8/26 Morningline

• S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 back in bull phase on the fast stochastic (SPY, QQQQ).
• A wishy-washy fear index (VIX).
• Treasury long-term bonds move to bear phase on the fast stochastic (TLT).

Stocks and Rates

	trend	adx	psar	pps	macd	macd trend	sto	sto zone
SPY
QQQQ
VIX
TLT
JNK

SPY and QQQQ broke into bull phase on the fast stochastic during Wednesday's late-day price recovery. The less volatile indicators -- the parabolic sar, macd and Person's Proprietary Signal (pps) -- remain in bear phase.


The VIX on the fast stochastic is behaving like a very confused pup. The indicator moved to bear phase (bullish for stocks) on Aug. 16, and since then has remained in the neutral zone, twice touching the 80-line but never piercing it. The lesson of this chart is that the only thing we have to fear is wishy-washiness itself.

TLT has been a poster child for capital gains since Aug. 16, a bullish beacon amidst the dank and dark of a dismal stock market. Today the fast stochastic crossed below the 80-line by about four points, and then began tracing a sideways course. It's a bear signal, but of the unconvincing variety.

Oil and Gold

	trend	adx	psar	pps	macd	macd trend	sto	sto zone
USO
GLD

Global

	trend	adx	psar	pps	macd	macd trend	sto	sto zone
EUR/USD
USD/JPY
EEM

Indicator Exchange-Traded Fund Symbols:
EEM - emerging markets
EUR/USD - euro/dollar currency pair
GLD - gold
JNK - high-yield corporate bonds
QQQQ - Nasdaq 100 index
SPY - S&P 500 index
TLT - Treasury long-term bonds
USD/JPY - dollar/yen currency pair
USO - crude oil
VIX - fear index


Abbreviations:

• psar - Parabolic Stop and Reverse
• adx - Average Directional Index
• pps - Person's Proprietary Signal.
• ma20 - 20-day moving average
• macd - Moving Average Convergence-Divergence
• sto - Fast Stochastic

About the glance: The colors indicate the state of each signal.

• trend: Determined by the 5-day moving average, green for up, red for down, yellow for sideways
• adx: orange for above 30-up, blue for 20-down, purple for in the middle. Red is most prone to whipsaws
• psar, pps, macd: green for bull mode, red for bear
• sto: green for overbought, red for oversold, yellow for the neutral zone.