Today was the last day of the annual MTA education seminar in New York. Presenters were unanimously bullish. A couple thought we had just started a new leg in this bull market and therefore strongly objected to the popular notion that this bull is long in the tooth. A couple did sound a few cautionary notes though. Marc Sutin (Knight) in particular notes that consumer discretionary stocks are lagging relative to the consumer staples and that retail sales are in a clear downtrend. This might indicate that the consumer is finally tapped out and that, in that case, the economy is on borrowed time. This, however, does not necessarily mean anything for the stock market. If those heralding a reinvigorated if not brand new bull market are correct, every piece of negative economic news will only serve to feed the proverbial wall of worry and prolong the uptrend.

I just finished reading a Wall Street classic from 1960, Nicolas Darvas' How I made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market. One very interesting fact: he would make "pilot buys" of stocks that he thought behaved well. If the stock continued to behave well, then he would seriously commit (buying 3 or 4 times more stock).
For those interested in knowing more about Darvas (shown here), you can check out the original 1959 Time article that made him into a Wall Street legend. You'll notice the cheesy title ("Pas de dough") which might have passed for a subtle witticism back in those days. Or maybe not.
I'll leave you with the following statement Darvas made in 1977 which reads like a technical analyst's mission statement (emphasis is mine):

"Having decided that the investment climate is right and that the industry is right I am ready to buy the particular stock if it is rising in price on volume. My basic principle of stock-market investment is that the only valid reason for buying a stock is that it is rising in price. If the price is rising no other reason is needed, if the price is not rising no other reasons are worth considering. I am not the slightest bit interested in explanations of why it is not behaving as it was expected to. I am only concerned with realities, on what is actually happening, not in conjectures, alibis, projections, rationalizations, and excuses."