ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Almost on schedule, the pendulum has swung back to “sell” on the S&P 500. The technical setup on the index shows extremely overbought conditions with buying volume falling just as the index reaches for overhead resistance (see chart below). Combine these conditions with the launch of earnings season, a new round of U.S. economic releases … Read more
It took a little patience, but the bounce from oversold conditions delivered in spectacular fashion on Wednesday with a 3.1% jump. The setup this time was a “bullish hammer” that formed ahead of the U.S. unemployment report last Friday. This is how I described the setup at the time: “The good news is that the … Read more
If the summer ends up trading in a range, it will have a wider berth than I had expected. This week the S&P 500 broke both closing and intra-day lows for 2010 and confirmed an unfolding downtrend. The index is down 8 of the last 9 days. The good news is that the S&P 500 … Read more
The first half of 2010 has ended and another earnings season is upon us. The second quarter should be a time of easy comparisons as the economy hit a trough leading into spring of last year. If there is any credence to the argument that the economy is on a sustainable path to recovery, we … Read more
Many homebuilder stocks, like Toll Brothers (TOL), went parabolic in April. The homebuilder index, XHB, hit 18-month highs at the time. Since flaming out, TOL is down 26%, and the homebuilder’s ETF, XHB, has sunk 23% in two months. This action further confirms the principle that parabolic moves more than likely signal the coming end … Read more
By now, I think we should recognize that low-volume rallies simply do not last – the odds tend to favor a return of most, if not all, those kinds of gains, sooner than later. Last week, I was particularly puzzled by a low-volume 2.4% rally on the S&P 500 that came on the heels of … Read more
As I feared might happen, the stock market has already fallen back into oversold territory as measured by the percentage of stocks trading above their 40-day moving averages (DMAs). This indicator, T2108, dipped under 20% and closed at 18.5%. This is the third oversold period in just a month, and this third time is not … Read more
T2108, the percentage of stocks trading above their 50-day moving averages (DMA), hit 21% on Wednesday. This milestone finishes nine days of technically oversold trading conditions as defined by T2108 dropping to 20% or below. I am reposting below a chart of the historical distribution of durations for oversold periods as a reminder that the … Read more
(This is a guest post written by “Chenzo” of forexcharts.net) If any lesson was clear during the past few turbulent weeks of trading, it was that our markets are more closely entwined than ever. Perhaps this is a sign of our continuing globalization path, but the waves created by any financial event are traveling across … Read more
The stock market is now on day #6 of this oversold period and a powerful resolution to the upside is beginning to look less likely. Asia and Europe led off with powerful rallies. However, the U.S. follow-through stalled out and fell short. Although the indices faded hard and ended notably down, the percentage of stocks … Read more