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
Here is a brief review of period-over-period change in short interest in the December 1-15 period in nine S&P 500 sectors. XLB (SPDR materials ETF) XLB (60.37) continued to grind higher all along the daily upper Bollinger band, rising to … Continued
Here is a brief review of period-over-period change in short interest in the November 16-30 period in nine S&P 500 sectors. XLB (SPDR materials ETF) In a shooting star session on December 4, XLB (59.51) rose to a new all-time … Continued
Unless momentum changes swiftly, the tech-dominated Nasdaq 100 index once again is beginning to lag, creating opportunities for nimble traders. The Nasdaq 100 has come a long way. It is up nearly 29 percent this year – much more than … Continued
Here is a brief review of period-over-period change in short interest in the November 1-15 period in nine S&P 500 sectors. XLB (SPDR materials ETF) XLB (59.14) peaked at 59.62 on October 26. The bears were able to push the … Continued
Small-caps have sprung back to life in recent sessions. Since peaking at 1514.94 on October 5 through the intraday low of 1454.17 last Wednesday, the Russell 2000 small cap index (1503.40) shed four percent. It was a slow drip-drip move … Continued