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: Extreme trading behavior finally appeared right after I insisted the stock market looked uninteresting despite dropping into oversold conditions. Oversold conditions did a stretch toward the year’s lows and created enough concern to finally send the volatility index soaring. Looming over the trading action all day was a collapse in the British … Read more
Stock Market Commentary: Sellers followed through with yesterday’s post-Fed selling. With losses across the board, market breadth dropped into oversold trading conditions. Yet, as I explained could be the case, the stock market looks uninteresting. Because the major indices are fresh off important breakdowns, substantial downside risk remains. Because the volatility index actually closed down … Read more
Stock Market Commentary: Pricing pressures are apparently NOT easing just yet. The August CPI report turned “peak Fed” into “fear the Fed” all over again. Instead of falling, core inflation (CPI excluding food and energy) increased a whopping 0.6% month-over-month. This surge pushed the 12-month core inflation rate up from July’s 5.9% to August’s 6.3%. … Read more
Checking the Google Trends Momentum Check The Google Trends Momentum Check (GTMC) continues to perform well as a signal for a bottom in downward price action for Bitcoin (BTC/USD). Even the brutal crypto winter has delivered two more examples of how this indicator works. As a reminder, the GTMC signals a potential bottom when (worldwide) … Read more
The landscape of inflation and monetary policy continues to change fast. The June inflation numbers disappointed expectations once again for peak inflation. A surprise 1% point rate hike by the Bank of Canada combined with this hot inflation accelerated the timeline for peak interest rates from the Federal Reserve. Instead of a 75 basis point … Read more
At the time of typing, a steep sell-off continues in Bitcoin (BTC/USD) and Ethereum (ETH/USD). Typically, I would jump in and accumulate some more of either or both cryptocurrencies. However, after I took a step back to review the charts, I realized Bitcoin and Ethereum are in precarious positions with support melting away. Both cryptocurrencies … Read more
Bitcoin Boring Bitcoin (BTC/USD) was pretty boring until this past weekend. After neatly failing at resistance from its 200-day moving average (DMA) in late March, BTC/USD settled back into what was starting to look like an extended trading range. However, the pressures of the bear market and a soaring U.S. dollar (DXY) proved too much … Read more
Stock Market Commentary: The last “official” oversold period was 519 trading days ago. After 8 different intraday dips into and out of oversold territory, the stock market finally closed in oversold conditions. The signs of a bear market include the inability to stay out of oversold conditions. Today’s series of breakdowns combined with further deterioration … Read more
Stock Market Commentary: The runway for (short-term) bearishness has greatly shortened. The classic safety trades sprung to life to add exclamation points to the broadening sell-off. After over 6 weeks of near relentless losses, the Japanese yen (FXY) caught a strong bid. Inflation fears returned to the background as traders eased into Treasury bonds (per … Read more
In a blunt and direct discussion, Bank of Canada (BoC) Governor Tiff Macklem made a compelling case for fighting inflation by declaring that “the economy has entered this period of excess demand with considerable momentum and high inflation, and we are committed to getting inflation back to target.” To do so, the BoC hiked its … Read more