Above the 40 (June 15, 2018) – A News-Packed Week Hands Victory to Stock Market Bulls and Bears

AT40 = 64.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 54.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (a 4-month high) VIX = 12.0 Short-term Trading Call: bearish Commentary Once again, a tried and true bearish signal delivered. However this success came with a tremendous caveat: a simultaneously … Read more

Deconstructing Materials Stocks

The deconstruction continues in material stocks. The culprit this time around was a poor reading and interpretation of construction spending. Per AP News: “U.S. construction spending dropped 1.7 percent in March, the biggest setback in 11 months, with weakness in a number of sectors including the biggest plunge in home building in nine years. The … Read more

U.S. Concrete: An Attractively Priced Bet On A Strong U.S. Economy – (Another Interview with CEO Bill Sandbrook)

Two weeks ago I expressed concern about the poor performance of the materials sector. The sector was under-performing the general market which seemed particularly ominous given the generally strong outlook for the economy. At the time, I expressed my hope that another interview with Bill Sandbrook, CEO of U.S. Concrete (USCR), would clear the air … Read more

Materials Build On A Bearish Breakdown

This picture is exactly what I do not want to see as the stock market struggles to hold critical technical supports: a major index of economically-sensitive stocks confirming a breakdown of support at its 200-day moving average (DMA). The Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB) lost 1.3% on a day when the S&P 500 (SPY) … Read more

Above the 40 (February 9, 2018) – A Stock Market Reset

AT40 = 14.6% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) (day 2 oversold) AT200 = 31.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (near 2-year low) VIX = 29.1 (range from 27.7 to 41.1) Short-term Trading Call: bullish Commentary Friday’s classic battle between buyers and sellers delivered a (short-term?) market … Read more

Above the 40 (September 15, 2017) – Another Missile, Another All-Time High for the S&P 500

AT40 = 60.4% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 53.2% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 10.2 Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Commentary North Korea launched another ballistic missile over Japan, this one with enough range to hit Guam. The general market response was … Read more

U.S. Concrete: The GDP Rally Fully Reverses

Getting a second opportunity at a great set-up is rare in the stock market, but U.S. Concrete (USCR) may be offering just such a second chance. On September 3rd, I lamented missing an opportunity to buy USCR when it neatly tested support at the top of its last trading range. The headline reason for the … Read more

U.S. Concrete: A Missed Opportunity

When I described U.S. Concrete (USCR) as a strong play on the U.S. economy, I noted I would wait for a dip in the stock before picking a spot to buy. That opportunity came a lot faster than I expected as USCR dipped down on rising volume to the top of its previous trading range. … Read more

U.S. Concrete: A Strong Play on the U.S. Economy (My Interview with CEO Bill Sandbrook)

On August 15, 2017, I had the privilege of interviewing Bill Sandbrook, President and CEO of U.S. Concrete (USCR), a producer of ready-mixed concrete and aggregate products for domestic construction projects. I am relatively new to this industry, so I prepared by listening to earlier interviews, reviewing USCR’s latest earnings results for Q2 2017, and … Read more

A Thematic Trump Trade Comes To An End

One by one Trump Trades have unwound and completely reversed all their gains (or losses) since the U.S. Presidential election last November. I find the end of this particular Trump Trade particularly thematic. On June 21, 2017, the VanEck Vectors Russia ETF (RSX) completed a full reversal of its gain since the election of Donald … Read more