Overall market bias, to the extent there was any, was downward, marking the fourth week in a row of directional change from the week before. Neither Supreme Court appointment, military action in the Middle East, nor poor employment numbers Friday caused much institutional investor response. U.S. stock market remains mostly directionless.
Our mission, as always, is “to make as much money as the stock market will allow”, and right now that is just not much. These erratic, choppy weekly moves among our stocks – evidenced by few highlights, reduced numbers of weekly highs/lows and recent positions unable to make any meaningful headway – are the most challenging in which to make significant gains.
These periods are not unusual though – every year sees them alternate with periods of strong uptrend and/or downtrend that produce sizable gains, so for now we exercise patience and wait for institutional sentiment to cause one of those impactful trends to develop.
Highlights: No new weekly highs in long positions. Only 4 stocks with double-digit long gains:
ABX +19% NEFF +81%
EVH +16%
FIVN +15%
Locking in long gain of +21% in IVTY (13 weeks).
Only 2 new weekly lows among short positions. Only 3 stocks with double-digit short gains:
ERF +10% NPTN +24% URBN +33%