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Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian American teenager and wounded two others in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, according to Palestinian officials.

Ramallah Gov. Laila Ghannam said a 14-year-old Palestinian American boy was shot dead by Israeli troops in the village of Turmusaya. Two other Palestinian American boys, ages 14 and 15, were injured in the incident, according to Turmusaya Mayor Lafi Shalabi.

The Israeli military said its soldiers opened fire during a counterterrorism operation in Turmusaya when they saw three “terrorists who hurled rocks toward the highway, thus endangering civilians driving.”

The soldiers killed one and hit the other two, the military said.

The military shared a blurry video purportedly showing the incident, in which three barely visible figures appear. It said it would continue operating in the West Bank “to protect the residents in the area.”

The injured boys were shot in the abdomen, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

One severely injured boy and another with minor wounds were taken to a hospital in Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority health ministry said.

The killing or detention of American citizens in occupied Palestinian territories by Israelis and concerns about a lack of accountability date back years. In 2003, American activist Rachel Corrie, 23, was crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer while trying to block it from razing Palestinian homes in Gaza. Nine years later, an Israeli civil court ruled her death an accident.

In February last year, Florida-born US citizen Mohammed Khdour, 17, was killed by Israeli forces who shot him in the head while he was in his car. The teenager was taking the car out during a study break, snacking on chocolate waffles, posing for Instagram.

Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank have intensified since late January following the launch of an expanded military campaign there almost immediately after the Gaza ceasefire began. Since then, roughly 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes.

The Israeli military says it is targeting Palestinian militant groups who have mounted attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians, but Palestinians and human rights groups say the expanded assault is increasingly indiscriminate – killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in a manner consistent with collective punishment. In late February, Israel deployed tanks to the occupied West Bank for the first time in two decades.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

Rats don’t always have the best reputations, but one named Ronin with a super sense of smell is working to change that.

Ronin and his landmine-sniffing rat pack are making a name for rodents everywhere by saving innocent civilians from hidden explosives.

The African giant pouched rat recently set a new world record for the most landmines detected by a rat. Between August 2021 and February 2025, Ronin uncovered 109 landmines and 15 other pieces of unexploded ordnance in a region close to Siem Reap in Cambodia, according to Guinness World Records.

“Ronin’s achievements are a testament to the incredible potential of rats,” his main handler Phanny told the Guinness publication.

Landmines are a major issue in former conflict zones. The explosive weapons, hidden in the ground, are designed to injure or kill anyone who passes over them. In Cambodia alone, they have caused more than 65,000 deaths and injuries since the fall of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, according to the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor.

Their use is controversial because of their indiscriminate nature and the threat they pose for decades after a conflict has ended, killing and maiming and hampering land development in war-ravaged areas.

They are also notoriously difficult and dangerous to detect. That’s where rats come in; their high intelligence, speed and keen sense of smell make them adept at identifying explosives. They are also too light to trigger landmines.

It’s crucial work. An estimated 110 million landmines are still buried in over 60 countries around the world, said landmine detection nonprofit APOPO. In 2023, landmines caused 5,757 casualties globally — 37% of which involved children, according to the 2024 Landmine Monitor.

Ronin is one of more than 100 rats trained by APOPO to detect the scent of the explosive chemicals and point landmines out to their handlers.

The rats are highly versatile and have also been trained to detect tuberculosis in medical settings, helping to prevent the spread of infectious disease.

The Belgian nonprofit’s team of landmine-sniffing rats can search an area the size of a tennis court in 30 minutes – something that could take a deminer with a metal detector up to four days.

Ronin, who is 5 years old and was born in Tanzania, is much larger than your average pet rat. He is more than 2 feet long – about the length of a cat – and weighs 2.6 pounds, according to APOPO.

Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province, where Ronin was deployed has one of the highest landmine densities in the world following decades of conflict in the 20th century, including heavy bombing by the US during the Vietnam War.

The US dropped 2.7 million tons of ordnance – including cluster bombs and submunitions – in a four-year carpet-bombing campaign in Cambodia. Up to a quarter of the cluster bombs failed to explode, meaning they stayed active and dangerous but out of sight, according to a 2019 report by the US Congressional Research Service.

Despite years of demining efforts, there are still an estimated 4 to 6 million unexploded landmines in Cambodia, according to APOPO.

Ronin claims the world record from Magawa, another rat trained by APOPO who identified 71 landmines and 38 pieces of unexploded ordnance during his five-years of service. Magawa passed peacefully in January 2022.

This post appeared first on cnn.com

Israel’s military has transformed every bit of Gazan territory within about half a mile of the Israeli border into a wasteland.

Armored bulldozers have systematically leveled one home after another. Combat engineers have laid explosives and triggered controlled demolitions inside once-bustling factories. Troops have torn up and denied Palestinians any access to the fertile farmland that once sustained lives and livelihoods.

In its place, the Israeli military has established a roughly 1-kilometer-wide buffer zone (about 0.6 miles) from which it has banished Palestinians and killed or fired at those who do set foot within its unmarked perimeter – all of which it has never officially acknowledged.

These testimonies reveal Israeli military practices that arguably violate international humanitarian law and, in some cases are war crimes, according to international law experts.

When Sergeant 1st Class “A” arrived in the industrial zone of Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighborhood in December 2023, many of the warehouses and factories had already been destroyed. But others were still standing.

The Coca-Cola factory in Gaza lay close to the border with Israel. These two images show the complex after its destruction. Google Earth

After initially deploying to Israeli communities along the Gaza border to shore up their defenses following Hamas’s October 7 attack, Sgt. “A” was sent to Shujaiya and tasked with protecting combat engineers as they bulldozed buildings and rigged others to explode.

The purpose of the destruction was quickly made clear to him and his fellow soldiers: Israel was enlarging the buffer zone separating Palestinians from Israeli communities along the Gaza border.

Before October 7, Israel restricted Palestinians from coming within 300 meters (around 980 feet) of the border fence. But after Hamas’s attack, Israel’s military brass soon put into motion a plan to expand that area to approximately 1 kilometer, establishing a clear line of sight through the expanded buffer zone by leveling territory ranging from 800m to 1.5 km from the border.

In testimony provided to Breaking the Silence, an Israeli watchdog group which vets and publishes military testimonials, multiple soldiers said they were told the mission was to dramatically expand the buffer zone, in order to prevent another border attack.

But international law experts say that justification likely fails to meet the bar of “military necessity” that must be met to justify the destruction of civilian property, likely putting Israel’s actions in violation of international humanitarian law.

“There needs to be a legitimate military objective and operational objective – and the only way to achieve it would be to destroy the civilian property. And so, at that scale, that’s simply not quite plausible,” said Janina Dill, co-director at Oxford University’s Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict.

Beyond potential violations of humanitarian law, the deliberate, widespread destruction of civilian property without a clear military necessity is a war crime, Dill said.

Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne, a professor of public international law at the University of Bristol, agreed there is a strong case that Israel’s widespread destruction of property is a war crime of wanton destruction, an accusation also leveled by Amnesty International and other human rights groups.

“(From) what I’ve seen so far – there’s no clear evidence of a military necessity, at least for the level of destruction that’s been caused by Israel,” Hill-Cawthorne said.

While the Israeli military has acknowledged destroying “terrorist infrastructure” in Gaza in order to improve security conditions for Israeli communities near the border, it has never publicly acknowledged a full-throated plan to destroy thousands of buildings to create a kilometer-wide buffer area inside the territory.

A Sergeant Major who was deployed to Khuza’a in southern Gaza, who also spoke to Breaking the Silence on condition of anonymity, said his brigade got its orders “from the division’s operations branch. It wasn’t some local intervention.” He and others also described the distribution of color-coded maps, marking varying levels of destruction so far achieved in the buffer zone.

The town of Khuza’a in Gaza falls a few hundred meters from the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip. Satellite imagery shows its destruction since the start of war on Gaza. Google Earth

The destruction in Khuza’a, which lies to the east of Khan Younis, is unmistakable in satellite imagery, with the destruction of hundreds of buildings cleaving a line marking the zone’s perimeter.

“Residential buildings, greenhouses, sheds, factories; you name it – it needs to be flat. That’s the order,” said the Sgt. Maj. in the 5th infantry brigade who deployed to Khuza’a. “Except for that UNRWA school and that small water facility – for everything else, the directive was ‘nothing left.’”

The Israeli military has since destroyed more than 6,200 buildings in Gaza within 1 kilometer of the border, according to satellite analysis conducted by Corey Scher and Jamon Van Den Hoek, researchers at the City University of New York and Oregon State University.

Adi Ben-Nun, a researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said as of January, “all buildings in the buffer zone were demolished or heavily damaged.”

‘Kill zone’

For Palestinians, setting foot inside the buffer zone can be a death sentence.

Multiple soldiers described rules of engagement that authorized them to fire on Palestinians in the zone, regardless of whether they were armed or identified as combatants.

“The reservists also always raised questions over whether this was communicated to them (the Palestinians): ‘Do they know such a thing exists?’” the Sgt. 1st Class said.

He said commanders never provided a clear answer, but the reality was clear. “It’s not like they were told: The ridge before the border is (the line),” he said.

A Warrant Officer in the Armored Corps described Palestinians being shot for trying to pick khubeiza or mallow, an edible plant.

“People were incriminated for having bags in their hands,” the Warrant Officer told Breaking the Silence. “Guy showed up with a bag? Incriminated, terrorist. I believe they came to pick khubeiza, but (the army says), ‘No, they’re hiding.’ Boom.” He said a tank fired at them from about 800 meters, narrowly missing.

“A kill zone is in essence the announcement of a party to the war that they won’t take feasible precautions, that they won’t verify the status of an individual before attacking them. And that definitely violates international law,” said Dill, of Oxford University.

“Simply being present in a certain part of a combat theater does not amount to active participation in hostilities. And only active participation in hostilities makes a civilian lose their protection under international law.”

Hill-Cawthorne was equally unequivocal.

“A civilian does not lose their protected status, their immunity from attack merely because they enter an area that they’re not allowed or that they’re told not to enter,” Hill-Cawthorne said. “The only way in which people lose that immunity from attack is if they directly participate in hostilities.”

‘It was like paradise’

For 40 years, Abdul Aziz al-Nabahin grew olives, oranges and guavas on five acres of land he had inherited from his ancestors on the outskirts of Al-Bureij, in central Gaza – about 600 meters from the Israeli border.

Satellite imagery shows the destruction in Al-Bureij in central Gaza. Google Earth

His son Mahmoud recently married and had a 3-year-old daughter.

“It was like paradise,” al-Nabahin said. “We used to say, thank God. We were settled and satisfied.”

After being forced to flee earlier in the war, he returned to his farm during the January ceasefire only to find his home and farmland in ruins.

“We found the house destroyed. The trees were bulldozed,” he said. “We didn’t know where to sit, so we just stayed outside in the open.”

But he has lost so much more.

In late June, al-Nabahin said Mahmoud had gone to collect firewood near their home when he was killed. An Israeli tank shell struck him and his cousin, who was grievously injured but survived.

“The Israelis deliberately targeted them. They knew they were only collecting wood – not resisting or fighting. Just a cart with wood, clearly visible. Still, they were targeted,” al-Nabahin said.

“They kill anyone who goes there.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

The previous week was short; the Indian markets traded for four days owing to one trading holiday on account of Ramadan Id. However, while staying largely bearish, the markets weathered the storm inflicted by the US announcing reciprocal tariffs on almost everyone and kicking off a serious trade war. The Indian markets stayed extremely resilient but ended the week on a negative note. The Index moved in the range of 707.70 points over the past four sessions. The volatility also rose; the India VIX surged 8.16% on a weekly basis to 13.76. The Indian benchmark Index closed with a net weekly loss of 614.90 points (-2.61%).

The equity markets across the world are likely to stay under pressure and in a bit of turmoil. However, the Indian markets are likely to remain relatively resilient. We live in an interconnected world; it is not surprising if we see the markets staying under pressure along with the other equity markets. However, what is expected to stand out will be the Indian market’s expected relative outperformance. This was evident over the previous week as while the Nifty and Nifty 500 lost 2.61% and 2.50%, the US key indices SPX, Nasdaq, and the Dow lost 9.08%, 10.02%, and 7.86%, respectively. While India’s VIX spiked just over 8%, the CBOE VIX has spiked 109.14% on a weekly basis. While the Indian markets may also show jitters and stay under pressure, this relative outperformance is likely to persist.

The coming week is again short, with Thursday being a trading holiday for Shri Mahavir Jayanti. The markets are expected to start lower on Monday following global weakness. Over the coming week, we can expect the levels of 23050 and 23300 to act as potential resistance points. Importantly, the supports are expected to come in at 22600 and 22450.

The weekly RSI is at 44.93; it stays neutral and does not show any divergence against the price. The weekly MACD is bearish; however, the sharply narrowing Histogram hints at a likely positive crossover in the future. A strong black-bodied candle showed the sustained downward pressure on the markets.

The pattern analysis of the weekly chart shows that after rebounding off the 100-week MA, the Nifty staged a strong rally that halted at the 50-week MA. This MA is placed at 23849; this was the support that the Index had violated on its way down, and now acts as a resistance. The previous week also saw the Nifty slipping below the 20-week MA positioned at 23412. While the Index stays in a secondary trend, it remains in a large but well-defined trading range that is created between 23400 on the upper side and 22100 on the lower side.

Despite being short, the coming week is expected to see a wider trading range and some more volatility staying ingrained in it. It is strongly recommended that while the valuations look tempting enough to initiate buying, all fresh buying should be done in a staggered manner. One must not go out and buy everything all at once, but one should do it in a staggered way while allowing the prices to stabilize and indicate a potential reversal point. Leveraged positions must be kept at modest levels, and fresh purchases must be kept limited to the places where there is emerging relative strength. A cautious approach is advised for the coming week.


Sector Analysis for the coming week

In our look at Relative Rotation Graphs®, we compared various sectors against CNX500 (NIFTY 500 Index), which represents over 95% of the free float market cap of all the stocks listed.

Relative Rotation Graphs (RRG) show the Nifty Bank and Financial Services indices are rolling strongly inside the leading quadrant. Besides these two indices, the Nifty Commodities, Metal, Infrastructure, and Services Sector Indices are also inside the leading quadrant.

The Nifty Pharma Index is the only one inside the weakening quadrant.

The Nifty IT Index has rolled inside the lagging quadrant and is languishing inside that quadrant along with the Nifty Midcap 100 index. The Nifty Realty and the Media Index are also in the lagging quadrant; however, they are improving relative momentum against the broader markets.

The Nifty PSE and Energy Indices are inside the improving quadrant along with the PSU Bank index, which is seen as strongly improving its relative momentum. The FMCG, Auto, and Consumption Indexes are also inside the improving quadrant but are seen rolling towards the lagging quadrant again while giving up on their relative momentum against the broader markets.


Important Note: RRG charts show the relative strength and momentum of a group of stocks. In the above Chart, they show relative performance against NIFTY500 Index (Broader Markets) and should not be used directly as buy or sell signals.  


Milan Vaishnav, CMT, MSTA

Consulting Technical Analyst

www.EquityResearch.asia | www.ChartWizard.ae

How low can the S&P and the Nasdaq fall? More importantly, how can an investor navigate this volatile environment?

In this eye-opening video, Mary Ellen McGonagle delves into the stock market’s fall, identifies key support levels, and compares them to past bear markets. She also discusses inverse ETFs and their past price action. Don’t miss out on these key technical points. They will help you identify when the market is getting ready to reverse.

The video was originally published on April 4, 2025. You can watch it on our dedicated page for Mary Ellen’s videos.

New videos from Mary Ellen premiere weekly on Fridays. You can view all previously recorded episodes at this link.

If you’re looking for stocks to invest in, be sure to check out the MEM Edge Report! This report gives you detailed information on the top sectors, industries and stocks so you can make informed investment decisions.

I am attending and speaking at the CMTA West Coast Regional Summit in San Francisco from Friday, 4/4, to Sunday, 4/6, so I don’t have enough time to write a full blog article updating the best five sectors.

So, instead, I have added the graphs and the new ranking to this article for review, and I will update the text and the positions in the portfolio on Monday.

  1. (1) Financials – (XLF)
  2. (3) Communication Services – (XLC)*
  3. (2) Energy – (XLE)*
  4. (7) Consumer Staples – (XLP)*
  5. (4) Utilities – (XLU)*
  6. (5) Healthcare – (XLV)
  7. (6) Industrials – (XLI)*
  8. (9) Consumer Discretionary – (XLY)*
  9. (8) Real-Estate – (XLRE)*
  10. (10) Materials – (XLB)
  11. (11) Technology – (XLK)

Warren Buffett went on the record Friday to deny social media posts after President Donald Trump shared on Truth Social a fan video that claimed the president is tanking the stock market on purpose with the endorsement of the legendary investor.

Trump on Friday shared an outlandish social media video that defends his recent policy decisions by arguing he is deliberately taking down the market as a strategic play to force lower interest and mortgage rates.

“Trump is crashing the stock market by 20% this month, but he’s doing it on purpose,” alleged the video, which Trump posted on his Truth Social account.

The video’s narrator then falsely states, “And this is why Warren Buffett just said, ‘Trump is making the best economic moves he’s seen in over 50 years.’”

The president shared a link to an X post from the account @AmericaPapaBear, a self-described “Trumper to the end.” The X post itself appears to be a repost of a weeks-old TikTok video from user @wnnsa11. The video has been shared more than 2,000 times on Truth Social and nearly 10,000 times on X.

Buffett, 94, didn’t single out any specific posts, but his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway outright rejected all comments claimed to be made by him.

“There are reports currently circulating on social media (including Twitter, Facebook and Tik Tok) regarding comments allegedly made by Warren E. Buffett. All such reports are false,” the company said in a statement Friday.

CNBC’s Becky Quick spoke to Buffett Friday about this statement and he said he wanted to knock down misinformation in an age where false rumors can be blasted around instantaneously. Buffett told Quick that he won’t make any commentary related to the markets, the economy or tariffs between now and Berkshire’s annual meeting on May 3.

While Buffett hasn’t spoken about this week’s imposition of sweeping tariffs from the Trump administration, his view on such things has pretty much always been negative. Just in March, the Berkshire CEO and chairman called tariffs “an act of war, to some degree.”

“Over time, they are a tax on goods. I mean, the tooth fairy doesn’t pay ’em!” Buffett said in the news interview with a laugh. “And then what? You always have to ask that question in economics. You always say, ‘And then what?’”

During Trump’s first term, Buffett opined at length in 2018 and 2019 about the trade conflicts that erupted, warning that the Republican’s aggressive moves could cause negative consequences globally.

“If we actually have a trade war, it will be bad for the whole world … everything intersects in the world,” Buffett said in a CNBC interview in 2019. “A world that adjusts to something very close to free trade … more people will live better than in a world with significant tariffs and shifting tariffs over time.”

Buffett has been in a defensive mode over the past year as he rapidly dumped stocks and raised a record amount of cash exceeding $300 billion. His conglomerate has a big U.S. focus and has large businesses in insurance, railroads, manufacturing, energy and retail.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

Americans nearing retirement and recent retirees said they were anxious and frustrated following a second day of market turmoil that hit their 401(k)s after President Donald Trump’s escalation of tariffs.

As the impending tariffs shook the global economy Friday, people who were planning on their retirement accounts to carry them through their golden years said the economic chaos was hitting too close to home.

Some said they are pausing big-ticket purchases and reconsidering home renovations, while others said they fear their quality of life will be adversely affected by all the turmoil.

“I’m just kind of stunned, and with so much money in the market, we just sort of have to hope we have enough time to recover,” said Paula, 68, a former occupational health professional in New Jersey who retired three years ago.

Paula, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she feared retaliation for speaking out against Trump administration policies, said she was worried about what lies ahead.

“What we’ve been doing is trying to enjoy the time that we have, but you want to be able to make it last,” Paula said Friday. “I have no confidence here.”

Trump fulfilled his campaign promise this week to unleash sweeping tariffs, including on the United States’ largest trading partners, in a move that has sparked fears of a global trade war. The decision sent the stock market spinning. On Friday afternoon, the broad-based S&P 500 closed down 6%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 5.8%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 2,200 points, or about 5.5%.

As Wall Street reeled Friday after China hit back with tariffs against the U.S., millions of Americans with 401(k)s watched their retirement funds diminish along with the stock market.

“I looked at my 401(k) this morning and in the last two days that’s lost $58,000. That’s stressful,” said Victor Fettes, 54, of Georgia, who retired last week as a senior director of risk management and compliance at Verizon. “If that continues, I can’t stay retired.”

Trump has said the tariffs will force businesses to relocate manufacturing and production back to the U.S. and bring back jobs. Some investors and business groups have pushed back, saying they are likely to lead to higher prices for U.S. consumers.

“Our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,” Trump said recently. “But it is not going to happen anymore.”

The president has acknowledged the potential pain coming to some Americans’ wallets, but he continues to staunchly defend his agenda.

“MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE,” he posted to social media Friday. Later, he wrote, “ONLY THE WEAK WILL FAIL.”

Trump’s tariffs are steeper and more widespread than any in modern American history. They are potentially even broader than the tariffs of 1930 that historians said worsened the Great Depression.

Some Americans thinking about retirement told NBC News they feel their economic stability is being played with.

“I don’t want to have to worry that everyone is constantly changing my financial reality,” said Alison Carey, 64, of Oregon, a freelancer in the theater industry. “Let the economy do its machinations, but don’t put me in the gears.”

Paula said she and other older Americans are living with “anxiety about something where you don’t really know what’s going to happen. You can’t do anything though.”

She and her husband have decided to pause and reduce spending on big-ticket items. They are reconsidering vacations and home renovations.

“We can’t change anything right now, except our spending,” she said. “I’m sure there are consumers across the board that want to be cautious, too. Then it becomes a vicious cycle. Consumer confidence goes down.”

One in five Americans age 50 and over have no retirement savings, and more than half, 61%, are worried they will not have enough money to support them in retirement, according to a survey published by the AARP last April.

“It makes you realize how out of touch the current administration is with regular people,” said Benajah Cobb, 63, Carey’s husband, who also works in the theater industry.

He said he hoped the last few days of stock market turmoil would motivate lawmakers to put more checks and balances on the president.

“It’s happening so quickly. Things are falling apart so quickly,” he said. “I’m hoping Congress will try to step up a bit, the Republicans in Congress.”

Fettes said he has been calling his representatives about the tariffs and other issues “to make sure that as a constituent, our voices are being heard.”

“We believe firmly in our family that a democracy is a participatory game, and so we want to make sure that our representatives understand where we’re at and what we would like for them to do to represent,” he said.

Paula said that as she and her husband continue to monitor their retirement accounts, their biggest fear is how Trump’s policies could impact the quality of the rest of their lives — and when their funds will run out.

“That’s my big worry, when is that shortfall going to happen now?” she said.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

American Water Works (AWK)

Why focus on a utility that isn’t reporting earnings this week? It’s because the biggest question of the week is where should you put your money when markets are in turmoil. Hence, we review American Water. 

Do you want safety with a 2% dividend, a little international exposure, and no tariff implications? Then I give you Jersey’s finest, American Water Works Co, Inc. (AWK). 

Technically, the stock is breaking out to new highs and trying to hold on. If this market sell-off is more prolonged, then this is a good place to hide out and is also a nice diversification for your portfolio. It won’t run like a tech stock, but the risk/reward set-up is favorable. 

Use the $146 level to set stops on the downside with upside targets based on the breakout from this rounded bottom formation at roughly $175. The candle formation put in on Friday to close the week was not ideal but may be worth the risk given the volatility.

And if you like lagging indicators, a “golden cross” formed last week and is another technical reason to look positively on the stock.

Delta Air Lines (DAL)

Delta Air Lines (DAL) shares have nosedived 50% from its January peak as it heads into earnings week. Shares fell 16% when the company slashed its first-quarter outlook in early March.

Delta cited declining consumer confidence amid growing uncertainty over the economy, which resulted in weaker domestic demand. It cut its revenue guide to rise between 3% and 4% compared to an outlook of 7–9%.

Technically, the damage has been done. The stock has been oversold since March and is beginning to show a bullish divergence. In this case, price makes a new low but the RSI does not. Look for a break above 30 in the RSI as a buy signal.

The risk/reward is good but not great. DAL has tested and held a support area just above $35 going back to early 2024. A break and close below $35 and downside risk takes the price to $30. 

A sharp V-shaped rally could happen with good earnings results and positive guidance. That’s a big IF, given the continued air of uncertainty. A small rally could see the stock get back to $44. 

Historically the trends in the airline stocks last for months and are rarely neutral. Follow the trend higher if it changes. Otherwise, a landing lower is likely. 

J.P. Morgan Chase

J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) will be one of the most watched earnings of the quarter. Not only is it one of the largest weighted financial stocks in the world, but its CEO, Jamie Dimon, isn’t one to mince words. 

Shares have fallen 25% from its February 9 peak as the market has corrected in the face of tariff uncertainty and a global trade war. Dimon has been somewhat quiet but is always one to give a great sound bite or two, come the conference call. 

Technically, we have a problem

Shares have broken a 16-month uptrend. The stock price breached its 50-day moving average in March, then failed to recapture it—old support became resistance. After one successful test of its rising 200-day moving average, the stock broke through it last week with some vigor. 

On a rally, look for that 200-day moving average at $228 to become resistance. The sellers are now in charge until something changes. To the downside, we have a target of $180 based on a head and shoulders topping pattern as outlined above. 

The stock market hoped for curtailment of tariffs on Wednesday, but that didn’t happen. Even the better-than-expected March non-farm payrolls weren’t enough to turn things around.

The stock market slid sharply with the S&P 500 ($SPX), Nasdaq Composite, and Dow breaking through key technical support levels and closing very close to the low of the day’s range.

The StockCharts MarketCarpets was a sea of deep red with a few small green islands. All S&P sectors were trading lower on Friday. 

The selloff was across the board and precious metals, which soared in the early part of the week, got slammed after the tariff announcement. When investors sell off equities and precious metals, it’s a sign of elevated fear, which is reflected in the spike in the Cboe Volatility Index ($VIX). It closed at 45.12, close to its high of 45.56.

Not a Pretty Picture

The adage, “The stock market takes the stairs up and the elevator down,” rings true. Unfortunately, things got ugly quickly. It’s a volatile environment, and if your portfolio includes mostly equities, you’re probably beside yourself. But it’s not time to let your emotions get the better of you. Neither is it the time to engage in dip buying. If you look at any chart of the market, it’s clear which direction the market is heading. 

The three-year weekly chart of the S&P 500 ($SPX) below shows the index has dropped below its August lows. 

FIGURE 1. THREE-YEAR WEEKLY CHART OF THE S&P 500 INDEX. It was a rough week in the stock market with the S&P 500 closing below its 100-week simple moving average. Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

In March, the S&P 500 crossed below its 40-week simple moving average (SMA), the equivalent of the 200-day SMA. Wednesday’s tariff announcements sent the index even lower, breaching its 100-week SMA, approximately a two-year average. Another concerning point is that Friday’s close is below the August 2024 low. This increases the probability of the index dropping further, perhaps as low as its 150-week SMA. But then again, you never know what the market is going to do. 

A smart investor is always engaged with the market in good times and bad. It’s important to observe the price action at key support levels to get an insight into when buyers come back into the market. 

Looking at Market Breadth 

The Bullish Percent Index (BPI), a breadth indicator that gives a bird’s eye view of the internals of different indexes and sector ETFs, isn’t encouraging, at the moment. The only sectors or indexes at or above 50, as of this writing, are the S&P Consumer Staples Sector BPI ($BPSTAP) and the S&P Utilities Sector BPI ($BPUTIL). Despite the slightly bullish values, the corresponding ETFs are trading below their 50-day SMA. 

The chart below displays $BPUTIL with the chart of the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU). Even though the BPI of the Utilities sector is above 50, it’s still trending lower and XLU just crossed below its 50-day SMA.

FIGURE 2. THE UTILITIES SECTOR IS ONE SECTOR WITH A BPI OVER 50. While a BPI over 50 indicates bulls are in favor, the chart of XLU has fallen below its 50-day SMA. Generally, breadth is leaning towards bearishness. Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

Sellers are in control across the board. The key will be to identify when buyers are in favor. And for that, you need to monitor the BPI and other breadth indicators.  

Investor sentiment got overly bearish quickly. When this occurs, investors usually look for signs of capitulation. We’re not seeing those signs yet, but it’s worth adding sentiment indicators to your toolkit. 

Sentiment Check

At some point, the selling will stop and buyers will come back in. The worst action to take now is to enter positions when you think the market has hit its low, only to catch a falling knife.

When markets are at extreme levels of fear or greed, sentiment indicators such as the VIX can be helpful. Besides the VIX, the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) Sentiment Survey helps identify when investors are extremely optimistic or pessimistic. Generally, when emotions reach extreme levels, it may be an alert to move in the opposite direction of the crowds.

The five-year weekly chart below displays the S&P 500 with the AAII bullish minus bearish sentiment in the lower panel.

FIGURE 3. S&P 500 AND BULLISH VS. BEARISH SENTIMENT. Bearish sentiment is relatively high and the S&P 500 could fall if the bearish sentiment persists. Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

The lower panel shows that investor sentiment is negative, similar to between April 2022 and September 2022. Note how the market went through a correction before resuming its uptrend. 

The price action in the S&P 500 coincides with extreme bearish sentiment and could remain this way for an extended period. How will you know if sentiment has reached extreme levels? It can be challenging but constant monitoring of market breadth and sentiment indicators can reveal a shift in behavior. When buyers come back in, the indexes break above resistance levels, and momentum indicators turn bullish, there’s a chance the bullish trend will resume. 

The Bottom Line  

Investors should stay on the sidelines until the unwinding of positions is in the rearview mirror. As painful as it may be to watch your portfolio lose value, at some point the selling will stop and buyers will get back in. Look for signs of this occurring before adding any positions to your portfolio. Congratulations to investors who followed the traditional 60% stocks, and 40% bonds portfolio mix. Rising bond prices provide some cushion to falling equity prices. 


End-of-Week Wrap-Up

  • S&P 500 down 9.08% on the week, at 5074.08, Dow Jones Industrial Average down 7.86% on the week at 38314.86; Nasdaq Composite down 10.02% on the week at 15,587.79.
  • $VIX up 109.28% on the week, closing at 45.31.
  • Best performing sector for the week: Consumer Staples
  • Worst performing sector for the week: Energy
  • Top 5 Large Cap SCTR stocks: Corcept Therapeutics, Inc. (CORT); Elbit Systems, Ltd. (ESLT); MicroStrategy, Inc. (MSTR); Palantir Technologies, Inc. (PLTR); XPeng, Inc. (XPEV)

On the Radar Next Week

  • Earnings season kicks off with Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL), J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and others reporting
  • March CPI
  • March PPI
  • FOMC minutes
  • Several Fed speeches

Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional.