Stocks Pause Ahead of the Last FOMC Meeting of the Year.

We took a nearly $2000 profit this week.

The stock market is pausing ahead of the last Federal Reserve meeting of 2018. As I describe in detail in this week’s Smart Money Trading Strategy Weekly, there is plenty to be bullish about, but stocks are not buying into it.

Consider that the months of November to January are usually positive for the markets. Throw in that the Fed is in easing mode and that liquidity for the markets is improving and the background for stocks is quite positive.

Yet, what we’ve seen is volatility with money flows heading into Bitcoin and some areas of technology. That means that we have to adjust. Our Rainy Day Portfolio is designed for long term investments and currently has several stocks which have outperformed the market handily and look to have some gains left in them.

A perfect example of the current market is the action in the homebuilder stocks. This week, as I detailed here, Toll Brothers delivered a great earnings report but saw its shares get clobbered. We were fortunately stopped out of our position in TOL with a nearly $2000/100 share gain. Here are the trade details:

• SOLD Toll Brothers (TOL). Bought: 8/12/24: $126.25. SOLD 12/10/24: 145. Return for this trade: $1875/100 shares (12.93%).

In this issue, I am adding a new position to the newly christened, Trend Trading Portfolio (formerly the Momentum Plus portfolio), while adjusting sell stops and offering profit taking guidance on several holdings.

If you’re new to the Weekender, welcome. We’re just getting started at Substack, but have a multi-year track record under our former moniker – Joe Duarte in the Money Options.com. Feel free to take a FREE subscription and take a preview to see what’s inside.

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