What do we know for sure about new all-time highs?
We know they aren't characteristics of downtrends.
New highs are something we regularly see in uptrends.
And wouldn't you know it, Gold Futures just made new all-time highs, priced in Japanese Yen.
"But I live in America, JC. Why should I care about gold in yen terms?"
Because Gold acts much more like a currency than a commodity. Haven't you noticed how practically every commodity on earth has skyrocketed the past 18 months, except Gold?
Besides, the new all-time highs in Gold priced in Yen also came along with new 52-week highs in Gold priced in both Euro and Australian Dollar.
We debuted a new scan recently which goes by the name- All Star Momentum.
All Star Momentum is a brand new scan that guides us towards the very best stocks in the market. This time around, we have incorporated our stock universe of Nifty 500 as the base. Among the 500 stocks that we follow, this scan will pump out names that are most likely to outperform the market.
From the desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Grant Hawkridge @granthawkridge
There’s been very little happening on our risk checklist, as evidence for risk appetite remains split between bulls and bears.
The last time we discussed it was in our Q1 Playbook. While the list hasn’t picked a decisive direction yet, the fact that it's such a mixed bag is information in and of itself.
It's been an excellent roadmap for us in recent months, because just like the market -- our risk checklist has also been a mess.
Let's take a look at where we stand and discuss some of the more recent developments.
From the desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Ian Culley @IanCulley
Not all stressors are debilitating.
In some cases, stress can push us to perform at our highest level. But, of course, there are instances when opposing forces become overwhelming, making it near impossible to reach our goals.
We’ve all been there.
And the markets are no different.
While we keep tabs on our heart rate or blood pressure to gauge our stress levels, we focus on credit spreads to measure stress in the market.
Given that rates continue to rise worldwide, it’s an appropriate time to evaluate these spreads and the potential obstacles that may lay ahead for risk assets.
We recently broke down credit spreads in anticipation of them widening and outlined some charts that are driving this trend.
Read our January 27 post for more information about the ins and outs of credit spreads and how we analyze them.
Since these spreads provide valuable information on the health of the overall market, we’re going to check back in and discuss another chart that is on our radar.
I’m reading the book “Trillions” by Robin Wigglesworth right now. It’s about the rise of passive index investing – or, according to its sub-title, “How a band of Wall Street renegades invented the index fund and changed finance forever.”
It’s been an enjoyable read so far. I’m about halfway through the book and am excited to see how it finishes.
While Wigglesworth’s book has been written and published, the story of passive investing overall remains unfinished. If it is like other investing fads that have come and gone, some of the most exciting times (for better or worse) may lie ahead. History is littered with investment approaches that move from novelty to seemingly foolproof only to end in heartbreak and tears for those left holding the bag.
These are the registration details for our live mid-month conference call for Premium Members of All Star Charts.
Our next Live Call will be held on Tuesday February 22nd at 6PM ET. As always, if you cannot make the call live, the video and slides will be archived and published here along with every other live call since 2015.
From the desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Ian Culley @IanCulley
Consolidation and range-bound action have dominated the currency market since late last year.
While commodities and cyclical stocks -- especially energy -- continue to catch a bid, commodity-centric currencies like the Australian and Canadian dollars fail to show any definitive signs of strength.
At the same time, the US dollar isn’t doing much either, as the US Dollar Index $DXY has been chopping sideways for several months.
Long story short, indecision is the overarching theme for forex markets at the moment.
One forex pair that does an excellent job of illustrating the trendless nature of these markets is the AUD/JPY.
As many of you know, something we've been working on internally is using various bottom-up tools and scans to complement our top-down approach. It's really been working for us!
One way we're doing this is by identifying the strongest growth stocks as they climb the market-cap ladder from small- to mid- to large- and, ultimately, to mega-cap status (over $200B).
Once they graduate from small-cap to mid-cap status (over $2B), they come on our radar. Likewise, when they surpass the roughly $30B mark, they roll off our list.
But the scan doesn't just end there.
We only want to look at the strongest growth industries in the market, as that is typically where these potential 50-baggers come from.
