ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Management for LGI Homes (LGIH) set aside an hour for its Q1 2018 earnings conference call. They only needed 37 minutes, including 23 minutes spent on Q&A. Perhaps they should have used the entire hour. Source: FreeStockCharts.com As the chart above shows, LGIH has had a wild two days following its earnings report. The first … Read more
AT40 = 53.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 45.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 14.8 Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bearish Commentary I was right to be bearish last week…until the very last day when all at once the market reversed almost all … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in February, 2018 for January, 2018. At the time, I connected the dots on the bearish implications of converging technicals and fundamentals. The iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) broke down below its 200-day moving average (DMA) in a very bearish move. Yet, the very next day, … Read more
For the second time in a row, KB Home (KBH) is struggling to benefit from a strong earnings report. In January, investors rushed into the stock post-earnings only to create a massive blow-off top. In March, sellers started fading the stock on the same day of the initial post-earnings pop. Last week, KBH broke down … Read more
AT40 = 45.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 44.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 17.4 Short-term Trading Call: neutral Commentary The S&P 500 (SPY) gained 2.0% for the week. Yet the week felt like a loser given the way it ended. The … Read more
The ink just dried on my last Housing Market Review. In that piece I lamented the on-going lagging performance of home builders and stagnating housing housing data, and thus concluded that it was time to call an end to the seasonal trade on home builders. Just two days later, home builders surged upward in sympathy … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in February, 2018 for January, 2018. At the time, I connected the dots on the bearish implications of converging technicals and fundamentals. The iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) actually managed to hold onto support at its 200-day moving average…until today. So not only is the seasonal … Read more
I had high hopes for Meritage Homes (MTH) before and after the company reported earnings last month. Home builders were leading the market into a big sell-off, and I expected MTH to set the record straight on the health of the housing market. The headline earnings were solid but not quite inspiring enough. The stock … Read more
The seasonal trade on home builders for 2017/2018 showed its first sign of trouble when the iShares US Home Construction (ITB) fell sharply off its 10+ year high in January on the same day the S&P 500 (SPY) set a new (and its last) all-time high. Almost two weeks later, in early February, the under-performance … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in January, 2018 for December, 2017. At the time, I described the ominous breakdown of the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB), but I was not yet ready to connect the dots on the bearish implications. I am now. ITB has continued its breakdown by first severely … Read more