Peek Into Future Through Futures

The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of June 23, 2015.  Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: Yields pushed up nearly 21 basis points for the week.  Sales of both new and existing homes did well in May (even though … Continued

Using Options To Play ITB’s Inability To Cash In On Week’s Good Housing Data

Over the past couple of days, U.S. housing produced two good reports for the month of May. Monday, existing home sales were published, coming in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million units – up 5.1 percent month-over-month … Continued

FXE Looks Fatigued Near-Term — Options For Income Generation

The Friday before January 25th Greek elections, the euro closed at $1.123.  Yesterday, one euro bought $1.133. Since anti-austerity Syriza party swept to victory late January in Greece, the euro – by default FXE, the Currency Shares Euro Trust ETF … Continued

An Options Strategy For XLY Shorts

posted in: Derivatives, Equities, Technicals | 0

Last Thursday saw a powerful rally in stocks.  Several indices went on to notch new records.  The Nasdaq Composite surpassed its March 2000 intra-day high.  The Russell 2000 Small Cap Index broke out to a new high.  Several others, including … Continued

IWM Breaks Out — Shorts Can Use Options For Damage Repair

posted in: Derivatives, Equities, Technicals | 0

IWM, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF, broke out Thursday, and it is time to pay heed to that famous quote, “When the facts change, I change my mind.  What do you do, sir?” To refresh, back on May 26th, hypothetically … Continued

Peek Into Future Through Futures

The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of June 16, 2015.  Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: Let us see if we can make some sense out of this week’s major developments.  The FOMC met, and it looked like members … Continued

Odds Of IWM Breakout Suspect As KBE Gives Out Signs Of Fatigue

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

Is the Fed about to make a mistake? Post-FOMC meeting yesterday, the Fed’s ‘dot plot’ suggested a majority of policymakers were leaving the door open for two rate hikes in 2015.  After the release of the statement, TLT, the iShares … Continued

Cash-Secured Put On TLT

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

TLT, the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund, declined 16 percent between the all-time intra-day high of 137.09 on January 30 and the low of 115.26 last Wednesday. It is as if the bond market globally has been awakened from … Continued

June Jump In U.S. Builder Sentiment Versus Recent Spike In Mortgage Rates

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

U.S. home builder sentiment in June jumps, to match post-bubble high of last September Recent spike in interest rates, if sticks, potentially shot across housing bow ITB acts tentative, but has not given up on crucial 26 support U.S. home … Continued

Loss Of October 2014 Trendline Widespread Across U.S. Indices

posted in: Equities, Technicals | 0

Major U.S. indices have lost October 2014 trendline Other medium- to longer-term trendlines and support zones are intact Since trendline break is not in isolation, rather across indices, worth paying attention to Five weeks ago, the S&P 500 Index (2094.11) … Continued