Are we in the midst of an ongoing bull market? Are we getting ready for a double dip into economic (and market) weakness?
I'm watching three instruments in trading ranges for possible clues to an answer: oil (USO; bottom chart); homebuilders (XHB; middle chart); and financial stocks (XLF; top chart).
We should see strength in these three if economic strength takes hold and if we see continued recovery among two of the hardest hit sectors: banks and real estate.
Conversely, if the global economy is threatened, we'd expect to see weakness in oil demand and possible continued pressure on those vulnerable sectors of the economy.
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