Doubling Down on the United States Oil ETF While Oil-Related Names Gain A Reprieve from Calamity

The trade on a rangebound United States Oil (USO) is now failing (see “The Commodities Crash Accelerates: Scenarios for Trading Oil” for a description). Oil has continued its collapse past the historic 2009 lows and has helped to drive USO to fresh all-time lows. Source: US. Energy Information Administration, Crude Oil Prices: West Texas Intermediate … Read more

Speculators Abandon Their Bearish Posts Against the Australian Dollar

Policy divergence has officially begun, yet markets face the interesting possibility of an Australian dollar (FXA) that refuses to weaken further against the U.S. dollar for now. Source: FreeStockCharts.com The above chart shows that the Australian dollar weakened for just one full day in the wake of the rate hike from the Federal Reserve. AUD/USD … Read more

T2108 Update (December 14, 2015) – An Unconvincing Oversold Bounce

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. It helps to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades are … Read more

T2108 Update (December 11, 2015) – Oversold But Dangerous

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. It helps to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades are … Read more

No Bottom Yet for Gold But Its Current Decline Should Soon Slow

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on November 29, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) The U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to hike interest rates in December. The Fed and economic data have finally convinced the market of an imminent rate hike, and the high odds … Read more

Russia Versus Oil: Potential Technical Implications of A New Divergence

In recent months, I have been in the habit of fading rallies in Market Vectors Russia ETF (RSX) using Direxion Daily Russia Bear 3X Shares (RUSS) for quick, short-term trades. That streak may be on the verge of ending. Source: FreeStockCharts.com As the chart shows, RSX looked like it was ready to resume its downtrend … Read more

A Bottom For Commodities – The Reserve Bank of Australia Says No; Fortescue Says Yes

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on November 19, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) “…the changing nature of China’s development implies that the potential for commodity prices to rise from here is somewhat limited.” – Christopher Kent, Assistant Governor, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) at … Read more

Another Look At the Reinforcing Dynamics of the Iron Ore Industry

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on November 16, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Clyde Russell is a columnist who often writes about iron ore for Reuters. His latest piece, “Who’s behaving rationally in iron ore, steel? Everybody and nobody,” discusses some common themes and … Read more

Little Cliffs Natural Resources Still Talks Like the 900-Pound Gorilla

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on November 3, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) reported earnings last week on the morning of October 29, 2015. {snip} Source: FreeStockCharts.com From my perspective, the always colorful commentary from Chairman, President, and CEO Lourenco … Read more