Inability of offensives to take the lead has been a thorn in the side of rally since Oct 15th low Outperformance last week of XLY vs. XLP and HYG vs. LQD sign of trend change? Duel on between seasonally favorable … Continued
Facing lower earnings, several oil companies already plan to cut 2015 capex U.S. energy sector accounts for whopping one-third of S&P 500 capex Given drop in oil price, ‘15 S&P 500 EPS estimates too optimistic Oil’s sharp drop can reverberate … Continued
VIX:VXV itching to move higher, which could put stocks under pressure VIX suggests calm, but SKEW points to institutions buying tail-risk protection Put-to-call ratios have had extreme readings past several sessions on both CBOE, ISE The S&P 500 Large Cap … Continued
Economy was probably not reason why QE2/3 got launched, stock sell-off was One month after QE1/2 ended, stocks began to act sick, prompting Fed into action Year-end rally may or may not happen; impending sell-off to test Fed’s pain threshold … 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
Even during recent sell-off, Investors Intelligence bears never went over 20 Overall sentiment too smug, but buy-the-dip complacency has paid off – so far Risk is, stretched sentiment readings mean there are too many on one side of trade After … Continued
For second week running, hedge funds stayed net long VIX futures Three times since 2009 when this has happened, equities have gone on to rally Ideal scenario: SPX goes lower and successfully tests 1900, just in time for year-end rally … Continued
VIX looks to be setting up to move higher near-term Medium-term technicals halfway through unwinding overbought conditions Long-term, potentially saucer bottom in making, could be headed a lot higher in months to come Last Friday, even as all the major … Continued
Margin debt continues to hover near all-time highs, with some subtle differences underneath Fourteen-percent rise in SPX since Feb unable to inspire more leverage-taking Naz correlation suggests margin debt headed lower in outer months In today’s algo- and dark pool-dominated … 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