As the DOW and NSDQ Race To Go Unchanged on the Year

You have to be impressed with their resilience (or think they are insane). With all the things going on here and abroad, the disappointing economic data, the debt crisis, the growing trade tensions with China, it is an impressive showing. Very little seems better than it was back on January 1st of this year, and even some of those areas that are better, seem far behind what investors had expected (we have created some jobs this year, just not that many for example). The only thing that has consistently grown this year is the debt burden of sovereign nations. Credit spreads are materially wider whether looking at any of the CDX indices, or HYG, or LQD (adjusted for the move in rates). Yields on all but the “safest” countries are higher too. Italian 5 year bonds started at 3.75% and are now at 5.25% and moving higher. Copper is down over 20% on the year, hardly a sign of robust growth. We have become conditioned to expect earnings to provide support for stocks, we will see if that continues this time. And finally, for all the talk about stocks being oversold, the RSI I look at is now at its highest since July 22nd, hardly an indication of oversold.