As every investor and analyst is cheering the earnings from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Amazon, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), there is a market barometer that is giving me caution. By nature I am a contarian when it comes to investing. History has shown me when everyone else is bullish, it is best to be careful. The best example of this was in 2007. Every average investor was bullish just as the financial crisis began to peak its ugly head out. The same thing happened in the tech bubble that topped in the year 2000. By no means am I  calling for a epic market decline, but more just to be wary when the euphoria hits.

Oil has been in a down trend now since it topped out in early June at $52 per barrel. Now trading at $41.05, oil is starting to get interesting for a near term bounce. I would not suggest holding it for longer periods but a technical bounce will be seen in the price. The key level is $40.00. This will also result in a key gap fill on the $USO (the oil tacking ETF). Patience as it falls, look for this level to make solid money off of.

The M&A action is insane right now. Almost daily there is a new deal announced, with one company buying another. Today we saw Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) buying NetSuite Inc (NYSE:N) in a deal worth approximately $9.3 billion. So why are all these buyouts coming over the last month or so? What is going on? Is there that much value in these names or is there something amiss.

Below are the the two main reasons why there are so many buyouts going on.

1. Companies are having to buy growth. With an economy that is growing at under 3% per year, former mega growth companies find themselves with earnings that have stalled or declined. They realize that things are not going to change going forward and must purchase growth. They are willing to pay sky high prices to keep shareholders happy.

The stock market chopped up and down after the FOMC statement at 2PM. The Federal Reserve opened the door slightly for a rate hike in September. The markets initially reacted with sell side action but quickly recovered. Why did they recover? The market does not believe the Federal Reserve will hike rates, no matter what they say or claim.

Even with the general dovish statement reaction from the stock market, plus $AAPL earnings, the S&P 500 closed float to slightly lower. Is this a warning sign? I am not sure about a warning sign but it definitely is not bullish. The market has a bull flag on the daily chart and after putting the Fed statement behind the market and those AAPL earnings, investors mostly thought the markets would have soared.