ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Stock Market Commentary Last week’s trading had something for almost everyone: volatility, churn, recovery, and a bank scare. A familiar story about renewed U.S.–China trade tensions expanded into a larger mosaic of market stress and resilience. Still, given market breadth remains broken, I see a market skating on the edge. The volatility index (VIX) summarizes … Read more
The bearish to bullish reversal ended for home builder stocks with a return to bear market territory. Today, October 9, 2025, the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) dropped under the threshold that defines a bear market: 20% below the all-time high (see chart below). The 2.6% slide on the day is part of a … Read more
Stock Market Commentary Last week was billed as another marquee Fed week. While decision day brought a lot of intraday volatility, the churn became a mere speedbump as market breadth yawned and the stock market melt-up continued. The main message I heard from the Fed was an acknowledgement of an economy weak enough to warrant … Read more
Stock Market Commentary In a flashback to August’s opening trading salvo, September trading started with a sharp pullback. The decline fit the standard theme of “professional” traders and investors returning from summer vacations to take profits from a market levitating on low volume vapors. However, sensing redux price action, the market’s persistent buyers jumped right … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The tariff rumors proved true after all. The green shoots of Monday that grew alongside the rumor of a pause presaged Wednesday’s massive relief from a real blink on tariffs. Those historic gains were large enough to generate a strong week broadly across the stock market. Still, as more blinking and backing … Read more