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  • Finance 0

    S&P 500 Snapshot: Holiday Week Ends With Mere 0.07% Gain

    The S&P closed the July 4th holiday week with a mere gain of 0.07%. The index opened above yesterday’s close and spent the first half of the day climbing, only to level off and close with a gain of 0.64%. The U.S. Treasury puts the closing yield on the 10-year note at 2.39%. Here is a daily chart of the S&P 500. Today’s selling puts the volume 3% below its 50-day moving average. A Perspective on Drawdowns Here’s a snapshot of record highs and selloffs since the 2009 trough. Here is a more conventional log-scale chart with drawdowns highlighted. Here is a linear scale version of the same chart with the 50- and 200-day...
    On July 7, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Hot Options Report: End Of Day – Friday, July 7

    Most active equity options and strikes for the end of day, July 7, 2017  ...
    On July 7, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Agriculture Markets Report – Friday, July 7

    A review of the day’s trading in the agriculture markets. Video Length: 00:14:34...
    On July 7, 2017 / By
  • Finance 0

    Great Rotation In Progress Amid Shift From Growth And Elsewhere

    U.S. economic data is softening and volatility remains low as the third quarter gets underway, but for all the activity among favored tech stocks during the second quarter, U.S. equities could only manage a very small gain. A relative calm that seems to have set in, but one firm is warning that investors should prepare for a massive rotation that may be starting. A rotation to drastically change the market Jefferies Chief Global Equity Strategist Sean Darby and team pointed out in a note dated July 3 that the S&P 500 only rose 2.74% during the second quarter. The Jefferies team added that although both the equity market and the econom...
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  • Finance 0

    Payroll Report; The State Of Slowing Or Not Slowing

    The payroll report for June 2017 was the first “good” one in some time. There are now a few indications that the “reflation” in the economy may be finally having positive effects on the labor market. The headline Establishment Survey gain was relatively solid at 222k, though it was above 200k for just the fourth time in the last nine months. The 6-month average, however, is still just 180k, much closer to 2012 levels than 2014. Maybe the best sign of delayed improvement was in average weekly hours. The estimate was revised higher for April to 34.5 per week, with hours in June matching that level. Those were the best figures since the ...
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  • Finance 0

    The Market Is Sending Mixed Signals

    The number of new 52-week lows on the NYSE is elevated. It isn’t what you want to see if you are expecting the market to push stock prices higher. On the other hand, it looks like we are getting a Dow Theory bull confirmation. The market is sending mixed signals. What to do? You have to decide for yourself because I have no special insights into this market. But in my accounts, I have more cash than usual, and a few short positions. However, I am also keeping my “longs” in the areas of the market that continue to do well. The Leader List The story today is the number of ETFs pushing up towards new highs such as Financials, I...
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  • Finance 0

    China And Copper Crossroads

    A few weeks ago I talked about commodities being at cross roads, and it’s particularly true for this commodity. Copper has been locked in a fairly tight range after the fast and furious breakout late last year. The rebound in China’s economy (stimulus and property driven at first) along with lukewarm positioning was the setup. And now the key catalyst for the move (if you look at the chart below) has also moved into a tight range. It’s fair to say the next steps for copper are going to be closely linked to what happens in China. As I noted this week, the outlook in this respect is somewhat murky. Taking a bigger picture ...
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  • Finance 0

    CAD/JPY To 90?

    Next week is an exceptionally important one for CAD/JPY with the Bank of Canada’s monetary policy announcement and Janet Yellen’s semiannual testimony on the calendar. Friday’s U.S. and Canadian economic reports harden the case for BoC and Fed hawkishness. 45K jobs were added in the month of June, driving the unemployment rate down to 6.5% from 6.6%. Although most of the jobs were part-time, the uptick in the participation rate and the fact that Canada did not lose full-time jobs (after adding a whopping 77K in May), reflects labor market strength. The IVEY PMI index also rebounded sharply in June after pulling back in May. As for the d...
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  • Finance 0

    E Does Canada’s Job Growth Support Rate Hikes?

    As the Bank of Canada gets ready for its next rate policy meeting on July 12th, Canadian economists appear almost unanimous in calling for a rate hike, the first in nearly seven years. For many, the job numbers for June, just released today, re-enforce their expectations that the BoC will pull the trigger next week and go for 25pb hike. Economists from all the major banks have baked in about 90% chance that the BoC will raise its overnight rate. However, the labor market in Canada seems far from robust and certainly, in and of itself, does not indicate that the economy is operating a full capacity such that monetary tightening is required. To...
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  • Finance 0

    Applied And Peers Lead Tech Higher As Memory, Display Demand Continues

    Shares of semiconductor equipment makers are leading the tech sector after two research firms had bullish commentary on peer Applied Materials (AMAT). SEMICON NEXT WEEK: Semiconductor equipment suppliers will likely speak to “positive expectations on industry fundamentals,” said Citi analyst Atif Malik, in a research note out before the open. Malik, who also is bullish on the sector, sees the recent “pullback in the group on tech sector rotation as a buying opportunity, with group well positioned to benefit from multiple secular growth drivers thru 2020.” The analyst is especially constructive on shares of Applied Mate...
    On July 7, 2017 / By