ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
The volatility index, the VIX, closed below 11 on April 24, 2017. That launched 184 trading days of extremely low volatility (ELV). The VIX is now just 1 more trading day away from finally bringing this historic event to an end. By my definition, it takes 20 trading days of the VIX closing above 11 … Read more
Trying to chase volatility higher has been like chasing fancy footwork. The S&P 500 (SPY) last completed a drawdown of 5% or more on November 4, 2016. That ended a period of pre-election weakness that began in early to mid-August, 2016. The last drawdown of 5% or more before that occurred around Brexit when the … Read more
The volatility index, the VIX, has closed below 11 for 5 straight days and 22 of the last 25. These stretches of extremely low volatility (I will now shorten it to ELV for convenience) include a 14-year low for the VIX. The interruption in this streak of ELV included an abrupt wake-up call where the … Read more
The volatility index, the VIX, has closed below 11 for 2 straight days, 3 of the last 6, and 6 of the last 13 days. Source: FreeStockCharts.com These low levels of the VIX seem dangerously low, and I have labelled them as such in my recent “Above the 40” posts. Yet, I have discovered the … Read more
Stock Market Commentary After sweeping away bearish signals, the stock market moved right into overbought territory last week. The week started with a small gap up to all-time highs, and the stock market never looked back. More importantly, the volatility index (VIX) hit a new low since the stock market broke down almost a year … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The recent bearish divergence in the stock market resolved to the downside in a big way. Breakdowns rippled throughout the stock market even as numerous micro-bubbles soared in the opposite direction. A volatility surge clarified the new bearish turn in sentiment. In the “background”, the Federal Reserve rolled out its latest pronouncement … Read more
AT40 = 9.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (8th oversold day)AT200 = 23.2% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 41.9Short-term Trading Call: bullish Stock Market Commentary The Shake and Bake bottom barely held as support last week. It was a week of dramatic ups and downs … Read more
AT40 = 9.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (oversold day #4)AT200 = 14.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (new 34-month low)VIX = 25.6 (no change!)Short-term Trading Call: bullish (caveats below!) Commentary On Tuesday night, basketball great LeBron James, now of the Los Angeles Lakers, experienced an … Read more
AT40 = 11.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (hit an intraday low of 9.4%, oversold day #3) AT200 = 32.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (intraday low of 30.0%) VIX = 21.3 (a decrease of 14.7%) Short-term Trading Call: bullish Commentary AT40 (T2108), the percentage of … Read more
AT40 = 38.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 48.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 11.3 Short-term Trading Call: neutral Commentary The S&P 500 (SPY) is suddenly struggling at its 50-day moving average (DMA). The big reflex bounce from Tuesday, August 22nd has … Read more