T2108 Update (September 2, 2016) – Still Waiting for Volatility’s Moment

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. It helps to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades are … Read more

Housing Market Review – A Holding Pattern Despite Soaring New Home Sales (August, 2016)

The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in July for June, 2016. At the time, a disappointing GDP report sharply rejected the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) off a 9-year high. Fortunately, there was very little follow-through to the selling. When ITB rallied strongly on new home sales, the ETF recovered most of … Read more

A Pairs Trade for the Tesla – Solar City Tinderbox

Solar stocks have had a rough 2016. Solar City (SCTY) seems doomed to join the long line of troubled companies that fell from grace. The stock is down 64% year-to-date and has traded with a downward bias since its all-time high in February, 2014. Source: FreeStockCharts.com Tesla Motors (TSLA) is trying to come to the … Read more

Cocoa Watch – A Fresh Buying Opportunity on NIB

In early 2014 I laid out a basic trading premise for the cocoa market: trade the range by buying sell-offs and selling into buying sprees. This strategy has worked extremely well since then except I only pulled the trigger once this year. The chart below for the iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) shows how … Read more

Meritage Homes: Margin Pressures Cap An Already Low Valuation

Three months ago, I reviewed earnings guidance from Meritage Homes (MTH) for second quarter 2016. The guidance and subsequent positive market reaction came within weeks of a first quarter earnings report that was very poorly received (13% loss on the day). I called the guidance “too late” because of the sour taste left by the … Read more