Otherwise sleepy utilities outrun S&P 500 large-caps by wide margin this year Valuations stretched, but XLU’s dividend yields compare favorably to 30-year yields With signs of crowded trade, worth waiting on XLU, as path of least resistance lower near-term Utilities … Continued
October 15th bottom in stocks forces shorts to cover in many sectors IWM expends lots of short-covering fuel to approach crucial resistance Nasdaq, NYSE short interest at multi-year highs, can bulls force squeeze? Since stocks bottomed on October 15th, naysayers … Continued
After impressive two-day advance, Russell 2000 on verge of bullish golden cross Potential unwinding of VIX surge of early this week to act as tailwind for stocks In the end, rally nothing but gift for patient bears to short from … Continued
Bears must be scratching their heads over the move by equities the past couple of sessions. Intra-day, the S&P 500 (2041) has managed to rally 3.7 percent. If we must find a catalyst, there are many to choose from – … Continued
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