ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Last June, 2017, Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada (BoC) Carolyn A. Wilkins stepped onto the stage with a surprisingly bullish message about the Canadian economy. This speech set the stage for the BoC’s rollback of “emergency measure” rate cuts that responded to the past collapse in oil prices. At the time, the … Read more
Two weeks ago I expressed concern about the poor performance of the materials sector. The sector was under-performing the general market which seemed particularly ominous given the generally strong outlook for the economy. At the time, I expressed my hope that another interview with Bill Sandbrook, CEO of U.S. Concrete (USCR), would clear the air … Read more
The Turkish lira is in trouble again. Last week, USD/TRY hit an all-time high amid more dire headlines for the Turkish economy and the monetary policy of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT). On April 3rd, Bloomberg reported the following issues: 7.4% GDP growth in 2017 is overheating the economy. Turkish companies … Read more
This picture is exactly what I do not want to see as the stock market struggles to hold critical technical supports: a major index of economically-sensitive stocks confirming a breakdown of support at its 200-day moving average (DMA). The Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB) lost 1.3% on a day when the S&P 500 (SPY) … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in December, 2017 for November, 2017. At the time, the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) was still recovering from a small dip caused by an earnings report from Toll Brothers (TOL) that disappointed the market. Housing data were strong and pointed to on-going bullishness. January launched … Read more
This year was supposed to be the year of retail. Last week’s sell-off not only took down a broad base of stocks, but also it plunged retail stocks in aggregate into under-performance against the S&P 500 (SPY). Moreover, home builders broke down in a very bearish way and thus put my “buy the dip” strategy … Read more
AT40 = 38.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 54.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 17.3 (28.5% increase!) Short-term Trading Call: bullish Commentary “We cannot tolerate pervasive and persistent misconduct at any bank and the consumers harmed by Wells Fargo expect that robust … Read more
As a data nerd, I have a large pet peeve about the many ways in which the press and media fail to help its audiences understand the nuances in data and analysis even as I understand the need for journalistic expediency and story-telling. However, that annoyance increases by several orders of magnitude when I see … Read more
The Canadian dollar (FXC) is at an interesting juncture. Strong economic data has strengthened the currency but the Bank of Canada (BoC) has applied brakes on currency’s rally. The Canadian dollar weakened in the wake of policy statements in October and December. The last word of 2017 went to the economic data as hot inflation … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in November, 2017 for October, 2017. At the time, the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) traded at a 10+ year high with the angst of tax reform left far behind in the rear view mirror. The day after my post, Toll Brothers (TOL) reported earnings that … Read more