ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Stock Market Commentary Financial markets are supposed to act like discounting mechanisms which use the wisdom of the crowd to anticipate important events. The stock market stalled and then broke down ahead of the election. Excluding a last minute rush to buy on election day, I assumed the stock market might have a muted reaction … Read more
Stock Market Commentary A strong September jobs report woke up the stock market from lethargic trading. The numbers handily beat expectations and reset expectations for future rate cuts and economic growth. Surprisingly, the good news was not bad news; the market has typically been antsy about getting lower interest rates. Instead of fearing a longer … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The U.S. stock market hardly reflected last week’s action-packed news. China scrambled to address a weakening economy with a massive stimulus program with news rolling nearly all week. In Japan, voters elected a Prime Minister who favors a stronger currency in the Japanese yen (FXY). Capping the anti-climactic feeling in U.S. stocks, … Read more
Stock Market Commentary In announcing the official end of monetary tightening, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell mentioned some form of the word “recalibration” nine times from his introductory statement to the Q&A portion of the press conference. Specifically, “….it’s a process of recalibrating our policy stance away from where we had it a year ago, … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The stock market poetically swung from the depths of despair with a seasonal September drawdown to a sharp rebound in giddy anticipation of rate cuts from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. The highly anticipated meeting has the potential to set the market’s tone for the remainder of the year. If Chair Jerome … Read more
In this “special edition” post, I recorded my thoughts on the stock market in an 8-miunte video. The main headline is that an abrupt improvement in the technicals from a major upside reversal forced me to run from my short-term bearish trading call and settle into neutral. As has been the case all year, the … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The S&P 500 is down 4.1% month-to-date. This loss makes this month a below average September for a maximum drawdown and fulfills September’s reputation as one of the index’s three most dangerous months of the year. As I noted last week, August’s extreme drawdown significantly increased the risk of September being worse … Read more
Stock Market Commentary Welcome to the start of the stock market’s three most dangerous months of the year. A weak jobs report for July helped to send market sentiment into a sharp reversal. The bad economic news suddenly turned the prospect of rate cuts into something to fear. These rate cut fears spun the market … Read more
Stock Market Commentary Technical underpinnings are changing fast in the stock market. The first strike against the rally came in the form of initial struggles to break into overbought territory. A second strike has now emerged in the form of an appreciating Japanese yen (FXY). To the extent carry trades – borrowing cheap yen to … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The Federal Reserve’s latest pronouncement on monetary policy was supposed to provide the drama of the week. However, the stock market yawned and resumed the buying of the summer of love at the open of trading the next day. Enter the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to provide the real drama. The fireworks … Read more