A Busted Seasonal Trade for Home Builders

The seasonal trade on home builders for 2017/2018 showed its first sign of trouble when the iShares US Home Construction (ITB) fell sharply off its 10+ year high in January on the same day the S&P 500 (SPY) set a new (and its last) all-time high. Almost two weeks later, in early February, the under-performance … Read more

Housing Market Review (February, 2018) – Stalled and Toppy

The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in January, 2018 for December, 2017. At the time, I described the ominous breakdown of the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB), but I was not yet ready to connect the dots on the bearish implications. I am now. ITB has continued its breakdown by first severely … Read more

Above the 40 (February 27, 2018) – The Bulls’ Steamroller Abruptly Runs Out of Gas

AT40 = 31.2% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 48.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 18.6 (17.7% gain) Short-term Trading Call: bullish (caveats below!) Commentary During the thick of the sell-off earlier this month, I stated with tongue-in-cheek that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome … Read more

And Down Go the Consumer Plays

This year was supposed to be the year of retail. Last week’s sell-off not only took down a broad base of stocks, but also it plunged retail stocks in aggregate into under-performance against the S&P 500 (SPY). Moreover, home builders broke down in a very bearish way and thus put my “buy the dip” strategy … Read more

Above the 40 (January 30, 2018) – The S&P 500 Trips Over the Volatility Speedbump

AT40 = 55.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 60.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 14.8 Short-term Trading Call: bullish Commentary Last Friday, the S&P 500 (SPY) rolled over a volatile dollar on its way to another all-time high. The volatility index, the … Read more