ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
The U.S. dollar index touched its 200-day moving average with the kind of precision only a technician can love. *Chart created using TeleChart: I keep waiting for (and betting on) the dollar to get a nice relief bounce against the yen, but the dollar’s near straight-line descent has been the main story. While I wait … Read more
Here we are again: The U.S. dollar index looks ready to test its 200-day moving average (DMA). The near unrelenting selling of the dollar against all the major currencies has left the currency grasping for its believers. A surprisingly strong jobs number on Friday, might, just maybe, provide a catalyst for some kind of relief … Read more
The British pound continues its steady ascent from 14-month lows versus the U.S. dollar. This feat is not as remarkable as it could have been given the dollar’s steady descent against all major currencies since June. However, both fundamental and technical developments continue to favor even higher levels. Three weeks after dropping my bearish bias … Read more
I have often wondered whether Germany’s initial reticence to help the Eurozone solve its debt problems was “engineered”, in part, to devalue the euro from its suffocating highs in 2009. We will likely never know for sure, but the euro’s remarkable slide in 2010 has apparently generated impressive economic results, especially in Germany. There is … Read more
If the summer ends up trading in a range, it will have a wider berth than I had expected. This week the S&P 500 broke both closing and intra-day lows for 2010 and confirmed an unfolding downtrend. The index is down 8 of the last 9 days. The good news is that the S&P 500 … Read more
The British pound has gained a modest 3.5% since early June when I removed my long-standing bearishness on the currency. The momentum in the pound accelerated somewhat after last Wednesday’s release of the Bank of England’s minutes showed Andrew Sentance dissented from the rest of his fellow central bankers by calling for a rate hike. … Read more
By now, I think we should recognize that low-volume rallies simply do not last – the odds tend to favor a return of most, if not all, those kinds of gains, sooner than later. Last week, I was particularly puzzled by a low-volume 2.4% rally on the S&P 500 that came on the heels of … Read more
While the euro catches all the headlines about its tremendous slide against the U.S. dollar, the British pound has followed closely behind. The pound has lost 12% against the U.S. dollar since its January peak while the euro has lost 18% in that same time. The pound has lost 15% since its post-recovery peak in … Read more
Last week, I claimed that the deeply oversold conditions presented a short-term buying opportunity, but that the downward trend in the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) and 200DMAs (T2108 and T2107) pointed to a steadily weakening market in the near future. I expected sellers to step up at the … Read more
Currencies swung wildly and dramatically yesterday. Lost in the breathless descriptions of the continued surge in the US dollar and the sudden strength in the Japanese yen is that the drama really began with renewed strength in the Swiss franc. At around 5am Eastern, the franc suddenly surged against all currencies. In particular, it traded … Read more