Month: November 2024

  • Moment of Truth

    SPX reached our 6009 target (from August) two days ahead of schedule, leaving ES 6064 as the last remaining upside target in the vicinity.  With ES reaching 6053 overnight, this rally is either due a pullback or a breakout. In short, it’s another moment of truth for equities.

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  • No!

    It was a typical Fed press conference, with Powell ducking and dancing around any substantive revelations, when someone asked whether the election would affect the Fed’s policy decisions.  It was no surprise that Powell fell back on the usual 200-word “data dependence” answer that we’ve all heard before.

    Then someone asked the question that was really on everyone’s mind: Would Powell step down if Trump requested it?  Powell responded with a one-word answer: “No.” Ladies and gentlemen, 2025 just got a lot more interesting.

    I was dead wrong when suggesting that Powell couldn’t resign fast enough. I assumed that Powell would rather crawl through broken glass than spend another 4 years under Trump’s withering criticism. Apparently Jay is made of sterner stuff.

    And, why not? Trump’s constant and very public pressure was at least partly responsible for the Fed keeping interest rates as low as they did even after inflation increased. Somewhere on the road from 2% to 9.1% CPI, Powell must have been wishing for a rematch. Now he’ll have one.

    ES has topped its IH&S target and is eyeing a backtest, with a potential tag of the 1.618 at 6064.50.

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  • FOMC Day: Nov 7, 2024

    The macro outlook has certainly changed over the past two days. Will the FOMC ignore it or take it into account when issuing their interest rate decision later today?

    ES is within 11 points of our IH&S target at 5984.

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  • Election Blowout

    Following the shocking election results in the US, futures actually tagged our downside support at the 50-day moving average and, in a 2% surge, our next upside target.

    The spike has all the hallmarks of a pop and drop, however, as the 10Y has broken out.
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  • The Big Picture: Nov 4, 2024

    Since markets are essentially frozen as we enter the most consequential week of the year, we thought this would be an opportune time to review the big picture.

    As always, we began the year [see: A Look Ahead at 2024] with specific targets.

    SPX:  “The most important chart pattern for SPX is the large Inverted H&S Pattern which completed on Dec 11 [and] points to 5727.” Though we identified a path to completion by June 2024, we noted that “there is definitely a possibility that October works just as well as June.”

    SPX came close to our 5727 target in June, but was rebuffed by the Fibonacci 1.618 extension and reached it instead on Sep 24.

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  • Payrolls’ Nod to the Fed

    Nonfarm payrolls were undeniably affected by the hurricane and strikes in October. Nevertheless, the plunge from 223K to 12K – well below estimates of 125K – is likely to provide the FOMC with all the cover they need to cut rates again when they meet next week.

    Futures have rebounded, retaking the 50-day moving average. But, the rising wedge has clearly broken down.

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