The money supply is on the move, that’s for sure… but not into consumers’ pockets. Industrials, as tracked by the SPDR XLI ETF are up more than 24% over the past six months. Aerospace and defense, as tracked by the iShares ITA ETF are up nearly 20% in the same six-month timeframe. That’s growth. Tho
A market like this, where stocks move a little higher and then gently drift lower, can be really deceptive. There’s not much you can read into a market that’s down… a point. Financials are down a little, tech is all over the place and news-driven, energy is massively unchanged… The advance/decline l
I was singing a decidedly cautious tune last week, especially compared to the week before… But then, on Friday, a very weak payroll report slammed a strong bid under stocks. Bad news is good news (again). Market players hope the sign of a softening economy will mean a more dovish Fed in the near fut
The S P 500 ended today’s session a little more than 1% higher than where it started. Not bad… but before you get too giddy, consider that gold equaled the market’s one-session gain and silver, the “junior metal,” blew them both clean out of the water. At the same time, trading volume in equities ha
No matter how you slice it, we’ve had an extraordinarily volatile week; stocks were reeling like so many drunks from data to the Fed to earnings to data. Apple, a juggernaut of the S P 500, took off on an earnings miss yesterday because, “Hey - no worries, $110 billion in buybacks are coming.” (If a
The Federal Reserve and its chairman, its various and sundry governors, presidents, and number-crunchers are (in)famous for… not really saying much when it actually counts. Yesterday, for instance, Chairman Powell said… nothing new or unexpected or particularly useful: Rates aren’t getting cut anyti
The markets rallied strongly after the Fed non-announcement today (an 80-handle move at one point)... only to fall right out of bed in the last 30 minutes or so of trading. We saw a really dramatic, volatile reversal. Volatility futures actually fell as Powell was talking but then picked back up aga
I’m a little concerned with the bullish trend we’ve seen shaping up lately. Lower highs are starting to creep into the equities picture. The trouble in Japan with the yen and the lack of change in policy there could be starting to spill over across financial markets; global capital is seeking refuge
Tech had a pretty good day. Tesla shares finished the day more than 15% above where they started on news the company will roll out its advanced driver assistance tech in China. Mega-cap stablemate Apple also helped lift the S P 500 as Citi confirmed the stock would keep a “Buy” rating ahead of May 2
