T2108 Update (November 28, 2014) – A Potentially Bearish Retreat from Overbought Conditions As Commodities Swim A Sea Of Red

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. It helps to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades are … Read more

Rio Tinto Quickly Gives Up Gains from Morgan Stanley Upgrade

Two weeks ago, I noted Rio Tinto (RIO) as a prime short as a late responder to the on-going collapse in iron ore prices. On Monday (September 22), it broke down. Typically, I close out fortuitous short positions on such swift moves, but I am projecting RIO to go a lot lower over the next … Read more

A Stubbornly Strong Australian Dollar Introduces A Risk Factor into Economic Forecasts

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 26, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) Australia’s Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE) recently released its Resources and Energy quarterly for the June, 2014 quarter containing a notably more cautious tone toward the Australian dollar (FXA) … Read more

Increasing Unemployment, Decreasing Commodity Prices Portend Jawboning By the Reserve Bank of Australia

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 13, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) So much for a trough in unemployment in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) produced another poor employment report. In January, Australia lost another 3,700 jobs, and the number of … Read more

A Record Iron Ore Shipment As Prices and the Australian Dollar Plunge

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 11, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Port Hedland Port Authority along the northern coast of Western Australia reported on June 10th surprising news on an iron ore shipment: {snip} The Port does not report the value … Read more

Plunging Iron Ore Underlines Coming Monetary Policy from the Reserve Bank of Australia

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on June 2, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} …Iron prices have plunged almost as severely as they did last August as steel rebar prices have fallen. From Reuters on May 31st: {snip} These price declines would seem to … Read more

Reserve Bank of Australia Meeting Minutes Suggest Rate Cuts Are About The Exchange Rate

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on May 21, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} In Monday’s minutes (Tuesday Australia time) of the May 7th policy meeting, the RBA provided no direct smoking gun to explain what I called at the time a mystifying rate … Read more

Take A Pause From Your Deflation Fears and Consider Some Counter-Evidence

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 25, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Swiss franc (FXF) has started another weakening phase, putting an exclamation point on the currency market’s refusal to go along with the shrill, recent headlines claiming another deflation cycle has … Read more

Don’t Overplay the Recovery In Iron Ore Prices

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 7, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) Back in September, one of the big stories was the plunge in iron ore prices to three-year lows around $87/ton. With prices down over 50% from the record high of $191/ton … Read more

The Australian Dollar Breaks Out As It Regains Correlation With The S&P 500

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 11, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) On Thursday, January 10th, China reported export growth much larger than forecasters expected. {snip} This surge helped push the Australian dollar (FXA) far enough to finally break a long-standing downtrend against … Read more