Special Bulletin: September 12th, 2017

Before going into this update, all of us at Triumphant want to share our deep concern for the families who have been so horribly impacted by hurricanes Harvey & Irma. We have many family members, friends & clients living in the affected areas and we share in their suffering. Please know we continue to pray for you and for your loved ones. We pray for the safety and health of the caregivers, workers & volunteers as well. We have been encouraged by amazing stories of people coming together, in loving & self-less community, to serve their fellow citizens. May the Lord Jesus continue to bless you all as you endure and persevere.

The markets and the world are full of surprises. Usually they are negative. However, in just the past week alone three “surprises” have impacted investors positively. First, President Trump surprised America (as well as his own party) by working a deal with Democrats to avoid a September debt ceiling showdown. Then just 2 days later, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un surprised the world by not testing nuclear weapons over the weekend during their holiday. And finally on the next day, Hurricane Irma surprised most FL residents, elected officials and meteorologist with its more westward path and rapidly weakened status. (Thank you Lord!)

All in all, the markets received the news well as the S&P 500 rallied to all-time highs. What was not a surprise is that the markets have continued to rally since Aug 31st. In fact, last week on Sept. 6th the first-stage technical “sell signal” was negated clearing the way for further attempts to move higher by the major indexes. With the above mentioned 3 positive “surprises” as catalysts, the markets did just that.

The markets internals have continued to improve thus far in September and certain growth stocks have begun to shown positive action. We are near to issuing a “green” light, but with the continued elevated Distribution Day count (days of professional selling) and only average volume readings in the key indexes on recent up days, we remain cautiously optimistic as we are not totally “out of the woods” yet. Seasonally speaking, fall is historically a challenging, even damaging, time for investors. Maybe it will be different this year and go up & “surprise” us all. 

Have a Triumphant day! ®