Weekly Covered Call On GLD
Gold is having a golden moment. Relatively, that is. It acts well, but given that it has rallied eight-plus percent in a month, it is probably in need of a breather near-term for its own good. The metal has had … Continued
Covered Call On IWM After Bloody Week
After last week’s bloodbath in stocks, Friday brought a small consolation for small-cap investors. Maybe. During the week, IWM, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF, lost major support – which is three percent away. The 118-119 support goes back to March last … Continued
CoT: Peek Into Future Through Futures
The following are futures positions of non-commercials contained in the Commitment of Traders report as of August 18, 2015. Change is week-over-week. (Please note that these holdings are as of Tuesday. The S&P 500 swooned six percent in the next … Continued
Markets Doing Fed’s Work — Real Interest Rates Are Tighter
Market participants have no clue how to read Wednesday’s FOMC minutes. The latter failed to settle the debate as to whether or not the Federal Reserve will move in September. Treasury bonds are acting as if the message was dovish … Continued
U.S. Stocks Increasingly Reliant On Buybacks, Even As ’15 SPX Earnings Set To Drop Y/Y
Late last year as the Federal Reserve was unwinding quantitative easing (QE), there was suspense in the air as to how this might impact U.S. stocks. Bulls argued QE was never a factor in stocks’ surge, rather earnings were. Bears … Continued
ITB Breaks Out, With Improved Price Action, But Worth Waiting For Breakout Retest
ITB, the iShares Home Construction ETF, has broken out. Support at $26 goes back to May 2013, and was defended several times during late April and early June. Since late April, ITB had also been trading within an ascending channel. … Continued
JNK Relief Rally Possible Short-Term, But More Pain Probably Lies Ahead Medium- To Long-Term
One look at Chart 1, and it is hard to notice a significant change in momentum behind the U.S. high-yield debt market. Through July, issuance totaled $188.4 billion. Annualized, 2015 is on track to issuing north of $300 billion – … Continued
Iron Condor On SPY Assuming Range-Bound Action Continues This Week
Of late, volatility has been volatile. Twice in the past 15 sessions, VIX, the S&P 500 Volatility Index, has surpassed 16, only to quickly reverse to the downside, and broken below 12 three times, only to reverse to the upside. … Continued
COT: Peek Into Future Through Futures
The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of August 11, 2015. Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: How might the renminbi devaluation impact the Fed’s desire to hike rates this year? The devaluation is at least disinflationary as far U.S. … Continued
Short Put On IWM After 118-119 Support Gets Defended
An options trade may be brewing on IWM, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF. In the July 15-31 period, shorts’ bearish bet on IWM paid off. Short interest went up nearly five percent during the period. The ETF fell 2.1 percent, … Continued