After last week’s bloodbath in stocks, Friday brought a small consolation for small-cap investors. Maybe. During the week, IWM, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF, lost major support – which is three percent away. The 118-119 support goes back to March last … Continued
An options trade may be brewing on IWM, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF. In the July 15-31 period, shorts’ bearish bet on IWM paid off. Short interest went up nearly five percent during the period. The ETF fell 2.1 percent, … Continued
The SPDR Consumer Discretionary ETF (XLY) went through a lot last week – down 2.4 percent, as media and consumer discretionary stocks like Walt Disney (DIS) took it on the chin. On a weekly basis, the ETF is overbought and … Continued
Small-caps were big laggards last week. IWM, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF, lost 2.5 percent, versus drops of 1.3 percent for the S&P 500 Index, 1.8 percent for the Dow Industrials and 1.7 percent for the Nasdaq Composite, among others. … Continued
U.S. small-caps have been through a lot in recent months. Chart 1 says it all. Will that change following Tuesday’s huge reversal? Since the Russell 2000 Index (1224.6) broke the mid-October 2014 trend line toward the end of April, it … Continued
Another down week for gold – fifth in a row! Last Friday’s action in the meantime points to potential relief ahead – at least near-term. At one point when the metal made a weekly low on Friday, it was down … Continued
Hindsight is always 20/20. Back on June 1 when I hypothetically wrote a June 5th weekly 76.50 naked call on the SPDR Consumer Discretionary ETF (XLY), it turned out to be a dud trade. The idea was to generate income, … Continued
The yellow metal cannot catch a break. GLD, the SPDR Gold ETF, broke down last week, losing eight-month support at $110. The corresponding support on spot gold lies around $1,140. Friday, gold closed at $1,132.20 and GLD at $108.65. The … 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
June’s housing starts will be published this Friday. Month-to-month, this is a volatile series. May was down 11 percent, while April was up 22 percent. Historically, starts remain low. As Chart 1 shows, it is not often the green line … Continued