Monetary Easing, The Counterfactual, And A Lower Dollar In the Balance

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 11, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has made the case for further monetary easing simple and straightforward. Unless some miracle happens in the economy to send growth hurtling upward (presidential campaign promises, … Read more

More Positive Milestones for the Residential Housing Market

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 30, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) The residential housing industry received more positive data on August 29, 2012. First, the latest Federal Reserve’s beige book further confirmed the stronger price trends shown in the Federal Housing Finance … Read more

T2108 Update (August 24, 2012) – Pavlovian Market

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. 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 posted on twitter using the #120trade hashtag) T2108 Status: 67.2% VIX Status: 15.2 … Read more

Stronger Take Home Pay and A Productivity Puzzle Tug on the U.K.’s Economy

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 15, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Bank of England’s latest Inflation Report (August 8th) included two items that I found particularly interesting: The Bank of England (BoE) expects the squeeze in take home pay in the … Read more

T2108 Update (August 17, 2012) – Waiting for Confirmation (Reasons to Love and Hate This Market Here)

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. 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 posted on twitter using the #120trade hashtag) T2108 Status: 74.9% (third day of … Read more

Sifting Through the Rubble of Retail High-Flyers for Potential Trades – Long and Short

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 6, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) The HOLDRS Retail ETF (RTH) made new all-time highs in late July, and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) has remained in a trading range since failing a retest of its … Read more

The Reserve Bank of Australia Declares Soft-Landing In China, Focuses On Europe

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 7, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) The immediate response to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest monetary policy decision was muted, but I think the statement spoke volumes. The RBA essentially declared a soft economic landing in … Read more

Another Important Breakout for the Australian Dollar

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on August 5, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Japanese yen was the last remaining currency to “hold out” against the Australian dollar’s recent advances. On Friday, the AUD/JPY currency pair jumped again off its 200-day moving average (DMA) … Read more

Atlanta Fed’s Lockhart: “QE3 Is An Option”

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 29, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) On June 27, 2012, Nightly Business Report interviewed Dennis Lockhart, President of the Atlanta Federal Reserve about the U.S. economy. During the interview, Lockhart indicated that the economic anecdotes he hears … Read more

Yellen’s Case for More Easing Primes Fed to Act Sooner Than Later

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 15, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip}…I decided to summarize the last two speeches from U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet L. Yellen given her strong advocacy for pro-active intervention on behalf of the U.S. economy…{snip}… I … Read more