Another Bullish Breakout for Cocoa

On Friday, The iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) soared 3.0% to a 14-month high. It was a breakout the validated months and months of patience betting that in a market with strong demand, extremely low cocoa prices would create the conditions for higher prices in the future. While NIB has persistently rallied since the … Read more

A New Breakout for Cocoa as Ghana Falls Short

It was a welcome turn of fortune for iPath® Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB). In a week where global stock markets took a sharp tumble, NIB followed through on an important technical breakout. The week started ominously when NIB sold off and dove back below its 50 and 200-day moving averages (DMAs). After that setback, … Read more

Trading Cocoa: A Fresh Price Collapse Amid Conflicting Narratives

Almost a month ago, I celebrated a major breakout for iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) by declaring a confirmed bottom. That bottom still holds but unfortunately NIB has persistently declined since then. NIB is down 15.2% from the time of that post. Source: FreeStockCharts.com At the time of my last post, the International Cocoa … Read more

Trading Cocoa: The September Confirmation Of A Bottom

Congratulations to any of you who stuck by the iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) and accumulated over the course of 2017 as cocoa prices slowly but surely carved out a bottom. Looking back, it seems September was a key turning point in the flavor of the trading. Source: FreeStockCharts.com The chart above shows how … Read more

Cocoa Breaks Out On European Strength

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on October 12, 2017. Click here to read the entire piece.) Looks like my rotational trade on iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) is coming to an end. {snip} Source: FreeStockCharts.com {snip} The headline driver for this strong move was the European … Read more

Trading Cocoa: Buffeted by Weather But Staying the Course

Trading for the iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) could have started quite negatively this week. Yesterday, On May 29th, Bloomberg reported from unnamed sources that Ghana’s main crop for the cocoa growing season would produce its highest tonnage in three years: “Graded and sealed deliveries from the so-called main crop, the larger of two … Read more

Trading Cocoa: A Roller Coaster of Weather and Forecasts of Surplus

The downtrend for the iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) won out yet again. Source: FreeStockCharts.com The buyers looked particularly convincing for NIB’s latest 50DMA breakout. Yet, a 1-2 punch of a return of good weather results in Ivory Coast and a particularly aggressive crop production forecast from Rabobank killed the latest rally for NIB. … Read more

Trading Cocoa: Poor Weather and Cartel Plans Drive Bids for Another Bottom

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on May 10, 2017. Click here to read the entire piece.) When I first identified a potential bottom for the iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB), I did not envision the volatile process that has since unfolded. I particularly did not anticipate … Read more