One of our bigger directional wins this summer/fall is showing signs of taking a breather, but traders with a memory are still keeping a bid under options prices. This is setting up the potential for a nice "income trade." When volatility is high (and therefore options premiums are juicy), and my bet is some sideways action in the near-term, these are the ideal situations to employ delta-neutral credit spreads.
This is my favorite time of the month - preparing for our Live Monthly Conference Call. It really gives me an opportunity to gather all of the evidence, put my thoughts and ideas down on paper and then explain it all in under an hour. It's all pretty awesome!
In this call we talk about the US Stock market and where it fits within the Global Market complex. Throughout this process we're also analyzing the commodities, interest rates and currency markets that apply to each country. Only then do we break things down to individual sectors and their sub industry groups to finally find the best stocks to express a bigger thesis.
We call this the top/down approach and I'm pumped to go through it all on Tuesday's Call.
In this Episode of Allstarcharts Weekly, Steve and I are focused on expansion of global breadth. We're seeing more and more countries around the world breaking out to new 52-week highs. This week the Global 100 Index is making new highs and now Taiwan has also joined the group with Brazil and Switzerland who were already doing so. With Sweden and Japan right there near highs as well, the breadth expansion continues, not the deterioration that the bears are preaching. It's hard to be bearish equities if the Dow Jones Industrial Average is above 27,000 and the German DAX is above its 2015 highs. Those are the key levels we're watching. But breadth is expanding, not deteriorating. That's for sure.
The S&P 500 is back near highs. Call me crazy, but bullish setups in this environment with low volatility in the options get my antennae up for my favorite bullish strategy -- the simple long call. (Keep it simple, slugger!)
The trend for NIFTY stocks is up. That has not changed. Like many stocks and indexes around the world, NIFTY been mostly stagnant since early 2018. Unlike most stocks and indexes, however, NIFTY has managed to put in higher lows and higher highs along the way. So it's not just a consolidation.
I do believe NIFTY resolves this consolidation higher and heads up towards 13,000 - this is the target:
One week it's the Dow Jones Utility Average pulling the weight. This week it was the Dow Jones Transportation Average up over 2% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was basically flat. It's always one of them, which is why the Dow Jones Composite Average, the combination of all of them, continues to hold up so well. Remember the DJ Composite has 65 stocks, 30 from the DJIA, 20 from the DJTA and 15 from the DJU. The Dow Jones Composite Average went out at new all-time monthly closing highs just a few weeks back. Our bet is that this uptrend continues.
Here is a weekly chart of the Dow Jones Composite. These are the types of charts we want to be buying, not selling:
These are the registration details for the monthly conference call for Premium Members of All Star Charts. In this call we will discuss the global market environment and how to profit from it. As always, this will include Stocks, Interest Rates, Commodities and Currencies. The video of the call will be archived in the members section to re-watch any time and the PDF of the charts will be made available as well.
This month’s Conference Call will be held on Tuesday October 22th at 7PM ET. Here are the details for the call:
It's been a while since we talked about the Dollar. The truth is, this trade has really been a Nothing-Burger all year. G-10 currencies have been a snooze-fest until just recently. I have good friends who specialize in this space and they're bored. That's not good for their business, but I have a suspicion that things are changing.
Let's get right into it. Here is the US Dollar Index breaking down on a weekly timeframe and unable to hold its previous highs. This sort of thing reminds me a lot of early October 2018 for US Stocks. From failed moves come fast moves, is how I learned it. I've also come to understand over time that this is not something to be afraid of, as many books often hint to. I think this is something to embrace. It presents the best risk vs reward opportunities of any other setup I know:
Warning: This aggressive strategy is only for those who are comfortable with risk and want to Bro Down ;)
In a previous post, I discussed using Vertical Spreads to roll long in-the-money calls up to protect profits while not giving up the dream of higher prices. Any time I'm holding long calls that are way in-the-money, this is a viable option to help me take money off the table -- freeing it up to be redeployed elsewhere -- but still leaves me a chance to participate if the stock continues moving higher (in the off-chance I didn't perfectly call the top /sarcasm).
I promised an aggressive cousin to this strategy and here it goes...
Remember Crypto Currencies? The conversations over Thanksgiving dinners in 2017 were really something. It feels like just yesterday we were still feeling the euphoria of the Crypto Craze.
So now what? What's happened since the epic 80%+ crash that destroyed the hopes and dreams of the greedy fools that fell for the 'get rich quick' appeal of the "new currency" (that wasn't really new at all)? Where is Bitcoin today?
Technical Analysis is the study of the behavior of the market, and therefore its participants. Investors from all over the world come to us for help identifying trends in stocks, bonds, commodities and currency markets. Both Individual investors and Professionals use All Star Charts for trade ideas, global macro analysis, sector rotation work, momentum, relative strength and important price levels for risk management.
When we have to be buying stocks, I'll be there talking about it. When we want to be more conservative and raise cash, I'll be there even louder! I'm fortunate that I'm friends with a lot of the best Technical Analysts in the world. Getting to chat with them regularly makes me a better investor, it keeps me open minded, and most importantly, it keeps me humble.
My friends are really really smart. I don't pretend to be as smart as some of them. My expertise is in bringing it all together and trying to solve the puzzle as best as I can. I'm lucky that I get to do what I love every day.
