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

AUD/JPY: A Key Tell for the Week’s Post-War Bottom

The 15-minute chart of the Australian dollar versus the Japanese yen (AUD/JPY) shows the abruptness of the risk-off sentiment.

Last week’s geo-political drama had all the makings of an escalation to all-out war. A country incensed about the assassination of its top general lobbed missiles at airbases its enemy occupies in a neighboring country. Everyone braced for the typical response of attacking the sites that lobbed the missiles. With its borders breached by the … Read more

A Concerning Set of Signals: Gold, Silver, Bonds, and Currencies

The Australian dollar vs Japanese yen (AUD/JPY) enjoyed just a brief 50DMA breakout and now looks poised to retest recent lows.

The economic data continue to worsen in Europe. While it is difficult to find signs of concern in U.S. markets, wariness is etched in a few key corners of financial markets. Precious Signals Notably, the precious metals gold and silver look ready for a fresh upward push. Gold and silver can perform well in times … Read more

Stock Market Indices Break South On Expanded Border Tensions – Above the 40 (May 31, 2019)

AT40 = 23.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (hit a low of 20.7%)AT200 = 36.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (2 1/2 month low)VIX = 18.7Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary So much for the potential for follow-through on bullish divergence! Perhaps the failure is … Read more

Forex Critical: The Organized Chaos of the British Pound

Chaos After the divided politicians of the United Kingdom managed to postpone Brexit to October 31, 2019 from March 29, 2019, I assumed the British pound (FXB) would take a break from wild and sudden gyrations. I was wrong. On Thursday, local elections plunged the Conservative party (the Tories) into a resounding defeat that most … Read more

Why the Australian Dollar and Japanese Yen Matter for Stock Traders

The Australian dollar (FXA) tends to be correlated with the S&P 500 (SPY). The Japanese yen (FXY) tends to be inversely correlated with the S&P 500 (SPY). The exceptions to these relationships are notable because the inevitable return to these relationships usually present unique trading opportunities. The drivers of these relationships are related to trader … Read more

Forex Critical: Speculators Watch the Japanese Yen Fall to A New Edge

A month ago, I described the Japanese yen (FXY) as a currency on edge given a sharp and abrupt response to a feared tightening cycle from the Bank of Japan (BoJ). So far, no tightening cycle has launched, but the yen has steadily strengthened over the last month. For example, USD/JPY broke down below support … Read more

Above the 40 (February 5, 2018) – An Oversold Stock Market Weighed Down By Historic Volatility

AT40 = 19.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) – first oversold day after 19 percentage point plunge AT200 = 45.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 37.3 (115.6% increase! The largest since at least 1990) Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish – oh so many caveats … Read more

Forex Critical: The Japanese Yen On Edge

I wrote little about the Japanese yen (FXY) over the past year or more. It’s time to pay closer attention. As every forex trader knows by now, on Tuesday, January 9th the Bank of Japan (BoJ) slowed down its purchase of bonds with more than 10 years maturity. The yields of these bonds ticked up … Read more

Forex Critical – Key Trends Continuing for the Aussie, Loonie, and Yen

The latest CFTC data on the Commitments of Traders (CoT) showed some key trends continuing: new heights of bullishness on the Australian dollar (FXA) and the Canadian dollar (FXC), and on-going depths of bearishness for the Japanese yen (FXY). Speculators increased net longs on the Australian dollar for the 8th week in a row. Speculators … Read more