One of the hardest things about the stock market and trading is that there are times when there aren't many good opportunities. While there always is some tradable action, especially if you have a very short-term time frame, in certain circumstances, the best course of action is to do very little. However, that is not a message that attracts a lot of attention or excitement.
We have some rotational action on Wednesday with banks, industrials, energy, and retail perking up while Apple (AAPL) and some of the big-cap technology names take a rest. Breadth is running around 3 to 2 positive, and small-caps are leading with a gain of almost 1% due mainly to strength in regional banks.
Regional banks are being pushed higher by strong buying of the SPDR S&P Regional Bank ETF (KRE) , which is up around 5%. All 143 stocks in the ETF are positive, which illustrates how this sector is driven mainly by the ETF and not by individual stock-picking.
My current view of the market is that this is not a good time to buy anything other than extremely short-term trades. Conditions for trend trades or position trades are poor, and there is no compelling reason to add to long-term investments right now, in my view. There is nothing to suggest that a sustained uptrend is about to start.
But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be looking for some good opportunities. It is helpful to identify them, but there isn't any reason to rush in and buy.
One name that I'm looking at Wednesday is Maxeon Solar Technologies, Ltd (MAXN) , a Singapore-based company that manufactures and sells SunPower brand solar products and operates in over 100 countries. Maxeon has one of the most efficient solar panels on the market.
The company saw revenues jump 43% in its most recent quarter over the prior year. It raised 2023 guidance and is also expanding its capacity. The company used the strong reaction to its earnings to price a secondary offering at $28. The stock is currently trading just slightly above the offering price.
This looks like an interesting opportunity, but I see no reason to load up on the stock at this point. I have a small position in MAXN and will track the stock as the chart develops. When market conditions improve and the technical action looks more appealing, then I may add to the position.
There are many other stocks with similar dynamics. They have a good story and good numbers, but there just isn't any strong reason to put cash to work in this poor market environment.
The market spiked a bit on comments by President Biden about a possible debt-ceiling deal but quickly faded.
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