Cocoa Breaks Out On European Strength

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on October 12, 2017. Click here to read the entire piece.) Looks like my rotational trade on iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) is coming to an end. {snip} Source: FreeStockCharts.com {snip} The headline driver for this strong move was the European … Read more

Above the 40 (October 6, 2017) – Stock Market Lift-Off

AT40 = 73.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) – overbought day #7 AT200 = 59.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 9.7 Short-term Trading Call: bullish Commentary This is what a lift-off for an extended overbought rally looks like. The S&P 500 (SPY) followed its … Read more

As the VIX Plunges to All-Time Lows, Speculators Abort Their Seasonal Gold and Silver Rush

A month ago, I wrote about the near seasonal pattern of speculators accumulating net long contracts in gold and silver from July troughs to October peaks. THIS year, the speculators started up on schedule but aborted the mission as net longs peaked well ahead of October. Source: Oanda’s CFTC’s Commitments of Traders So seasonal patterns … Read more

The Danger in DexCom…and the Opportunity

DexCom (DXCM) is a maker of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems. Last week, the stock of the company cratered after Abbott Laboratories (ABT) received FDA approval of its competing FreeStyle Libre flash CGM. It is the first system that allows diabetics to check and monitor glucose levels without sticking themselves. In response to the news, … Read more

Housing Market Review – A Growing Rift Between the Data and the Stocks (September, 2017)

The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in August, 2017 for July, 2017. At the time, I described a change in tone that made me wary and even got me anticipating a larger pullback. The iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) was struggling below its 50-day moving average (DMA) since a 2-month period starting … Read more