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
Stock Market Commentary The market staged a quick rebound this week after the “bears break-in” two Fridays ago. Most losses reversed by Monday’s close as buyers stepped in with conviction and quickly repaired the indices. However, the bounce masked the on-going failure of market breadth to keep pace with the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ, … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The week closed with strong speculative energy, particularly in crypto, with the signing of a package of crypto legislation including a stablecoin bill. Surprisingly, the speculative frenzy did not translate into the overall stock market beyond a few select stocks like OpenDoor (OPEN). In fact, the major indices mainly had a steady … Read more
Stock Market Commentary Overhead resistance once prevailed over expanding market breadth, particularly over the past two trading sessions. The dominant headline was Federal Reserve Chair Powell’s warning about the difficult scenario facing the Fed due to tariffs. I interpreted his message as an intention to avoid responding as long as possible. For a market pricing … Read more
Stock Market Commentary The current administration’s policy of long-term growth through short-term pain in the form of austerity came into clear focus last week. I earlier introduced this concept in “Growth Scare or Overreaction – An Oversold Market or Something Worse?“. Last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent laid out the strategy in detailed economic … Read more