uempel wrote:There are many indicators suggesting that next week might be weak, but as Cobra says: we are brainwashed and can hardly imagine that the market losing some handles

Boss: another possible factor to consider:
June 30 is EOQ end-of-quarter portfolio rebalancing.
Stocks outperformed bonds this quarter, so managed portfolios that are under contract to maintain a fixed percentage in stocks/bonds, must sell stocks and buy bonds …. This will occur starting Monday the 23rd and continue through Monday the 30th.
[I’m not talking about “window dressing” which is optional, I’m talking about “portfolio rebalancing” which is mandatory.]
One example: Norway’s $880 billion Sovereign Wealth Fund - the world’s largest - gets its guidelines from the government in Oslo. It is under mandate to hold 60 percent in stocks, 35 percent in bonds and 5 percent in real estate.
[Caveats:
I do not know how many portfolios require quarterly, semi, or annual rebalancing; most are quarterly.
I do not know how many portfolios use the 10s benchmark (UST) and how many use the 30s benchmark (USB); most use the 10s. Either one works, unless the yield curve went cattywampus which it didn’t this quarter.
I do not know how many use SPX as a benchmark and how many use the Dow INDU; I assume most use SPX]
In any case, the outperformance of stocks over bonds is relatively small this quarter so the results could be negligible [?]