Forex Critical: Speculators Flip the Script on the Canadian Dollar

Just three weeks ago, speculators sent their bullishness on the Canadian dollar to a 4-year high. I followed along with the speculators and accumulated a short USD/CAD position. Two weeks passed before the payoff. It arrived in the form of an anti-dollar reaction to a rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve. Source: FreeStockCharts.com With … Read more

Housing Market Review – Spring Looks Ready to Bloom But Will It Bear Fruit? (March, 2017)

The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in February, 2017 for January, 2017. At that time, the iShares US Home Construction (ITB) was pressing against a near 10-year high. Uptrends in the 20, 50, and 200-day moving average suggested that “the coiled spring” was uncurling up and to the right. In March, ITB launched … Read more

Oil-Related Plays Reverse Post-Election Gains

The big story coming out of the November presidential elections was the flurry of “Trump Trades” that soared on an incremental surge of optimism and expectations. Now the growing story includes the sprouting list of trades that have completely reversed post-election gains. The recent rapid decline in oil prices on the heels of surging U.S. … Read more

Silver Speculators Stand Firm Despite Poor Price Action

Last week I registered my surprise at silver speculators rushing to increase net long contracts to near multi-year highs. This move happened ahead of what was expected to be a parade of Fed-speak clearing the path for a March rate hike. The surge stood out even more given gold’s surge did not bring net long … Read more

Above the 40 (March 10, 2017) – A Stock Market Redressing Itself for A Meeting with the Fed

AT40 = 42.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 59.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 11.7 (volatility index) Short-term Trading Call: neutral Commentary The February U.S. jobs report catalyzed the next swing in the stock market’s bear-bull knife fight. I noted in my … Read more