Housing Market Review (November, 2018) – The Federal Reserve Takes Note As Housing Deepens Its Slowdown

I saw a flicker of hope for home builders in the May Housing Market Review. Traders decided to snuff that flicker out very quickly afterward. When I wrote June’s housing market review and described a “struggling flicker,” the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) was once again bouncing off the bottom of 2018’s trading range. … Read more

Home Builder Sentiment Punctuates the Slowdown in the Housing Market

I normally wait until my monthly Housing Market Review to report housing data, but I made an exception for November’s NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) which measures the aggregate of home builder sentiment. The plunge in sentiment delivered a timely exclamation point to all the other signs of a slowdown I have been observing … Read more

The Fed-Related Chart That Most Concerns the Stock Market

An on-going debate rages about whether or how fast the Fed should hike rates in 2019. Some even question the need for a rate hike in December. Indeed, the market has priced in a “only” a 65% chance of a rate hike next month. I say only because before the October sell-off and November’s weakness, … Read more

Above the 40 (November 9, 2018) – No Time for Comfort As Brakes Screech On the Oversold Bounce

AT40 = 35.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 34.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 17.4 Short-term Trading Call: bullish Commentary Hold up. Pump the brakes. The bounce from oversold conditions just got more difficult as sellers forced buyers to come to a … Read more

Above the 40 (October 10, 2018) – The Stock Market Cascades Down to Oversold Territory

AT40 = 16.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (a drop of 14.2 percentage points to an 8-month low and the first day of an oversold period) AT200 = 38.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (a drop of 7.6 percentage points to a 6-month low) VIX = … Read more