ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
One of the many interesting features of the stock market since it broke down on March 10th is that the news has often been a distraction to underlying developments in the market. Following the charts has been relatively more effective than following the news in creating a (short-term) trading strategy. T2108, the percentage of stocks … Read more
A week ago I used F5 Networks (FFIV) as a model to suggest that Finisar (FNSR) and JDS Uniphase (JDSU) showed some promise to bounce from critical support levels. I drew out the specific price points at which buys made sense and included some stops. The promise quickly led to a letdown as both FNSR … Read more
NOW things get even more interesting for the U.S. dollar. In dramatic fashion, a tremendous surge in buying in the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen shortly after the close of the U.S. market on Wednesday set the dollar hurtling through its long-term support line. This break was long in the making and something I … Read more
The Federal Reserve meets and decides monetary policy on Tuesday right in the middle of the most tumultuous time for global financial markets perhaps since the March, 2009 lows. As the Bank of Japan (BoJ) is furiously printing money to buttress its financial system and promote calm, I fully expect the Fed to issue a … Read more
The primary upward trend in the S&P 500 finally ended, and the advantage in trading finally goes to the sellers for the first time since August, 2010. For me, technically, the upward trend ended with the flattening of the 20DMA. I noted this important change yesterday. The confirmation of the end came today with the … Read more
On Friday, CNBC reported that on that day options players placed large bets bullish on the dollar: “The options market is gearing up for a bull run in the dollar after February’s non-farm payrolls showed improvement in the U.S. jobs picture. Options traders saw sizeable downside put buying in the EUR/USD…Before Friday’s payrolls data, the … Read more
The risk of holding TBT, the Pro Shares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury, rose significantly last week. The sudden surge in oil prices in response to the rebellion in Libya has put the double-dip recession back into play and once again lodged it into the frontal lobes of market players. Recession fears bring fresh affinity for … Read more
For one day at least, sellers converged with stock market technicals to deliver a large one-day drop in the S&P 500. As it turned out, the three-month highs in T2108, the percentage of stocks trading above their 40-day moving averages (DMAs), did matter after all. T2108 plunged along with the stock market for its worst … Read more
While the general stock market just keeps crawling steadily upward, individual stocks continue to produce some very interesting, and very tradable charts. For example, over the past several months, I have been able to identify many valuable breakouts as well as some breakdowns. The three charts in this post are not directly related, but I … Read more