Adaptive Dynamic Learning (ADL) Suggests Volatility May Surge

Over the past few weeks and months, a number of key economic data has continued to rally the US major indexes towards new highs, hopes of a US/China trade deal, a continued shift of capital in the US markets for protection and safety, and moderately strong US economic indicators and an earning season that appears to be moderately strong for Q3 of 2019. The interesting facet of this move higher is that it is happening while trading volume has diminished dramatically in the SPY. The futures contracts, the ES, YM, and NQ, continue to show relatively strong volume activity though.

Additionally, the overnight Repo markets have risen to the attention of many skilled analysts. The concern is that the continued US Fed support of the overnight Repo facility may be a band-aid attempt to support a gaping credit crisis that is brewing just outside of view. We’ve been doing quite a bit of research over the past few weeks regarding this Repo market support by the US Fed and we believe there is more to it than many believe. We believe certain institutional banking firms may be at extreme risks related to derivative investments, shadow banking activities and/or global commodity/stock/currency/asset risk exposure. The only answer we have for the extended Repo facility at increasing levels is that the institutional banking system is starting to “fray around the edges”. Thus, we believe some larger credit risk problems may be just around the corner.

Our longer-term analysis continues to suggest that “all is fine – until it is not”. Our belief that a capital shift that has been taking place over the past 5+ years where foreign capital continues to pour into the US markets is driving US stock market prices higher. There is evidence that the capital shift into the US has slowed over the past 5+ months, yet one would not notice this by looking at these longer-term charts. The point we are trying to make today is that price peaks near current highs have, historically, been met with strong resistance and collapsed by 8 to 15% on average. Continue reading "Adaptive Dynamic Learning (ADL) Suggests Volatility May Surge"

Revisiting "Black Monday - 1987" - Oct. 19, Part 1

Back in the day, for those of you that are old enough to remember and have experienced one of the most incredible trader psychology driven stock market decline in recent history.

The difference between “Black Monday” and most of the other recent stock market declines is that October 19, 1987, was driven by a true psychological panic, what we consider true price exploration, after an incredible price rally.

It is different than the DOT COM (2001) decline and vastly different than the Credit Market Crisis (2008-09) because both of those events were related to true fundamental and technical evaluations. In both of those instances, prices have been rising for quite some time, but the underlying fundamentals of the economics of the markets collapsed and the markets collapsed with future expectations. Before we get too deep, be sure to opt-in to our free-market trend signals newsletter.

Our researchers believe the setup prior to the Black Monday collapse is strangely similar to the current setup across the global markets. In 1982, Ronald Reagan was elected into his second term as the US President. Since his election in 1980, the US stock market has risen over 300% by August 1987.

Reagan, much like President Trump, was elected after a long period of US economic malaise and ushered in an economic boom-cycle that really began to accelerate near August 1983 – near the end of his first term. The expansion from the lows of 1982, near 102.20, to the highs of 1987, near 337.90, in the S&P 500 prompted an incredible rally in the US markets for all global investors.

Black Monday

This is very similar to what has happened since 2015/16 in the markets and particularly after the November 2016 elections when the S&P500 bottomed near 1807.5 and has recently set hew highs near 3026.20 – a 67.4% price rally in just over 3 years. Continue reading "Revisiting "Black Monday - 1987" - Oct. 19, Part 1"

Indexes Retest Critical Price Channel Resistance

News, again, drives the US stock market and major indexes higher as optimism of a US/China trade agreement floods the news wires. As we’ve been suggesting, the global markets continue to be news-driven and are seeking any positive news related to easing trade tensions and capital markets. We believe any US/China trade deal would be received as very positive news by the global capital markets – yet we understand the process of achieving the components of the “deal” would likely still be 6 to 24 months away.

Still, with the strength of the US economy and the potential that some deal could be reached before the end of 2019 setting positive expectations, the US stock market and major indexes rallied last Thursday and Friday (October 10 and 11). As the long holiday weekend sets up with no trading on Monday, it will be interesting to see what is potentially resolved between President Trump and the Chinese before the markets start to react on Sunday and Monday nights. Make sure up opt-in to our free-market trend signals newsletter.

Our research team wanted to highlight some very key elements related to technical price theory and technical analysis. These weekly charts highlight what we believe is “key resistance” in the US major indexes and share our research team’s concern that the markets may be reacting to news more than relying on fundamental economic and earnings valuations. In past articles, we’ve highlighted how a “capital shift” is continuing to take place where foreign capital is actively seeking safety and security for future returns. This leads to a shift in how capital is being deployed throughout the globe. Continue reading "Indexes Retest Critical Price Channel Resistance"

What Should Traders Expect From Impeachment Proceedings?

News of the formal impeachment proceedings came just after the markets closed on September 24, 2019. The markets had already broken a bit lower most of the day after Consumer Confidence and Jobs expectations were weaker than expected. We had just authored a public research post about our belief that the Technology sector was about to breakdown and begin to move lower. Additionally, we pushed out a post about how Silver would become the “Super-Hero” of 2019/2020 based on our expectations of further gains.

We believe the new impeachment proceedings will result in a market that is very similar to what happened when the US invaded Kuwait in August 1990. At that time, the US launched a very fast invasion of Kuwait that prompted a massive news event and resulted in hours of new invasion video that drew millions of Americans into watching the news every night. This invasion was almost like an extended Super Bowl or an extended World Series event where millions of people are actively engaged in this event, stop engaging in the local economy and focus their attentions on the news cycle, content and political circus originating in DC. But first, be sure to opt-in to our free-market trend signals newsletter

What Does This Mean For Traders

For traders, it means we have to be prepared for just about anything. It means the news events will become even bigger drivers of market rotation and trends as well as the fact that we must prepare for weaker economic data over the next 13+ months. The impeachment process is going to be a dramatic distraction for many people and business ventures. Many will simply fall into a “protectionist” mode where new expenses, expansion and other facets of life/business will be put on hold until after November 2020 (or later).

Our research team believes the initiation of these impeachment proceedings will act as a process of muting or weakening the US economy over time. Starting out slowly at first, then gaining strength as the news cycle picks up more and more “dirt” while both sides posture and position for advantage into the November 2020 election cycle. The end result will be a decidedly weaker US economy as a result of this new impeachment process and we believe the final outcome could leave some career politicians bloodied and battle-weary. Continue reading "What Should Traders Expect From Impeachment Proceedings?"

Fed Set To Rattle Global Markets

Today is the day for the US Fed to announce their rate decision and we believe the 25 basis point rate cut is the only option they have at the moment that will attempt to settle foreign market fears and allow for a suitable “unwinding” of the credit/debt “setup” we highlighted in Part I of this research post.

We believe out August 19 expectation of a global market PEAK and the beginning of a price reversion move is related to multiple aspects of the timing of this Fed move and the current global economic outlook. The unwinding of this debt/credit bubble will likely take many more years to unravel. Yet, right now the US Fed is trapped in a scenario they never expected to find themselves in. Either continue to run policy that supports the US economy (where rates would likely stay between 1.75 to 2.75) over the next 5+ years or yield to the global market and attempt to address a proper exit capability for this debt/credit “setup”.

We believe global investors are expecting a massive collapse in the US stock market as a reaction to this move by the Fed and because of the expectation that another bubble has set up in the US. But we believe the actual bubble is set up in the foreign markets and not so much in the US. Yes, the US markets have extended to near all-time highs and the US consumer is running somewhat lean. It would be natural for the US economy to revert to lower price levels and for the US economy to rotate as “price exploration” attempts to find true market support. Yet, our fear is that the foreign markets are much more fragile than anyone understands at the moment and that a reversion in the US markets will prompt a potential collapse in certain foreign markets.

Weekly SPY Chart

This Weekly SPY chart highlights what we expect to transpire over the next 6 to 8+ months. We believe the August 19 peak date that we predicted months ago will likely start a process that will be tied to the US election cycle event (2020) and the US Fed in combination with global market events. We believe a reversion price process is about to unfold that could be prompted into action over the next 2+ weeks by the US Fed, trade issues and global central banks.

fed

If the US Fed drops the FFR by 25pb, the fragility of the foreign market debt/credit issues is not really abated or resolved. It just allows for a bit of breathing room that may allow these foreign debtors enough room to wiggle out of some of their problems. The US Fed would have to decrease rates by at least 75 basis point before any real relief will materialize for these foreign debtors. Continue reading "Fed Set To Rattle Global Markets"