Regional Differences:
The regional banks and the overall banking space via the XLF have been trading in harmony since the start of Q4. Could the KRE start to reassume leadership, as it did on the chart here how it did this summer, especially in July? The daily chart below of the fund shows very taut overall trade and it is back to testing the bull pennant breakout here from 11/22. It is still trading in the upper half of the range between the round 60 and 70 numbers, from where the last bull flag broke from and not from a previous ascending triangle. It has declined 8 of the last 11 sessions but the pullback has been somewhat pedestrian now 6% from its annual peak. The MONTHLY chart shows nice action POST breakout above a double bottom pivot of 61.77 in November. Bears likely feel this is a double top at the round 70 number from the last 2021 and early 2022 time period, where the ETF did register back-to-back doji candles in December 2021-January 2022. Top holding MTB will carry some weight as to where the KRE is headed and Wednesday touched its rising 50-day SMA at the very round 200 number for the initial time following a bull flag breakout above the 195 pivot. Stay long with a CLOSING stop below 190.