DAX , Germany’s benchmark index and EWG

DAX dec 4 2014 bdax dec 4 2014

The DAX index has had a remarkable performance over the past 3 years and the past five + months, respectively almost doubling and gyrating to the tune of 58% around its average value for that period. Such gyrations can only be the result of an unstable equilibrium that tries to adapt to short-term unmeasurable  and capricious inputs from Central Bankers and the like. Applied to the collective and binary brain of the investing public, that thinks not at all anymore, and behaves more like the iconic herd of stampeding steers that has made (bankrupt) Merryll Lynch Pierce Fenner Smith so famous. This has nothing whatsoever to do anymore with how well Mercedeses are selling. By the way, the DAX is a total return index and therefore not directly comparable to, for instance, the DOW.

From an EW point of view , we do not claim to fully understand what count is applicable. What is clear is that the rise from the lows is more clearly an a-b-c corrective structure than an upward bull move. That point is driven home more forcibly if you look at EWG, the German ETF that contains many of the same stocks as the DAX.

ewg dec 4 2014 bewg dec 4 2014

This is a downright bearish chart. As with the one above the RSI and MACD are already warning of the possibility of a downturn, but, more importantly, the EWG has only recouped about one half (60%) of the previous losses.

To add to the confusion we include the AEX, the world’s oldest exchange index. It has made two consecutive new highs over this period and they do not even make Mercedeses there.

aex dec 4 2014

VET again

vet diagonalford diagonal

We are intrigued by the possibility of there being a “diagonal” in the Vermillion stock. For comparison purposes we dug up another diagonal that occurred a few years ago in Ford’s stock. In that case it was a 5th wave whereas in the case of VET it is a c wave. 5th or c the structure should be identical from the starting point. I will let you be the judge. Remember that you can enlarge the charts and move them around for a better comparison. Also, below, we have a count that could possible explain how this fits together;

VET dec 3 2014

In this count wave 3 is the longest which is normal but waves 2 and 4 (so far at least!) do not alternate which raises the suspicion that potentially a triangle might be forming.  In any event the stock fell precisely to the bottom trendline and cannot fall much further (about $3) as then there will be overlap. At this stage, given the situation in the oil industry it is highly unlikely that this stock would shoot up as a result of generic factors. Consequently we would look for stock-specific or idiosyncratic factors, perhaps a take-over. We will see.

RY, Royal Bank

ry dec 3 2014 canry dec 3 2014 us

The Royal is reporting this morning and no doubt things will just be fine. It is hard to miss if you are shooting fish in a barrel. We think the stock is overbought but today that is not the subject of this blog.

The two charts above are, of course, both of the Royal Bank. The difference is marked in a very subtle way in the upper right-hand corner, using the currency signs for the Canadian and US dollar. Interestingly in Can $ terms one would be inclined to count an a-b-c down followed by a new impulse wave up. On the other hand, in US $ terms the best bet seems to be an a-b-c down, followed by an a-b-c up which cannot anymore morph into a 5-wave structure as there is already overlap. Which one is correct? We will know soon.

P.S. It just occurred to me that there is a way to resolve the above dilemma or contradiction and that would be to assume that the stock is making a triangle. In C$ terms it would be an irregular triangle and in US$ terms a normal triangle. Even then the last up move in C$ terms must be 3-waves which it does not appear to be.

S&P over 30-year periods

S&P returns over 30-year periods

30 years for most people is a lifetime. This chart, unfortunately I could not get a better copy as I do not know the source, runs from 1900 to 2014 and shows for every year along the x-axis what one would have earned for an investment held the previous 30 years. So for today, 2014, the chart shows a return of about 400% which is what you would have earned if you started investing 30 years earlier, that is in 1984. I have added time lines vertically and they occur with a certain periodicity of roughly 25 years. Presently we are at an extreme high once again and at the end of such a period. History may not always repeat itself but it sure does rhyme very often. Maybe the market is a wee bit overvalued.