Chart of the Day - Monday, January 6th, 2020

Today’s Chart of the Day was shared on Twitter by Dan Russo (@DanRusso_CMT). It's a line chart of the S&P 500. Dan highlights the importance of tuning out the noise and focusing on price action instead. Over the past few days, the financial media has been fixated on the developments in Iran. Some even suggest we're on the verge of World War III. However, recent price action is telling a much different story. The S&P 500 closed today less than 0.40% off of an all-time high and has gone 61 days without a decline of 1% or more. Also, the index is in a clear uptrend, as it's trading above both its 50 and 200-day moving averages. I'm no expert on geopolitics or middle eastern affairs, but I can tell you that the market hasn't given us a reason to get bearish yet. Bill Gates once said, "Headlines, in a way, are what mislead you because bad news is a headline, and gradual improvement is not."