In the past week, some downtrodden sectors of the market have started to wake up and move higher. But a few important sectors - banks & homebuilders - still haven't moved up.

If last week's rally was "real" - meaning it has the legs to become a new bull market in the weeks and months to come - you'll have plenty of time to add new positions and make lots of money.

Cutting to the chase on the headline above... I'm cheering yesterday's big post-Fed +4% Nasdaq rally like everyone else. But

I hope you're having a great weekend! Last week was a rough one for me. My stocks all did well

Conditions are ripe for a countertrend rally, amid general public bearishness and slow, late summer trading conditions. But we have to respect - and prepare for - the potential "bad" outcomes, too.

It's all over the news at this point today... Inflation, as interpreted by the US consumer price index (CPI) hit

Let's keep in mind that - according to market historians - the S&P 500 had its worst 6-month start since 1970. So perhaps expecting more of the same - a steady predictable path lower for another 3 months - might be pushing a market bear's luck.

How do we know a bear market has run its course? When our stocks move higher in spite of bad headlines. By that admittedly fuzzy measure - we're not there yet.