Good Afternoon, When your doing a blog like this you can and should write a lot when a lots going on, but is it necessary when it’s not? You can always stay busy if you choose to do so and you can stay so busy in this business that you experience paralysis though analysis. In other words you can read so many articles and study so many charts that you basically lock up your decision making process. You look at so many things that you actually create confusion. In may case I find myself forgetting everything I looked at in the first place. That and confusion lead to indecision and more often than not you find your self not actually making a decision. Occasionally this  can work out to your benefit but more often than not it is to your detriment. Which brings me to my point. I am a strong believer in the KISS system. It’s kind of like a good offense in college football. The simpler the system the more points it scores. That is because good decisions are made quickly. Investing is no different. If you keep things quick and simple then you make more money. Every time! I have literally a hundred indicators that I can look at. I can confirm that I confirmed and then confirm each decision and by the time I do that it will be too late. So do I have to write a graduate level dissertation every time I publish a blog? Do I need confirm a new trend on a chart by exhausting every indicator that I know of and some that I don’t? I guess so, if you like wasting time……. I use six panes on my charts and will only check more indicators on the rare occasion that those are not definitive.  I know which ones I can trust. So get the indicators that you feel most comfortable with and trust them. You can use up to a dozen indicators on one layout with some charting services.  So get the ones you can trust and if you can’t trust them then replace them with others that you can. Then glance at the chart, make any needed decisions and go on with your day. Don’t let this stuff consume you. That leads to buy and holding and friends don’t let friends buy and hold…….. With that I mind I will move onto my brief Sunday afternoon blog.

We have all the same issues that we had last week. None of it has changed. Friday afternoon president Trump stated that he would institute a 30% tariff on the EU if they had not come to a trade agreement with the US by August 2nd. He also said that he wanted any agreement to have a 15 to 20% tariff on the EU. While investors didn’t panic, they didn’t buy either which left the major indices slightly in the red. Just when we’d hoped things would be different we get more of the same. Next you have the Fed meeting on the 28th and 29th. I don’t think there will be any surprises there as it is widely expected that there will be no change in interest rates. We could see a small negative reaction but I think most of that has already been priced in. Lastly you have earnings which is where the market is truly focused. With 12% of S&P 500 companies reporting results so far, 83% have beaten estimates. On Thursday, PepsiCo and United Airlines shares both popped after the respective companies beat analyst estimates on earnings. Those follow solid results from big banks like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachsearlier in the week. As far as I’m concerned any thing over 75% is good. Earnings are off to a great start and if they keep coming in at this rate they should provide solid support for the market moving forward. As I stated in last weeks blog, I fully expect to see some market consolidation toward the end of next month. We are overdue for a dip. If and when this occurs, keep in mind that corrections are a healthy part of any bull market and provide and excellent buying opportunity when they occur. For now, our TSP allotment will remain invested at 100/S.

Fridays trading left us with the following results: Our TSP allotment slipped slightly at -0.08%. For comparison, the Dow gave up -0.44%, the Nasdaq was flat at +0.05%, and the S&P 500 was off -0.07%. The major indices all managed to finish slightly in the green for the week. Praise God for that.

Dow closes more than 100 points lower after report says Trump seeks at least 15% tariff on EU imports: Live updates

Last weeks action left us with the following signals: C-Buy, S-Buy, I-Sell, F-Sell. We are currently invested at 100/S. If you are following us on the auto tracker please remember to add 4.5% to that total as we missed a trade there due to an interned outage. Our TSP allotment is now +13.17% for the year. Here are the latest posted results:

More Prices & Returns

Nothing to add here. Have a nice week and may God continue to bless your trades!

God bless, Scott 

***Just a reminder that you can review the performance of our allocation at the Web Site TSPTALK.com in the autotracker section under the screen name KyFan1.

I produce and publish this blog as both a ministry and for the benefit of any Federal Government Employee. This is done to offer you some guidance as to how to approach your retirement more financially successful. When it is time for you to retire, I recommend you utilize the services of a Professional Money Manager, who works with a reputable investment firm. He understands the guidance you have already received and he can manage your savings assets utilizing a more advanced investment program into the future.

If you would like to receive more information about this introduction, please feel free to contact me at  KyFan1@aol.com.