Fairlead Strategies is 'skeptical' of Bitcoin rally, sees near-term risk for stocks

Investment advisor and technical analysis specialist Katie Stockton argued Tuesday that the recent rally in Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) could be running out of steam, as technical signals suggest "the risk appetite might be falling off a bit here." "We are skeptical as to the sustainability of this rally," the founder and managing partner of Fairlead Strategies told CNBC. "We are still viewing it as a counter-trend, but we would acknowledge that it did clear the 200-day moving average as one threshold on the chart. This has happened before and it proved to be a false breakout." Stockton, who currently has neutral view on Bitcoin after a negative opinion earlier, said the steep rally in the past month suggests that the upswing is part of a "countertrend move." For a bullish signal, she would want to see "a slow grind higher." "We are looking for counter-trend signals to develop as early as this week based on those trusty indicators we use. That is something that would create conviction behind selling opportunities," she said. Looking to stocks, Stockton reported that she sees resistance for the S&P 500 ( SP500 ) at around 4,020 (about where the index was trading in Tuesday's intraday action). She added that she sees "a lot of risk here" for the broader market indices, including Nasdaq Composite ( COMP.IND ). Looking at Tuesday's intraday action in crypto space, Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) climbed 0.92% to $23K while Ethereum ( ETH-USD ) was nearly flat at $1,621.04. Looking at the broader equity indexes: Nasdaq Composite ( COMP.IND ) was down 0.2%, S&P 500 ( SP500 ) was basically flat and Dow ( DJI ) was up 0.3%. For a more bullish analysis on Bitcoin, see why Seeking Alpha contributor Florian Grummes says, " We are bullish and think a major recovery with prices of 35,000 USD to maybe even 50,000 USD by early summer is quite possible ."