It’s been a long time coming. But, the Fed’s favored measure of inflation finally topped its long-stated target of 2%. Of course, they prefer the “core PCE” which excludes food and energy price changes. Why? It’s lower, and at 1.8%, puts less pressure on them to normalize rates. Either one of them is preferable to the … continue reading →
Monthly Archives: March 2017
Everybody’s wondering whether Brexit will matter. With futures flat and currencies seemingly in the spotlight, we’ll spend the day revisiting our forecast for various currency pairs. We’ll also take a look at oil and gas. These are the last few days of the month. And, given that gas prices are up about 28% YoY, we’ll … continue reading →
I’m not a gold bug. I’ve always thought the price is pretty heavily manipulated (long before it hit the headlines) and I guess I’ve avoided it on principle. Looking back at my forecasts over the past year or so, that was probably a mistake. Since our December 14, 2015 forecast, GC has gained about 19% … continue reading →
SPX and ES managed to hold key trend lines and channels yesterday, bouncing from just short of our downside targets to exactly where we expected. All it took was an 18.3% hammering of VIX — no problem for the Masters of the Universe (real subtle, guys!) But, there was no breakout. There wasn’t even an overnight … continue reading →
Last week I alerted members that the dollar was approaching potentially strong support at 98.65 – 99. This morning, it reached the upper end of that range.We’ll take a quick look at the drop, and what to expect in the coming days. continued for members… … continue reading →
The first big Republican victory — the repeal and replace of the ACA — has morphed into reproach and retreat. The net impact: what does this failure portend for the rest of the Trump agenda and, thus, the Trump Rally? Regular readers know that I’ve looked askance at this rally from the start [see: Why the “Trump … continue reading →
Pebblewriter was officially born on May 2, 2011, but we started tracking performance and offering subscriptions on the new site on March 23, 2012. Two thousand posts and 2.8 million page views later, we’re coming up on our 5th birthday. Since we haven’t run any membership promotions in months, it’s time to do something special! … continue reading →
If only the news cycle would cooperate, the technical picture is pretty clear: a breakout and a backtest. But, Wall Street has sold investors on the narrative that the new administration’s policies are responsible for the huge run up in prices since Nov 9. And, now, stocks are burdened by the fact that those policies … continue reading →
The last time we focused on the Nikkei [see: The Nikkei, Yen and Oil: Joined at the Hip] it had bounced sharply following the US election. Given the fundamental headwinds Japan faced at the time, the bounce seemed fairly preposterous. …the Nikkei 225…has soared 2,600 points in the face of: (1) the election of a protectionist US president, … continue reading →
Some of you are probably still holding SCO — the Proshares Ultrashort Crude Oil ETF I mentioned in January at 32 [see: Tick Tock.] It tagged 42.51 yesterday, and is currently trading around 41.60 That’s a 9-pt (30%) gain in two months. It’s been above its SMA200 for several days, but is having trouble breaking … continue reading →