Don't be part of the Herd!

Good morning folks, 
Don't misunderstand this mornings message. It is good to recognize where the herd is and what the psychology is so that you can use it to identify opportunities. Just don't allow yourself to be overly influenced by the herd. 

I have been saying for weeks to keep an eye on employment and today's payroll report could paint a picture of where we are heading in the economy as well as where the stock market. I continue to see more and more companies announcing job cuts and frankly, its a disturbing trend. 

Its easy to wonder if the stock market leads the economy or does the economy lead the stock market?

Earnings season has been a disappointment so far, even though many companies have come in with strong earnings for the last quarter the guidance has been weak. Case in point LNKD and DATA from last night.

Then we have other companies that are just a mess all the way around like COP that reported a significant loss which led to them slashing their dividend and announcing more work force reductions. The oil industry continues to be pummeled and the outlook has not gotten better with some indicating we could be looking at 2 more years of weak oil. Oddly enough oil seems to be stabilizing over the last few days.  

Gold and the miners have been have been strong performers this week while the IBB has continued to struggle. 

Sometimes it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy and the weak performance of the stock market leads to more weakness in the economy. With the lack of clarity from what appears to be a confused Fed and a political climate that seems hell bent on going after drug companies, big banks and Wall Street. It is better to err on the side of caution. 

In a market like this we are subject to some nice bounce action but the rallies have been short lived. Take your quick hits and have a tight trading plan.

Its Superbowl (YIPPPPPEEEEEEEE!!!!) weekend and I have several friends in town so I won't be doing a live Ticker Tv Stocks to watch video session but I will be doing my weekly market wrap video. There is a lot to go over and I will try to get it out first thing Saturday morning. 

My focus ETF & ETN List

Volatility                            Oil                                             Biotech
UVXY XIV TVIX     UWTI DWTI GUSH DRIP                     IBB LABU LABD       
 Gold                                                                     Dollar 
GLD NUGT JNUG DUST JDST  GDX GDXJ              UUP 

A few Stocks on the Radar premarket 

SYMC earnings beat 

CEMP Phase 3 data PR potential 20 test and roll