A Second Chance for the Path of Least Resistance – The Market Breadth

second chance (Credit: Escape from the light by Stig Nygaard from Flickr)

Stock Market Commentary: Revisions to the report on GDP (gross domestic product) typically do not generate reactions in the financial markets, especially the third revision. So I completely look past the third revision to Q3 GDP when I concluded the path of least resistance offered a reprieve. The revision revealed economic conditions were even better … Read more

A Key Breakout Cracked the Back of the Bear Cycle – The Market Breadth

Stock Market Commentary I turned bearish on the stock market over two weeks ago. Last week began with confirmation as sellers followed through on a fade from a brief rally. Mid-week, the downward momentum came to a screeching halt as buyers took over most of the trading action. I pointed out the key signs suggesting … Read more

An Overbought Stock Market Bang and a Whimper – Above the 40 (November 20, 2020)

Stock Market Statistics AT40 = 76.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (Day #6 overbought) AT200 = 71.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (near 3-year high and holding breakout above post financial crisis downtrend) VIX = 23.7 Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary The stock market … Read more

A Tech Stock Breakdown While Rest of Market Yawns – Above the 40 (September 18, 2020)

Stock Market Statistics AT40 = 43.5% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 44.9% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 25.8Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bearish Stock Market Commentary Tech stocks led the way up, and now they are leading the way down. The top 1% of the … Read more

Stock Market Snaps Out of Bearish Divergence – Above the 40 (July 15, 2020)

Stock Market Statistics AT40 = 58.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 30.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 27.8Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary I anticipated a shallow sell-off for a downward resolution to the bearish divergence in the stock market. However, … Read more

Cocoa: A Bear Market in Prices Brings Fresh Opportunity

Cocoa prices have plunged along with the pandemic-driven crash in global financial markets. The iPath Bloomberg Cocoa Subindex Total Return ETN (NIB) reached a closing peak on February 13th just ahead of the global pandemic crisis. Since then, NIB is down 23.8%, a bear market in cocoa. Per my buy-the-dip strategy in NIB, this is … Read more

The Stock Market Manages to Stretch Out of Overbought Conditions – Above the 40 (January 17, 2020)

AT40 = 69.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (ends 1-day overbought period) AT200 = 63.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 12.1Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary The stock market finally pushed into overbought territory on Thursday. The breakout only lasted for a day. … Read more

Cocoa: The End of a Breakout Starts A Buying Opportunity

The iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) has sold off for 6 of the last 7 trading days on extremely high volume. Friday's 1.2% loss took NIB to its 200DMA support.

A Breakout and Reversal The price of cocoa has had a wild two months. Last month’s breakout quickly turned into a fade and an outright sell-off in December. The result for the iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) is a complete reversal of the breakout, a return to the bottom of the previous consolidation range, … Read more

Cocoa’s Price Surge Confirmed By Historic Supply Coordination

Two years ago, I wrote about the announcement from the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) indicating that cocoa-growing countries would coordinate production of cocoa to better support their economies. That news was soon followed by a recommendation from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to cocoa producers to find ways to control the supply of cocoa. At … Read more

Cocoa: Ivory Coast Supply News Sets Up Buying Opportunity

Time for me to buy iPath Bloomberg Cocoa SubTR ETN (NIB) again. NIB gapped down to start the week at least partially on the news of a surplus from the Ivory Coast. From Reuters: Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 1.547 million tonnes between Oct. 1 and March 3, exporters estimated … Read more