The U.S. Industrials sector represents one of the most important groups of stocks in the entire market.
So with new all-time highs in the S&P500 and Russell3000, then why are Industrials, who historically have the highest correlation with these indexes, not able to keep up?
Industrials are actually down over the past 3 months.
But the Aerospace & Defense stocks, that fall within the category of Industrials, continue to hit new all-time highs.
Heading into last week we were mindful of the compression in volatility which meant an increased likelihood for larger price swings. Further, we were being patient given a number of our data sets were pointing to mixed signs.
We've seen selling continue, particularly ramping up this morning.
We have another bearish divergence calling strike three on the stock market rally…
High-yield bonds $HYG versus US Treasuries $IEI.
Check out the HYG/IEI ratio (dark blue line) overlaid with the S&P 500 ETF $SPY:
We use the HY bond-to-US Treasury ratio to track credit spreads. When the dark blue line falls, credit spreads widen – a sign of dwindling liquidity and stress for the bond market (the world’s largest market).
Stocks tend to struggle as credit spreads widen.
On the flip side, when these spreads contract (or the HYG/IEI ratio catches higher) stocks rally as capital flows into risk assets. That’s why these two lines trend together.
Notice the HYG/IEI ratio and SPY bottomed last October before rallying into the spring, following a similar path to new highs.
Our International Hall of Famers list is composed of the 100 largest US-listed international stocks, or ADRs.
We've also sprinkled in some of the largest ADRs from countries that did not make the market cap cut.
These stocks range from some well-known mega-cap multinationals such as Toyota Motor and Royal Dutch Shell to some large-cap global disruptors such as Sea Ltd and Shopify.
It's got all the big names and more–but only those that are based outside the US. You can find all the largest US stocks on our original Hall of Famers list.
The beauty of these scans is really in their simplicity.
We take the largest names each week and then apply technical filters in a way that the strongest stocks with the most momentum rise to the top.
Based on the market environment, we can also flip the scan on its head and filter for weakness.
Let's dive in and take a look at some of the most important stocks from around the world.
Flying down a mountainside on two skis while negotiating tight turns and ever-changing microclimates would be a terrible time to lose focus.
Todd Gordon knows this. If he hadn’t quickly learned this skill in his journey to competitive ski racing, he would’ve likely landed himself onto a stretcher and an air-lift back to base.
There was no other choice.
But for Todd, he’d have it no other way. From a young age, when he found an interest in something – whether skiing or finance – he’d go all in. Nothing else mattered.
And when he discovered the world of trading, he knew what he wanted to do. “There was never a question,” he said.
In college, between classes, skiing, and happy hours, Todd would trade options from his dorm room. It wasn’t a matter of IF he would be a trader, it was a matter of where would he start.
And that answer came right after college when at the age of 22, Todd headed west and joined a proprietary trading group based in San Diego. And from there, he never looked back.
In fact, it's not even called General Electric anymore. The company is now called "GE Aerospace."
I bring this up because the analysts had a debate today on whether or not $GE stock bumping up against levels not seen since the Great Financial Crisis even matter. Is it even the same company today as it was in 2008? The unequivocal answer is no -- it is not the same company.
Regardless, the only thing that really matters to us is the price action and its hard to ignore the run $GE has been on over the past eight months.