The 3Q16 earnings season is upon us … will begin in earnest in about three weeks. As of September 16th, S&P 500 companies are expected to earn $29.41 out of operations (courtesy of S&P Dow Jones Indices). This compares with … Continued
In July’s Treasury International Capital System data released last Friday, there was one particular data point equity bulls were probably happy to see. Global investors purchased $26.1 billion in U.S. equities in that month. This was the highest monthly purchase … Continued
As of last Friday, only 32.6 percent of S&P 500 stocks were above 50-day moving average, earlier having dropped to 29.8 percent on Wednesday. This compares to 22 percent on June 27 (orange arrow in Chart 1) when the S&P … Continued
The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of September 13, 2016. 10-year note: More and more, we are beginning to hear from commentators – both professional and in media – that major central banks are increasingly hesitant about … Continued
Next week brings three important housing-related data points: the NAHB/Wells Fargo housing market index (September), existing home sales (August), and housing starts (August). In July, starts rose 2.1 percent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.21 million units, … Continued
There is not much correlation between the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index and year-over-year change in personal consumption expenditures – mere 0.12 going back to January 1978 (chart here). Nor is there any between consumer sentiment and XLY, the … Continued
In the August 15-31 period, there was not much of a trend among major industry/sector ETFs, with nearly half down period-over-period and half up (Chart 1). The real story, however, lies in how short interest changed on an index level. … Continued
In its rather brief history going back to January 1990, out of 6,725 sessions, there have only been 10 times when spot VIX jumped 40 percent or higher in a single session. That is how rare it is! Last Friday … Continued
Seven weeks of sideways action on the S&P 500 large cap index has been resolved. Last Friday, the index dropped 2.5 percent, for a weekly drop of 2.4 percent. This comes on the heels of an important breakout in July. … Continued
The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of September 6, 2016. 10-year note: Is the ECB reaching the end of the stimulus rope? This is not a consensus thinking, but the bank may very well be trying to … Continued