ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
(Updated on January 3, 2023 in “How Home Builder Stocks Trade In A Seasonal Pattern“) The Spring selling season is a critical period for the housing market and usually delivers peak activity for the year. This seasonal pattern forms a notable pivot for the stocks of home builders. These stocks typically rally on the wings … Read more
The iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) has essentially reversed its entire breakdown that began in October. ITB is now up 24.4% for the year and up 30.9% from the December low. These gains outpace the S&P 500’s (SPY) rebound of 15.2% for the year and 22.8% since the December low. This out-performance means that … Read more
Housing Market Intro/Summary In the January Housing Market Review, I described a pause in the bad housing data long enough to allow the stocks of home builders to rally sharply with the stock market. The iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) was testing resistance at its 200-day moving average (DMA); that moment turned out to … Read more
On March 25th, CNBC’s Fast Money discussed very active options trading in the iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction Index (ITB). Call option volume was triple put option volume. Of note, some trader purchased 5000 April 12 $35 weekly calls with ITB trading at $34.60 and just under its 200-day moving average (DMA). That trader … Read more
AT40 = 45.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (2+ month low)AT200 = 38.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 16.5 (20.9% gain)Short-term Trading Call: bearish Stock Market Commentary Friday’s trading action provided delayed confirmation of my short-term bearish trading call. The week previous to the last, … Read more
Housing Market Intro/Summary {This post marks the last one impacted by the previous U.S. government shutdown. I delayed publishing until I gathered a complete set of January’s housing market data. At the time of writing February’s data are rolling in}. In the January Housing Market Review, I described a pause in the bad housing data … Read more
The latest airing of Marketplace included a segment titled “Making sense of housing market data.” The segment explained the five key housing data points that Marketplace uses to gauge the health of the housing market: housing starts, new home sales, existing home sales, pending home sales, and the Case-Shiller Home Price Index. In my monthly … Read more
AT40 = 76.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (25th overbought day)AT200 = 45.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 13.6Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary The trading action on the major indices is practically a broken record. An extended overbought rally just grows older and … Read more
AT40 = 80.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (23rd overbought day)AT200 = 45.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 14.7Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary And still the waiting game rolls along. News on the US-China trade front generated some excitement to start the week, … Read more
Housing Market Intro/Summary The housing data were late and incomplete at the time of original publishing due to the previous U.S. government shutdown. The last update came with the new home sales data published on March 5, 2019. I look forward to everything getting back in sync! The lagging data have not discouraged investors from … Read more