Bull Trap or Market Consolidation?

At the end of last week, Chris Ciovacco recorded his weekly “Short-Takes” market analysis, and overall, things looked quite bullish. Most markets were above their moving averages, trends were turning up, and things were looking good. And then this week, markets turned down, and things got gloomier. But as we’ve said before, Stocks Don’t Go Straight Up (or Straight Down), and Chris said last week that he wouldn’t be surprised to see the markets like the S&P 500 retest the 3900-3950 levels. This is all part of a healthy consolidation. Of course, if markets fall below certain levels, we must reevaluate our position and see if the 2023 rally was just a “Bull Trap” after all. We should remember that the FED is still tightening, and we know “fighting the FED” is generally a bad idea.