A Bottom For Commodities – The Reserve Bank of Australia Says No; Fortescue Says Yes

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on November 19, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) “…the changing nature of China’s development implies that the potential for commodity prices to rise from here is somewhat limited.” – Christopher Kent, Assistant Governor, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) at … Read more

A Policy Island for the Fed: The Bank of England and U.S. Economic Data Isolate the Fed

This past week was an important one for monetary policy. The Bank of England (BoE) made clear it is willing to put off rate hikes as long as necessary. Despite its words that suggest otherwise, the Bank is NOT biased for action. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen made it clear that, all else being … Read more

The U.S. Dollar Is Ready For Lift-Off On Janet Yellen’s Latest Rate Hike Talk

The market is once gain gearing up for a December rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve. Today’s nudge came from Janet Yellen her first public commentary since last week’s decision on monetary policy. At that time, a simple and clever change in language convinced the market to pull in the month for a first … Read more

Financial Markets Welcome the Fed’s Focus On Its First Rate Hike With Important Breakouts

The U.S. Federal Reserve released its latest decision on monetary policy and left interest rates unchanged. There was of course no surprise there. However, the very mention of a future rate hike was treated like new news: Fed holds rates near zero, but signals possible hike "at its next meeting" https://t.co/vF4pOxlo9p — WSJ Breaking News … Read more

Strong Sentiment and Outlooks Support Out-performance of Homebuilder Stocks

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 28, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) While the S&P 500 (SPY) continues to languish in the aftermath of the flash crash and accompanying sell-off, the iShares US Home Construction (ITB) is still up 5.7% for the year … Read more