Laggards since March, small-caps continue to fall behind large-caps With increasing signs of distribution, RUT, IWM face technical hurdles More pressure ahead if/when non-commercials start adding to net shorts Since end-September, large speculators have drastically cut back on their net … Continued
Financials have been acting better of late. Since November 20 when XLF, the financials ETF, successfully tested its September 19th high, there are bids underneath particularly large-cap financials. The stocks responded very well to the jobs report last Friday. This … Continued
Big tailwind for stocks has come from grossly oversold technical conditions Several indicators are lagging – failing to confirm recovery highs in major U.S. indices Some signs stocks want to rest; could be important as SPX sits right underneath major … Continued
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
Post-October 15th reversal, equities have come too far too soon Sentiment less frothy, but in worse-case scenario has room to go a lot lower Having expended lots of energy past several sessions, bulls lack buying prowess for now Phew! Some … Continued
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
VIX action yesterday constructive for equity bulls Medium- to long-term, equities have much more to go on the downside Near-term picture beginning to change, as beaten-down junk bonds and small-caps attract bids The morning gap-down in U.S. equities yesterday was … Continued
Large speculators in Russell 2000 futures showing aggression, net shorts highest since June 2011 IWM short interest gradually on decline since end-July, stock seems to find support at 110 Too early to say support will hold medium-term, but a trade … Continued
The answer to the question above is a probable yes. Twice since early March this year, small-caps have come under decent amount of pressure. The first was a nine-week, 11-percent decline that began early March, followed by a nine-percent drop beginning … Continued
NYSE Composite short interest in the middle of August was essentially unchanged month-over-month at 14.8bn, while the Nasdaq Composite saw a 2.4-percent decrease at 8.6bn. The adjacent chart and the one below show how short interest has been building up … Continued