Despite a down day in stocks in general, financials had a lot of oomph yesterday. KBE continues to hug the upper end of the one-plus-year range it is in (Chart 1), as if the ETF wants to break through resistance. … Continued
Short interest as of the end of March was flat on an index level, but action was hot and heavy on an industry/sector level. On the NYSE, short interest was 15.68 billion, down from 15.69 billion two weeks ago. On … Continued
NYSE short interest rises to match mid-Oct highs, diverges from Nasdaq Within Nasdaq, shorts aggressive in pure tech, but less so in biotech Relatively low short interest on IBB probably does not help longs It is getting a little difficult … Continued
Different messages coming out of two financial ETFs – KBE vs. XLF KBE similar to KRE, regional bank ETF, while XLF is large cap-dominated C&I loans have been growing nicely, but so is inventories-to-sales ratio, muddying picture How did U.S. … Continued
’15 growth in revenue/earnings expected to decelerate for most S&P 500 sectors Signal from options market points to probable pressure ahead for equities S&P 500 looks set to at least test if recent breakout was genuine At first glance, U.S. … Continued
Bull markets need fuel for continued push higher. Money can leave other asset classes, such as bonds, and into stocks. Or, they can come out of, let us say, money-market funds into stocks. Foreigners can raise net purchases of U.S. … Continued
Major U.S. banks’ 4Q14 earnings results big disappointment Release of reserves built up during crisis years have been big tailwind Financials’ path of least resistance down medium-term, though oversold near-term Investors were genuinely disappointed last week as all four major … Continued
October 15th bottom in stocks forces shorts to cover in many sectors IWM expends lots of short-covering fuel to approach crucial resistance Nasdaq, NYSE short interest at multi-year highs, can bulls force squeeze? Since stocks bottomed on October 15th, naysayers … Continued
Despite escape-velocity meme, yield curve continues to tighten Message of belly/long end of curve to short-end: be careful what you ask for Financials diverge from 10-2 spread, perhaps setting up as shorting opportunity next month One of the contrarian themes … Continued
Financials have been acting better of late. Since November 20 when XLF, the financials ETF, successfully tested its September 19th high, there are bids underneath particularly large-cap financials. The stocks responded very well to the jobs report last Friday. This … Continued