Elliott Fishman, director of U.S. and international equity trading at Trading Services Group, Scotia Wealth
Focus: Technical analysis

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MARKET OUTLOOK

Volitility has returned. It’s nice to dust myself off and all of my trader types again as the indexes are no longer just drifting up. When indexes get stuck (that is, spend a lot of time at one level), what usually helps change that are multiple days or multiple weeks of triple-digit moves both up and down. In this case, we've even seen quadruple-point moves.

It’s too easy to say that the cause of this recent sell-off is ETFs, program selling, etc., when there are so many other factors at play. If those pre-mentioned facts were the only reason we sold off, we'd be right back at the levels that preceded it. We aren't.

ADVISORS VS. ROBOS

Robo-advisors haven’t seen anything like this, while our experienced advisor teams have: this  is where we earn our keep. I was actually listening to a show on satelite radio and one of the older, more experienced traders made a comment that seemed kind of arrogant at first but makes some sense. He said: "it’s time for the kids to come out of the pool … it’s time for the adults to swim now."

We've had more than a nine-year bull run while we just suffered a 10-per-cent correction. It’s funny to me to hear so many seasoned investors say we fell and stopped right at the 200-week moving average, which means we're good to go. But to be honest, the indexes have meant very little on the way up (at least to me), so I'd be careful putting too much on the recent hold.

At this point I would be taking profits, as it’s too soon to say that all of this pent-up selling was a one-week deal.

TOP PICKS

MORGAN STANLEY (MS.N): US$65 target.

LAS VEGAS SANDS (LVS.N): US$82 target.

HUDSON'S BAY (HBC.TO): $13 target.

PAST PICKS: JAN. 2, 2018

BARRICK GOLD (ABX.TO)

• Then: $19.01
• Now: $16.71
• Return: -12.09%
• Total return: -12.09%

HUDSON'S BAY (HBC.TO)

• Then: $11.72
• Now: $9.90
• Return: -15.52%
• Total return: -15.52%

WYNN RESORTS (WYNN.O)

• Then: $164.30
• Now: $162.92
• Return: -0.83%
• Total return: -0.83%

Total return average: -9.48%