Retailers Continue Positioning for a Strong Recovery in 2018

The reports on U.S. holiday shopping are coming fast and furious. The early tally looks quite bullish, and retail stocks responded. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) jumped 1.1% today to a new high for the year. Surprisingly, trading volume of 3.7M shares remained well below the 90-day moving average of 5.0M. Source: FreeStockCharts.com Reuters … Read more

Bitcoin Frenzy: A Panicked Bottom Interrupts An Orderly Decline from All-Time Highs

Buy the crash. Sell the all-time high. Rinse. Repeat. This has been a time-honored trading strategy for Bitcoin that, in hindsight, has offered a very low-risk way of profiting form the manic rise of Bitcoin. Today, the famed cryptocurrency was down as much as 30% before bouncing back with a furious rally. The trading strategy … Read more

Above the 40 (December 15, 2017) – The Pause That Refreshed the Stock Market

AT40 = 59.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 59.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 9.4 Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Commentary The market fatigue I pointed out last week lasted just one more day. In the spirit of this relentless bull market, … Read more

Silver and Gold In Retreat

Maybe it is fear of the Fed, maybe it is the distraction of cryptocurrencies reaching for infinity. Whatever the issue, speculators in precious metals are in rapid retreat as net long contracts dropped to levels not seen in 4 to 5 months. Source: Oanda’s CFTC’s Commitments of Traders This decline represents the climax of October’s … Read more

Forex Critical: A Speculative Breakout for the Euro

Speculators have not been this bullish on the euro since at least 2008. Source: Oanda’s CFTC’s Commitments of Traders These charts reveal a distinct sentiment shift on the euro this year. Since 2008, speculators spent the majority of the time as firm euro bears. The new high in net long positioning going into 2018 signals … Read more