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

The Trump Volatility Trade: Nordstrom, Intel, Cognizant Technology, and Biotech

President Trump will address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, February 28th. Traders will no doubt have notepads ready to jot down the latest corporate targets of Trump’s wrath and praise. Trump’s words and tweets move markets, yet recent impacts have not lasted and have even worked in reverse of expectations. It is … Read more

A Fresh Gold Versus Bonds Pairs Trade With the Dollar Playing Wildcard

It is hard to believe that just six weeks ago I proposed a pairs trade of gold versus bonds with the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) toying with resistance at its 50-day moving average (DMA) and the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) doing the same. Now, GLD has already hit the next line of resistance … Read more

Canadian Dollar Selling Reawakens After the Bank of Canada Responds to Trump Policies

“Uncertainty about the global outlook is undiminished, particularly with respect to policies in the United States.” – Bank of Canada press release, “Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate target at 1/2 per cent”, January 18, 2017 I start with this quote from the Bank of Canada because it stands in stark contrast to global financial … Read more

Important Lessons from the Trump-Inspired Breakdown For Gold

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 27, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) has increased 6.3% since December 15, 2015. The U.S. Federal Reserve hiked its interest rate the next day and made its second hike for this cycle … Read more

Why American Manufacturing Jobs Will Prove VERY Hard to Win Back

President-elect Donald Trump made a strong promise to bring back jobs to the U.S. from overseas. Manufacturing employment was a particular showcase in this campaign pledge. There are a lot of reasons to believe that a to return jobs to the U.S. will be extremely hard to accomplish. I am particularly struck by the data … Read more

The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (IBB) Overcomes Its First Bash

The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (IBB) suffered three important “bashes” starting in September, 2015 when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised to end price gouging by drug makers. Since then, a similar promise in August created a fresh top in IBB and a bash by Senator Bernie Sanders created a breakdown below 200-day moving average (DMA) … Read more