Greek Lightning

The opening session rip turned into an all day drip, as stocks trickled down the drain throughout the trading day.  Even a late day bounce proved, much like Greek's debt,  unsustainable.

We've seen these days before, but  prices are usually found going in the other direction.  The $VXX, an instrument of years long past,  thought to have died a slow agonizing death, was brought back to life today.  Investors, while piling into the 'safety' of US treasuries were finding other ways to trade for continued Greek 'fear, jitters, worries'.    Their answer?  An instrument that has gone from over $7,500 to $20 in 5 years.   $VXX closed the session up over 17% as you can clearly see on  this chart via the visual aid of a Hubble Telescope.

What does the rest of the Greek hold for the stock market?

After over six years of a historic bull market the bears are yet again calling the end to the greedy bull market.  The 'easy' money was made going long this market and now its time for stocks to trend lower.  This historic bull market has not been 'easy'.  There have been more than a few headwinds standing in its way.  More than a few 2%, 3%,... down days.  Sell offs like today that have give every indication of continuing in days and weeks ahead.  But one constant has remained.  The trend and the reversal of any attempt at sustained weakness for stocks.  The tremendous weakness of one day is quickly forgotten the next.

This has become even more apparent the last eight months.  Each pull back is met with an equally powerful rally.  Will we see it yet again?

While today's big drop may feel like a turning point, its just another red candle on a chart that remains well contained.

While there is no telling with 100% certainty where the market heads if Greece leaves the Euro zone, or what the implications are long term, this isn't exactly breaking news.

The Swiss dropping their currency peg?  That was breaking news.  That was unexpected.  In response we saw some of the biggest currency moves of our lifetime.  But the market, while initially pulling back, it got over it and rallied to record highs.

Today's news that Greece will default on its debt and possibly leave the Euro Zone?  We've been hearing this for years.  The good news is we may finally see a resolution to this mess.  The fallout?  It may provide some bumps, but I still think this is a stock market that has yet to top.  This news, if nothing else, will keep the Central Banks on stand by, and interest rates at record low levels.

The bond market was the big winner today.  The 20 year bond treasury fund had one of its biggest days in recent memory.  But remains under resistance and a long way from support under $100.

$AAPL after months of consolidation is reaching an important point.  Is this a bull flag?  Or the top of its 3rd wave higher?  What I find interesting is the drying up of volume.  Much of this can be attributed to the massive and growing buyback program in place the last few years.

Buybacks, mergers, acquisitions, zero percent interest rate policy... one thing is for certain in the midst of today's Greek infused pull back.  The corporate buy backs programs are still in place.  Amid a backstop of shrinking tradeable shares, investors are not just fighting each other, funds, and institutions for shares of corporations, they are fighting the corporations themselves.  On a day like today $AAPL, $HD, $MCD... are able to buy themselves at cheaper prices than last week.  While investors are panicking over the headlines, the corporate buyback program is happily buying itself Greece or no Greece.

It's The Buybacks Stupid

While the Greek Fear, Worries, Jitters, Turmoil sparked a nasty sell-off today, tomorrow could just as easily see stocks rally, for no other reason than the the market has a bad case of Greebola.  #Greebola

Known to most as Uranium Pinto Beans, Jason has more than 15 years under his belt of trading stocks, options and currencies. His expertise primarily lies in chart analysis, and he has a strong eye for undervalued stock. Because he’s got the ability to identify great risk/reward trades he usually enjoys taking the path less traveled and reaping the benefits from the adventure.

He is a co-founder of Option Millionaires, and he is best known for his weekly webinars with Scott, as well as his high level training webinars and charts found in the forums.

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