Above the 40 (January 2, 2019) – A Fighting Start for Stocks Gets Apple Pie in the Yen

AT40 = 11.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (oversold day #12)AT200 = 12.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 23.2Short-term Trading Call: bullish (with caveats all over again) Commentary $AUDJPY $AUDUSD $GBPJPY flash crashed. Could this ALL be #forex fallout from $AAPL revenue warning!?! pic.twitter.com/WZS10wj7D9 — … Read more

Housing Market Review (December, 2018) – Prices Are Still Too High

I saw a flicker of hope for home builders in the May Housing Market Review. Traders decided to snuff that flicker out very quickly afterward. When I wrote June’s housing market review and described a “struggling flicker,” the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) was once again bouncing off the bottom of 2018’s trading range. … Read more

Above the 40 (December 19, 2018) – A Fed Undeterred Is A Stock Market Not Yet Low Enough

AT40 = 9.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (oversold day #4)AT200 = 14.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (new 34-month low)VIX = 25.6 (no change!)Short-term Trading Call: bullish (caveats below!) Commentary On Tuesday night, basketball great LeBron James, now of the Los Angeles Lakers, experienced an … Read more

Home Builder Sentiment Punctuates the Slowdown in the Housing Market

I normally wait until my monthly Housing Market Review to report housing data, but I made an exception for November’s NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) which measures the aggregate of home builder sentiment. The plunge in sentiment delivered a timely exclamation point to all the other signs of a slowdown I have been observing … Read more

The Fed-Related Chart That Most Concerns the Stock Market

An on-going debate rages about whether or how fast the Fed should hike rates in 2019. Some even question the need for a rate hike in December. Indeed, the market has priced in a “only” a 65% chance of a rate hike next month. I say only because before the October sell-off and November’s weakness, … Read more

Australian Dollar: Another Strong Jobs Report Paints A Bullish Hue

It has been a while since I took note of the impact of economic numbers on the Australian dollar (FXA). For most of this year, I have instead been a lot more focused on what the Australian dollar, combined with the Japanese yen (FXY), might be saying about risk attitudes in financial markets. Today, I … Read more

Housing Market Review (October, 2018) – Trend Breaks And A Plunge-Worthy Housing Slowdown

I saw a flicker of hope for home builders in the May Housing Market Review. Traders decided to snuff that flicker out very quickly afterward. When I wrote June’s housing market review and described a “struggling flicker,” the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) was once again bouncing off the bottom of 2018’s trading range. … Read more

Above the 40 (October 12, 2018) – Confidence and A Conditional Reprieve Amid Oversold Lows

AT40 = 11.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (hit an intraday low of 9.4%, oversold day #3) AT200 = 32.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (intraday low of 30.0%) VIX = 21.3 (a decrease of 14.7%) Short-term Trading Call: bullish Commentary AT40 (T2108), the percentage of … Read more

Above the 40 (October 10, 2018) – The Stock Market Cascades Down to Oversold Territory

AT40 = 16.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (a drop of 14.2 percentage points to an 8-month low and the first day of an oversold period) AT200 = 38.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (a drop of 7.6 percentage points to a 6-month low) VIX = … Read more

Dallas, Denver, Seattle Help Tip U.S. Housing Economics Toward Renting Over Buying

Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University co-create a “buy versus rent” scoring system called the Beracha, Hardin & Johnson Buy vs. Rent (BH&J) Index. Last month, this index crossed a critical threshold for the first time since 2010: U.S. households are once again better off renting than buying. This cross-over provides further confirmation of … Read more