ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Stock Market Commentary: A month ago, a CPI Shocker brought a bear market rally to an abrupt end and created an historically bad September. Today’s CPI Shocker, another inflation reading that came in hotter than expected (imagine that), generated a completely different, and bullish, response. The stock market gapped down at the open and buyers … Read more
“It isn’t random that utilities are acting fairly well.” Carter Braxton Worth, CNBC Fast Money, September 8, 2022. There is truly nowhere left to hide in this stock market! One of the last “safe haven” investments, the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU), hit an all-time closing high exactly one month ago and today completed a … Read more
Stock Market Commentary: Riddle me this. How many months does it take for a “lagging indicator” to reflect reality? The labor market has defied expectations almost all year, and during most of that time it seems like too many pundits have dismissed the data as a lagging indicator of some long lost economic reality. The … Read more
Stock Market Commentary: September was somber. October so far is a sugar high in comparison. With the remaining pandemic era gains preserved for now, the major indices immediately face the challenge of downtrends in place since August’s peak. The conclusion of an extended (8 days long) oversold trading period means, according to history, that at … Read more
Housing Market Intro and Summary In my last Housing Market Review, I called the housing slowdown a “reality check.” That reality is settling into all corners of the market. With mortgage rates resuming their surge over the past two months, the go-forward picture has dimmed further for the housing market. It seems likely the housing … Read more