A Second Chance for the Path of Least Resistance – The Market Breadth

second chance (Credit: Escape from the light by Stig Nygaard from Flickr)

Stock Market Commentary: Revisions to the report on GDP (gross domestic product) typically do not generate reactions in the financial markets, especially the third revision. So I completely look past the third revision to Q3 GDP when I concluded the path of least resistance offered a reprieve. The revision revealed economic conditions were even better … Read more

A Key Breakout Cracked the Back of the Bear Cycle – The Market Breadth

Stock Market Commentary I turned bearish on the stock market over two weeks ago. Last week began with confirmation as sellers followed through on a fade from a brief rally. Mid-week, the downward momentum came to a screeching halt as buyers took over most of the trading action. I pointed out the key signs suggesting … Read more

Cocoa: A Bear Market in Prices Brings Fresh Opportunity

Cocoa prices have plunged along with the pandemic-driven crash in global financial markets. The iPath Bloomberg Cocoa Subindex Total Return ETN (NIB) reached a closing peak on February 13th just ahead of the global pandemic crisis. Since then, NIB is down 23.8%, a bear market in cocoa. Per my buy-the-dip strategy in NIB, this is … Read more

Cocoa: The End of a Breakout Starts A Buying Opportunity

The iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) has sold off for 6 of the last 7 trading days on extremely high volume. Friday's 1.2% loss took NIB to its 200DMA support.

A Breakout and Reversal The price of cocoa has had a wild two months. Last month’s breakout quickly turned into a fade and an outright sell-off in December. The result for the iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) is a complete reversal of the breakout, a return to the bottom of the previous consolidation range, … Read more

Cocoa’s Price Surge Confirmed By Historic Supply Coordination

Two years ago, I wrote about the announcement from the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) indicating that cocoa-growing countries would coordinate production of cocoa to better support their economies. That news was soon followed by a recommendation from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to cocoa producers to find ways to control the supply of cocoa. At … Read more

Cocoa: Ivory Coast Supply News Sets Up Buying Opportunity

Time for me to buy iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) again. NIB gapped down to start the week at least partially on the news of a surplus from the Ivory Coast. From Reuters: Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 1.547 million tonnes between Oct. 1 and March 3, exporters estimated … Read more

Cocoa Records Strong 2018 Gains… Almost By An Accident of the Calendar

Almost three years ago, I seized on an opportunity to buy iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) after it sold off steeply from a strong 2015. In that year, cocoa ripped ahead of the rest of the commodity space which declined 19% in 2015 while cocoa rallied 10%. In 2018, cocoa was another strong performer. CNBC … Read more

A New Breakout for Cocoa as Ghana Falls Short

It was a welcome turn of fortune for iPath® Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB). In a week where global stock markets took a sharp tumble, NIB followed through on an important technical breakout. The week started ominously when NIB sold off and dove back below its 50 and 200-day moving averages (DMAs). After that setback, … Read more

Cocoa, A King Among Commodities, Finally Gives Way to A Ripe Buying Opportunity

I last wrote about cocoa in July, 2015 in a piece called “Even Cocoa Starts to Waver In the Face of the Collapse In Commodities.” I wrote that iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) had met my price target for selling, and I awaited my next entry point. I passed up two subsequent dips, but … Read more

Even Cocoa Starts to Waver In the Face of the Collapse In Commodities

A month ago, I wrote about the resilience of cocoa prices in the face of an avalanche of weaker agricultural prices. Given my opportunistic strategy for trading cocoa through the iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB), I laid out a price target for locking in profits on the latest trade. I have since sold my … Read more