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:
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This is a theme we’ve discussed at length over the past six weeks. We've also discussed how we see similar developments in the Commodities and Fixed Income markets.
With this as our backdrop, are you surprised that we're also seeing similar action in the Forex markets right now?
We aren’t!
In this post, we'll highlight two traditional risk-on currency pairs, both of which are trading at critical inflection points.
Let's dive right in.
First up is the AUD/JPY cross. This FX cross is the classic risk-on/risk-off gauge within the currency markets -- and since last November, it has been sending a clear message of “risk-on!”
At the beginning of each week, we publish performance tables for a variety of different asset classes and categories along with commentary on each.
Looking at the past helps put the future into context. In this post, we review the absolute and relative trends at play and preview some of the things we’re watching to profit in the weeks and months ahead.
The weight of the evidence still suggests it's prudent to be a buyer, not a seller, of risk assets for more meaningful time horizons.
Shorter-term, the market looks increasingly messy. For the first time in over a year, defensive assets are beginning to stabilize at logical levels of support, while stocks and major risk groups achieve our upside targets. Even a handful of some key Intermarket ratios are potentially diverging from the broader averages.
From the desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Ian Culley @Ianculley
Last week, we highlighted the USD testing a critical level against the Rand. This is a theme we've been seeing a lot in a varietyof USD crosses recently and will discuss more in a post later this week.
We’re finally beginning to see some resolutions from these key levels, and they're revealing some very valuable information regarding the Dollar’s strength and the likely future direction for the $DXY Index itself.
In this post, we'll take a look at some examples of this theme by showcasing two forex pairs from Northern Europe that are currently breaking downat major inflection points against the USD.
But before diving in, let's set the stage a bit...
What are some of the major developments in G-10 pairs that are driving the US Dollar Index right now?
At the beginning of each week, we publish performance tables for a variety of different asset classes and categories along with commentary on each.
Looking at the past helps put the future into context. In this post, we review the absolute and relative trends at play and preview some of the things we’re watching to profit in the weeks and months ahead.
In recent weeks, we've seen some rotation back into Large and Mega-Caps, which has propelled the major indices to new highs, while SMIDs are still resiliently consolidating. While the list of negative data points has grown, it's still not close to anything that warrants concern.
Last night I popped into BNN Bloomberg to talk about what's going on in the market.
We're seeing new highs across a lot of major indexes, but what's happening underneath the surface?
We've been seeing the price of lumber soaring along with things like Steel and Rebar futures. It's the whole demand/building/growth theme that continues to stand out.
One thing that's definitely worth watching is the All Country World Index Ex-U.S., which is basically a snapshot of what the rest of the world looks like. And you'll notice that the index ETF $ACWX is stuck right between its 2008 highs and 2018 highs.
This puts the global stock market in quite a predicament. If you're bullish equities, you're going to want to see a breakout through those historic 2008 highs. If you're bearish equities, this is one you want to see break back below those 2018 highs.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar is also testing key levels.
USD strength has become a major market theme over the last couple of months -- along with the potential effects it could have on global risk assets. A strong US Dollar could apply pressure to Emerging Markets, Commodities, and cyclical assets in general. This would challenge the global growth thesis and the rotation into cyclical areas we have seen play out over recent months.
In a market environment where Financials and Natural Resources have become leadership groups, how do we not have a conversation about Canada? Taking that one step further, we need to talk about how any investor, whether living in Canada or not, can take advantage of a potential structural swing in the trend for Canadian Equities.
There's always information in the Currency markets, even if trading currencies isn't something you do.
There is wisdom in some of the world's largest markets like forex and fixed income. To ignore it would be irresponsible.
One thing that's been hard to ignore is the strength in the US Dollar Index throughout the first quarter of 2021. This could be a potential wrecking ball to the global growth, rotation into cyclical and commodity supercycle themes.
But is it?
When we look at several G-10 Currencies relative to the Dollar, the Commodity-centric currencies have held up the best, which is interesting, isn't it?