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 I flipped bearish on the stock market over a week ago because of a significant breakdown in the S&P 500 (SPY). Moreover, the breakdown occurred alongside vulnerable breadth indices and a bottoming volatility index (VIX). As a result, when the index closed lower than the previous week’s low, I braced for follow-through. … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The upward drift in the stock market continued another week. The latest narrative comes from the cascading impact of the infrastructure bill settled in the Senate (I feel like the U.S. has passed this bill 10 times already!). While more wrangling lies ahead in the House of Representatives, the stock market felt … Read more
The Follow-Through: Churning While the S&P 500 (SPY) cruised higher all week, much of the rest of the market resigned to churning. The dichotomy of a market rebound versus the wounds left to heal continued to play out. Many of the follow-through trades for this week churned with the rest of the stock market. See … Read more
Stock Market Commentary Even the Federal Reserve must sit back and marvel as the S&P 500 (SPY) refuses to rest for long. Post-Fed handwringing sent the stock market into a period of doubt over previous assumptions of inflation fears. The previous week even ended with oversold conditions looming. However, as is the case with so … Read more
The Follow-Through Intro The stock market followed a rare stumble with a broad-based rebound from “oversold enough” conditions. Stocks were generally up across the board as buyers rushed in to grab “bargains.” AT40 (T2108), the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs), jumped from 37% to 46%. My favorite technical indicator … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The Federal Reserve seemed to change the rules of the game. To-date, easy money policies and stubborn dovishness in the face of rising inflation was a formula for higher asset prices, reflation and inflation-friendly trades, and even rising fears of an over-heating economy. Last week, Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell shifted the … Read more
Stock Market Commentary All March long the stock market wrestled with inflation fears. After the S&P 500 (SPY) successfully rallied away from its 50-day moving average (DMA) (red line in the chart below) in early March, I recognized signs that the stock market’s churn was a sign of digestion of these fears. Yet, so-called growth … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The week ended with a split personality. While the S&P 500 meandered and the NASDAQ flattened, small caps rebounded convincingly. Financials also forged ahead. As a result, the recent end to overbought conditions may only signal (mild) bearish conditions for a portion of the stock market. The Stock Market Indices The S&P … 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 stock market gapped up and never looked back in the wake of the Presidential Inauguration. Subsequently, buyers produced mixed follow-through for two days. Big cap tech defied the narrative of a rotation into value and industrial names by delivering the most convincing follow-through. A third drop from overbought conditions in a … Read more