ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in June, 2017 for May, 2017. The month from there was relatively sedate for home builders. For example, the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) went absolutely nowhere with August’s burst out the gate providing a bit of a gain. The good news is that the uptrend … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in May, 2017 for April, 2017. At that time, the iShares US Home Construction (ITB) was testing support at its uptrending 50-day moving average (DMA) for the third time in May. ITB bounced nicely from there, but it just suffered its second largest one-day loss of the … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in April, 2017 for March, 2017. At that time, the iShares US Home Construction (ITB) was at the high end of almost two months of churn which included a new 10-year high. ITB has not hit “escape velocity” from its price where the U.S. Federal Reserve last … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in March, 2017 for February, 2017. At that time, the iShares US Home Construction (ITB) was at the bottom of what turned out to be a very shallow pullback from a near 10-year high. The subsequent recovery has been grinding and slow, but ITB now trades above … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in January, 2017 for December, 2016. At that time, the iShares US Home Construction (ITB) was rebounding strongly from a brief pullback from an earnings-driven 6-month high. I described the setup as a coiled spring. The coiled spring did not release to great effect, but earnings from … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in December for November, 2016. At that time, the iShares US Home Construction (ITB) had cracked through support at its 200-day moving average (DMA) as part of a post Fed rate hike pullback. That close turned out to be the last bottom for ITB, and it set … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in November for October, 2016. At that time, the iShares US Home Construction (ITB) was experiencing its first post-election pullback. I stayed focused on the strong housing data and treated the episode as a buying opportunity. Over a month later, the market is still ignoring the strong … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in September for August, 2016. At that time, iShares US Home Construction (ITB) was at the tail-end of an extended sell-off. I noted the irony of the acceleration of selling in the wake of a new home sales number that was the second-highest of this post-recession period. … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in September for August, 2016. At that time, iShares US Home Construction (ITB) started a notable divergence from the performance of the S&P 500 (SPY). That divergence widened in October with the S&P 500 losing 1.9% month-to-date and ITB tumbling 6.8%. The selling in ITB has been … Read more
The last Housing Market Review covered data reported in August for July, 2016. New home sales soaring to a fresh post-recession high made the big headline even as sentiment among home builders remained essentially flatline for the year. This time around, new home sales cooled off month-over-month as builder sentiment finally showed life with a … Read more