Between the January 20th intra-day low of $181.02 and the February 1st high of $194.58, SPY, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, rallied 7.5 percent… in nine sessions. Too much too fast? Probably. That said, this was preceded by a nearly … Continued
To say that energy stocks are back in favor will be an exaggeration, but they have perked up of late. Off the January 20th intra-day low, XLE, the SPDR Energy ETF, has rallied north of 16 percent. That is in … Continued
The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of January 26, 2016. Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: Two important developments took place this week in central banking. First, the Fed. This week’s FOMC meeting was a non-event. No interest-rate decision … Continued
The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of January 19, 2016. Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: The International Monetary Fund lowers – again – its outlook for global economic growth this year. Warning of bumpier rides, especially in the … Continued
The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of January 12, 2016. Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: With crude oil tanking the way it has, it is worth taking note that oil does correlate with inflation expectations. Already, the 10-year … Continued
Among several culprits behind the recent sell-off in global stocks, two probably stand out: the yuan and crude oil. Chinese stocks began this week where they left off on Friday, dropping more than five percent on Monday. Last week, the … Continued
“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” So says the fictional character Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film Wall Street. Then there is the saying ‘bulls make money, bears make money, pigs get slaughtered.’ The hypothetical buy-write involving … Continued
The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of January 5, 2016. Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: The World Bank, warning of an increase in risks to the global economy, expects growth this year to come in at 2.9 percent, … Continued
What a start? The year 2016 has gotten off to an ominous start. The S&P 500 large cap index is down 4.9 percent in the first four sessions – the worst four-day start to a year. Some others like the … Continued
The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of December 29, 2015. Change is week-over-week. (Due to New Year’s Day last week, the CFTC released numbers on Monday, instead of last Friday.) 10-year note: ‘Will it or wouldn’t it?’ was … Continued