Current trends indicate a robust interest in gold and precious metals, driven by their perceived value as safe-haven investments. High prices in the metals market are contributing to positive expectations for the basic materials sector. The focus on gold mining stocks and the overall demand for gold in jewelry and ETFs further reinforce this bullish sentiment. Nonetheless, the market remains sensitive to economic fluctuations that could impact prices. The price action of Materials (XLB) sector is shaped by numerous forces, ranging from broad macroeconomic trends to company-specific performance and market structure. The trend sentiment at 6.9 is extremely bullish. The market sentiment at 1 is bullish. Trend sentiment measures the current trend of the stock price, and market sentiment reflects what market participants collectively think where the price will move next.XLB is likely to move up since both trend sentiment and market sentiment are positive. The positive sentiment force for Materials sector is at 1.4, and the negative at -0.4 on 2025-12-18. The forces of Sector Price Trend (6.9), and Option Sentiment (1.5) will drive up the price. The forces of Broad Market Trend (-0.2), Market Risk Appetite (-0.2), Price Level Sentiment (-0.5), Valuation Sentiment (-0.5), and Sentiment towards Fundamentals (-1) will drive down the price. The sentiment for Broad Market Trend is calculated based on SPY trend. The sentiment for Sector Price Trend is calculated based on XLB trend. The sentiment for Option Speculation is calculated from put/call ratio. The Risk Prefrence is calculated from Bitcoin price trend. Price Level sentiment is positive when oversold, and negative when overbought. Valuation Sentiment, and Sentimentals towards Fundamentals are extracted from headlines and market commentary. All sentiment scores are normalized on a -10 - +10 scale. The price level reaches 100 at Bollinger upper band, and zero at lower band.

XLB
Date	Attention	Price	Price Level	Change	SMA10 Trend	Trend Sentiment	Hourly Trend	Hourly StdDev	Market Sentiment	Action	P	Fund.	News Sentiment
2025-12-18	0%(0%)	45.17	76	-0.04%	6.7%	6.9	0%	0.4%	1	Short	65%	-1	-0.5
2025-12-17	0%(0%)	45.19	79	0.42%	6.91%	7.4	0%	0.2%	1.1	Wait	50%	-1	-0.5
2025-12-16	0%(0%)	45	82	-0.27%	7.42%	7.8	-0.22%	0.2%	1.1	Short	65%	-1	-0.5
2025-12-15	0%(0%)	45.12	85	-0.03%	8.33%	8.5	0%	0.3%	1.5	Wait	50%	-1	-0.5
2025-12-14	0%(0%)					8.8	0.22%		1.3			-1	-0.5
2025-12-13	0%(0%)					8.8	0.22%		1.3			-1	-0.5
2025-12-12	0%(0%)	45.14	90	0.02%	8.74%	8.8	0.22%	1.5%	1.5	Long	60%	-1	-0.5
2025-12-11	0%(0%)	45.13	96	2.06%	9.57%	9.5	0%	1.6%	1.6	Wait	50%	-1	-0.5
2025-12-10	0%(0%)	44.22	101	1.91%	10.59%	9.5	0%	0.5%	1.5	Short	70%	-1	-0.5
2025-12-09	0%(0%)	43.39	109	-0.22%	11.35%	9.5	-0.23%	0.7%	1.6	Short	70%	-1	-0.5
Short is the preferred trading strategy with 65% chance of being right. Trend reverses after extremely bullish run with the elevated price level. Wait action is recommended in three scenarios with either high uncertainty or high risk: 1. The trend sentiment and market sentiment are at the opposite directions. 2. Both trend sentiment and market sentiment are positive, but the price level is elevated. 3. Both trend sentiment and market sentiment are negative, but the price level is depressed. In an uptrend, as an investor, you may want to wait for the pullback to open long position. In a downtrend, the price will likely rebound after huge decline. As an investor, you may want to wait for the rebound to exit long position.
Market sentiment will accelerate the current trend when both trend sentiment and market sentiment are at the same direction. Market sentiment will generate volatility when it's at the opposite direction of the trend sentiment. News sentiment measures the daily emotion of the market. News sentiment may impact the daily price change while market sentiment is a more stable and consistent moving force.