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Time to Buy the Dip? 3 Rare Signals Appear

Market Uncertainty: Tariffs & Geopolitics Shake Equities

Savvy investors understand that drawdowns and corrections are a given on Wall Street. Over the past decade, there have been several corrections (defined as a >10% drop off highs) and bear markets (defined as a 20% drop off highs). Unfortunately, most amateur investors lose money because they are psychologically programmed to be fearful when they should be greedy, and vice versa.

“Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections, or trying to anticipate corrections, than has been lost in all the corrections themselves.” ~ Legendary Mutual Fund Manager Peter Lynch

Though most investors become fearful during inevitable market corrections, they should take on an opportunistic mindset instead. That said, investors must understand their time frame, risk management framework, and strategy to succeed. For instance, if you’re DCA (dollar-cost averaging) for a retirement account, nothing should change for your strategy (unless you want to add even more capital during corrections). If you’re an active trader or investor, you want to look for market extremes and take calculated bets. Currently, some market extremes are appearing.

High-Beta Stocks Experience Pandemic-Like Plunge

A high-beta stock exhibits more price volatility than the overall market. During bull phases, high-beta stocks outperform, and vice versa. Unsurprisingly, high-beta stocks like Tesla (TSLA - Free Report) , Rigetti Computing (RGTI - Free Report) , and Oklo (OKLO - Free Report) have been hurt the most during the current market correction. However, what may surprise most investors is just how extreme the drop has been. the major indices are masking ugliness “below the surface.” According to Bloomberg, high beta stocks have suffered similar losses to when the S&P 500 Index plunged 30% in March 2020!

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Bloomberg

QQQ Tests Rising 200-day Moving Average

The Nasdaq 100 Index ETF (QQQ - Free Report) retreated to its 200-day moving average (or 40-week MA) for thefirst time since last August. Why should investors track the 200-day moving average? Each time QQQ tested the long-term moving average since regaining the level in December 2022, QQQ put in intermediate bottoms and rose more than 5% in the following weeks (a large move for a market index).

Sentiment is in the Gutter

Tuesday, the CNN “Fear & Greed” Index matched its most “fearful” level since August 2024. Coincidentally, the QQQ tested its rising 200-day moving average at that time, marking the summer lower.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: CNN

In addition, the VIX, a fear indicator, saw its daily sentiment index soar to 69, the highest level since the 2020 COVID-19 market crash!

 

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Bottom Line

Market corrections are inevitable and are often painful. However, savvy investors can take advantage of them and take calculated risks when a plethora of market extremes begin to appear.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) - free report >>

Invesco QQQ (QQQ) - free report >>

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (RGTI) - free report >>

Oklo Inc. (OKLO) - free report >>

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