ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Redfin (RDFN) may have provided one of the first validations of the (presumed) investor fears that have weighed down the stocks of home builders since the February sell-off. In its last earnings report on August 9, 2018, RDFN provided this brief, yet significant, warning: “We expect U.S. home sales growth to slow and even perhaps … Read more
The fundamentals have changed little. Sentiment is making a dramatic shift. The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in April, 2018 for March, 2018. At the time, I lamented a dissonance of decelerating housing data and diverging home builder stocks. Over a month later, the deceleration is a little less pronounced while the divergence … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in February, 2018 for January, 2018. At the time, I connected the dots on the bearish implications of converging technicals and fundamentals. The iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) broke down below its 200-day moving average (DMA) in a very bearish move. Yet, the very next day, … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in December, 2017 for November, 2017. At the time, the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) was still recovering from a small dip caused by an earnings report from Toll Brothers (TOL) that disappointed the market. Housing data were strong and pointed to on-going bullishness. January launched … Read more
KB Home (KBH) reported earnings last week on January 10, 2018. The reaction the next day was outright startling. The stock gapped up and did not stop rallying until it finished with a 12.3% gain and a new 10 1/2 year high. Source: FreeStockCharts.com I was so taken aback that I checked on the historical … Read more
Perhaps it is the pressure of having member companies whose stock trade on public markets. Perhaps it is a coincidental divide in politics. Whatever the explanation, the split in opinion on the impact of Republican tax reform on the housing market became even more stark this week as The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) … Read more
A month ago, Trulia published an article on the potential for renting out the spare rooms of Baby Boomers to millennials called “Boom-mates: How Empty Nesters Could Help Ease a Housing Shortage.” It was an interesting twist on the concept of multi-generational housing that generated a lot of related headlines. I took interest in the … Read more
{updated to include commentary on The Guggenheim Canadian Energy Income ETF (ENY)} On Monday, June 12, 2017, Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada Carolyn A. Wilkins delivered a speech at the Asper School of Business in Winnipeg, Manitoba that was firmly bullish on the Canadian economy. The market’s reaction was swift and equally … Read more
The housing market is moving in slow motion. The recovery is in place but locked into low gear. Until conditions change materially, it makes sense to place my coverage of the overall housing market into a monthly cadence. The reporting loses a bit of timeliness, but it should gain more cohesiveness with more connected dots. … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 14, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) Employment picture remains lackluster On Friday, Statistics Canada painted another disappointing jobs picture for the country. Instead of the 20,000 additional jobs expected by the “consensus” for June, the Canadian economy … Read more