A Bearish Divergence Now Behind, Overbought Awaits for Stocks – Above the 40 (December 20, 2019)

AT40 (T2108) finally broke out of an extended 2-month trading range and looks ready to challenge the overbought threshold.

AT40 = 65.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 59.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (just under high for 2019 of 60.2%)VIX = 12.5Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary The bearish divergence finally ended between a range-bound AT40 (T2108) and an S&P 500 (SPY) steadily … Read more

LGI Homes Revives Home Builders With Strong Closings Report

LGI Homes (LGIH) looks like it finally bottomed out of a post-earnings pullback and consolidation near and around 200DMA support.

During its earnings call, LGI Homes (LGIH) projected strong performance ahead. The company’s December home closings report delivered. LGI Homes closed 748 homes last month. The 49.6% year-over-year growth contributed to an 18.0% year-over-year overall growth rate in home closings for the first eleven months of 2019. The stock market responded positively by sending LGIH … Read more

A More Speculative Turn in the Stock Market – Above the 40 (November 25, 2019)

The Invesco S&P 500 High Beta ETF (SPHB) broke out to a near 14-month high.

AT40 = 58.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 55.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 11.9Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary If “cautiously neutral” made sense, I would make that description my short-term trading call. Last week’s trading action motivated me to observe that … Read more

A Widening Breakout for Home Builders

The iShares Dow Jones Home Construction ETF (ITB) gained 1.7% and broke out to a (marginal) 12-month high.

The breakout for home builders started with M.D.C. Holdings (MDC). MDC raised guidance and put strong emphasis on the positive expectations for its next earnings report. With analysts overwhelmingly bearish on the stock, the stock had plenty of upside surprise potential. The pent-up demand created a tremendous upward surge. Additional home builders are joining what … Read more

Strong Sales for LGI Homes Set Up Earnings Reports for Lennar and KB Home

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

Above the 40 (January 4, 2019) – The Oversold Chronicles End As A Fed-Inspired Stock Market Explodes Higher

AT40 = 20.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (ended 13 days in oversold territory)AT200 = 14.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 21.4Short-term Trading Call: bullish (with caveats all over again) Commentary All oversold periods must end – it is just a matter of how and … Read more

Housing Market Review (December, 2018) – Prices Are Still Too High

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

Housing Moves: Zillow, KB Home, and LGI Homes Put On A Show

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

Above the 40 (November 7, 2018) – Exclamation Points for the End of Oversold Trading Conditions

AT40 = 40.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 37.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 16.4 Short-term Trading Call: bullish Commentary Financial markets made their votes very clear after the U.S. 2018 midterm election. via GIPHY Apparently, today’s rally in the S&P 500 … Read more

Housing Market Review (May, 2018) – A Fresh Flicker of Life As Sentiment Turns Without A Change in Data

The fundamentals have changed little. Sentiment is making a dramatic shift. The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in April, 2018 for March, 2018. At the time, I lamented a dissonance of decelerating housing data and diverging home builder stocks. Over a month later, the deceleration is a little less pronounced while the divergence … Read more