The past couple of weeks offered both equity bulls and bears a little something to celebrate. The bulls got the relief rally, and the bears an opportunity to short. What next? Since the S&P 500 large cap index peaked on … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of Aug 22, 2017. 10-year note: Currently net long 261.2k, up 60.7k. Fed funds futures are currently pricing in 40 percent odds of a 25-basis-point increase in December, while September and November are … Continued
Here is a brief review of period-over-period change in short interest in the August 1-15 period in the Nasdaq and NYSE Group as well as nine S&P 500 sectors. Nasdaq Since the composite (6271.33) rallied to a new all-time high … Continued
XLY (SPDR consumer discretionary ETF) saves a potential breakdown – for now, and just in time. On June 5 this year, XLY (89.36) rallied to 92.14, before retreating. Seven weeks later, on July 27, it rallied to 92.55, only to … Continued
From the all-time high of 2490.87 on August 8 through last Friday’s intraday low of 2420.69, the S&P 500 large cap index shed 2.8 percent. Not much in a big scheme of things. It is still up 8.3 percent this … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of Aug 15, 2017. 10-year note: Currently net long 200.6k, down 29.2k. The annual Jackson Hole economic policy symposium – slated for August 24-26 this year – is known for its news-making potential. … Continued
It seems buyback deceleration continued in 2Q17. Based on results from 85 percent of S&P 500 companies, S&P Dow Jones Indices points out that buybacks are on course for a 10.4-percent decline quarter-over-quarter. Buybacks were $133.2 billion in 1Q17. In … Continued
Last week’s mini sell-off in U.S. equities did not materialize all of a sudden. This was building for a while. The Russell 2000 small-cap index in particular peaked as early as July 25. Investors/traders in general gravitate toward small-caps when … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of Aug 8, 2017. 10-year note: Currently net long 229.8k, up 19k. In the past several months, several Fed officials, including Chair Janet Yellen, have expressed concern over persistently rising stock-market valuations. Using … Continued
Dividends are a good source of income for Americans. Since Great Recession ended, U.S. personal income rose 35 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $16.4 trillion in 2Q17, while dividend income jumped 72.3 percent to $968.8 billion. Dividend … Continued