Less than two weeks ago, when the S&P 500 Large Cap Index was giving out signs of fatigue, the VIX was giving out signs of stability. The former went on to post a new all-time high early this month, even … Continued
Tick, tick, tick. That is the sound of the clock ticking for the first rate hike by the Fed. It is coming sooner than expected. So it seems. Or, is it? At least that is how the market seems to … Continued
Another year, another record issuance! Probably. US corporate bond issuance is on course for another record year. August-to-date, as per the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, corporations have issued $939.2bn, of which investment-grade is $738.2bn and high-yield $201.1bn. In … Continued
Remember the August payroll report, which came in much weaker than the consensus was expecting? After six consecutive months of 200k-plus (April in fact was 300k-plus) jobs, August produced a mere 142k. Across the board, economists quickly brushed it off … Continued
Investors have spoken. Bring up yesterday’s daily chart on AAPL ($97.99), and it is all there to see. Two o’ clock was when sentiment shifted. Post-announcement of products in Cupertino, bulls valiantly rallied the stock nearly five points, seeking to … Continued
The importance of margin debt in U.S. equities’ persistent grind higher cannot be stressed enough. Other sources of funds are simply no match – at least have been that way a while. Despite persistent, year-in-year-out talk of an impending selloff, … Continued
As discussed last week that non-commercial futures traders might just once again be ahead of the curve in anticipating market reaction to Thursday’s ECB decision, they indeed were. By Tuesday (last week), they had raised net shorts in euro futures … Continued
Since we got that VIX-spike signal four weeks ago and subsequent signs that equities are regaining momentum, this is the first time we are getting signals that they are worn out – at least near-term. Since the bottom at 1904.78 … Continued
The answer to the question above is a probable yes. Twice since early March this year, small-caps have come under decent amount of pressure. The first was a nine-week, 11-percent decline that began early March, followed by a nine-percent drop beginning … Continued
The revised 2Q14 GDP numbers last week have rekindled hopes of a corporate capital spending revival in the U.S. It was the second estimate (preliminary), so there is one more revision to go. Nevertheless, several inputs related to corporate spending … Continued