Here is a brief review of period-over-period change in short interest in the January 1-12, 2018 period in nine S&P 500 sectors. XLB (SPDR materials ETF) On the 16th this month, XLB (63.39) rose to 63.66 intraday but only to … Continued
Spot West Texas Intermediate crude, up 54-plus percent since last June alone, is giving out signs of fatigue. Non-commercials have been on the right side of this trade. As they usually are. These traders follow the trend, and the trend … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of January 9, 2018. 10-year note: Currently net short 196.9k, up 121k. Is this the big one? The big breakout in 10-year Treasury yields, that is? The 10-year has been trapped in a … Continued
Here is a brief review of period-over-period change in short interest in the December 16-29 (2017) period in nine S&P 500 sectors. XLB (SPDR materials ETF) Already up 3.2 percent for the month/year, XLB (62.47) stayed with the daily upper … 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
Stocks in general essentially began 2018 where 2017 left off. Take financials. XLF (SPDR financial sector ETF) was up 20 percent last year. In the first four sessions this year, it is up another 1.8 percent. Although major indices have … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of January 2, 2018. 10-year note: Currently net short 75.8k, down 7.8k. It is on. Doves versus hawks. At least for now. FOMC minutes for the December 12-13 meeting highlighted the growing tension … Continued
Gold shows nice price action, just broke past $1,300/ounce, and has room to rally further, particularly if non-commercial futures traders continue to keep the faith and/or the U.S. dollar weakens further. Most recently, the yellow metal bottomed at $1,238.30 on … Continued
Non-commercial futures traders tend to be trend followers, and do a pretty good job of it except at inflection points. Chart 1 plots these traders’ holdings in Russell 2000 mini-index futures (ICE and CME combined) with the cash. The two … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of December 26, 2017. 10-year note: Currently net short 83.7k, up 39.4k. No one said a breakout of this significance would be easy. Last week, 10-year yields closed right underneath a three-decade-old descending … Continued