Bank of America is one of the largest financial institutions in the United States, with more than $3.0 trillion in assets. It is organized into four major segments: consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking, and global markets. Bank of America's consumer-facing lines of business include its network of branches and deposit-gathering operations, retail lending products, credit and debit cards, and small-business services. The company's Merrill Lynch operations provide brokerage and wealth-management services, as does its private bank. Wholesale lines of business include investment banking, corporate and commercial real estate lending, and capital markets operations. Bank of America has operations in several countries but is primarily US-focused.

Well that was quite a four-day stretch in the stock market. Yet the rally started Tuesday, a day before we knew the election results. Of interest, an anonymous bettor was originally projected to have made $48 million (but blockchain data from Chainalysis says the profit was closer to $84 million) on an election bet placed on the crypto-based trading platform Polymarket. For the four days, the S&P 500 (SPX) and S&P 100 popped 5%, the Nasdaq and the S&P 400 rocketed 6%, and the QQQs added 5.8%. The big winners were the small caps, with the S&P 600 (SML) and Russell 2000 (IWM) each up more than 8%. The SML (1508) made an all-time high (ATH), exceeding its previous ATH from November 2021 and completing a large and complex cup-with-handle formation. Based on the depth and length of the bullish pattern, SML could see initial measured moves to 1,765-1,900, and possibly much more. Using a monthly logarithmic chart, a trendline formed off the peaks in 1998, 2006, and touched in 2007, 2018, and 2021, is estimated to come in at over 2,000. The four-day SPX sector performance was broad, led by Consumer Discretionary (+8%); Financial, Industrials, Information Technology (+6%); Energy (+5%); and Communication Services (+4%). For the near term, and with the big round psychological number of 6,000 in sight for SPX (exceeded intraday Friday) and 20,000 for the Nasdaq and NYSE, a pause/pullback may come soon. Or maybe the bull just continues to run over the bears. A blow-off move to the upside is not out of the question. (Mark Arbeter, CMT)

Bank of America is one of the largest financial institutions in the United States, with more than $3.0 trillion in assets. It is organized into four major segments: consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking, and global markets. Bank of America's consumer-facing lines of business include its network of branches and deposit-gathering operations, retail lending products, credit and debit cards, and small-business services. The company's Merrill Lynch operations provide brokerage and wealth-management services, as does its private bank. Wholesale lines of business include investment banking, corporate and commercial real estate lending, and capital markets operations. Bank of America has operations in several countries but is primarily US-focused.

With stocks essentially on auto-drive since early September and laughing in the face of what was supposed to be a volatile month with some downside, let's switch gears for a day and look at Bitcoin. The crypto currency, or whatever it is, hasn't done a whole lot since March 2024, and at around $67,000 is currently near levels from November 2021. Bitcoin's all-time closing high was $73,118. At this point, it may be a good time to use a trading method called Multi Time Frame Analysis (MTFA), which examines an asset over a variety of time frames, including monthly, weekly, and daily charts. We have found this to be very helpful for both a longer-term investor or a shorter-term trader. On a monthly basis since the start of March, Bitcoin looks extremely calm and appears to be tracing out a multi-month bull flag. Stepping back, it may be tracing out a multi-year bullish cup-with-handle formation. Using monthly candles, Bitcoin has been supported by its 10-month exponential during the flag. Price is now right at the top of the downward-sloping flag, and a strong breakout could open the door for several measured moves, with an initial rally likely halted at $100,000. On a weekly basis, Bitcoin looks much-more volatile since March and it may be tracing out an extended flat, which is a continuation pattern. Weekly momentum recently turned higher, as has the weekly vortex indicator. Like gold, Bitcoin has ignored the dollar rally since late September. We previously have noted that big Bitcoin rallies have been concurrent with a dollar decline. (Mark Arbeter, CMT)