Sell on the good news is normal after a rally like this; don’t let it spook you–by itself it’s not enough to create a correction

We’re starting to see stocks drop after companies report good earnings.That’s not surprising. In fact it’s over due after a rally like this one. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 13% since August 26.
Inevitably after stocks have climbed so far so fast, some investors decide to take profits. But it’s easy to over-interpret these kinds of stock-specific dips and turn them into some kind of trend.

Waiting for Ben

The next two weeks are shaping up as a critical test for the U.S. stock market. A number of key technical indicators have stalled in the last few days if they’re waiting for something. I think that something is probably the Federal Reserve’s meeting on November 2-3.

The trading day starts off down in China

The question for global stock prices is whether the morning’s declines on China’s markets build enough momentum to produce one of those rolling global corrections where falling prices in Asia lead to falling prices in Europe that lead to falling prices in the U.S. market that lead to another decline in Asian markets.