INDICATORS

 

When it comes to indicators, it's a mixed bag.

The stock market as nearly everyone knows has been on a tear so far this year, up 15% even with the recent downturn.Will it continue or is a nasty correction or even perhaps a bear market just around the economic bend.

Markets supposedly climb a worry wall. Some indicators are getting better like manufacturing and the trade deficit. If last week was any indication, investors might want to check for weakening signs.

Indicators, though highly fallible, come in  all types--advance-declines, new highs-new lows, market breath, to name a few. Momentum is another well-watched indicator.

One such is the RSI or relative strength index. Simply put, it measures size and strength on days when stocks go up. Though it is considered a technical indicator, it has a sentiment component--that is, what and how people are feeling about the market.

The National Association of Home Builders survey hit the airways last week shedding some so-called good light on an otherwise gloomy scene.

But there may be--and we stress may be--more diluting its value as an indicator than just the general fear about the Federal Reserve diluting the contents of its punch bowl.  
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