After President Donald Trump won the election last November, U.S. bonds and stocks had a massive positive reaction. The former sold off, the latter rallied. On November 8 (election day), TLT, the iShares 20+ year Treasury bond ETF, closed at … Continued
Third time is a charm for small-caps? Having tried – and failed – twice to break out of a months-long range, the Russell 2000 small cap index went for a third one last week. Odds favor it meets with the … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of May 30, 2017. 10-year note: Currently net long 258.2k, down 104.3k. “If the tension between the progress on employment and the lack of progress on inflation persists, it may lead me to … Continued
ITB, the iShares U.S. home construction ETF, has posted seven straight positive months. The rally began last November – post-election. Momentum is not broken, but is not in acceleration either. May was essentially unchanged – up 0.25 percent – with … Continued
The euro looks tired. A pause in a prevailing uptrend or a decent peak? Non-commercial futures traders can potentially decide. Non-commercials have never been as bullish in euro futures since October 2013. As of Tuesday last week, they held nearly … Continued
U.S. stocks have come a long way. February last year turned out to be a major low (black arrow in Charts 1/2/3/4), and after that the November 8 presidential election last year. Performance is not uniform, of course. Some are … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of May 23, 2017. 10-year note: Currently net long 362.5k, up 122.5k. FOMC minutes for the May 2-3 meeting were released Wednesday. Post-statement, futures priced in 83 percent odds of a 25-basis-point hike … Continued
Here is a brief review of period-over-period change in short interest in the May 1-15 period in nine S&P 500 sectors. XLB (SPDR materials ETF) Support at 51-plus was defended yet again on May 18. At the same time, bulls … Continued
U.S. financials are acting lethargic but they have so far managed to cling on to potentially crucial support. Post-presidential election last November, a fire was lit under U.S. financials. Intraday between November 9 and March 2, XLF, the SPDR financial … Continued
U.S. real GDP grew 0.7 percent in 1Q17. This was the weakest quarter since a negative reading three years ago. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow model forecasts growth snapping back to 4.1 percent in 2Q17. Irrespective of quarterly swings, growth remains … Continued