JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon had his 15 minutes of fame recently when he added to his holdings of JPM. On Feb. 11, Dimon bought 500,000 shares of JPM, bringing his total long position to 6.75 million shares, according to published reports. Despite this loud statement of support for the institution he runs, his actions remind me of the musical The Music Man. It was some 50+ years ago when I first heard Robert Preston singing "Ya Got Trouble" in River City. Looking at the price action and volume on three key financials, I can't get that song out of my mind.
This is a two-month daily bar chart, above, of JPM with the On-Balance-Volume (OBV) line along the bottom. JPM rallied for a few days from the Feb. 11 low, but notice the OBV line is flat. No accumulation.
Goldman Sachs (GS) has been in a slide lower, but it too had a bounce after Feb. 11. However, GS didn't have an uptick in the OBV line. Again, no aggressive buying.
American International Group (AIG) is another big financial institution, but notice the chart above. Prices are weak, and the OBV line is weak and not just flat. Volume has been heavier on days when AIG closed lower.
Got trouble?