Overbought Conditions Remain Elusive As Market Wavers Ahead of the Fed – Above the 40 (July 19, 2019)

AT40 = 58.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = ~52.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 14.5Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary A week ago, the S&P 500 (SPY) made a new all-time, and I was expecting a trip into overbought conditions. AT40 … Read more

Rate Cut Cheer Not Yet Enough to Push Stock Market To Overbought – Above the 40 (July 12, 2019)

After a bullish run-up, AT40 (T2108) struggled all week to break through the overbought threshold.

AT40 = 68.2% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 54.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (essentially matches the 2019 high and is a new 10-month high)VIX = 12.4Short-term Trading Call: neutral (caveats below) Stock Market Commentary After the report on June jobs, financial markets got … Read more

Stock Market Trades Near Overbought As the Good Equals Bad Formula Blurs – Above the 40 (July 5, 2019)

Overbought conditions loom as earnings season approaches, and the stock market eagerly anticipates rate cuts.

AT40 = 68.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 55.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (essentially matches the 2019 high and is a new 10-month high)VIX = 13.3Short-term Trading Call: neutral (caveats below) Stock Market Commentary Good news is bad news….oops, nevermind The search for … Read more

Bullard Busts the Myth of A Big Rate Cut for July

In recent days, market pundits have excitedly talked about the prospects of the Federal Reserve getting so dovish that it would be willing to make a bold statement with a rate cut of 50 basis points for the July 31st announcement on monetary policy. Such a move would be quite dramatic given the Fed has … Read more

From Loitering to Breakout: Stocks Look for Bad News Worthy of Rate Cuts – Above the 40 (June 21, 2019)

AT40 = 53.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 50.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 15.4Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary The stock market is officially in bizarro world. The stock market is breathlessly rallying in anticipation of rate cuts that will come … Read more

Rate Cut Promises Rescued A Stock Market Near Oversold – Above the 40 (June 7, 2019)

AT40 = 38.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 44.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 18.9Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Stock Market Commentary From opening at the edge of oversold trading conditions to closing on near panic buying, last week was a wild week! … Read more

Recession Risks Revealed in the “Disindependence” of the Federal Reserve

Major central banks typically cut interest rates in response to economic stresses; they ease when the data force them to do so. Some important exceptions in recent history happened 1) in 2016 when Mark Carney’s Bank of England cut rates as a cushion against the potential downsides of the pro-Brexit vote, and 2) when the … Read more

How to Understand the Inverted Yield Curve and Its Relationship to Recessions

The Federal Reserve’s program of monetary tightening has been fighting the bond market since the process began about 3 years ago. Over that period, the Fed has painstakingly tried to hike rates in a way that would avoid roiling markets. Unfortunately for the Fed, long-term rates on U.S. Treasuries failed to cooperate and barely budged … Read more

Above the 40 (March 22, 2019) – Tension Headache: Dovish Fed Fails to Keep Market Complacent to Risks

AT40 = 45.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (2+ month low)AT200 = 38.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 16.5 (20.9% gain)Short-term Trading Call: bearish Stock Market Commentary Friday’s trading action provided delayed confirmation of my short-term bearish trading call. The week previous to the last, … Read more

The Federal Reserve Gives Gold A Good Heave Upward

“The federal funds rate is now in the broad range of estimates of neutral–the rate that tends neither to stimulate nor to restrain the economy. As I noted, my colleagues and I think that this setting is well-suited to the current outlook, and believe that we should be patient in assessing the need for any … Read more