ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
The Surge The prices of commodities, materials, and their related stocks benefit greatly from the current reflationary macroeconomic environment. One more materials name hit an important milestone this week. Steel company Nucor (NUE) surged right through an all-time high last set in May, 2008. Since last year’s pandemic-drive plunge, NUE has enjoyed its most sustained … Read more
Stock Market Commentary Last week featured an intense barrage of earnings reports. The collective response on the major indices was a major yawn. The S&P 500 finished flat for the week. The NASDAQ and the iShares Trust Russell 2000 Index ETF both softened by 0.4%. Financials were a notable exception as the Financial Select Sector … Read more
Housing Market Intro and Summary In March, home builder stocks pushed through softening housing data thanks in large part to builder-specific catalysts. In April, a series of strong earnings reports and a healthy rebound in the new homes market combined to propel most housing-related stocks higher still. The contrast between existing and new homes stood … Read more
Introduction I have supported and invested in precision policing and gunfire detection company ShotSpotter (SSTI) for four years. I have even attended an annual shareholder meeting, spoken with the CEO and other company executives, and received a tour of the Newark, CA headquarters. SSTI experienced its best trading days in a 1-year burst that took … Read more
Soliton (SOLY) is a pre-launch medical device company specializing in technology for tattoo removal and cellulite reduction. The company is working on extending its RAP (Rapid Acoustic Pulse) technology to other indications. Soliton is still pre-launch, so the company had little to report for its financials in its latest earnings report. Management spent most of … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The stock market continued its streak of trickiness. Buyers and sellers played a fierce bear-bull battle starting with one of the biggest fake-out one-day rallies since last September 2nd’s near parabolic run-up. Fresh money flowed into funds to start the month of March to for gains of 2.4% on the S&P 500 … Read more
ReneSola (SOL) is down 64.9% from its near 10-year high set in January. The company celebrated that high by announcing a secondary stock offering…its fifth in 4 months. SOL came back stronger and better from the first four secondaries of the series. The fifth secondary stock offering finally broke the bank (meaning ReneSola overwhelmed the … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The stock market got quite tricky last week. A day after buyers re-established control, sellers returned with a sustained fury. The selling on Thursday reflected the stock market’s split personality while the follow-up selling on Friday seemed broader. The pressure on the the stock market looks like an ominous setup for March … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The split personality of the stock market resolved into major breakdowns in the stock market on Tuesday…for about 30 minutes. Apparently increasing inflation fears gave way to the soothing words of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Fed’s semiannual monetary policy report to Congress. Buyers quickly met the latest sharp and … 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