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"Up a lazy river."  And the market likewise meandered all day.  Prices
at the close were up modestly, and volume slumped to +2% below average.
Since last Tuesday the day-to-day volume changes have all been in single
digits.

Low volume, lack of interest, tends to lead to markets that drift rather
than move.  The drift could be up, down or sideways but if it were to
get too far out of whack, the Street would jump in and correct things.
Drifting isn't bad for Dollar Cost Averagers, but Momentum Players will
have a tough time of it.

Sideways drifting isn't necessarily bad for the market either.  Last
year the market drifted in a slowly declining trading range from January
through October.  Technicians consider horizontal trading ranges "base
building".  They're often precursors to nice rallies as demand gets
"pent-up".  But over time investors can get nervous and their greed can
lead them to look elsewhere for profits, and if they pull money out of
the market...  My point is we don't know what the market is going to do,
so we have to keep an eye on it, even if it looks like nothing much is
going to happen.

 Price    Vola-    Momen-   Volume   Oscil-   Summ.
 Change   tility   tum               lator    Index
 -__+     -__+     -__+     -__+     -__+     -__+

 __>_     _|__     __|_     __>_     __>_     ___|     03/04
 __>_     _>__     __|_     _|__     __>_     ___|     03/07
 __>_     _>__     __|_     _|__     __>_     ___|     03/07
 _>__     _>__     __|_     _|__     _>__     ___|     03/08
 _|__     _>__     __|_     __|_     _<__     ___|     03/09
 ____     __|_     __|_     _<__     ___|     03/10

Timing Signals:  I don't use or recommend timing signals, but they're
fun to watch.  If I did though, well, I might use something like this.
(Be warned!!  It tends to whipsaw around signal points!)

Last Signal: BUY        Date:  02/24/05 S&P:    1200
Winner or Loser:  tbd                   By:     tbd

See my market tracking charts for '03-'04 and my investment strategy
study at my website(s):
http://www.xprt.net/~pgrogers/Pers.html
http://www.angelfire.com/or/paulrogers/Pers.html
http://www.geocities.com/paulgrogers/Pers.html



Paul Rogers, paulgrogers{at}yahoo.com                       -o)
http://www.angelfire.com/or/paulrogers                   /\\
Rogers' Second Law: Everything you do communicates.     _\_V

... Me...a skeptic?  I trust you have proof.
___ MultiMail/MS-DOS v0.35

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