Major US equity indices are at/past late-January highs. Investor sentiment, on the other hand, is nowhere near as giddy. Is this good or bad? The Russell 2000 small cap index (1722.54) just broke out of a two-month pennant. Of major … Continued
US small-caps are outperforming. Price action is great. But large-caps are not on the same page. And high-yield corporate bonds have diverged with small-caps for a while now. In early 2016 when US stocks reached a major low, several other … Continued
The S&P 500 just broke out of trend-line resistance from late January, and apparently spent tons of energy in doing so. Near-term, the options market is reflecting elevated optimism. Unwinding is likely. US stocks enjoyed a nice rally in the … Continued
Major US equity indices continue to try to repair the technical damage they sustained in February and March. After a decent rally in the past couple of weeks, risks are rising near term. Foreigners sold $1.2 billion in US stocks … Continued
It is a top. But is this the top? All of a sudden, it is not a crazy question to ask. The ferocity by which U.S. equities have dropped in recent sessions, one has to wonder if this marks a … Continued
A P/E of 17x on the S&P 500 large cap index cannot be called euphoric. A little above average, sure, but not euphoric. On forward operating earnings using next year’s estimates, that is what the index is currently trading at. … Continued
Driven by tax-cut optimism and favorable seasonality, trader/investor sentiment is giddy, but small-caps are not getting their fair share. The latest Investors Intelligence numbers will be out later today, but as of last week, bulls have been 60 percent or … Continued
Traders are positioning for a Santa rally, but they are trying to play it safe. Intraday over the last six sessions, VIX (9.58) collapsed five points, in the process also losing shorter-term moving averages, as well as the 50- and … Continued
Equity bulls often assert that this is the most hated bull market ever. There is some – with emphasis on ‘some’ – truth to that, particularly if we focus on short interest. U.S. stocks reached an important bottom in January/February … Continued
The Dow Industrials is on pace to creating history this week. Last Friday, it rose for 11 sessions in a row, for a cumulative gain of 3.8 percent. The longest streak was recorded in January 1987 when it rallied 11 … Continued