Decision Time, Again

We start this morning’s post with a peek at the Russell 2000 as it perfectly illustrates the dilemma facing the broader markets this morning. Up until September 2017, RUT followed a well-defined rising channel shown below in yellow.  Like all channels, it was defined by the tops and bottoms along the way. The only problem: … continue reading →

When Will News Begin to Matter Again?

Apparently AAPL slashing guidance is inconsequential and Bill Gates, who is predicting 10 million deaths, is some sort of conspiracy theorist – because the market continues to ignore the coronavirus story. Perhaps somewhere down the line the investing world will come to realize what we’ve known for years: stocks have become increasingly easy to manipulate. … continue reading →

Wuhan Coronavirus: Still Here

In a stunning demonstration of the extent to which algos control the market, ES soared 56.50 points after the World Health Organization declared the Wuhan coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern. While it’s true the press conference felt more like a China tourism promo, the declaration in no way reduced the risk the … continue reading →

Just When You Thought it was Safe…

The downside scenario triggered when S&P futures reached our upside target on Jan 22… $ES_F just reached our next upside target.https://t.co/zTy3q8WSBd pic.twitter.com/CoRSemmDOk — pebblewriter (@pebblewriter) January 22, 2020 …is playing out very nicely indeed. Credit VIX, which uncharacteristically didn’t collapse last night……and CL which, having come close to our 51.62 target on Sunday, is taking … continue reading →

Who’s Propping up the Stock Market?

It was October 1989 and the stock market was in trouble. Two years after crashing 36% (including 20% in a single session) the S&P 500 had made a comeback and had climbed back to new all-time highs. But high inflation, slipping junk bond prices and failing S&Ls were in the headlines daily. On October 13, … continue reading →

We’ve Seen This Movie Before

I’ve seen one particular assessment over and over in the financial news this morning: The market’s rebound following Iran’s missile strikes last night was “surprising.” No, it is most certainly not surprising! Not even a little bit. Anyone who pays the least bit of attention to charts could have seen this coming a mile away. … continue reading →

The Snoozefest Continues

All the bullish factors which have kept stocks aloft the past two sessions are still going at it.  Hence, the futures’ snoozefest even as Trump is about to be impeached.The only potential fly in the ointment remains oil and gas, which have reached an important decision point. continued for members… … continue reading →

Inflation Games

Inflation drives interest rates. Though the Fed probably wishes it didn’t, it’s an inconvenient truth.  There are much tighter correlations, but consider the strong positive correlation between CPI and 10Y notes. This matters, of course, because with $22 trillion in debt, the US faces the same problem as the ECB and Japan: High interest rates … continue reading →

CPI: Nov 13, 2019

Today is off to an interesting start.  Following Trump’s call for negative interest rates and more grandstanding on China in New York yesterday, headline CPI came in hotter than expected but right in line with our forecast. As we’ve discussed, this is the result of oil and gas trending sideways in support of the upcoming … continue reading →