U.S. stocks began 2016 on the wrong foot. That is an understatement. In fact, major indices peaked intra-day on December 29th (2015). Using that high, the S&P 500 large cap index through the intra-day low on January 20th lost 13 … Continued
The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of February 16, 2016. Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: Global GDP will only expand at three percent this year. Says the OECD – the latest body to cut growth forecast this year. … Continued
U.S. home ownership has ticked up four-tenths of a percent since 2Q15 to 63.8 percent in 4Q15. The 63.4 percent two quarters ago was the lowest since 63.3 percent in 1Q67. Since the all-time high of 69.2 percent in 2Q04, … Continued
Gold bugs may need to step up to the plate. Off the December 3rd intra-day low of $1045.4 through February 11th spike high of $1263.9, spot gold surged 21 percent in just over two months. Not bad for an asset … Continued
Among U.S. corporates last year, issuance of high-yield bonds fell for the second straight year, to $261 billion. The peak was reached in 2013 at $334 billion, followed by $311 billion in 2014 (Chart 1). Investment-grade as well as total … Continued
SPY, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, has essentially gone sideways since January 20th. That was the first low of the year after a 12-session, 11-percent waterfall drop. A subsequent eight-session rally had the ETF rally to $194.58, before it again … Continued
The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of February 9, 2016. Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: On June 5, 2014, the ECB cut the deposit rate for the euro zone’s commercial banks to minus 0.1 percent from zero. It … Continued
Spot gold this week took care of not one but two crucial resistance. First, it broke out of a descending trend line going back to April 2013. That trend line persistently repelled gold’s rally attempts, the most recent of which … Continued
The stock market got off on the wrong foot this year… which is probably an understatement. Using the January 20th intra-day low, the S&P 500 large cap index lost nine percent in 12 sessions, the S&P 400 mid-cap index 13.1 … Continued
Both student and motor-vehicle loans made a fresh new high in 4Q15. That is no news. Both these loans have been trending higher in the current cycle. When Great Recession ended, student loans were $710.9 billion. At the end of … Continued