ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Housing Market Intro and Summary Something surprising is happening in the middle of the current downturn in the housing market: buyers keep coming and home builders are staying resilient and resolute. A series of earnings reports from publicly traded home builders do not reflect the historic plunge in builder sentiment from April (see below). The … Read more
“We are a very young country. What we’ve accomplished is miraculous… We have made progress. And we are a better society… You would think that with the level of prosperity that we have, we would do better taking care of people…We’ve been going in the right direction in the country, but it’s been awfully slow.” … Read more
The Canadian Dollar After the Canadian dollar (USD/CAD) sold off in the wake of the Bank of Canada’s latest Monetary Policy Report (MPR), I doubled down on my bullish bet on the currency (short USD/CAD). That bet paid off as general weakness in the U.S. dollar took USD/CAD back down to its 50-day moving average … Read more
In a press release titled “‘No Lump Sum Required at the End of Forbearance’ says FHFA’s Calabria” the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) sought to reassure home owners that they will not risk defaulting on their homes coming out of a mortgage forbearance program. The forbearance program gives home owners relief from paying their mortgage … Read more
AT40 = 30.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 11.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 43.8Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Stock Market Commentary The culture of collapse that has accompanied the coronavirus pandemic reached new lows. The on-going collapse in oil prices reached new … Read more
“…if not for the pandemic, the strong momentum going into the Spring may have actually sent confidence higher still. Instead, confidence will undoubtedly plunge in the next report. The consumer sentiment index plunged to a 4-year low as a leading indicator of where builder confidence will go.” Housing Downturn: Put Spring’s Momentum On the Shelf … Read more
Housing Market Intro/Summary The housing market has become a lot more dynamic than usual, so over the past few months I have written more pieces beyond the monthly housing market review. The current economic crisis coming from the coronavirus pandemic has increased my frequency of coverage. The most telling moments came when I wrote to … Read more
The change was swift and dramatic. In mid-February, Redfin (RDFN) delivered a very bullish earnings report proclaiming it’s on “like Donkey Kong.” In the face of nascent concerns about the coronavirus (covid-19) threat, on March 11th Redfin (RDFN) delivered a semi-reassuring press release titled “Housing Demand Holding Up Surprisingly Well, For Now.” Two weeks and … Read more
AT40 = 3.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (23rd oversold day)AT200 = 5.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (new low for the oversold period)VIX = 65.5Short-term Trading Call: bullish Stock Market Commentary First a dose of hope: “Coronavirus treatment: Palo Alto woman recovers from coronavirus after … Read more
AT40 = 3.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (13th oversold day)AT200 = 6.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 57.8 (down 23.4%)Short-term Trading Call: bullish Stock Market Commentary The stock market experienced another historic day as the bear market takes on more twists and turns. The … Read more