After having left the fed funds rate near zero for seven long years, the Fed seemingly has shifted to a tightening bias. In agreement, non-commercials in eurodollar futures are aggressively betting that rates are headed higher. Are they right? Since … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of March 21, 2017. 10-year note: Currently net short 100.4k, down 94k. In a Tuesday speech this week, Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Fed, said this: “If economic conditions evolve as I … Continued
After weeks of staying subdued, there was some spring in volatility’s feet this week. Will it last or peter out as has been the case for the umpteenth time post-election? Tuesday’s 10-percent rally in spot VIX (12.81) was the largest … Continued
Did U.S. small-caps lead or lag in the past four months? Depends on the timeframe. Post-November 8 election through the March 1 all-time high, the Russell 2000 small cap index rallied 18.4 percent. Year-to-date through that record high, it tacked … Continued
Ten-year Treasury yields are not going along with the Fed’s tightening posture. This could be because of a technical reason or yields could be sending an ominous message. Yields reached a historic low 1.34 percent last July, and have been … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of March 14, 2017. 10-year note: Currently net short 194.4k, down 104.1k. Equities up. Gold up. The US dollar index down. Ten-year Treasury yields down. This is how markets reacted to Wednesday’s FOMC … Continued
The US dollar index (cash) acts confused. Later today, it is all but certain that the Fed announces a hike in the fed funds rate. This would be the third increase since December 2015, when for the first time since … Continued
Spot West Texas Intermediate crude had a lousy last week, collapsing 9.1 percent as well as losing both 50- and 200-day moving averages. On a closing basis, it also lost the rising trend line from the lows of February last … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of March 7, 2017. 10-year note: The Janet Yellen-led Fed – and the one led by her predecessor Ben Bernanke – believe in the wealth effect. Since the financial crisis, anytime equities came … Continued
Chart 1 shows decent relationship between year-over-year change in the S&P 500 large cap index and the ISM manufacturing index. U.S. manufacturing activity has picked up – from 49.4 last August to 57.5 in February. The 8.3-point six-month jump is … Continued