T2108 Update – June 13, 2011

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page.) T2108 Status: 21% and “almost” oversold. General Trading Call: Continue covering shorts. Add more small long positions. Commentary T2108 dropped to 21%, right on the edge of the official 20% oversold … Read more

Even Central Banks Are Buying Australian As the RBA Plans Higher Rates

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released its minutes from its last board meeting, May 3. I reviewed these minutes curious to understand the bank’s expectations for commodity prices given the on-going sell-off in commodities. The meeting occurred just as commodities started their current sell-off, so these pressures were not salient at the time. However, … Read more

Intervention Sticks As the Yen’s Recent Weakness Persists

It appears that coordinated currency intervention has accomplished what unilateral intervention could not – initiate a sustained weakening in the Japanese yen. When the Bank of Japan promised “powerful monetary easing” I quipped: The wordsmiths were working overtime. The BoJ clearly wants to fire as strong a warning as possible to those who insist on … Read more

Coping with Destabilizing Coffee Prices

Coffee prices have soared along with most other commodities over the past year and more. For example, the iPath Dow Jones-UBS Coffee Total Return Sub-Index ETN (aka JO) is up 70% since the end of 2009. The last earnings results from Starbucks (SBUX) demonstrated the stress from these higher coffee prices. The company slightly lowered … Read more

Skeptical the British Pound Can Sustain A Breakout Versus the U.S. Dollar For Now

After scanning through the latest quarterly release of the “Statement of Monetary Policy” from the Reserve Bank of Australia, I was reminded that currency traders are trying to prepare for eventual rate hikes from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE): “While financial markets continue to expect the US federal funds … Read more