U.S. Migration Patterns and California Housing Migraines

In past Housing Market Reviews, I observed a notable shift in housing activity from the West to the South. I have wondered aloud whether this disparity comes from economic choices moving households from relatively expensive markets in the West to relatively more affordable ones in the South. It turns out the IRS has some of … Read more

How Brexit’s Collective Call to Caution Became A Chorus Of Opportunity

The referendum that punted the UK out of the European Union (EU), “Brexit”, is practically a forgotten memory for most people outside of Europe. For example, the aftermath of this vote now looks like an event that quickly shook out the most eager sellers in the stock market and thus paved a course for a … Read more

The Australian Dollar Defies the RBA’s Easing Bias

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 3, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kicked off central bank action for August with a rate cut to a fresh record low of 1.50%. Financial markets were anticipating a cut with … Read more

Forex Critical: Up Is Down and Contrasts Confound

Last week was full of important news for forex trading. As a dollar bull, euro bear, and yen bear, the week presented particular challenges that hedging could only soothe a little bit. I had a good run with these positions in recent weeks. As forex goes, a setback was due – just too bad the … Read more

The British Pound Rises from the Edge of the Abyss

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 13, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) And so ends the flurry of sentiment on Brexit. The Google Trends chart makes “Brexit” look like a big anxiety bubble. While sentiment has calmed down, the British pound (FXB) is … Read more

How to Reconcile Brexit Uncertainties and the Rally in Stock Markets: Don’t

“Faint and quaint” is how I am starting to describe the initial panic and consternation of financial markets resulting from the UK’s decision to exit from the European Union (EU), aka Brexit. The S&P 500 (SPY) now logs new all-time highs as if nothing ever happened. Yet, a rapid consensus has grown around reducing forecasts … Read more

T2108 Update (July 8, 2016) – A Day to Be Long Almost Anything and Everything

(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

From the United Kingdom’s Biggest Stocks: Thank You, Brexit

The vote by the United Kingdom (UK) to leave the European Union (EU), aka Brexit, kicked off a series of market events that collectively seem very surreal. First, there was the global rally in financial markets going into the vote. Relieved market participants appeared to anticipate a victory by the Remain side. Next came two … Read more

The Australian Dollar Confirms Bearish Bias By Quickly Losing Post-GDP Gains

There is nothing like a quick reversal of what is supposed to be good economic news to confirm a bearish bias. On May 31st (U.S. time), the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its report on GDP for the March, 2016 quarter. GDP came in at a very strong 3.1% annualized rate thanks to another … Read more

The Australian Dollar Swings Wide On Repeat Information

In the wake of poor inflation data, a rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), and then a dovish Statement on Monetary policy, speculators decided that this was not the time to have such a large net long exposure to the Australian dollar (FXA). Source: Oanda’s CFTC’s Commitment of Traders Roll forward to … Read more