The U.S. Dollar Remains Well-Supported Despite A Month of Wild Swings

When the stock market sell-off began in earnest in late February, the U.S. dollar index (DXY) surprisingly plunged along with the major indices. I accepted the narrative explaining that the dollar’s decline came from the euro’s gain as “risk-off” traders rushed to close out euro shorts in carry trades. The swiftness of the risk-off move … Read more

The Quick (and Hopeful) Case for A New Bitcoin Bottom

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) has liquidated alongside financial markets...until this past week.

My first warning on Bitcoin (BTCUSD) came when Bitcoin failed to push through overhead resistance from October’s brief and failed run-up (see the horizontal line above) despite the bullish case being made at the time about the breakout. The most convincing warning came when the cryptocurrency sold off with the stock market in late February. … Read more

An Oversold Stock Market Full of Extremes Makes Fresh Bid On A Bottom – Above the 40 (March 13, 2019)

AT40 = 3.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (13th oversold day)AT200 = 6.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 57.8 (down 23.4%)Short-term Trading Call: bullish Stock Market Commentary The stock market experienced another historic day as the bear market takes on more twists and turns. The … Read more

Historic Oversold Conditions Stretch Into A Bear Market – Above the 40 (March 12, 2020)

AT40 = 1.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (12th oversold day)AT200 = 4.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 75.5 (just short of financial crisis all-time high of 90)Short-term Trading Call: bullish Stock Market Commentary When I said a persistently elevated volatility index (VIX) warned us … Read more

An Ugly Weekly Gain for An Extremely Oversold Stock Market – Above the 40 (March 6, 2020)

AT40 = 9.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (8th oversold day)AT200 = 23.2% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 41.9Short-term Trading Call: bullish Stock Market Commentary The Shake and Bake bottom barely held as support last week. It was a week of dramatic ups and downs … Read more

Being Oversold Is Reason Enough for Buying the Stock Market – Above the 40 (March 4, 2020)

AT40 = 17.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (6th oversold day)AT200 = 32.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 32.0Short-term Trading Call: bullish Stock Market Commentary Was it a delayed response to the emergency rate cut from the Federal Reserve? Was it the big comeback by … Read more

Shake and Bake Does A Bottom Make – Above the 40 (February 28, 2020)

AT40 = 7.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (oversold day #3, dropped as low as 5.1%)AT200 = 21.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (13-month low, dropped as low as 17.8%)VIX = 40.1 (was as high as 49.5%)Short-term Trading Call: bullish Stock Market Commentary Oversold I had … Read more

Stock Market Lessons from Cramer In Turmoil

As I scrambled to write my update on a “suddenly oversold” market stock market, I listened to Jim Cramer’s Mad Money. Cramer is naturally entertaining, and I particularly like hearing his take at key market moments like these. On Tuesday, February 25th, Cramer was firmly in the bearish camp on his Mad Money show. He … Read more

Bitcoin: A Trading Note for Breakouts, 10K and the Halving

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) broke out from a downtrend in late January but hit a wall at upper resistance last week.

The Price Action Bitcoin (BTC/USD) is on more media radars after breaking out above $10,000 last week. Last month, Bitcoin broke out from a downtrend in place since the last big run-up peaked in June, 2019. The $10K breakout ran into a wall from resistance formed by the high when Bitcoin suddenly spiked straight up … Read more

Overbought Conditions a Next Step to Ease Topping Tension for Stocks – Above the 40 (December 27, 2019)

AT40 = 65.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 59.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (just under the high for 2019 of 60.2%)VIX = 13.4Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary A week after my last Above the 40 post, the volatility index (VIX) is my … Read more