ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Since the year 2000, delivering a different narrative for students and fans of financial markets: stocks, options, currencies, Bitcoin, and more…
Two recent studies from the Federal Reserve say a lot about its core concerns for inflation. These studies were released back-to-back just one week following Fed Chair Jerome Powell confirming the new religion at the Fed for (aggressively) fighting inflation. Researchers at the St. Louis Federal Reserve identified housing services (aka rents) as a core … Read more
Stock Market Commentary: How many times and how many ways does the Fed need to communicate its seriousness about normalizing monetary policy and fighting inflation? Apparently, the answer for Fed-speak is many times and a LOT of ways. Fed Governor Lael Brainard delivered one way with a speech on Tuesday titled “Variation in the Inflation … Read more
During the Financial Crisis of 2008-2009, a friend and I were convinced that the Federal Reserve’s extraordinary monetary measures would eventually create outsized inflationary pressures. We came up with a blog called “Inflation Watch” as a way to educate each other on price dynamics and to alert anyone else interested. The subsequent economic expansion came … Read more
Stock Market Commentary: Throw out all the gradual scenarios for a potential climax. The stock market carved out a quick crest that puts the current rally at risk. Out-performance from small-cap stocks and late saves for the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ barely averted a technical setup for a bearish reversal. The stock market goes … Read more
Stock Market Commentary: Forget recession fears. Forget an aggressively hawkish Fed. Forget the stock chart holdouts. Bullish belief delivered another powerful confirmation of what has become an exceptionally strong bounce from March’s nervous test of the last oversold point. The rally launched from the March lows and barely rested or paused. The rally has been … Read more
Based on its last earnings report, used car company Shift Technologies, Inc (SFT) reads fine as a company. However, the stock is as ugly as can be. The only company-specific catalyst I could find to assign blame was the expiration of a lock-up on insider shares earned from warrants. There is little reason to expect … Read more
“…certainly with valuations where they are, I’m sure we’re going to go through a doozy of a correction this year. At some point. I don’t know when. And I don’t know why. But I do know, it never hurts to take profits and to keep some powder dry so that you have the psychological wherewithal … Read more
Housing Market Intro and Summary The housing data for April and now May confirm that the housing market had a kind of false start to the Spring selling season. Normalization continues to pressure short-term trends. Housing starts, new home sales, existing home sales, and home builder sentiment are in key downtrends. These measures are now … Read more
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell served up the alley-oop and James Bullard delivered the slam dunk. While the latest statement on monetary policy had nothing to say about a hawkish turn at the Fed, Powell served up notice during the press conference. Powell noted growth and inflation prospects that exceeded prior expectations, which in turn … Read more
Three months ago, I worried that the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) was moving too late to hike interest rates. The Turkish lira (USD/TRY) is now finally working its way lower from those levels as the Turkish lira fever breaks. The path to today’s near 4-month low was fraught with wild volatility, … Read more