Key Takeaway: Bond yields on the rise across the curve. Hints of leadership rotation can be seen in sector work. Higher yields could support breadth improvements.
Energy, which was near the bottom of the rankings from both a cap-weight and equal-weight basis as September began, has continued to gain strength. It has been the top performing sector on a short-term basis (as well as on a YTD basis) and has climbed into the middle of the overall rankings and is at number 2 on an equal-weight basis.
Health Care and Real Estate have dropped in the rankings, though the industry group heat map shows there remain pockets of strength at the industry group level within the Health Care sector.
We’ve already had some great trades come out of this small-cap-focused column since we launched it late last year and started rotating it with our flagship bottoms-up scan, “Under The Hood.”
We recently decided to expand our universe to include some mid-caps….
For about a year now, we’ve focused only on Russell 2000 stocks with a market cap between $1 and $2B. That was fun, but we think it’s time we branch out a bit and allow some new stocks to find their way onto our list.
The way we’re doing this is simple…
To make the cut for our new Minor Leaguers list, a company must have a market cap between $1 and $4B. And it doesn’t have to be a Russell component–it can be any US-listed equity. With participation expanding around the globe, we want all those ADRs in our universe.
This is one of our favorite bottom-up scans: Follow The Flow. In this note, we simply create a universe of stocks that experienced the most unusual options activity — either bullish or bearish… but NOT both.
We utilize options experts, both internally and through our partnership with The TradeXchange. Then, we dig through the level 2 details and do all the work upfront for our clients. Our goal is to isolate only those options market splashes that represent levered and high-conviction, directional bets.
We also weed out hedging activity and ensure there are no offsetting trades that either neutralize or cap the risk on these unusual options trades. What remains is a list of stocks that large financial institutions are putting big money behind… and they’re doing so for one reason only: because they think the stock is about to move in their direction and make them a pretty penny.
There's some clear demand at 40,000, with buyers continuing to defend this floor.
We've been vocal that this has the characteristics of a bear trap as on-chain accumulation heats up, sentiment is in the dumps, and prices are at a logical level to dig in and find support, which is what is taking place.
But in that same breath, we've also been anticipating choppy action in the near term as this demand gradually absorbs all this overhead supply. There's nothing wrong with waiting for a higher conviction entry back above the 46,000-47,000 resistance band knowing that things are well on their way higher. It all comes down to your timeframe and market plan.
The price action in the broader stock market during the second half of last week and continuing into this morning suggests this is a strong possibility. Meanwhile, the action in the dollar and metals space offers a sneaky way to play this shift.
Sometimes, we play 3D chess to look for opportunities in one place when everyone else is distracted by the headline-grabbing moves.
One of the most important things I've come to understand about markets, and life, is that you have to worry about yourself first, you have to take care of your family first, and then you can go out and help others.
If your own house isn't in order, not only are you not able to help other people, but you may actually do more harm to them than good.
Depending on where you are in your life, that perspective may change. But in the market, as an investor, there are no exceptions!
You're only in it for numero uno.
Just to be clear, if you're in the market for ANY other reason other than to make a profit for yourself, then you are unbelievably confused.
This week we’re looking at a long setup in the Realty sector. Nifty Realty broke out of an 11-year base and has picked up momentum. At this time we're looking for an interesting idea in this space.
We retired our "Five Bull Market Barometers" in mid-July last year to make room for a new weekly post that's focused on the three most important charts for the week ahead.
This is that post, so let's jump into this week's edition.
Check out this week's Momentum Report, our weekly summation of all the major indexes at a Macro, International, Sector, and Industry Group level.
By analyzing the short-term data in these reports, we get a more tactical view of the current state of markets. This information then helps us put near-term developments into the context of the big picture and provides insights regarding the structural trends at play.
Let's jump right into it with some of the major takeaways from this week's report:
* ASC Plus Members can access the Momentum Report by clicking the link at the bottom of this post.
Our Top 10 report was just published. In this weekly note, we highlight 10 of the most important charts or themes we're currently seeing in asset classes around the world.
Resolutions For Rates
This could be the single most important chart in the world right now. We cannot understate this development.
We finally got a major resolution in the US 10-year yield, reclaiming that critical 1.40% level this week. And this begs the question as to what a rising rate environment might mean for investor portfolios. The first thing we know for sure is that we want to stay away from bonds, unless we’re shorting them of course. The second, and perhaps most important implication, is the renewed tailwind for cyclicals. When rates are rising, sectors like financials, industrials, materials, and energy are all typically outperforming, which is exactly what we’ve started to see in the last week.
This is what happens when you ignore price just because you're too weak to overcome your ego:
Since every commodity on earth has been going up in price EXCEPT for gold and silver, perhaps that's just further information that gold and silver are NOT commodities after all, but actually just a couple of shitty currencies.
