U.S. stocks are on the march north, led by a 200 point mid-session rally in the Dow Jones Industrial Average DOW. Sentiment is gaining positive steam, with equities players putting trade fears on the back burner. Risk appears to be in style as equities are on the bull and safe-havens are taking a hit.

The positive action has developed in spite of more bad news from the U.S. real estate market. MBA Mortgage Applications (August 23) came in decisively negative, at -6.2%. This figure is well off of the previous release (-0.9%), suggesting that homebuyers aren’t interested in getting involved in the market right now. Given the ultra-low interest rates currently available, the lagging MBA figure had to have come as a major surprise to real estate professionals.

DOW Rallies, Tests 26,000

Today’s action on Wall Street has been dominated by bulls thus far, even though many in the markets are predicting meltdown. Plunging Treasury yields and robust GOLD performance suggest institutional capital is headed for the sidelines. Is a stock market crash imminent? 

For now, signs point to no. But, there are reasons to believe an economic slowdown is on the way. No trade war resolution, a dovish FED, and growth in safe-havens are signs of trouble.

Overview: The technical roadmap for the September E-mini DOW is bearish on the daily timeframe. Values remain below the 62% retracement of early August’s selloff, indicating the prevailing daily downtrend is valid. Until we see a rally above the 26500 handle, the DOW will remain bullish for the long-term but bearish in the short.