Above the 40 (June 8, 2018) – A Promising Stock Rally Comes Up Short of Important Threshold

AT40 = 69.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 57.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (a 4-month high) VIX = 12.2 Short-term Trading Call: neutral (“almost bullish”) Commentary Friday started out in bearish fashion. Apple (AAPL) took a broadside from yet another one of those … Read more

The Canadian Dollar Rallies As the Bank of Canada Sheds Caution and Resolves to Get Active

I completely missed how the Bank of Canada (BoC) was deftly tempering its rate hike designs with a claim that the Canadian economy still needs more accommodation. For example, in April’s statement on monetary policy, the BoC said the following (emphasis mine): “Some progress has been made on the key issues being watched closely by … Read more

A Rush for Safety Slashes Odds for Fed Rate Hikes and Spikes Volatility

The odds of getting four total rate hikes from the Federal Reserve this year are about as low as ever now. Even the odds for just 3 total rate hikes for 2018 are ominously converging upon 50/50. Source: CME FedWatch The chart above shows a 14.8% chance that rates will get to at least the … Read more

Betting the Swiss Franc’s Italian-Inspired Comeback Is Temporary

In mid-April I wrote expecting EUR/CHF to finally return to the old 1.20 currency floor set by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) years ago. Two days later, EUR/CHF did indeed hit 1.20….for all of a few hot minutes. For almost the past three weeks, EUR/CHF has plunged all over again as political turmoil in Italy … Read more

U.S. Dollar Holds Firm Despite Sharp Pullback in Fed Rate Hike Odds

A little over two weeks ago, I was just starting to concede that the likelihood of four Fed rate hikes in 2018 was trending in favor of the hawks. Last week, the rate on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell back sharply and ended the week below the magic tripwire of 3.0% (starting Thursday). In parallel, … Read more