Buyback-induced breakouts — signal or noise?

posted in: Economy, Equities, Technicals | 0

GE stages massive breakout Friday on back of massive buyback announcement S&P 500 companies splurged $565 billion on share repurchases in 2014 As/when buybacks dry up, support zones become more vulnerable Before last week, GE shares had been on a … Continued

End-March short interest: Indices flat, lots of changes industry- and sector-wide

posted in: Equities | 0

Short interest as of the end of March was flat on an index level, but action was hot and heavy on an industry/sector level. On the NYSE, short interest was 15.68 billion, down from 15.69 billion two weeks ago.  On … Continued

Peek into future through futures

The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of April 7, 2015.  Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: Interesting times, indeed!  Mexico this week issued a 100-year bond denominated in euros.  This is not the first time that nation has tapped … Continued

Limp signal out of vol of vol, but VIX:VXV probably sides with bulls N/T

posted in: Derivatives, Equities | 0

Both bulls and bears holding on to turf; S&P 500 remains range-bound VIX:VXV pokes head out of oversold zone but unable to make further progress Volatility of volatility jumped to highest four months ago; in no-man’s land currently Bulls and … Continued

Pace of energy job cuts slowing, even as hourly earnings holding up, what gives?

posted in: Commodities, Economy, Equities | 0

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

Range-bound SMH seems ripe for neutral option strategy

posted in: Derivatives, Equities, Technicals | 0

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

Peek into future through futures

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 still range-bound short-term, Fib possible roadblock medium- to long-term

posted in: Equities, Technicals | 0

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

U.S. personal interest income on decline; more seniors than ever staying in workforce

posted in: Economy, Equities | 0

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

Rare for U.S. corporate profits to drop during expansion — what to make of 2014 drop?

posted in: Economy, Equities | 0

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