ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
The massive and historic floods in Australia have driven coal prices up. This is particularly important for steel since Australia exports 2/3 of the world’s coal used for making steel (coking coal). Steelmakers have already been struggling with increasing input costs, so the Australian floods are sure to pinch profits further. At the close of … Read more
Lately, it seems I have been pointing out more and more stocks in breakout formations. It makes the skeptic in me a little wary and nervous, but I will keep rolling with what works. And steel stocks have finally started working over the past month. I have to assume that the market is seeking out … Read more
I have been reporting the breakout of U.S. Steel (X) on twitter since last week, so I thought I would quickly post a chart outlining the case and provide some additional commentary. Like most steel stocks, U.S. Steel has lagged the S&P 500 for most of this year. The stock has churned in a wide … Read more
At the end of December, I suggested that the post-earnings trading in U.S. Steel (X) and Nucor (NUE) would be explosive based upon stealth rallies from the November lows that occurred despite a strong accumulation in puts and shorts on those stocks. On Tuesday, both steel companies delivered disappointing earnings that included cautions regarding continued … Read more
Over the past three days, the S&P 500 finally broke upward out of a five-week trading range (the NASDAQ has had a much more aggressive breakout). Well before this latest bullish move, many stocks and whole sectors soared higher in a “stealth” rally. Steel companies U.S. Steel (X) and Nucor (NUE) are two stocks in … Read more
The World Steel Association (worldsteel) forecasts for 2010 confirm my earlier view that steel demand (and production) most likely bottomed this year and some kind of recovery is underway. Worldsteel’s forecasts indicate that demand for steel in 2010 will return to 2008 levels after contracting in 2009 by 8.6%: “The World Steel Association (worldsteel) is … Read more
Last week, I noticed media headlines screaming the horrible news that “Crude steel output in 2009 to hit lowest level in 40 years.” As I searched for the direct source of this quote from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), I stumbled upon its “Preliminary Report on Iron and Steel, Non-ferrous metal, and … Read more