Forgo the United States Oil ETF In Favor Of the United States Gasoline ETF?

I recently read an article that attempted to dive into the nuances of trading the United States Oil ETF (USO) versus the United States Gasoline ETF (UGA). I suddenly realized that through all the nuanced comparisons the forest was being lost for the trees. Since at least 2009, UGA has greatly outperformed USO. In fact, … Read more

The Commodities Crash Accelerates: Scenarios for Trading Oil

Several authors have pointed out the difficulties in fashioning trades to take advantage of the movement in oil prices (for a recent example, see “Is Gasoline The Smart Oil Play? UGA Vs. USO“). Analyses counting off the bullish and bearish arguments on oil can fill many tomes. For example, there is fear of a drop … Read more

The Bank of Canada Confirmed A Bearish Turn for the Canadian Dollar

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 24, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} In the middle of this fresh decline, the Bank of Canada delivered its July Monetary Policy Report with another rate cut included. The reaction in the currency market was just … Read more

A Weak GDP Report Sends the Canadian Dollar Above the 1.24 Pivot

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 8, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Statistics Canada released its monthly GDP report for April as time counted down on Greece’s June 30th debt deadline. While the news from the report could not steal headlines, it was … Read more

Trading the Recent Divergence of the Canadian Dollar and Oil Prices

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 8, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Over the past month the Canadian dollar (FXC) has significantly diverged from oil prices. Source: The St. Louis Federal Reserve This divergence is not a surprise given the weak correlations between … Read more

Canadian Dollar Continues Its Strength In the Wake of Jobs Report

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on May 12, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Canadian jobs report is often overlooked thanks to the bigger headlines on the U.S. jobs report that precedes it. The Canadian dollar (FXC) strengthened marginally in response to the combination … Read more

Strong Economic News Bolsters the Case for the Canadian Dollar

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 20, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) In my last post on the Canadian dollar (FXC), I claimed that it was time to start buying Canada while at the same time cautioning about an over-extension in the currency … Read more

Canada February Employment Produces Worst of Two Worlds

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 15, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) The retrenchment for employment in Canada’s mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction is well underway. Presumably, oil and gas are the primary drivers of the decline. The latest employment report … Read more

The Fed Aligns With Other Central Banks On Explaining Oil’s Decline and Its Economic Impact

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on Feb 25, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) As every other major central bank has done, the Federal Reserve has taken a crack at estimating the economic impact of the collapse in oil prices. In its semi-annual report to … Read more

A Deep Dive On the Bank of Canada’s Oil-Driven Rate Cut and Its Implications

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on Jan 22, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) My re-evaluation of my newfound bullishness on the Canadian dollar came just in time for a surprise rate cut from the Bank of Canada (BoC). The CurrencyShares Canadian Dollar ETF (FXC) … Read more