ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Word went out Friday that BP is considering offering $5 billion in bonds paying 8-10% with 5-10 year maturities. These bonds will likely also be unsecured. Given the real risk this company may not be around to see another birthday, I have to assume only the most yield-hungry investors will paw at this offering. I … Read more
Two weeks ago, I wrote “Sellers Step Out of the Way” to describe an impressive rally from oversold conditions on poor volume on May 27th. The S&P 500 closed up 3.3% that day, just short of the 200-day moving average (DMA). Today, the index finally hurdled over the 200DMA resistance for the first time in … Read more
I last wrote about the Australian dollar during its worst slide since the financial crisis. At the time, I claimed that the slide was probably good for a short-term bounce, but the currency could easily go even lower given macroeconomic concerns. Since then, the Australian dollar has firmed up nicely and formed a potential “W-bottom” … Read more
Risk Index Spike Means Carry Trade ‘Sell-off,’ Barclays Says – BusinessWeek A gauge of risk has surged to the highest level in 15 months, signaling investors are reversing strategies of borrowing money in countries with low interest rates to invest in high-yielding assets, Barclays Plc said. (tags: forex trading_strategy carry_trade) A quintuple nine-to-one up day … Read more
First Solar (FSLR) has been stuck in a downtrend for two years (see chart below). The stock has traveled a volatile path through this trend, providing strong trading opportunities up or down. For example, a sharp two-month rally from the March, 2009 lows doubled the stock price. Insider buying earlier this year provided a convincing … Read more