Above the 40 (March 7, 2018) – A Lagging S&P 500 Stops Short Even As Trade War Tripwire Defuses

AT40 = 39.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 49.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 17.8% Short-term Trading Call: neutral Commentary “Dear President Trump: We are writing to express deep concern about the prospect of broad, global tariffs on aluminum and steel imports. … Read more

Beyond Trump Versus Jay-Z: A Better Lens on African-American Unemployment Data

As a data nerd, I have a large pet peeve about the many ways in which the press and media fail to help its audiences understand the nuances in data and analysis even as I understand the need for journalistic expediency and story-telling. However, that annoyance increases by several orders of magnitude when I see … Read more

Speculators Add to Expectations for Higher Gold and Silver

The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) accomplished a major milestone in the past week: it fully reversed its entire post-election loss in what looks like a major breakout. Source: StockCharts.com Speculators have been rushing back to gold likely in anticipation of these much higher prices. Source: Oanda’s CFTC’s Commitments of Traders Since 2008, here are the … Read more

Above the 40 (June 21, 2017) – The NASDAQ Snatches the Baton From the S&P 500

AT40 = 47.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 54.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 10.8 (volatility index) Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Commentary Like two ships passing in the night, the NASDAQ, including the PowerShares QQQ ETF (QQQ), took back its advantage … Read more

Above the 40 (May 19, 2017) – The Nut Job Stock Market: Nutty By Nature

AT40 = 42.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 54.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 12.0 (volatility index) – a 17.9% decrease Short-term Trading Call: neutral (bullish only after the latest Trump Turmoil reverses OR oversold conditions, potentially bearish upon a retest of … Read more

A U.S. Dollar Check-In: A Grinding Descent

I finally have to release my long-standing bullishness on the U.S. dollar index (DXY0) even as the dollar recently managed to bounce off its critical, uptrending 200-day moving average (DMA). Source: FreeStockCharts.com Looking at this chart, I get the feeling of something that is biding its time for a definitive catalyst that pushes it down … Read more

Speculators In the Mexican Peso Last Did This At Oil’s 2014 Peak

On April 17, 2017, speculators turned bullish on the Mexican peso for the first time in 2 years. That point 2 years ago was a brief 1-week relief from on-going bearishness against the peso. The latest data on net non-commercial positions (speculators) show that the nascent bullishness in the peso carried over into a second … Read more

Above the 40 (April 26, 2017) – A Stretched Stock Market Loses Bid for Overbought Status

AT40 = 68.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 65.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 10.9 (volatility index) Short-term Trading Call: bullish Commentary AT40 (T2108), the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs), pushed into overbought territory today with … Read more

Above the 40 (April 7, 2017) – An Incrementally More Dangerous Stock Market

AT40 = 46.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 62.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 12.9 (volatility index) Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish (notable caveats explained below) Commentary The timetable for a May end to this period of extremely low volatility looks like … Read more

Above the 40 (March 22, 2017) – A Bear Pause Before D.C. Puts Its First Official Stamp On the Trump Rally

AT40 = 35.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 57.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 12.8 (volatility index) Short-term Trading Call: bearish Commentary The sellers did their best to create follow-through selling to the previous day’s bearish breakdown. As has been the case … Read more