Rio Tinto Admits Severity of Commodities Collapse By Slashing Dividend

It finally happened. Rio Tinto (RIO), a major producer of commodities like iron ore, has started to back off its generous dividend payout policy. In its latest earnings statement, RIO announced its total dividend for 2015 will come to 215 U.S. cents per share, the same as it paid out in 2014. Over the past … Read more

Forex Critical: Key Currency Charts for February 11, 2016

Currencies are a transmission mechanism. Since the financial crisis, central banks have become increasingly adept at manipulating them as agents of monetary policy. Traders who ignore currencies may have critical blindspots as stock markets twist and turn through currency transmissions. From time-to-time, I will post “Forex Critical” to highlight currency charts that I believe are … Read more

Housing Market Review – Crossroads: Past Strength Versus Nervous Future (January, 2016)

The last Housing Market Review covered data released in December, 2015. At the time, I saw the market coiling like a spring. Instead of springing forth, housing market stocks are in big retreat. Recession fears likely have a lot to do with the declines. The iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) is now down a … Read more

T2108 Update (February 9, 2016) – Hanging On For Yellen

(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

The Bank of England’s Recent Retreat On Rate Hikes (A Blueprint for the Fed?)

What a difference 19 months make. It was June, 2014 when Bank of England (BoE) Governor Mark Carney confidently warned financial markets that rate hikes could come earlier than implied at that time by the market. Less than a month later, the British pound (FXB) (or sterling) peaked against the U.S. dollar (DXY0). Peaks against … Read more