Fed Pauses; Markets Demand 3 Cuts By Year-End, Inflation-Focused Powell Pushes Back

After hiking 10 consecutive times totaling 500 basis points, the Jerome Powell-led Fed hinted at a pause on Wednesday. Markets are now pricing in three 25-basis-point cuts by year-end. Powell – focused on inflation – promptly dashed hopes for rate … Continued

Near-Term, In FOMC Week, Reduced Volatility Likely To Help Equity Bulls; Medium- To Long-Term, No Fed Pivot Forthcoming

Medium- to long-term, Fed pivot-yearning equity bulls could be setting themselves up for disappointment given the Fed’s resolve to keep rates higher for longer and the trajectory of the US economy and/or corporate earnings. Near-term, in an FOMC week, a … Continued

CoT: Peek Into Future Through Futures, How Hedge Funds Are Positioned

Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of April 25, 2023. 10-year note: Currently net short 740.3k, up 60.2k. The FOMC meets next week. A 25-basis-point hike is baked in. In the futures market, traders have assigned an 84 percent … Continued

KRE Shorts, Having Aggressively Built Position, Probably Expect ETF To Complete Head-And-Shoulders Technical Pattern

posted in: Credit, Economy, Equities, Technicals | 0

Post-SVB collapse, community and regional banks have come under shorts’ attack. Bruised KRE, having sliced through the neckline of a head-and-shoulders formation last month, has more to go on the downside should the pattern complete. The number of commercial banks … Continued

CoT: Peek Into Future Through Futures, How Hedge Funds Are Positioned

Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of April 18, 2023. 10-year note: Currently net short 680.1k, up 41k. Non-commercials added another 41,004 contracts to their already-elevated holdings of net shorts in 10-year note futures. The 680,081 count is the … Continued

CoT: Peek Into Future Through Futures, How Hedge Funds Are Positioned

Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of April 11, 2023. 10-year note: Currently net short 639k, up 18k. The 10-year treasury yield (3.52 percent) dropped from 4.33 percent last October to the low six sessions ago of 3.25 percent. … Continued

After Decent Rally In Recent Weeks, Sellers Get Active At Resistance On Major Equity Indices; Mar CPI On Wed

posted in: Economy, Equities, Technicals | 1

Ahead of Wednesday’s March CPI and after a nice two- to three-week rally, sellers show up at important resistance on major US equity indices. With the daily in overbought territory, the bias is to the downside near term. Trader expectations … Continued

CoT: Peek Into Future Through Futures, How Hedge Funds Are Positioned

Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of April 4, 2023. 10-year note: Currently net short 621k, up 149.5k. The FOMC minutes for the March 21-22 meeting come out on Wednesday. The fed funds rate was raised by 25 basis … Continued

Ahead Of Fri’s Mar Payrolls, Feb Openings Suggest Continued Softening In Job Creation

posted in: Economy | 0

On Friday, March’s employment numbers will be reported. Job growth has been decelerating for months now. Amidst this comes February’s JOLTS report, which points to more softening in the jobs picture in the months ahead. In February, the US economy … Continued

Tech Massively Outperforms In Mar, But Internals, Plus Small-Caps, Sow Doubts

posted in: Economy, Equities, Technicals | 1

In March, The Nasdaq 100 jumped 9.5 percent. In contrast, the S&P 500 only managed to rally 3.5 percent, while the Russell 2000 small cap index gave back five percent. Tech’s outperformance comes at a time when economically sensitive small-caps … Continued