Trading Cocoa: Poor Weather and Cartel Plans Drive Bids for Another Bottom

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on May 10, 2017. Click here to read the entire piece.) When I first identified a potential bottom for the iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB), I did not envision the volatile process that has since unfolded. I particularly did not anticipate … Read more

Forex Critical: Speculators Retreat from the Australian Dollar and Pound, Expand on the Euro and Canadian Dollar

The latest CFTC data on the Commitments of Traders (CoT) shows some important moves in the positioning of speculators. Australian dollar (FXA) While the price of iron ore plunged, bullishness on the Australian dollar (FXA) remained surprisingly strong. I am almost equally surprised to see this bullishness now in full scale retreat as iron ore … Read more

The iShares Silver Trust (SLV) Bottoms As Silver Speculators Continue Backing Down

The trade in silver just got even more interesting. For a few weeks, I wondered aloud why speculators were so stubbornly bullish on the precious metal, especially relative to speculators in gold. In my last post on silver, I noted how speculators were finally beating a hasty retreat. In the latest Commitment of Traders (CoT) … Read more

Above the 40 (April 19, 2017) – Stock Market Stasis

AT40 = 47.2% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 60.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 14.9 (volatility index) Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish) Commentary The S&P 500 (SPY) ended last week on a sour note. The index hit its first 42 trading day … Read more

Above the 40 (March 21, 2017) – A (Brief?) Time to Get Bearish On the Stock Market

AT40 = 35.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 58.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 12.5 (volatility index) Short-term Trading Call: bearish Commentary The S&P 500 (SPY) finally flipped the switch on the bearish threshold I have described since the last bullish breakout … Read more