Here is the chart that I posted on Saturday showing the bearish megaphone pattern (click to enlarge):
And here is what it looks like now:
Not bad, huh? And what did I tell you on Saturday? “Don’t mess with a megaphone!” I hope you listened…
And now, the pattern is morphing:
The red line is the bottom of the megaphone. The new blue line is the market attempting to construct a bullish falling wedge pattern. Notice that the wedge apex would be forming right at the bottom of the rectangle.
So, if the sell-off advances to 1085, the wedge should produce some sort of bounce. If it does so, the bulls will need to take the market back up to the top of the rectangle, or take the consequences.
That will be one heck of a move back up to the top megaphone line.
if we’re really to bounce we need to go to 1055 on SPX
guys timingprojector.com has updated the charts. I think it was paula or julie that mentioned it. just check to have an idea,,,
just sayin..
im in line to buy a june UUP 23 call for $80
Larry & Yerk,
The market has formed a domed house pattern.
The U.S. cooks economic numbers. Does other
countries also cook the numbers?
Larry & Yerk,
When it comes to inflation, I don’t think
Ben uses his own money to buy anything.
If he did, he knows his comments about
inflation are a big lie. Seniors will hurt
this year.
K,
Agree with your utility rate hike comments. As for Internet and cable rates, there seems to be no end to their increasing rates for the same service.
Each year, when Time Warner raises our cable bill, I give them a call and tell them I don’t like it and I’ll get a lower service plan, etc. They end up lowering it back to where it was previously. Give that a try.
Something else I do each February is go through the house and find out how I can save on electricity. This year I replaced all inefficient bulbs with energy-savers as well as lowering wattage. The year before that I unplugged all “phantom” electronics like printers, phone chargers, any type of wall-wart that is sucking up power without doing anything – I only plug them in when I need them. Additionally, I replaced a desktop with a laptop which uses much less power.
Next year I’m going to look into more energy saving ideas with a bigger hit, like a hot water heater solar unit. That demo I went to in D.C. this year gave me some good ideas. The price of these technologies are dropping rapidly for a quicker payback.
This stuff adds up.
George,
I like your energy saving tips. We use a
heat pump…the electric meter goes wild
when the temp. falls below 32 degrees.
We are looking into going with a ground
water system instead of the air-to-air.
Next big cost is heating water…any ideas?
I have my windows sealed for the winter. old houses and its not my own or i’d buy new windows with that gas in between to keep things warm inside.
lights yes i have gone energy efficient in a few.
I had my computer turned on for 6+months without ever shutting it down but now i want piece and quiet when i sleep so i turn it off.
it always seems to work with a simple phone call to companies, since they know most people will pay new rates they work like that “take a penny from each account” scam. “ooh yeah is just $5 extra a month not a big deal besides being $60 a year aka a month’s worth of billing + a lunch”
Julie,
Uncle Ben has a “golden parachute” like most inside the beltway. Like Alfred E. Newman says: “What, me worry?”
There will be no COLA increases this year. That affects federal government employees, military and federal retirees, Social Security recipients and anyone else getting an eagle on a piece of paper. That doesn’t eliminate perks the federals get though; most of those benefits will increase.
Wouldn’t it be prudent to have the “fat cats” (Al Gore’s name for common folk making $100,00+) on the Hill take a pay cut to help with the bailouts and deficit? I mean, Lee Iacocca took a pay cut down to $1 per year while Chrysler was in trouble and got bailed out. How’s that for the private sector?
Good point about Ben George.
Folks, timing point is off by 150 points on the S&P projection right now. Just sayin’ right back.
George, glad I’m not the only one out there trying to save a few bucks on electricity.
Julie, have you wrapped your hot water heater in an insulated blanket yet? That is an easy one to DYI, and a great return on investment. Another option if you have electric hot water is to use a timer to only heat water for a few hours a day. You have to have a pretty rigid schedule to get away with that one, but I do that at my dental office.
Good trading on the meagphone/falling wedge. Looks like a pretty good pattern to go long into with profits at the rectangle top or megaphone channel. Then back down to 1050 by the 18th for Phil’s max pain on the S&P? George will have a new car in the driveway by the 20th! A great Christmas present…hohoho
K,
Yeah, the dollar-here-dollar-there raising is sneaky. That’s an incremental increase that eats away at us like a cancer.
I realize expenses increase for companies. I mean, they hopefully give their employees promotions and raises. The problem is they never cut expenses or find more efficient ways to work to keep prices low.
Wal-Mart is one of the leaders in that arena. The same with electronics where automation and other expense-cutting methods keep prices low or even lower prices. Not all business can do that when there are too many fixed costs, but most can.
2thfixr,
You got that right about the car, however, it will be for my daughter.
Hey, 2thfixr has to meet a payroll. If anyone can tell us the business end of things, he can. Let’s see… “drill ‘em, fill ‘em, bill ‘em”… I wonder if that’s on his shingle outside the office?
2thfixr,
Our hot water heater is super insulated as
you suggested. Never thought about a
timer. Thanks.
I tried fixing a customer’s computer but her motherboard is out. she didnt want it back so Instead of throwing it out I’m making a $103 investment (power supply, motherboard and memory) maybe i can turn this into a nice rig either for the media center or solely for trading
night all.
Google…domed house pattern…click on
Tom’s site…get his targets.
Matt, Bear flag in futures, or did the bullish wedge break in the futures market, not the 9:30 to 4 pm market? Thanks.
Julie,
Looks like his SPX target is in line with my 1055 expectation.
best headline on the Japan news i posted last night “Whoops! Japan Overstated GDP by 300%”
Futures Prices as of 7:45, nas up 8.25 pts, darn -ng- otoh – maybe i’ll rebuy sds ?
Market Last Change %
Crude Oil 73.53 +0.91 +1.25
Natural Gas 5.19 +0.076 +1.49
Corn 385.00 +1.25 +0.32
Soybeans 1044 -9 -0.86
30yr Bond 119.375 -0.28125 -0.24
10yr Note 118.78125 +0.578125 +0.49
NY Gold 1143.2 -0.2 -0.02
NY Silver 17.82 +0.013 +0.07
Emini S&P 1095.0 +5.0 +0.46
Emini Nasdaq 1776.75 +8.25 +0.47
Emini Dow 1031 +39 +0.38
k, where do you see UUP going such that your june 23 call would be a worthwhile trade ?
thanks
Julie,
I just saw your comment about hot water. The hot water issue is the most straightforward energy “problem” to fix. The solar solutions for savings of heating water are numerous. Some sit on the ground while others are on a roof. Usually they are facing the South.
A resource I use is homepower.com. It has a free magazine an great online content covering the issues and DIY projects.
Most hot water systems are roof mounted with various designs. The one I prefer has tubes rather than a panel.
My neighbor has a system with 1 tank. It isn’t designed to get her off the grid for complete independence, rather to reduce, and at times eliminate, the hot water’s use of electricity. Here in our relatively warmer climate, her’s has a 89% efficiency. Rainy weeks like we’ve been having reduces the efficiency (not clowdy days, however), but the normal sunny days provides all she can use.
None of the homes I toured in D.C. were designed to eliminate being on the grid; that can be done with great expense. Neither did they have batteries as storage. Their systems were designed to reduce/eliminate the grid usage. Some were zero grid usage, others had a reduction of ~80%.
Still, the savings is enormous considering today’s and the future’s electricity costs.
I cut my hot water heater off manually. It’s easier that way and I can time it better when needing hot water.
Julie, every country has multiple Chefs doing the cooking. The U.S. is one of the more honest and transparent. However, every country is deteriorating rapidly in this field.
That’s why we have blogs like this one.
2. How is your household inflation index holding up?
20 Short and not very comfortable.