Energy stocks correlate with oil price; former holding up better in current decline Sector job cuts mediocre; oil and extraction hourly earnings another high in Feb Companies acting as if bottom is in for oil; investors buying into this optimism … Continued
Exports’ share in U.S. GDP not as high as industrialized peers but increasingly important Fed’s rate-hike-this-year message significant tailwind for greenback’s relentless rally Fed officials not enamored of buck surge; how long before they start jawboning? There is a wide … Continued
SMH, the semiconductor ETF, has been range-bound since last September. Looking at a weekly chart (the one below is daily), the path of least resistance seems down in the medium-term. Bears had a great opportunity seven sessions ago to push … Continued
Dollar has benefited from growth/interest rate differential among countries Recent spurt of weak U.S. data has pushed back rate-hike expectations to late 15 Dollar index retreats after approaching crucial Fib retracement; other levels to watch In 2014, the U.S. economy … Continued
The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of March 31, 2015. Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: At some point, the streak had to end. For 12 months to February, U.S. non-farm payroll grew 200k-plus month-over-month. Consensus was for that … Continued
SMH’s latest rally attempt gets rejected at underside of broken Oct 2014 trendline Past 3 months, some semi outfits have seen estimates revised up, some down ETF has retraced 61.8% of Mar 00-Nov 08 decline; may mean pause/stop In the … Continued
Margin debt jumps $20bn in Feb to nearly match all-time high a year ago Interesting, tight correlation between margin debt and U.S. banks’ C&I loans Rise in inventories-to-sales ratio probably suggests imminent slowdown in C&I loans NYSE margin debt shot … Continued
Ratio of personal interest income to payments declines for three years now Persistent rise in number of 65 years and over who are employed Suppressed rates past six years no good news for seniors In his inaugural blog post on Tuesday, … Continued
U.S. corporate profits down in 2014, but not S&P 500 earnings Since ’46, corporate profits have only dropped 4 times during expansion Twice since 1989, corporate profits fell but not SPX earnings, latter fell following year U.S. corporate profits were down … Continued
Share of U.S. corporate profits in national income barely off all-time highs Share of software plus R&D in U.S. private fixed investment falling since 2009 As good a hint as any for corporates to send current margins unsustainable long term? … Continued