Above the 40 (April 26, 2019) – Stock Market Highs Continue Cradling Bearish Divergence

AT40 = 61.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 53.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 12.7Short-term Trading Call: neutral (change from bearish) Stock Market Commentary The week ended with a U.S. GDP report for Q1 2019 that represents well the state of the stock market: … Read more

Above the 40 (April 18, 2019) – Exhausted Buyers and Reluctant Sellers Make A Stock Market Dribble

AT40 = 58.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 52.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 12.1Short-term Trading Call: bearish Stock Market Commentary The S&P 500 (SPY) ended the previous week looking ready to lunge for its all-time high. Surprisingly, buyers decided to take a rest, … Read more

Above the 40 (April 9, 2019) – Stock Market Fades from the Edge of Overbought

AT40 = 58.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 48.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 14.3Short-term Trading Call: bearish Stock Market Commentary Ever since the last overbought period ended, the stock market has experienced just two clear bearish signals. Each time, the bearishness was well-telegraphed … Read more

Recession Risks Revealed in the “Disindependence” of the Federal Reserve

Major central banks typically cut interest rates in response to economic stresses; they ease when the data force them to do so. Some important exceptions in recent history happened 1) in 2016 when Mark Carney’s Bank of England cut rates as a cushion against the potential downsides of the pro-Brexit vote, and 2) when the … Read more

How to Understand the Inverted Yield Curve and Its Relationship to Recessions

The Federal Reserve’s program of monetary tightening has been fighting the bond market since the process began about 3 years ago. Over that period, the Fed has painstakingly tried to hike rates in a way that would avoid roiling markets. Unfortunately for the Fed, long-term rates on U.S. Treasuries failed to cooperate and barely budged … Read more