Whack A Mole

Although it looked like at the start that we could finally put at least two days of gains together (something we haven't be able to do for a month), the bears enjoyed playing another fun round of whack a mole with anything that attempted to move higher.

The largest pressure points were found in all of the typical places - mortgage investment, residential construction, savings & loans, banks, and REITs of every flavor with a notable lack of leadership. And, when you see nothing but bear market ultrashort ETFs in today's winner circle, it doesn't take a genius to realize that people are not happy with this market.

For now, cash feels good, perhaps too good and that makes me increasingly very concerned that I'm not deploying capital into the weakness in the manner I've trained myself to do when things look and feel this bad. My goal this week is to put more than an chicken upside insurance trade on and I'm actively looking for a justification to upgrade my timing indicator from the neutral position. While I'm certainly not sure this week's economic data, window dressing, oversold conditions, and Fedspeak will be enough to put in at least a tradeable bottom, we've got to start somewhere. I've been sitting in cash for a reason, but it isn't to stay in cash when everyone else now hates the market.

See you tomorrow.