S&P500 hits the highest last seen in Aug 2022! Should we buy, hold or sell? (3 Jun 23)

Dear all First of all, apologies for the hiatus in posting new market outlook on my blog. I have been extremely busy for the past three months. My clients can attest to how busy I have been. I have been sending out my market views and news even on weekends and on public holidays. 😊 With reference to my previous writeup published on 26 Feb 2023 (click HERE), I mentioned that I planned to pare positions so that I can accumulate on weakness. In retrospect, it was a timely call. I was fortunate that I have pared my positions so […]

STI – having closed at a record YTD high, will it continue higher? (7 Nov 2021)

Dear all With reference to my market outlook published on 3 Oct (see HERE) citing opportunities in our Singapore market, STI has soared 191 points, or 6.3% from 3,051 on 1 Oct to close at a year to date high 3,242 on 5 Nov. Will STI continue to march higher, or will there be some profit taking?   Very briefly, my personal view is It is likely that STI may face some profit taking in the near term, attributable in part to the following factors: a) With reference to Figure 1 below, MSCI Singapore index will undergo a rebalancing in […]

Markets are “bubblish”, or aren’t they? (5 Apr 2021)

Dear all Markets have been on a tear for the past five months. Since my write-up published on 1 Nov 2020, citing opportunities in our Singapore market (click HERE for the write-up), STI has soared 786 points, or 32.4% from 2,424 on 30 Oct 2020 to close 3,210 on 5 Apr 2021 (intra-day high today was 3,212). At the time of writing this, S&P500 futures are trading at 4,040, translating to around 24% gain over the same period. In fact, STI is the 2nd best performing market for 1Q2021 amongst 18 global benchmarks. Are markets in the midst of a […]

Recent weakness provides accumulation opportunities (9 Sep 20)

Dear all Based on Table 1 below, U.S. indices have fallen between 5.5% – 10% from the close of 2 Sep to 8 Sep. Nasdaq led the decline with a 10% drop. These are interesting times indeed! Why do I say so? Read on below. Table 1: Performance of various indices from 2 Sep to *8 Sep 20 Source: Ernest’s compilations (*STI and Hang Seng are based on 9 Sep closing prices) In my personal opinion, this recent U.S. market weakness provides accumulation opportunities for the well prepared and for those who have been waiting on the side-lines to accumulate […]

STI – to head towards 3,390 points in 1Q2020? (25 Dec 19)

Merry Xmas! As we approach end 2019, most market strategists are putting their market estimates for end 2020. Although I do not profess to be in the league of these market strategists, just for fun, I am expecting STI to head towards 3,390 in 1Q2020. STI closed at 3,222 on 24 Dec 2019. I have outlined my basis and the risks involved.   Factors for my bullish basis a) Chart looks positive after bullish break Based on Chart 1 below, STI has staged a bullish break above its flag formation on 12 Dec 2019. Notwithstanding below average volume for the […]

S&P500 logged its largest one day fall since Jan. Buy more, or head to the exit? (27 Mar 2019)

Dear readers, Last Fri, S&P500 logged its largest one day fall since 3 Jan 2019, due in part to the weak European PMI and the yield curve inversion between U.S. 3-month bill and 10-year note yields. At the time of writing this, Dow closed 0.55% higher on Tues as U.S. 10 year bond yields stabilise. Is last Fri’s fall the precursor to something more serious? Or it is a false alarm?   First things first, what are the reasons for the sharp rally since late Dec? S&P500 has rallied approximately 20.1%, or 471 points from the intra-day low of 2,347 […]

S&P500 has slumped 13.7% in Dec, largest percentage fall since 1931! Has the bull market ended? (23 Dec 18)

Dear all After hitting an intra-day high of 2,941 on 21 Sep 2018, S&P500 has tumbled 17.9% or 525 points to close 2,416 on 21 Dec 2018. In fact, S&P500 has just logged the worst monthly performance in Dec since 1931! Dow has also fallen 3,535 points from the intraday high of 25,980 on 3 Dec 2018 and 4,507 points from the intraday high of 26,952 on 3 Oct 2018. What is happening? Is Armageddon coming?   Most things have not changed since 21 Sep, except for… In Sep, when S&P500 hit 2,940, the usual concerns were also there, namely […]

S&P500, Nasdaq and Russell 2000 hit records, time to switch to underperforming markets? (24 Aug 18)

Dear all, S&P500, Nasdaq and Russell 2000 hit records last Friday with S&P500 closing at 2,875. However, our STI has dropped 11.8% after hitting a decade high of 3,642 on 2 May 2018. Hang Seng has also tumbled 17.4% after hitting a high of 33,484 on 29 Jan 2018. Is this the time to switch out of the U.S. markets and plough it back to STI and Hang Seng? This seems to be the question on most investors’ minds as I am also posed this question during a live interview on Money FM89.3 on last Thursday. Let’s take a closer […]

Ernest’s market opinion (18 Aug 17)

Dear all Our STI has broken a one-month trading range of around 3,288 – 3,348. Where will STI and the other indices go from here?   S&P500 last closed 2,426 Based on Chart 1 below, although 20D exponential moving average (“EMA”) is trending lower, the other EMAs, namely 50D, 100D and 200D EMA are still trending up. RSI closed at 37.2. Since 7 Nov 2016, the lowest RSI was around 35.9 on 10 Apr 2017. Although the directional indicators (“DIs”) are negatively placed, ADX is still at a low 12.2 which is indicative of a trendless market. My personal view […]

Ernest’s market outlook (28 Oct 16)

Dear readers, Notwithstanding my cautious stance in the general market, I have raised my allocation from 35% on 14 Oct 2016 to around 89% on 28 Oct 16 on stocks with potential near term catalysts. Read on my technical outlook on the markets.   S&P500 Index Just to recap what I have mentioned on 14 Oct 2016 (see HERE), I wrote “it is alarming to see that 21D and 50D exponential moving averages (“EMAs) are trending lower with 21D EMA forming a death cross with 50D EMA. 100D EMA started to turn flat and S&P500 closed below 100D EMA yesterday. […]