ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Housing Market Intro/Summary When I wrote the Housing Market Review for October, the stocks of home builders were failing their moment of truth. The iShares US Home Construction (ITB) soon rebounded, including a near picture-perfect test of support at its 50-day moving average (DMA). Last week, ITB actually printed a fresh 21-month high before pulling back. … Read more
Housing Market Intro/Summary The stocks of home builders are starting to fail their moment of truth. A Moment of Truth Looming Ever Larger On October 25th, the iShares Dow Jones Home Construction ETF (ITB) hit a 21-month high that coincided exactly with a major multi-year peak and post-recession high from January, 2018. The sellers showed … Read more
Housing Market Intro/Summary In my last Housing Market Review, I finally conceded to a sustained rally in the stocks of home builders. I noted how this stubborn rally moved counter to unimpressive data. In September, several data points finally came together to support the strong sentiment in financial markets. Low interest rates dominate the story … Read more
Housing Market Intro/Summary In the last Housing Market Review, I discussed my slow and reluctant acceptance of a stock market that was effectively front-running the seasonally strong period for the stocks of home builders (starting in October/November). I also showed the near consistent dichotomy between builders excelling at selling lower-priced homes to buyers trying to … Read more
Housing Market Intro/Summary In the last Housing Market Review, I pointed out how the stocks of home builders were still making a surprising push against the expected seasonal top in their shares. Yet, I still expected iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) to remain constrained to a pivot around its 50-day moving average (DMA). Soon … Read more
Housing Market Intro/Summary In the March Housing Market Review, I described how the iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) was breaking out despite an unimpressive collection of housing data (in the aggregate and trendwise). Last month, I updated my analysis of the seasonal trading strategy for home builders and pointed out the historical tendency for … 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
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
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
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