Will the Fed’s Rate Hikes Choke the Stock Market Rally?

Fact: The direction of interest rates does not determine the stock market's trend

By Elliott Wave International

Investing is hard. You, like many others, probably watch financial TV networks, read analysis, listen to talk shows and talk to fellow investors, trying to understand what's next.
One popular stock market "indicator" is interest rates. Analysts parse every word from the Fed, hoping they hear a clue about interest rates. They assume that falling rates means higher stock prices, while rising rates means lower stocks.
But does the conventional wisdom about interest rates and stocks square with reality? Let's do a brief historical review.
From October 1974 to December 1976, the stock market rose as the Fed funds rates trended lower. This occurred again from July 1984 to August 1987. Conversely, stock prices faltered as interest rates climbed from January 1973 to October 1974 and again from December 1976 to February 1978. So far, so good: rates up/stocks down, or vice versa.
But stock prices have also fallen as interest rates declined -- more than once. Take a look at the chart below. The commentary is from the February 2010 Elliott Wave Theorist:

[The chart] shows a history of the four biggest stock market declines of the past hundred years. They display routs of 54% to 89%. In all these cases, interest rates fell, and in two of those cases they went all the way to zero!

The next chart shows you when stocks and interest rates trended higher together. You can see the Dow rise from March 2003 to October 2007 as rates climb from around 1% to over 5%.

Here's the point: There is no consistent relationship between interest rates and the stock market.
That doesn't mean volatility will be absent around the time of a Fed meeting. But, if that ever turns out to be the case, keep this in mind from a classic Elliott Wave Theorist:

The Fed's decision will not cause any such volatility; it just may (or may not) coincide with it. Whether volatility continues around the Fed's meeting is up to the markets, not the Fed... [The] Fed's meeting, therefore, is not crucial, pivotal, historic or momentous. It is mostly irrelevant.

Investing is hard, but believing in the myth that interest rates have a big influence on the stock market makes it even harder. And, we have several more popular myths to dispel for you in our free report, Market Myths Exposed.
Did you know that the vast majority of portfolios are built on false assumptions? These false assumptions -- or Market Myths -- have been passed down across generations. They are so baked into investor psyche that no one ever thinks to challenge them... but we do. Do earnings really drive stock prices? Can the FDIC actually protect you? Is portfolio diversification a smart move? Download Market Myths Exposed now and find out whether your portfolio is built on flawed foundations. We guarantee you'll be shocked to find the truth.
Sign up now and get FREE access to The Market Myths Exposed eBook.

Here’s Why "Strong Jobs" Don't Mean "Higher Stocks"

he stock market leads the economy, not the other way around

By Elliott Wave International

It's a wonderful thing when jobs are added to the U.S. economy.
But, as far as investing goes, history shows that you should not bet your stock market portfolio on it. Conversely, even a series of weak jobs reports doesn't mean you should bet against stocks.
This is worth mentioning because many pundits believe big economic factors like jobs determine the stock market's trend.
Consider this from CNN Money:

Solid corporate earnings coupled with continued demand for new technology bode well for the major U.S. stock indexes. So do expectations of a buoyant economy at home and a recovering one overseas. [emphasis added]

When do you think this article was published?
Well, it's hard to tell because the narrative could fit different timeframes in recent history. Plus, correlating strong earnings and the economy with gains in stocks is all too common.
That article was published on Dec. 31, 1999 -- just two weeks before the DJIA hit a milestone high and then went on to shed nearly 40% of its value through October 2002.
We saw a similar narrative near the 2007 peak. By the time June 2007 rolled around, the Elliott Wave Financial Forecast noted:

Just as advocacy of the New Economy blossomed in early 2000, a wide array of rosy long-term scenarios are now proclaiming "a special time in market history." "This group of extreme optimists believes that global economic strength will keep shares rising for much longer than has been common in previous eras." [emphasis added]

Again, the DJIA topped soon after and went into the worse bear market since the Great Depression.
Now, let's look at what happened when job numbers were weak. On Feb. 6, 2009, a headline said (Center for American Progress):

Job Losses Continue at Accelerated Pace

Wouldn't you know it -- just a month later, the stock market bottomed and went on to quadruple through January 2018. So much for the shrinking U.S. economy in 2009 and the unemployment that hit 10% in October of that year.
Even this brief overview of recent market tops and bottoms makes clear that jobs and the economy FOLLOW the stock market, not lead it.
The belief that jobs reports lead the market is just one myth.
Learn about others in our special, free report, "Market Myths Exposed."
Did you know that the vast majority of portfolios are built on false assumptions? These false assumptions -- or Market Myths -- have been passed down across generations. They are so baked into investor psyche that no one ever thinks to challenge them... but we do. Do earnings really drive stock prices? Can the FDIC actually protect you? Is portfolio diversification a smart move? Download Market Myths Exposed now and find out whether your portfolio is built on flawed foundations. We guarantee you'll be shocked to find the truth.
Sign up now and get FREE access to The Market Myths Exposed eBook.

Trading Cryptocurrencies: To Win, You Must Know Where You're Wrong

See how Elliott wave analysis helped traders reduce risk in Litecoin's recent price action

By Elliott Wave International

Dear readers, if a story about the get-rich-quick promises of cryptocurrency trading is what you seek, keep on moving.
Rest assured, that story exists. It's all over the interwebs, in one form or another: jazzy headlines about average Joe So-and-So turning $1k into $1 million overnight in the crypto markets.
We're not saying it couldn't happen. People do get lucky now and again. It's just that, we're not in the business of luck. We're in the business of using objective analysis to identify high-confidence trade setups in the world's leading financial markets, inscrutable as they may be.
Sure, it doesn't have the same ring to it. But it's honest. And that's invaluable in a hyper-speculative market filled with unscrupulous coin-makers looking to take advantage of unsuspecting traders.
For more, we turn open the pages of our newly minted report Crypto Trading Guide: 5 simple Strategies to Catch the Next Opportunity, where our Cryptocurrency Pro Service analyst, Jim Martens, extols the singular benefit of Elliott wave analysis -- its ability to limit your trading risk:

"When considering a trade, you always want to answer this question first: 'Where will I be wrong?'

"I want to know that risk. For example, a market has been falling and you're expecting a low. All of a sudden, we see what looks like a five-wave advance on a 60-minute chart. At this point, should you take action?

"No, you should wait for a three-wave decline, which would be the correction of that advance."

"Based on one rule of the Wave Principle, I know where this count becomes wrong. [Remember from Chapter 1:] Wave (2) cannot retrace more than 100% of wave (1).

"So, I draw a line at the start of wave 1. If the decline surpasses that level, I know that my count is incorrect.

"Elliott wave analysis is one of few methodologies that give us an absolute number for our protective stop."

In other words, Elliott waves allow you to identify specific points of ruin for every trade before you even start. To see how this plays out in a real-world market, we turn our attention to the August 1 Cryptocurrency Pro Service coverage of Litecoin.
There, our analysis outlined a bullish, 3rd-wave rally -- noting, however, that any upside move was contingent on wave 2 not retracing more than 100% of wave 1, just as Jim explained in the excerpt above.
From the August 1 Cryptocurrency Pro Service intraday forecasts:

"74.50 should therefore be considered the line in the sand for the bullish count. If breached, we'll have to adopt a bearish Alternate as we did for Ethereum to allow for lower before wave C of (Y) finds its bottom."

A few days later, Litecoin prices did, in fact, fall below the 74.50 handle, signaling a resumption of the downtrend. On August 5, our Cryptocurrency Pro Service made the necessary, bearish adjustment:

"74.50 hung in there tenaciously for a while, but was ultimately violated in the weekend's trading. As discussed Friday, that has called up the incomplete wave C Alternate count. "

The next chart captures the rapid descent that followed, bringing Litecoin to an eight-month low in early August before stopping.

We understand the pressure to leap headlong into the blockchain breach is intense. If you subtract the numbers "inflated through fake and deceptive activities," the average daily trading volume of crypto exchange markets is around $6 billion (Aug. 28 CNN).
But we believe there's a way to be smart and discerning about where to leap. With 1600 cryptocurrencies and counting, that starts with choosing only the most reputable markets with proven track records and transparency. Chances are, it won't be named after a comic book character or piece of fruit. Our Cryptocurrency Pro Service tracks the top three cryptos: Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.
The second requirement of a high-confidence cryptocurrency trade is knowing when your trade is wrong. This is where Elliott wave analysis is in a league unto its own.
Our free report "Crypto Trading Guide: 5 Simple Strategies to Catch the Next Opportunity" explains more. Each chapter shows you the power of the Elliott Wave Principle to explain some of the biggest recent moves in Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum -- and how you can apply this method in your own trading, going forward. Get instant access.

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