Recent Commentary and Analysis
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ETF Trends, Patterns and Setups – Energy, Banks and Industrials Lead, Tech ETFs Try to Find Footing after Normal Retracements (Premium)
There are a lot of pullbacks to deal with today. Some pullbacks are shallow, some are deep and some are in between. Often, the bigger the advance, the deeper the pullback or retracement. Despite some big percentage declines, most of the pullbacks are normal in retracement terms (33 to
Defining the Market Regime and Improving Returns with Diversification and StochClose (Premium)
The broad market timing model took another evolutionary step. The goal is to develop a logical and robust model that captured major moves in the stock market, and will continue to capture these moves. We are not talking pullbacks, corrections or dead cat bounces. Instead, we are talking bull and bear markets that affect the vast majority of stocks. The BIG trend or the market regime, as it also called.
Tech Stocks, the 10-year Yield and Questionable Narratives (Free)
Two items are dominating the news right now: the rise in interest rates and decline in tech stocks. Are rising rates really an issue for tech stocks? The charts suggest that the evidence is mixed, at best. In fact, it is not very hard to find periods when tech stocks rose along with sharp rises in the 10-year Treasury yield.
Weekend Video and Chartbook – Split Market, S&P 1500 Breadth Signals, Short-term ETF Leaders, Treasury Yield Distractions (Premium)
Despite an increase in intraday volatility the last few weeks, the recent pullback is actually quite tame, especially for the Russell 2000 ETF and S&P 500 SPDR. QQQ bore the brunt of selling pressure and the Nasdaq 100 Breadth Thrust Model turned bearish. I am not concerned with this signal because the S&P 1500 Thrust Model remains bullish. Today’s video will show backtest results
Timing Models – QQQ Leads Short-term Pullback, but Long-term Evidence Remains Bullish (Premium)
The long-term evidence remains bullish, but the major index ETFs have moved into corrective mode of varying degrees. The S&P 500 SPDR and Russell 2000 ETF are in the midst of shallow pullbacks, while the Nasdaq 100 ETF is leading the way lower with a sharp pullback. Downside participation was so strong in the Nasdaq 100 that the Breadth Thrust
ETF Trends, Patterns and Setups – Finance, Industrials and Energy Hold up as Tech, Healthcare and High-Flyers Correct (Premium)
Even though ETFs related to small-caps, mid-caps, industrials, finance and energy are performing well and not part of the correction process, a big portion of the core ETF list are in some sort of pullback or correction over the last few weeks. 48 of the 119 ETFs in the core list are down over the last 22 trading days (since January 29th) and 22 are down more than 5%.
Secondary Downtrends in Primary Uptrends Create Opportunities (IBB Example) (Free)
With a pullback led by QQQ and the high flyers, several ETFs have become short-term oversold in a longer term uptrend. In Dow Theory terms, the primary trend for these ETFs is up and the secondary trend is down. A secondary downtrend within a primary uptrend is considered a correction within that uptrend and a possible opportunity.
Weekend Video and Chartbook – QQQ Leads Lower, SPY and Oversold Conditions, Turn of the Month, Selling Climax in TLT (Premium)
Stocks corrected over the last two weeks with QQQ leading the way. IWM held up the best and RSI moved into the oversold zone for SPY. Today we will look at previous instances when RSI became oversold for SPY. Some indicators are pointing to a multi-week correction (NDX %Above 50-day), but we also have the turn of the month upon
Timing Models – QQQ Reverses Short-term Uptrend, 3 Big Sectors Weigh, Medium-term Participation Wanes within SPX (Premium)
The long-term evidence (primary trend) is bullish, but we are seeing some short-term weakness (secondary trend). This is especially true in the Nasdaq 100 and Technology sector. SPY is holding up better because the Finance, Industrials and Communication Services are picking up the slack. The table below summarizes the broad market environment using the
ETF Trends, Patterns and Setups – Cyclical ETFs Lead, Tech ETFs Pullback, High-Flyers Correct Hard (Premium)
February is turning into a big month for cyclically oriented ETFs. These include: Copper Miners ETF, Metals & Mining SPDR, DB Base Metals ETF, Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF, Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF, Airline ETF, Transports ETF, Industrials SPDR, Regional Bank ETF, S&P SmallCap 600 SPDR, S&P MidCap 400 SPDR and Semiconductor ETF. The lists below shows ETFs with big gains over the last 17 trading days (February).
Sector Breadth Models versus a Simple Trend Following Technique (Premium)
Sometimes what seems logical and helpful, is not and needs to be reconsidered. This is my conclusion with the sector breadth models. They are logical, and perhaps helpful at times, but they do not add value when it comes to timing trends in the sector SPDRs. A simple StochClose strategy performed better overall. This article will quantify signals for three breadth models using the sector SPDRs.
A Medium-term Breadth Indicator Waves the Caution Flag (Free)
The Nasdaq 100 has been on a tear the last few months with a move to new highs, but a medium-term breadth indicator is not keeping pace here in February. This indicator is simply flashing the yellow caution sign right now and we have yet to see an actual signal that would point to a correction. Here’s what to look for.
Weekend Video and Chartbook – Oil and Base Metals lead, XLI and XLF Hit New Highs, TLT Plunges with Outsized Decline (Premium)
Today’s video starts with a performance overview for 14 asset class ETFs, sectors and top S&P 500 stocks. Small-caps, oil and commodity-related ETFs are leading the charge here in 2021. Financials are leading as XLF hit a new high and industrials came to life with XLI hitting a new high on Friday. Even though the long-term trends are up and the market is bullish overall, participation is narrowing within
Timing Models – Commodities Lead in 2021, SPY Extends Uptrend, Extended Conditions Extend, Fed Balance Sheet Pops (Premium)
Stocks and commodities are leading in 2021 (risk on). Small-caps took a breather this week, but the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) is still the second best performer among 14 intermarket ETFs. The DB Energy ETF (DBE) is the top performer with an 18.9% gain and the DB Base Metals ETF (DBB) gets third place with a 7.5% gain. QQQ is holding its own with a 6% gain and the
ETF Trends, Patterns and Setups – Big Gains Since November, Big Months for Finance and Energy, A Few Corrections Underway
Making money in the stock market has been pretty easy since November. And not just stocks. Oil, base metals, agriculture and silver are also up. Gold, the Dollar and bonds are down as money moved out of stock-alternatives and into riskier assets. As shown below, dozens of ETFs are up more than 40% since early November and many are up more than 20%.