The Bank of Japan’s Other Currency Battle: The Technicals

The Bank of Japan’s Other Currency Battle - The Technicals (Credit: Bank of Japan)

When I wrote about the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) currency trap, the presumed intervention looked ineffective on balance. However, it appears the Bank of Japan has a multi-phased plan. Last week’s presumed intervention generated a fresh phase of weakness for USD/JPY (strength for the Japanese yen and Invesco CurrencyShares® Japanese Yen Trust ETF (FXY)). That … Read more

The Bank of Japan Finds Itself In A Currency Trap

currency trap (Credit: HelveticaFanatic at https://www.flickr.com/photos/27469320@N04/2657871668)

The year 2024 may be seen as the time the Bank of Japan’s “free lunch” came to an end. For decades, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) ran a zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) that even descended into negative rates in 2016. The BoJ eased and eased monetary policy (aka printed and printed) to buy Japanese … Read more

Overbought Trading Ends with Japan’s Monetary Drama Carving Topping Patterns In Stocks – The Market Breadth

topping pattern (Credit: Don't fall off the cliff by blmurch on Flickr)

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

A Stock Market Oversold and Uninteresting – The Market Breadth

uninterested (credit - sara eudy on Flickr)

Stock Market Commentary: Sellers followed through with yesterday’s post-Fed selling. With losses across the board, market breadth dropped into oversold trading conditions. Yet, as I explained could be the case, the stock market looks uninteresting. Because the major indices are fresh off important breakdowns, substantial downside risk remains. Because the volatility index actually closed down … Read more

Central Bank Unease: Fed Caps Week of Emergency Actions As Markets Panic

In an earlier post on Sunday, I provided reasons to believe that the market was finally drawing a line in the sand for a sustainable bottom. With anticipation, I pronounced I would go on a shopping spreed down to S&P 500 (SPY) 2600. At the time of writing, it looks like I may have to … Read more