ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
The Market Breadth Summary: Punished The Stock Market Summary The Federal Reserve actually did it. America’s central bank channeled Kevin Warsh’s previous jawboning into an actual rate hike. The Fed’s first such move since 2023 was well-priced by the Fed fund futures market, but the stock market was initially caught off-guard. The rate hike punished … Read more
Housing Market Intro and Summary This edition of “What Happened in the Housing Market” is once again without data on housing starts and new home sales because of the previous shutdown of the Federal government. Yet, plenty of data dropped to confirm the on-going sluggishness of the housing market. Poor responses to key earnings report … Read more
The bearish to bullish reversal ended for home builder stocks with a return to bear market territory. Today, October 9, 2025, the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) dropped under the threshold that defines a bear market: 20% below the all-time high (see chart below). The 2.6% slide on the day is part of a … Read more
Housing Market Intro and Summary What happened in the housing market for September, 2025? A rate cut fail unfolded as a resumption of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve failed to revive the stocks of homebuilders. This market reaction suggests that housing market data will remain soft for some time to come. Here is a … Read more
Housing Market Intro and Summary What happened in the housing market for June, 2025? The spring housing market slipped further, reinforcing a trend of deepening weakness. Inventories continued to surge while both prices and mortgage rates remained elevated. Builders are pulling back, permits are declining, and buyer demand is soft. The housing market’s deteriorating momentum … Read more