ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
AT40 = 85.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (20th overbought day)AT200 = 47.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (4-month high which reverses the October, 2018 breakdown)VIX = 13.5Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary The waiting game continues within a bullish cloak. An extended overbought rally … Read more
AT40 = 52.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (4-month high)AT200 = 22.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (4-week high)VIX = 18.2 (5-week low)Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Commentary The major indices are still showing signs of exhaustion, but the sellers have yet to wrest back control … Read more
LGI Homes (LGIH) released a strong sales report that granted investors in home builders a much needed sigh of relief. On January 7, 2019 (mislabeled as the 4th in the press release), LGIH announced: …an all-time record for home closings during a single month with 884 homes closed in December 2018, representing year-over-year growth of … Read more
Housing-related stocks continue to show signs of a return of buying interest. I keep tabs on these “housing moves” as checks on the health of the sector. These moves are of particular interest now that investors are actively worrying about a housing slowdown just as the stocks of home builders launch into their seasonally strong … Read more
In most of my Housing Market Reviews this year, I chronicled the growing warning signs in the housing market and the on-going technical damage in the stocks of home builders. Until the last few months, I remained hopeful that a turn-around waited around the corner; I kept looking for the reassurances of the home builders … Read more
I saw a flicker of hope for home builders in the May Housing Market Review. Traders decided to snuff that flicker out very quickly afterward. When I wrote June’s housing market review and described a “struggling flicker,” the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) was once again bouncing off the bottom of 2018’s trading range. … Read more
The S&P 500 (SPY) printed its best quarter since the fourth quarter of 2013. While the index gained 7.2% for the third quarter of 2018, home builders went in the exact opposite direction. The iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) tumbled 7.4% for Q3 and is now down a whopping 20.9% year-to-date. The selling accelerated … Read more
“KB Home shares jump on third quarter earnings” – such is the kind of quick trigger post earnings headline that consistently fails for home builders. KB Home (KBH) opened higher by 5.7% but was all downhill from there. At the close, KBH lost 3.1% on the day in a major reversal. This close was a … Read more
I saw a flicker of hope for home builders in the last Housing Market Review. Traders decided to snuff that flicker out very quickly afterward. Breakouts transformed into new tops and now the struggling flicker comes from home builder stocks holding support. The short-term path ahead looks like chop at best, especially with the latest … Read more
AT40 = 48.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 50.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 16.1 Short-term Trading Call: bearish Commentary The market’s gains the last two days validated my expectation for a relief bounce. I used this bounce to make more bearish … Read more