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Tariff-related comments from the President and the Federal government shutdown combined to derail the stock market on Friday. Also, market timers were already nervous about stock prices, so the sell button was already well within reach when the President's comments were made.
 

The two leading ETFs took some big hits, but have remained close to their 21-day EMAs. This doesn't seem too bad to me, but let's wait to see what happens on Monday.
 

The PMO index has been getting close to the low of its range, which is where I start looking for buying opportunities.
 

The price of the JNK ETF has been pointing decisively lower, which is certainly negative for stocks. However, this ETF had already started to point lower on Wednesday and Thursday, so as I said earlier, investors were ready and willing to sell when the tariff comments were made.
 

The five-day moving averages of the advance/declines of the major indexes have shown very little internal weakness for the SPX and NDX, but the small-caps have been weak since early September. This is more evidence that the market was ready to hit the sell button even before the President's comments.
 

I don't have any special insight into the market right now. I really don't like to buy or sell stocks based on news, and I think the market was ready for a sell-off anyway. I wish I had more to offer. I'm probably going to continue to hold my stocks.

Outlook Summary

• The short-term trend is uncertain for stock prices
• The medium-term trend is neutral for Treasury bond prices 

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