kftx

Why sell? That pretty much sums up last week. And the week before, and the week before and............next week too? Of course I don't have the results of the French election yet, but it looks like Le Pen will not be President. More good (??). So, last week was the 3rd week in a row of new highs for all the major averages (DOW, S&P 500, NASDAQ Composite) with all the news being looked on as bullish and any warning signs just flat being ignored. Yeah, I know,

WHAT

warning signs? Oh things like crude oil selling off, interest rates remaining low (2.35% 10 yr treasury) and certainly

not

pricing in strong growth, job market tightening (wages follow?), China slowing and optimism/expectations soaring.

Wow!

Now that I wrote that I get it. All those things are meaningless and there is

NOTHING

to worry about. Hit the buy button again. So, to be specific, the

DOW

rose

+0.3%

to

21,006.94

, the

S&P 500

+0.4%

to

2,399.29

and the

NASDAQ Composite

rose

+0.4%

to

6,100.76

.

Crude oil

lost

6.3%

closing at

$46.22

(and that's with a Friday rally), metals lost across the board and (as above) interest rates slipped slightly with the

10 yr treasury

at

2.35%

. Of course one of the reasons for the strength in the averages is tech earnings, more specifically a very

select

group of tech stock's earnings. Fewer and fewer stocks are driving the market meaning the concentration in the Amazons. Facebooks, Googles, Pricelines, etc and ETF's crowding in on them is a bit.........scary. Since we follow the KBW NASDAQ fintech index (KFTX) lets take a look at how those several stocks can distort (or mask, or hide, or fool) investor's perceptions. For the record, the

KFTX

closed up

9.14

points (

+0.8%

) to

1160.14

. To compare, the

S&P Tech

sector rose

1.4%

on the week (it includes the FANG's and the other 'big favorites') with the

KFTX

(50 stocks) up +0.8%...........a

0.6%

difference. For the year, the

S&P 500

tech sector is up

17%

while the broader

KFTX

is up "only"

9.9%

........a

7.1%

difference. What I am trying to say, the markets are getting more and more crowded in only a small select group of stocks which is

NOT

healthy. Of course, if you never sell............ But if they are sold......watch out.

So, next week? More new highs? Still time to "sell in May and go away". The jury is still debating but don't get caught in the hallway when the verdict comes in.