Trade War Pairs Trade: Best Buy Vs. Emerging Markets

Best Buy (BBY) dropped 10.8% on news of the expansion of Trump's Trade War with China.

The Extreme: Best Buy Regular readers know that my favorite trades come on the heels of extremes in financial conditions. After President Trump announced a 10% tariff on $300B of Chinese imports, I saw a lot of extremes that made me sit up and take notice. One of the biggest extremes occurred in the shares … Read more

Housing Market Review (July, 2019) – Key Divergences Emerging Under the Surface of the Seasonal Top

The iShares Dow Jones Home Construction ETF (ITB) continues to pivot around its slowly uptrending 50DMA.

Housing Market Intro/Summary In the last Housing Market Review, I pointed out how the stocks of home builders were still making a surprising push against the expected seasonal top in their shares. Yet, I still expected iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) to remain constrained to a pivot around its 50-day moving average (DMA). Soon … Read more

Overbought Conditions Remain Elusive As Market Wavers Ahead of the Fed – Above the 40 (July 19, 2019)

AT40 = 58.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = ~52.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 14.5Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary A week ago, the S&P 500 (SPY) made a new all-time, and I was expecting a trip into overbought conditions. AT40 … Read more

A Widening Breakout for Home Builders

The iShares Dow Jones Home Construction ETF (ITB) gained 1.7% and broke out to a (marginal) 12-month high.

The breakout for home builders started with M.D.C. Holdings (MDC). MDC raised guidance and put strong emphasis on the positive expectations for its next earnings report. With analysts overwhelmingly bearish on the stock, the stock had plenty of upside surprise potential. The pent-up demand created a tremendous upward surge. Additional home builders are joining what … Read more

Forex Critical: Economic Fireworks Push Monetary Policy Further Into Retreat

The euro vs the U.S. dollar (EUR/USD) reversed its 200DMA breakout, but it still has higher highs and higher lows since the April/May double-bottom.

In the background of the growing euphoria in the U.S. over imminent rate cuts from the Federal Reserve is the growing weight of the steady descent of the economy in the eurozone. European Weakness The week started with the stock market’s first opportunity to respond to the declared truce in the trade war between the … Read more