People are feeling better about the economy. An April 13 Investor's Business Daily article says: "Consumer confidence rebounded in April from a one-year low on hopes that an improving economy will continue to create jobs ... The gauge rose 3 points from March."
Stock traders are also showing optimism. Elliott Wave International's April 12 Short Term Update notes: "One of the more lopsided measures of trader optimism is the 10-day CBOE Equity put/call ratio... More than twice the volume of trading is occurring in calls versus puts, reflecting a very strong opinion among traders that the market will continue higher."
Does the market simply need to flash a broad smile for investors to be induced? A healthy respect for the downside potential is wise even when a strong bull market is in force, let alone after the Wall Street turmoil of the past few years. Yet Reuters reports that, "In a sign of underlying optimism about the market's immediate prospects, the CBOE Volatility index, VIX, a popular measure of investor fear, hit its lowest close since July 19, 2007..."
Corporate upper management is confident, too. Says the chief investment officer of RBC Bank: "...the current streak suggests investors are reluctant to sell, making a collapse unlikely." (Bloomberg) A new KPMG survey shows that six thousand U.S. executives are more optimistic about the economy than they were six months ago. And globally, over 60% of executives believe their business activity will be higher 12 months from now.
We can continue with the optimistic headlines, but you get the picture. Better days are here, just about everyone believes. True -- compared to a year ago, when the Dow was below 7,000, better days are here, indeed. But...
At Elliott Wave International, we've been observing and cataloging market behavior for over 30 years. Few companies out there can match this experience. We've seen many times how smiles can turn to frowns -- quickly. We show you many indicators mainstream observers don't. For example, our latest, April 14, Short Term Update tells you that, "Today's most recent weekly Investors Intelligence Advisors' Survey...shows that the percentage of bullish advisors has risen above the 50% threshold..."
What does this percentage mean? You get the answer in the April 14 Short Term Update, which shows you how many advisors were bullish at the recent January peak in stocks. This is just the start: You also get our comments on the VIX, put/call ratio, Daily Sentiment Index and more. You can put all this information together and learn what it could mean for the market just ahead. Start now, risk-free.