Because Citigroup has been in the financial dog house lately, we look to the shares of Goldman Sachs Group for clues about the health and longevity of this bull market, now in its 24^th year. It stands to reason that a company so thoroughly entrenched in the smoke-and-mirrors business, not to mention extremely well-connected to people in high places, would outperform until the U.S. economy toppled over the edge.

They used to say that, as GM goes, so goes the business of America. That’s true enough if one is referring to the U.S. manufacturing sector alone. But manufacturing is no more the locus of the nation’s business these days than Atlantic City is “The World’s Playground.”

I bring this up because Goldman is nearing a very important number on its long-term chart (see above). We discuss this in greater detail on the Touts page of Rick’s Picks, but suffice it to say, a decisive signal concerning the relative health of the bull market could be no more than a week away. I could be wrong, but I doubt it, as will anyone else who has dabbled in the black arts of technical analysis. We’ll keep a close eye on this one, since it looks as though something is about to give.