ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Stock Market Commentary Summer trading in the U.S. traditionally starts after the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The period typically features lower levels of liquidity and, accordingly, periods of listless trading interrupted by bursts of wild volatility. While the “sell in May and go away” adage is a poor trading strategy, August is the year’s most … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The week began with two straight days of selling for the stock market. Almost everything was in place for a real pullback. Although the S&P 500 (SPY) was less than 2% off its all-time high, my favorite measure of breadth in the stock market, AT40 (T2108), the percentage of stocks trading above … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The growth tantrum is almost a distant memory. Complacency is more the order of the day as the volatility index sinks further below 20 and the S&P 500 (SPY) hops and skips through all-time highs. Big cap tech is popular again. These stocks are helping to drag both the S&P 500 and … Read more
Stock Market Commentary A week ago, the fading of the growth tantrum further solidified my bullish read on the stock market. Last week, big cap tech took over from the growth tantrum. Buyers passed the baton in impression fashion but left small caps behind. Regardless, market dips are attracting buyers in a rotating fashion. The … Read more
Stock Market Commentary Many stocks rebounded sharply from intraday lows on Thursday. The flurry left behind key bullish signals. Buyers did not disappoint on Friday. They delivered strong follow through on the latest bullish signals even as sections of the market suffered targeted carnage. Indeed, the ability to ignore the targeted carnage was itself another … Read more
A month ago I mused about the business of music streaming and wondered how music artists make any money from their music. A recent episode of Marketplace provided the simple answer: the transition from buying music by the unit to paying a flat monthly fee has been unprofitable for the vast majority of music artists. … Read more
Stock Market Commentary A great stock market divergence clarified itself last week. Growth stocks, especially the expensive and/or speculative kind, took a back seat to industrial and consumer names and other stocks primed to benefit most from the global economies reopening on a fresh wave of liquidity. This divergence renders a generalized view of the … Read more
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Stock Market Commentary The stock market continued its streak of trickiness. Buyers and sellers played a fierce bear-bull battle starting with one of the biggest fake-out one-day rallies since last September 2nd’s near parabolic run-up. Fresh money flowed into funds to start the month of March to for gains of 2.4% on the S&P 500 … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The week ended with a split personality. While the S&P 500 meandered and the NASDAQ flattened, small caps rebounded convincingly. Financials also forged ahead. As a result, the recent end to overbought conditions may only signal (mild) bearish conditions for a portion of the stock market. The Stock Market Indices The S&P … Read more