What choppy market?

Well, the SPY broke the channel to the upside, technically looking very bullish, and then gave it all back and then some. So it seems we are back to the chop that has defined the market since late February. Regardless of this broad characterization of the market there have been places to put your money that have been in bullish trends.

One quick example is the XLP. When things get shaky, consumer staples, that is pretty basic stuff. Indeed the XLP was futzing about for a bit, but once it started breaking out (again) for good, one had plenty of time to notice and start looking at some consumer staple stocks.

NUS had sent off a signal flare with a gap up and huge volume day, pulled back to digest in orderly fashion, and then took off for a 25%+ gain in short order. The big gains and volume came in while the index was well into the breakout, so even if you did not get in on the gap or pullback, you could have bought at a couple breakout levels and still have caught most the move.

So the lesson is to monitor the industries, look for the uptrends, and then do some stock picking. There is always a bull market somewhere.