Latest Posts

  • Finance 0

    E Dreadful News Regarding Self Driving Cars

    The news regarding self driving cars is turning dreadful. Yes that is right. The technology is limited today, but in the future, it will most likely cause suffering, fear and/or unhappiness. So, how could that be? Aren’t we taught that technology represents progress? Well, in the case of self driving cars we may be looking at technology that could result in a massive regression. No, I am not talking about the bad movie, either. Before discussing the technology of Baidu (BIDU), Google (GOOGL), and Tesla (TSLA) at the end of this article, two developments must be considered. Perhaps the two most troubling developments are being pressed by...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Great Graphic: Dollar Pushes Back Below JPY110

    The yen is the strongest of the major currencies. It has gained about 0.65% against the dollar. It has been grinding lower throughout the Asian and European session and has remained in narrow ranges near its highs in the US morning.  Japan still seems isolated in terms of it desire to intervene. Ahead of the G7 heads of state summit this coming, the risk of intervention remains slight.  Asian and European shares were lower, which favors the yen. US yields are flat, while the US 10-year premium has narrow a couple of basis points.  As this Great Graphic, from Bloomberg, shows, the dollar’s high before the weekend formed the third poin...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    USO Struggling At The 200-Day Moving Average

    Is it a top in oil?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  What I do know is that USO (United States Oil Fund for those wondering) is having a horrible time trying to push through the 200-day moving average. If you look, at the weekly chart, this commodity has surged higher and since the February bottoms, and hardly hindered at all. Not until the daily chart met the 200-day MA.  And so far the moving average is winning. The last six trading sessions has seen oil unable to break through it.  Now to the bulls credit, USO isn’t selling off hard each time it has been rejected by the MA. The commodity doesn’t appear to be rolling over just yet. But...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Gold Takes A Breather … Is This The Buying Opportunity Investors Are Looking For?

    First it was Stan Druckenmiller, now it’s George Soros. Following billionaire former hedge fund manager Druckenmiller’s announcement that gold was his family office fund’s largest currency allocation, we learned last week that his old boss, billionaire investor George Soros, purchased a $264 million stake in Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold producer, after liquidating $3.5 billion in U.S.-listed stocks. Additionally, he disclosed owning call options on a gold ETF. Soros’ investment can be held up as further proof that sentiment toward gold has decidedly shifted positive, following the challenging last three years. London-based...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    E ADRs Best & Worst Report – May 23, 2016

    The best sector across ADRs is basic materials. The top countries are Canada, Bermuda, and Mexico. The average scores across our universe of ADRs is 45.64. For comparison, the average four and eight week ADR score is 46.67 and 48, respectively. The following chart shows historical scores since 2010. The average ADR in our research slipped by 1.47% last week and is now -26.97% below its 52 week high and 0.46% above its 200 dma. The average ADR has 3.62 days to cover held short and is expected to grow its EPS by 13.46% next year. The next table highlights the best and worst scoring ADRs in our universe. Basic materials (SIM, SNP, ECA, CEO, YPF,...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    A Quick Look At Gold

    Gold retraced 50% of its bull market and now looks to have bottomed. Fibonacci analysis coupled with “regular” chart levels give us a good framework for what may come next....
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    This Might Be The Most Extreme Stock Market Euphoria We Have Ever Seen

    “Bull markets are born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria.” -Sir John Templeton I’m a huge fan of John Templeton. He was one of the greatest investors of all time and shared a wealth of knowledge with us like the quote above (and this other one I wrote about just over a year ago). Some have used this quote recently to suggest that because we haven’t yet seen any signs of euphoria the bull market still has plenty of room to run. I have a different take. I have argued recently we have actually seen plenty of signs of “euphoria” including a record streak in extreme bull/bear readings in the ...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    What Does History Say About Markets That Fail To Make New Highs For Over One Year?

    Last New S&P 500 High Came In May 2015 On May 20, 2015 the S&P 500’s intraday high was 2134. Over a year later, that level has never been exceeded. What does history tell us about markets that fail to make new highs for a long period of time? 77% Of The Cases Ended With A Bear Market Market data from similar periods aligns with a May 16 article, History Says A Big Move Is Coming For Stocks. From Bloomberg: On May 23 the S&P 500 will extend its streak without a record to 253 trading days, matching the drought that lasted through February 1995. Only two other long-term rallies went without new highs for longer — 272 days throu...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Euro Bund Trading Recap

    I was traveling to Asia in the previous week. That said, I have avoided to trade or look at any market and was pretty focused and busy to acclimate to the environment. Right now it’s quite hot around this area but there are an amazing lot of great fruits to eat here. The rice is awesome as well! Anyway, it is the first business day in the week and I thought to take a look at the markets and provide you with a free recap on Euro Bund. The condition is quite balanced right now. The market opened inside of Friday’s balanced profile. To be more precise we opened right at the previous VVAH close level. In such a situation we would expect a ro...
    On May 23, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    EC The Mirage Of Irregular GDP And How Economists Get Away With It

    Last week, Japan reported GDP growth of 1.7% in Q1. That was much better than expected and led to all the usual extrapolations about how bright the future is in Japan now that QQE is working (and NIRP since that was started during the quarter). In this devalued economic world of central banking for the sake of central banking, context and common sense need not apply since all that matters is one quarter with a plus sign so that all prior quarters can be forgotten; no matter how many of them have piled up to this point. Rising gross domestic product reverses a contraction in the fourth quarter of 2015 and means Japan has avoided another techn...
    On May 23, 2016 / By