The Russell 2000 small cap index (1370.70) is stuck in a rut at a higher plateau. Sort of. The index has gone sideways for seven weeks now. In the meantime, it rose to an all-time high of 1392.71 on December … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of January 24, 2017. 10-year note: Yields (cash) rose 14 basis points for the week to 2.48 percent, having risen as high as 2.56 percent intra-day Thursday. Earlier, they bottomed at 2.31 percent … Continued
Here is a brief review of period-over-period change in short interest in the December 16-30 period in the Nasdaq and NYSE Group as well as nine S&P 500 sectors. There has been widespread decline in short interest. Nasdaq – short … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of January 3, 2017. 10-year note: Tuesday brought December’s ISM manufacturing index, which rose 1.5 points month-over-month to a two-year high 54.7; orders jumped 6.8 points m/m to a 25-month high. Ten-year yields … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of December 20, 2016. 10-year note: Ten-year Treasury yields peaked at 15.8 percent in September 1981, then dropping to 1.39 percent by July 2012. In July this year, those lows were slightly undercut; the … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of December 13, 2016. 10-year note: With the Fed this week having raised by 25 basis points the fed funds target rate to a range of 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent, its conventional … Continued
Over the weekend, non-OPEC producers agreed to cut crude output by 558,000 barrels per day, of which Russia would reduce by 300,000 b/d. This followed OPEC’s November 30 decision to cut output by 1.2 million b/d. The deal goes into … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of November 8, 2016. 10-year note: The 25-basis-point hike in the Fed funds rate last December was the first in nine-plus years. At 0.4 percent, rates are still zero-bound. Growth remains sluggish, but … Continued
Here is a brief review of change in short interest in the October 17-31 period in the Nasdaq and NYSE Group as well as nine S&P 500 sectors. Nasdaq – short interest ↑ 1.4 percent p/p; Nasdaq composite ↓ 0.5 … Continued
Equity bears have been rewarded the past couple of weeks, with the S&P 500 large cap index down 1.6 percent. There is likely more reward medium term, but near-term is a toss-up. In the wake of the 2.5-percent drop on … Continued