From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

US Treasuries are sticking a bullish reversal – an admirable feat following an unforgettable selloff.

If you aren’t buying bonds yet, it’s time to reconsider.

Here's the US T-Bond ETF $TLT trading above a rising 200-day moving average as it violates a multi-year downtrend line:

These are the early signs of a trend reversal.

Now, bond bulls want to witness the 14-week RSI post fresh multi-year highs. (We may see such a print following today’s action.)

Heading into the close, the 30-year T-bond is registering its largest one-week rate of change since spring 2020. And on a more tactical time frame, the 14-day RSI is reaching overbought conditions. 

The market hates it when bonds are making outsized moves.

It's less about when rates are rising or when rates are falling.

The bigger point here is that when interest rates are making very aggressive directional moves, that's what brings the volatility to the stock market.

And that's exactly what's happening:

This is the video recording of our August 1st Monthly Charts Live Strategy Session

This is where it all starts folks.

The story starts and ends with the Bond Market.

You may not like it. I know I certainly don't. But that's the world we've always lived in. And it's the world I would expect us to be in for a long long time.

The bond market is $130 Trillion. That's compared to a mere $50 Trillion US Stock Market. The total Global stock market is slightly over $100 Trillion, for perspective.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Will the Fed finally cut interest rates?

We can’t say for sure… 

All that matters is what the market thinks. And following Powell’s testimony this week, investors are increasing their September rate-cut bets.

Let’s review a few of our recent bond trades, as US treasuries could rip in the coming weeks.

Our entry point for T-bond futures was 117’27:

Price triggered a buy signal last month, but the breakout has been far from decisive.

If you haven’t taken a long position, you can move your risk level to the May 15 close, trading against  118’08.

Or, you can wait for buyers to take out 120’12 (the June 14 close).

Entry tactics aside, we’re targeting last December’s high of 125’30.  

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Chop, chop, chop…

Yields on sovereign debt are chopping sideways across the globe.

The US, France, Germany, Spain, and UK benchmark rates are well below their respective 2023 peaks.

But in Japan, the JGB 10-year yield is hitting its highest level in over a decade. 

Check out the Japan benchmark rate cruising above 100 basis points: 

Earlier in the week, the Japan 10-year yield reached 1.10 for the first time since July 2011. 

While the Bank of Canada, the Swiss National Bank, and the European Central Bank began cutting rates this year, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) may hike later this month. 

You can blame it on a plummeting yen or the BoJ’s Yield Curve Control policies. 

This is the video recording of our July 1st Monthly Charts Live Strategy Session

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Mark it, dude.

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. 

This is the video recording of the June 2024 Mid-month Conference Call.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

The Nasdaq is ripping to new all-time highs. NVIDIA’s market cap is surpassing the three-trillion-dollar mark. And US T-bonds are registering another buy signal. 

But the market’s still a mess. 

Just look at yesterday’s intraday reversal—a bullish reaction to inflation data in the morning, followed by a bearish reaction to the FOMC meeting in the afternoon. Investors are still trying to make sense of the mid-week hoopla.

Friday’s close (the most important data point of the week) will reveal critical information regarding market conviction heading into the weekend.

Meanwhile, you can track high-yield bonds for risk-on confirmation.

Check out the HY Bond ETF $HYG overlaid with the high beta-versus-low volatility ratio (using the $SPHB and $SPLV ETFs):

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

G7 central banks are cutting rates – first Canada and now the European Union.

Will the Federal Reserve follow suit in the coming months?

Investors seem to think so…

US 30-year T-bond futures have posted positive returns six days in a row – their longest winning streak since April last year.

T-bonds also broke above a key polarity zone, triggering our buy signals from last month:

I’ve made clear my disdain for buying treasuries, so the long bond trade will likely be a winner. After all, the best trades are often the hardest to take.

This is the video recording of our June 3rd Monthly Charts Live Strategy Session