Forex Critical: The U.S. Dollar Finally Gets Relief – ISM Manufacturing to the Rescue

It was a holiday shortened trading day in the U.S., but it was enough time to deliver a bit of relief for the U.S. dollar index (DXY0). The most significant move for the U.S. dollar was against the ever-weakening Japanese yen (FXY). USD/JPY broke out and stayed above resistance at its uptrending 200-day moving average … 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

Above the 40 (June 20, 2017) – Buyers Fail to Follow-Through As the S&P 500 Goes On Notice

AT40 = 52.8% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 56.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs VIX = 10.9 (volatility index) Short-term Trading Call: cautiously bullish Commentary The Fed hikes short-term rates, and long-term rates go down. This relationship is not the expected one but is … Read more

Forex Critical: A Major Breakthrough Eluded Mexican Peso Bulls

Bulls in the Mexican peso successfully reversed all the post-election gains in USD/MXN. Yet they failed to hold onto a big break through when USD/MXN hit a new 6-month low last week. Buyers quickly stepped in and sent USD/MXN right back to its declining 50-day moving average (DMA). Source: FreeStockCharts.com The latest CFTC data on … Read more

Speculators In the Mexican Peso Last Did This At Oil’s 2014 Peak

On April 17, 2017, speculators turned bullish on the Mexican peso for the first time in 2 years. That point 2 years ago was a brief 1-week relief from on-going bearishness against the peso. The latest data on net non-commercial positions (speculators) show that the nascent bullishness in the peso carried over into a second … Read more

Oil-Related Plays Reverse Post-Election Gains

The big story coming out of the November presidential elections was the flurry of “Trump Trades” that soared on an incremental surge of optimism and expectations. Now the growing story includes the sprouting list of trades that have completely reversed post-election gains. The recent rapid decline in oil prices on the heels of surging U.S. … Read more

OPEC’s Latest Stumbles Create the Next Opportunity for an Oil-Driven Pairs Trade

In a previous post on the stock market, I noted how commodity-related plays were apparently benefiting from a sagging U.S. dollar index (DXY0). I failed to note that oil was (and is) a glaring exception. Oil futures fell around 9% for the week. This plunge was enough to completely reverse last month’s rally for United … Read more

T2108 Update (October 13, 2016) – Technicals Overwhelm Data Fears As S&P 500 Flirts with Oversold

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. It helps to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades are … Read more

T2108 Update (September 28, 2016) – Oil Price Manipulation Excites the Stock Market

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. It helps to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades are … Read more

A Shift In the UGA vs USO Pairs Trade Ahead of Algiers OPEC Gathering

OPEC, the oil cartel known as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, will hold an informal meeting in Algiers, Algeria this coming week (September 28, 2016). On Friday, September 23, 2016 headlines declared that Saudi Arabia and Iran were unable to reach agreement on production caps after two days of preparatory talks in Vienna, … Read more