CoT: Peek Into Future Through Futures

The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of August 16, 2016.  Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: One more prominent central banker this week seemed to throw his hands up in the air. John Williams, San Francisco Fed president, in … Continued

XLY Breaks Out, Yet Risk-Reward Odds For Now Tilt Toward Risk

posted in: Economy, Equities, Technicals | 0

XLY, the SPDR consumer discretionary ETF, acts well.  It just broke out to a new high, as did its top three holdings – Amazon (AMZN), Home Depot (HD), and Comcast Corporation (CMCSA).  These three make up 12.7 percent, 7.3 percent … Continued

Divergences Abound But Can End With Vengeance

To say that stocks have diverged from a whole host of things ranging from earnings to Treasury bonds to crude oil to economic data is an understatement. This is not some new phenomenon … has been going on for a … Continued

CoT: Peek Into Future Through Futures

The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of August 9, 2016.  Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: Are we beginning to see a chink in central bankers’ armor? Major central banks responded to the financial crisis by aggressively deploying both … Continued

Dollar And Crude Need To Cooperate Big Time For 2H Earnings Estimates To Come Through

The 2Q16 earnings season is winding down.  As of August 3rd, 430 of S&P 500 companies have reported results, with 297 beating (69.1 percent) on operating earnings, 40 meeting and 93 missing.  (By now, 453 have reported, so the above … Continued

Large Specs’ Massive Net Shorts In VIX Futures Contrarian Signal

posted in: Derivatives, Equities, Technicals | 0

Back in 2013, by August 20th, non-commercials had built 116,317 contracts in net shorts in VIX futures.  In the next 10 weeks (by October 29th), net shorts dropped to 39,673 (Chart 1).  Intra-day, spot VIX jumped from 11.83 on August … Continued

Short Interest Tailwind Continues – Remaining Shorts Likely To Have Last Laugh?

posted in: Economy, Equities, Technicals | 0

U.S. equities continue to enjoy short-interest tailwind, but are likely to face difficulty doing so in the weeks to come. In the latest period, on an index level, short interest continued to drop.  The July 15-29 two-week period saw it … Continued

Nasdaq 100 In/Near Record Territory – Momentum Strong, Fundamentals Weak

posted in: Economy, Equities, Technicals | 0

U.S. tech stocks have come to life.  The Nasdaq composite (5213.14) is within spitting distance of its all-time high 5231.94 of July last year.  On a weekly closing basis, last week was a new record. The Nasdaq 100 index (4784.74) … Continued

Breakout On Major U.S. Indices Fizzles Or Sizzles To Blow-Off Top?

Breakouts galore in U.S. equity indices! The S&P 500 large cap index broke out to a new all-time high on July 11th, and has since made several more highs.  The breakout came after having gone sideways since essentially February 2015 … Continued