Trading Cocoa: A Fresh Price Collapse Amid Conflicting Narratives

Almost a month ago, I celebrated a major breakout for iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) by declaring a confirmed bottom. That bottom still holds but unfortunately NIB has persistently declined since then. NIB is down 15.2% from the time of that post. Source: FreeStockCharts.com At the time of my last post, the International Cocoa … Read more

ShotSpotter CFO Loads Up On Shares Ahead of Investor Conference

When it comes to insider transactions, I only pay attention to the purchases and sales of company executives – the CEO and CFO in particular. According to an SEC filing on December 6, 2017, CFO Alan R. Stewart purchased 3,000 shares at the price of $13.53. This additional $40,590 investment is a notable vote of … Read more

Above the 40 (December 1, 2017) – Another Sharp Panic Paves the Way for Fresh Buying

AT40 = 60.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 59.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 11.4 Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Commentary I call it a mini panic dip. Political news roiled the stock market for a brief moment, a grand 30 minutes … Read more

Housing Market Review (November, 2017) – A Tax-Driven Day of Angst Transforms Into Another Unrelenting Rally

The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in October, 2017 for September, 2017. At the time, I lamented having too small an exposure to home builders while the entire sector rallied nearly non-stop. I was counting on seasonal patterns to deliver at least one buyable dip ahead of the seasonally strong period starting in … Read more

Still Waiting On CORN

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on November 26, 2017. Click here to read the entire piece.) November dashed my expectation for a range-bound Teucrium Corn ETF (CORN). The November World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) threw a curve ball of sorts by further underlining surplus conditions … Read more