Posts

Showing posts from March, 2018

Watching "the end" of the X-Files

Image
Scully and Mulder in the final scene of "My Struggle IV" Note:  This post contains a lot of spoilers. I was wrong.  I blogged about the return of The X-Files to TV two years ago.  The abbreviated Season 10 (6 episodes) of the series' reemergence after a 15 year absence was highly anticipated by me.  There were a couple of good episodes and I enjoyed what the show's creator, Chris Carter , did overall with the main narrative.  But it was not great television compared with the high standards and originality of The X-Files in its heyday.    In that season finale, " My Struggle II ," it appeared that Carter had finally brought the show's primary narrative to fruition.  A global contagion was unleashed upon humanity.  I thought, at last, Carter had quit playing the endless and increasingly frustrating games with his audience and began resolving unsettled issues that were the backbone of the series from the beginning. But I was wrong.  In Season

Down, Up, Down, Up

Image
The Dow shrugged off worries over Trump's new tariffs  and the resignation of his chief economic adviser last week and returned to the 50-day moving average.  This is a sign of strength, in part driven by a generally positive jobs report .  Amazingly, the Dow seems reluctant to test the 200-day moving average during what now might be just a 'mini-correction.'  This is an extraordinary 9-year bull market .  Only the markets of the 1990's under Bill Clinton surpass the present bullish streak.  It looks like this bull is clearly range-bound in a symmetrical triangle at the moment.  Such a triangular pattern will result in either a new upward or downward trend.  Notice also that volume continues to be lackluster.  Investors don't know what to make of all the conflicting signals and are not too excited one way or another.

Orbiting the 50-day Moving Average

Image
The Dow was down some 1200 points last week, ending a 10-month winning streak for rising markets, closing at 24,530.  A healthy correction would take us down to the 200-day moving average which is currently at 23,076.  So we have much further to fall from that perspective.  The Dow seems range-bound at the moment between 26,000 and 24,000.  Notice the small pop in volume indicating a mild sell-off, nothing drastic, nothing clear yet.  By rising all day on Friday (though it was still down for the day because it opened so low, hence the hollow red candlestick at the end) the Dow seems to remain in the orbit of the 50-day moving average.  A sign of strength not weakness at this point.     The great irony of the so-called Trump economy is that, while the US economy as a whole is strong and the news is largely positive , even as Trump attempts to boost economic growth further with tax cuts and other stimulus , the actions by the president may  threaten to derail America's success

Venus and Mercury Tonight

Image
Venus and Mercury from my house looking southwest just after sunset.  Mercury is the faintest spot of light but, due to the orbits of the planets , it is actually closer to Earth right now - about 107,000,000 miles away.  Venus is brighter, yet further away from us at a distance of about 153,000,000 miles.  By comparison, the Sun is always roughly 93,000,000 miles away. The position of the planets as given in my Solar Walk 2 app .  Notice the Earth (blue) is actually on the far side of the Sun compared with Mercury (yellow) and Venus (orange).  Mars (red) is ahead of Earth in orbit at the moment.