Duel between year-end seasonality (+ve) and QE end (-ve)

posted in: Credit, Economy, Equities | 0

Economy was probably not reason why QE2/3 got launched, stock sell-off was One month after QE1/2 ended, stocks began to act sick, prompting Fed into action Year-end rally may or may not happen; impending sell-off to test Fed’s pain threshold … Continued

Gold is bottoming, only question is duration

posted in: Derivatives, Equities, Technicals | 0

Improvement in gold’s price action in recent sessions Key will be if non-commercials begin to add to net long gold futures Looks to be bottoming, but still tentative; short GLD puts safe way to go for now Gold ($1,187.9) is … Continued

Recent equity advance probably squeezed shorts, who could get active again

posted in: Equities, Technicals | 0

Shorts continued to raise bets, with short interest at multi-year highs October 15th reversal followed by sharp advance probably caused short-covering With QE gone and broken trendline resistance on S&P 500 intact, shorts could get active again Bulls probably took … Continued

Gold probably wants to go lower near-term

posted in: Currency, Derivatives, Technicals | 0

James Bullard’s recent dovish comments fail to ignite interest in gold Possibility of triple-bottom reversal, but needs confirmation With recent thrust waning, near-term bias is down Since its peak in September 2011 at $1,924/ounce, gold has been trapped in a … Continued

Falling trading vol in U.S. bonds can cause problem during times of stress

posted in: Credit, Economy | 0

2007/2008 crisis fueled by excessive use of leverage Not much learned from that experience as U.S. debt continues to balloon Consistently falling trading volume can create problem even as primary market has gotten bigger As the chart below shows, we … Continued

Bulls have opportunity to squeeze shorts near-term, can they deliver?

posted in: Equities, Technicals | 0

Shorts added to already-elevated positions on time to take advantage of latest decline in equities Indices in gross oversold conditions, giving bulls opportunity to try to squeeze shorts If shorts resist these pressures well, that signals rockier time ahead for … Continued

Why are markets failing to rally on dovish Fed message?

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

Fed has openly discussed benefits of wealth effect; now adds another tool – talking down dollar Six years into recovery post-crisis, U.S. economy yet to witness escape velocity Dovish FOMC message fails to ignite sustained rally in US equities These … Continued

Gold sitting on must-hold support

In 12 years ended September 2011, gold surged nearly eight times Momentum reversed and was never recouped even though QE3 was launched late ‘12 Sitting on crucial support; lot depends on if U.S. $ takes break from 12-wk, eight-percent-plus rally … Continued

Equities hammering out near-term bottom

posted in: Equities, Technicals | 0

Encouraging signs of near-term bottom VIX unable to break past 17; several other indicators grossly oversold Medium-term risks remain; SPX, DOW, RUT, NYSE have broken late-2012 trendline The Dow Industrials and the Nasdaq Composite yesterday successfully tested trendline support going … Continued