Hello Fellow ChartWatchers!
The markets all moved higher this week with the Dow setting a new all-time high on Friday and the Nasdaq moving to within spitting distance of 5000. Since the start of 2015, the Nasdaq has been on a tear, gaining over 4.6%. Here's a link to our Major Averages PerfChart that shows YTD performance so far. For more on the markets, skip on down to John Murphy's and Arthur Hill's commentary. I'm going to spend the rest of this article talking about how to get the most out of all the market commentary we put out each week.
Too Much Information Running Through My Brain
Things were much simpler back in 1999. We just had one thing - the ChartWatchers newsletter - this newsletter! Now-a-days things are a tad more complex. DId you know that we post, on average, 16 blog articles a week? We also pump out 4 hours of webinar time each week. And both of those numbers are guaranteed to increase later this year (and next year, and the year after that...) There's sooooooooo much content to keep up with. What's a "Fellow ChartWatchers" to do!?
The key to getting the most out of all this information is to prioritize the content that you enjoy ahead of content that doesn't do it for you. To help with that, let me review all of our current blogs and webinars and give you some advice on what to read if your time is limited.
Disclaimer: We - StockCharts.com - are not financial advisors. We do not make specific buy/sell recommendations or stock picks. We don't have a track record. If you think we are recommending that you buy or sell something, re-read what we said. We don't do that. Instead, we try to help you understand the higher-level forces in the market and how you can use charts to make better investing decisions. That is always our goal.
OK - with that out of the way - where should we start? For the purposes of this article, I'm going to assume that your time for reading market commentary is limited. (If you have tons of time, great! Just read everything.) Given that, how should you prioritize your reading? Here's a list that should help. Start at the top and read as many things as you want. Stop whenever you run out of time/interest.
1.) ChartWatchers! Hmmm... It looks like you are already doing that right now. Excellent! As a reminder, ChartWatchers is our free, twice-monthly newsletter that we've been emailing out since 1999. It contains articles from John Murphy, Arthur Hill, Greg Schnell, me, Carl & Erin Swenlin and much more. It also helps you keep up with the latest improvements to the website. You can use the form at the bottom of our homepage to subscribe (but I bet you already did!).
2.) Read John Murphy's Market Message - The Market Message is our premiere market commentary area. John Murphy is the master of technical market analysis. If the question is "Chip, I only have time to read one of the blogs on your site, which should it be?" the answer is easy. "Read the Market Message." (For examples of John and Arthur's work, see below.) To read the Market Message on a daily basis, you need to be a member of StockCharts.com. Any membership level works. Just log in and click on the "Market Message" tab at the top of any page. The latest articles will be listed at the top of the page. Below that are areas for Arthur Hill's optional (but very cool) Market Message videos as well as his recent "Art's Charts" articles. Art's Charts is a side-blog that Arthur Hill updates every morning before the market opens with shorter-term analysis and ideas. Definitely worth a read if you have time in the morning.
3.) Review Martin Pring's Market Round-Up - Martin Pring and Greg Schnell provide an international, multi-market view of things twice a week that is also extremely valuable. If you want to know how the US is doing relative to other countries, or you want to understand what is currently going on in the important commodity markets, this is the blog for you. Like the Market Message, this blog is available to all StockCharts members regardless of service level. To see the latest article, click on the "Blogs" tab at the top of any page and then look for a green article summary with Martin's picture in it. Here's a direct link to the Market Round-Up blog.
4.) Read the DecisionPoint blog - this free blog contains Erin & Carl's latest timing observations and thoughts about where the US markets are headed. This is the free DecisionPoint blog that you can find on the "Blogs" page. We also have two members-only DP blogs that contain detailed reports and data tables that back up Erin & Carl's analysis, but those can be a little overwhelming at first which is why I recommend starting out by just reading the free "DecisionPoint" blog instead.
5.) Into Self-Improvement? Read Gatis Roze's and/or Greg Morris' blogs - Both of these blogs are full of sage advice from experienced financial pros. Both blogs challenge "conventional" wisdom and will make you think. Often, they contain articles about the non-sexy - but VERY important - aspects of trading and investing that everyone ignores. Gatis' blog is called "The Traders Journal" and Greg's is called "Dancing with the Trend." Both blogs contain "timeless" articles that will be just as valid in 1 year (or 10 years) as they are today.
6.) Love Technicals? Greg Schnell's blog is for you - Don't let the name of free Greg's blog - "The Canadian Technician" - fool you. Greg's a prolific writer and covers most markets, not just Canada. As just one example, recently Greg wrote a great 6-part series on Market Manias.
7.) Bored? Take 30 seconds and review "Don't Ignore This Chart" - this free blog is updated every day with one chart and one paragraph. A "quickie" chart that might make you pause and think and maybe even learn something.
8.) "..and the rest!" - there are 5 other great free blogs on our site including "RRG Charts," "Scanning Technically," "Step-by-Step," "Top Advisors Corner" and my own un-biased personal favorite, the "Chip Anderson" blog. Don't get me wrong, these are all awesome and worth reading - but if you are short on time, you can save them for later if you want.
Again, you'll find links to all our commentary articles on the "Blogs" page. Most of it is free for everyone to read. Members can also visit the "Market Message" page to see John and Arthur's work.
One last thing - If you find yourself reading a particular blog often and you enjoy its content, be sure to "Subscribe" to the blog by clicking on the "Email updates" link on the right side of the blog's pages. As a subscriber, you'll get email notifications whenever a new article is added to the blog. Subscribing is also the #1 way you can show your support for an author's efforts. They LOVE their subscribers!
I sincerely hope this overview helps you get even more value from StockCharts!
- Chip
P.S. I did a presentation about this same material on Saturday's "ChartWatchers LIVE" webinar. Gatis Roze also stopped by during that talk. You can watch the video recording by clicking here.
