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):
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.
No matter how you slice it, bonds are stuck in a downtrend.
Perhaps bonds are carving out a tradeable low. If so, we have our levels to trade against. But price is falling away from our entry orders, heading in the opposite direction.
You just can’t buy long-dated U.S. Treasuries right now…
Check out the U.S. T-Bond ETF $TLT:
TLT is trading beneath a downward-sloping long-term (forty-week) moving average and a yearlong downtrend line. Long-term averages and trendlines epitomize the Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) approach to trend analysis because they work.
Last week, we held our April Monthly Conference Call, which Premium Members can access and rewatch here.
In this post, we’ll do our best to summarize it by highlighting five of the most important charts and/or themes we covered, along with commentary on each.
Regardless of duration, the following bond charts present an identical tactical approach.
Two key themes dominate these trade setups: entry points designated by price reclaiming the February 2024 lows and initial targets set at the December 2023 highs.
Of course, there’s always an exception…
Check out the US 30-year T-bond futures:
Like the following charts, we can measure our risk at a key pivot low from late February.
Are you happy the market is a mess? Or do you find it frustrating?
Keep in mind, the S&P500 is still at the same price it was 2 months ago.
Both the Nasdaq100 and Dow Jones Industrial Average are still at the same prices they were back in February.
We're almost half way through May.
The Technology Index, which is the largest component of the S&P500 (30%) and has the largest weighting in the Nasdaq100 (50%), is still where it was back in January.
Again we're half way through May!
Meanwhile, don't forget about the Small-cap Russell2000 that's hilariously still stuck below where it was way back in December.
The Consumer Discretionary Index and Dow Jones Transportation Average are also down for the year.
That's the market we're in.
Some people keep pretending that this year is just like last year.
But I cheated. I actually looked at the data. So I know better.
We held our May Monthly Strategy Session earlier in the week. Premium Members can access and rewatch it here.
Non-members can get a quick recap of the call simply by reading this post each month.
By focusing on long-term, monthly charts, the idea is to take a step back and put things into the context of their structural trends.
This is easily one of our most valuable exercises as it forces us to put aside the day-to-day noise and simply examine markets from a “big-picture” point of view.
With that as our backdrop, let’s dive right in and discuss three of the most important charts and/or themes from this month’s call.