST = -16; signal line is +4
1/10/25; 9:38 AM EST = -16; signal line is +4
1/10/25; 9:00 AM EST = +0; signal line is +3
1/7/25; 11:57 AM EST = +0; signal line is +2
1/7/25; 11:03 AM EST = +16; signal line is +1 but algorithm remains short
1/7/25; 10:20 AM EST = +0; signal line is -0; go short 5955; (Benchmark SPX for 2025 = +1.2%)(Keybot algo this trade = -0.6%; Keybot algo for 2025 = -3.4%)(Actual results this trade = -0.8%; Actual results for 2025 = -2.4%)