Just when you think things couldn’t get any duller…  This time, though, technical signs are mildly disquieting, perhaps warning that we should be on our guard. But against what? I refer you to the chart below, which shows that the DJIA’s funereal rally over the last two weeks has left stochastic tracks that look even more somber than the mournfully ascending price bars that created them. This is a bearish divergence relative to vital signs generated in late May, and although it would take only a modest three-day rally to cure the condition, it could just as easily turn hellish if even a wee bit of softness creeps in over the next two days.

(Click on chart to enlarge)

No matter how this divergence is resolved, though, there’s no getting around the fact that buyers seem to be losing enthusiasm with each uptick in the average to marginal new highs. Ordinarily, I’d say let’s buy some QQQ puts just in case. But we’ve died with them before, and besides, technically speaking, the QQQs don’t look so bad. My hunch is that neither buyers of puts nor calls will make money this summer,  even if a punitive whoop or a swoon for a day or two temporarily pins naked option sellers by the ears. More immediately, perhaps serendipity will bring us opportunity during today’s real-time Q&A session. In any event, I will look to you, valued subscribers, for fresh inspiration.

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Time Out for Repairs

I'm having a torn ligament in my wrist surgically repaired on Thursday, so there will be no Friday edition of Rick’s Picks. If I’m not too doped up I’ll try to put out a tradable recommendation intraday.