Markets Mixed As Investors Look For New February 2013 Catalyst, Watch The TLT ETF:
Stocks posted mixed results today as investors look for new reasons to buy, sell or hold. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -9.52 to 13,973.39 but the NASDAQ rose 1.78 to 3,198.66 and the S&P 500 was up 1.05 to 1,521.38. The market has been strong this year with the S&P 500 up 6.94 percent for the year already. The financials and tech were leaders last year but new leadership may be necessary for the market to move higher. The Dow is still roughly 200 points from an all-time high with low volatility that suggests investors are much less worried about equities than in 2007.
Small and mid cap stocks rallied today but the overall market seems overextended while average P/E ratios are nowhere near priced-to-perfection. Europe and China are making fewer headlines but if the market is overly bullish any bad news could make investors fade the current February 2013 rally.
Watch the TLT exchange traded fund that is beneath the $117 resistance level we identified last year. Any significant movement away from this benchmark could signal where the longer-term rally is headed.
