When VIX (12.22), the S&P 500 Volatility Index, spiked past 20 nine sessions ago, there was a lot of chatter as to if this time the breakout was real. It was not. In the subsequent eight sessions since that peak, … Continued
The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of July 14, 2015. Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: Fed Chair Janet Yellen during her mid-week Humphrey-Hawkins testimony reiterated her desire to hike interest rates later this year, if data cooperate. On … Continued
In the right circumstances, U.S. stocks have room to rally – at least in the near-term. After the recent pullback, U.S.-based stock funds attracted $14.1 billion in the week ended July 8 – biggest inflows since mid-December (courtesy of Lipper). … 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
The July 2nd ITB 27.50 naked calls hypothetically written on June 24 ended up in the money by six cents. The ETF closed at $27.56 last Thursday. Calls were sold for $0.38, so, after assignment, it is now an effective … Continued
The latest (mid-June) short-interest reports are intriguing in some respects. On both the NYSE Composite and Nasdaq Composite, short interest jumped period-over-period, to 16.2 billion and 8.9 billion respectively – up 3.6 percent and 3.4 percent, in that order. (Check … Continued
Over the past couple of days, U.S. housing produced two good reports for the month of May. Monday, existing home sales were published, coming in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million units – up 5.1 percent month-over-month … Continued
Last Thursday saw a powerful rally in stocks. Several indices went on to notch new records. The Nasdaq Composite surpassed its March 2000 intra-day high. The Russell 2000 Small Cap Index broke out to a new high. Several others, including … Continued
IWM, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF, broke out Thursday, and it is time to pay heed to that famous quote, “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” To refresh, back on May 26th, hypothetically … Continued
There is a trade brewing on GLD, the SPDR Gold Trust ETF. First some background. Ever since gold peaked in September 2011, the metal has lost its luster. Back then, GLD had $77.7 billion in assets, becoming the ETF with … Continued