How low can we go?
If 2,850 is our Must Hold Level (below which we are bearish – and for good reason apparently!), then 20% below that is the bottom of our range and that's 2,280 and the S&P 500 bottomed out at 2,350 yesterday so we're not quite there though we certainly attacked it with a running start as the index fell 325 points (12%) on heavy volume.
As I noted yesterday, while this is now close to 40% from the top, we had no business being at 3,400 in the first place so stop thinking we're going to bounce back to there – that would be silly. It's a lot more likely that 2,850 becomes the top of the new trading range and 2,280 should be the bottom but we're in panic mode now and the selling volume is still overwhelming the buying interest so we could go quite a bit lower – but it's going to be a great buying opportunity… at some point.
It's an incredible buying opportunity for people who still have cash to spend but a 40% drop in the market tends to make people very cautious. As I noted last Thursday, as we dipped to 2,480, our prefered way of bottom-fishing is to sell puts, because it puts CASH!!! in our pockets by simply promising to buy stocks for an additional discount – far below where they are trading today.
Since we're back near the bottom of our range (and, keep in mind, things can get worse), why don't we look at some more stocks we'd like to own if the World doesn't end?
?We are staying away from banks, insurance and travel stocks as we don't know how bad things will ultimately get and we will keep our entries small on the expectation we very likely may have to roll them or double down on them (or both) if the market drops another 20% but here's the kind of bargains we can engineer for ourselves in this kind of market. Do be aware that margin requirements can jump up as the stock goes lower so you should have the cash available to actually buy these stocks. ThinkOrSwim ordinary margin is noted for each item:
- Intel (INTC) – $44.60 is $190Bn
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