An Ugly Win

With SPX up 2.6% on the month, May qualifies as a win (assuming it holds 2648). But, it was an ugly win. Stock buybacks, ramp jobs in oil and gas, timely reversals in USDJPY and VIX — everything but the kitchen sink went into the mix to turn in a positive performance.

While a more serious downturn was postponed, the problems facing the market have not gone away. It’s hard to shake the feeling that the past two weeks, in particular, were merely about letting the major players get their ducks in a row before a resumption of February and March’s turmoil.

The yield curve continues to be a problem……as do oil and gas prices and the inflation they’ve stirred up.If May’s positive performance was indeed bogus, I nominate TSLA as the stock of the month. Despite a string of daily technology fails – some of which killed people – TSLA remains above technical support and is even threatening to break out.