The Seasonal Trade On Home Builders Is Off to Its Worst Start Since 2009

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 28, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) Last December, I wrote about the shaky prospects for the seasonal trade on home builders. Sure enough, iShares US Home Construction (ITB) has not performed this badly on an absolute or … Read more

This Time Is Likely Different for the S&P 500 With Rising Margin Debt

A recent article in Business Insider by Jesse Felder from TheFelderReport.com raised a loud alarm bell over rising margin debt levels in the U.S. stock market (see “A closely followed indicator says a 20% drop in stocks could be coming soon“). The article used the following chart as part of an analysis concluding that a … Read more

T2108 Update (March 29, 2016) – Yellen Punches the Market’s Refresh Button

(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

The British Pound Reverses Latest Brexit Fears Even As Speculators Press Shorts

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 13, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) When I last wrote about the British pound (FXB), the currency was reaching the bottom of its latest downdraft. I did not know the bottom was near, but I did claim … Read more

Housing Market Review – A Struggle for Rebirth Ahead of Spring (February, 2016)

The last Housing Market Review covered data released in January, 2016. At the time, I warily looked at a nervous market and insisted that the steep decline in the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) and individual home builder stocks presented a great buying opportunity. I was conservative in my expectations including looking out to … Read more