June U.S. auto sales 17.1mn units, preceded by cycle high of 17.7mn in May Auto loans nearing $1tn; sharp rise since 3Q10; non-revolving consumer credit $2.5tn Potential problems in autos: extension of average maturity and rise in average amount financed … Continued
The SPDR Consumer Discretionary ETF (XLY) finds itself at a crucial juncture. And those that are short likely have some decisions to make. Heading into today, over the past 12 sessions XLY has made a high of $78.31 and a … Continued
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
Retail sales up three months in a row, following three straight declines PCE, which includes services, probably better gauge of consumer behavior How consumer spending fares depends on consumers’ willingness to lever up Once every month, U.S. markets await with … Continued
Back on June 1st, I talked about a naked call strategy on XLY, the Consumer Discretionary SPDR ETF. To refresh, the ETF closed at 76.52 then. Weekly June 5th 76.50 calls were sold for $0.47. Last Friday, XLY closed at … Continued
The U.S. economy continues to churn out mixed messages. The retail sales number on Wednesday was an outright dud. Sales in April were flat month-over-month, against expectations for a 0.2-percent gain. With that, sales are now down to flat in … Continued
A month ago, KBE, the SPDR S&P Bank ETF, looked on the verge of a breakout (more here). Here we are, one month later, the ETF has indeed broken out. It has the potential to be a major breakout, as … Continued
U.S. retail sales disappoint again – has not grown four out of last five months Not much correlation between gasoline price and personal consumption expenditures RTH, which had diverged from weakening retail sales, has been weakening past seven weeks U.S. … Continued
The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of May 5, 2015. Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: It was a weird week. That is an understatement. Up until Wednesday, 10-year yields were up 20 basis points. Treasurys on the long … Continued
Retail sales soft in Jan – first back-to-back m/m drop since mid-12 Consumers not quite ready to do away with savings from low gas price XLY, RTH break out, betting consumers will end up spending gas windfall U.S. retail sales … Continued