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The charts, graphs and comments in my Trading Blog represent my technical analysis and observations of a variety of world markets...
* Major World Market Indices * Futures Markets * U.S. Sectors and ETFs * Commodities * U.S. Bonds * Forex

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* The content in my articles is time-sensitive. Each one shows the date and time (New York ET) that I publish them. By the time you read them, market conditions may be quite different than that which is described in my posts, and upon which my analyses are based at that time.
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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

What's Really Changed?

What's really changed since Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S. credit rating on August 5, 2011?

One year has passed, and the SPX has gone from a low of 1074.77 on October 4, 2011 to a high of 1426.68 yesterday (Tuesday), as shown on the Daily chart below. A double top has formed at major resistance.


The credit rating has not been upgraded. The Fed also downgraded the economic outlook at their meeting on August 9, 2011, as mentioned in my post of August 9th. The Fed remains committed to holding long term interest rates low for the foreseeable future. Europe's economic condition has weakened. The global economies have slowed. And, finally, the U.S. National Debt continues to rise (unabated) to all-time highs each second. The Fiscal Cliff looms.


Who is convinced that economic and fiscal conditions have improved since then? The only ones, so far, have been the buyers above the yellow arrows. No doubt they will begin to take profits at current levels and re-think their positions after the next FOMC meeting in September. A drop and hold below June's lows of this year would confirm that their sentiment has changed.