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The stock market now is clearly overbought — but overbought does not mean ‘sell’

July 10, 2025
08:53 PM
2 min read
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investmentmoneystockstradingfinancialtechnologyfinancialsmarket cycles

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Apple shares and big bank earnings are in focus as stocks hit another record.

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2 min read

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investment

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Published

July 10, 2025

08:53 PM

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MarketWatch

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investmentmoneystockstradingfinancialtechnologyfinancialsmarket cycles

Advanced ➔ Results Lawrence G

McMillanOpinion: The stock market now is ly overbought — but overbought does not mean ‘sell’Apple s and big bank earnings are in focus as stocks hit another recordLast d: July 10, 2025 at 4:53 p

ETFirst Published: July 10, 2025 at 3:24 p

ETResizeListen(15 min) Photo: Getty Images/iStockphotoThe S&P 500 index SPX has continued to rise, registering new all-time highs again this past week

A minor gap has been filled on the SPX chart, which is a positive thing

There are support levels at 6,060, 6,020 and 5,920

Any move below 5,920 would be bearish, but I am not expecting that anytime soon

This upside breakout to new highs seems much stronger in terms of market internals than the false breakouts that occurred this past February

When SPX is at all-time highs, there is no formal overhead resistance, but the “modified Bollinger bands” (mBB) can be useful

Currently, SPX is trading above the +4σ band, which is an overbought condition, but not necessarily a sell signal

If SPX closes below the +3σ band, that would generate what we call a “classic” mBB sell signal

We don’t trade those, for they have ven to be too subject to whipsaws

However, if there is further downside action after the “classic” sell signal is generated, then a McMillan volatility band (MVB) sell signal could be generated

There is no guarantee that current market conditions will actually lead to an MVB sell signal

The Author Lawrence G

McMillan is a columnist for MarketWatch and editor of the "MarketWatch Options Trader"

He is president of McMillan Analysis, an investment and commodity-trading adviser

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