- Bond Market Analysis
- Gold Analysis (Part 1 - Structure, Part 2 - Sentiment)
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
November Review and December Forecast
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Bond Market Buy Signals
This decline has resulted in multiple bond indicators turning bullish i.e. sentiment turning so pessimistic that it is now bullish. Three widely followed sentiment indicator readings are given below:
1- Hulbert Sentiment Index:
The blue line below represents bond yields. Bond yields move in the opposite direction to the bond prices. Red line indicates the sentiment towards bonds. At this point, it appears that the sentiment is as negative as we have seen in ~2 years. Therefore, there is a good wall of worry to support a bond rally.
2- Bund Sentiment
Bunds are German bonds. Bunds were among the bonds that went into negative yield territory. While they were negative, everyone was bullish on the future of Bunds. However, very few realized that it was more close to the end of the Bunds rise. On the contrary, right now investors are very bearish on Bunds. This suggests that this a good time to increase exposure to bonds
3- Bond Sentiment NDR indicator
According to NDR services, bond sentiment is now extremely pessimistic, which supports the argument that the Bond decline is over-extended and we should anticipate a rise in Bond prices:
Bond Market Trend
While we are seeing some very pessimistic sentiment readings, these are coming at a time when the Bond market remains in a bull market according to our proprietary Market Classification Model. Therefore, the prudent trade right now would be to add or maintain longs in the bond market.
Keep in mind that bond market has been rallying for over 30 years, and yields have been declining for the same period. This trend will eventually come to an end. The question is whether it has already ended or will end with one for decline.
In either case, bond yields will not go up right away. They will go up if the economy continues to improve and Federal Reserves raises interest rates couple of times. Fed's changes to short-term interest rates does not directly impact the longer-term interest rates because those rates are driven by market expectation.
In the next blog post, we will discuss the bond market structure and both Bull and Bear scenarios. Poor bond market is in no one's favor and the central banks will try their utmost to ensure interest rate rise remains in control. From an investment perspective, we might see 1 or 2 more opportunities to fund big capital purchases at a lower interest rate.
If interested in free e-mail list or in paid services, please fill-out the form below.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Gold Market Sentiment & Structure Confluence
Gold Sentiment
Gold sentiment has dipped to levels last seen near last year's lows. Following snap shots are from Daily Sentiment Index values on Nov 21.
Following chart shows longer-term DSI values (originally published by Taylor Dart). We can see that DSI is at lowest levels seen in last year.
Gold miners are also extremely oversold. They are at levels where we have seen major bounces in the past. This bounce can turn into major rally, dependent on internal market strength.
Market Classification Model
Along with all the positive developments on the sentiment front, the Market Classification Model remains in a bull market for Gold. As a result, we should not only expect a bounce but a resumption of the uptrend. This resumption could lead to acceleration to the upside. If the market completes the inverted head and shoulders pattern, we could easily see 1800 in 2017.
In the next blog post, we will discuss Fundamental reasons that could support this rise in Gold prices including asset rotation and Indian decision to restrict currency.
If interested in free e-mail list or in paid services, please fill-out the form below.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Gold Market - Approaching a Turn
- Intermediate term Gold structure
- Longer-term goal structure
- Market Classification Model
If interested in free e-mail list or in paid services, please fill-out the form below.
Monday, November 14, 2016
Bonds Market Analysis and Impact
Above chart shows the amazing ascent and first six months and the sharp decline over past 4 months. Today's news is full of negative articles about the bond market rout, and potential consequences.
Bond market is the life blood of modern economies. There is hardly any developed country in the world that is debt free. Countries issue debt/bonds to implement development projects and repay any interest/payments that are due on existing obligations.
United States is a unique case where the government cannot just keep issuing bonds to raise money without any checks and balances. These checks and balances help keep the government debt in control, which supports the dollar and increases confidence among the lenders that they will get their money back.
This check/balance process is known as the debt-ceiling. Without confidence in the system, creditors might start hesitating in purchasing government treasuries, which could lead to higher bond yields, making it more difficult for US to finance future needs.
Orderly, rise and fall of treasury yield is very normal because it is governed by economic realities and Fed's actions. But sudden sharp rise, can be catastrophic for the overall economy. That being said, we are in a long-term downtrend in the bond yields, which will reverse one day in the near future.
Long-term view
In early 1980s, long-term treasuries were yielding 14%. They went as low as 2% in July 2016 - amazing time to refinance or make a big purchase at next to no interest rate.
However, this kind of decline will not last for ever. Typically, there is a ~30 year bond market cycle and right now we are near the bottom of the yield cycle. Following chart shows the yield decline structure.
Now the question is whether this trend has ended or does it have one last decline left in it?
From a fundamental perspective, it is difficult to rationalize how the inflation can pick-up with oil, gold and other commodities being hit with higher dollar. If dollar rallies, it will pressure inflation and as a result, yields would come down.
Short-term View
From a short-term perspective, bond market has become extremely oversold. The sentiment is conducive to a sharp rally, as investors start to rationalize higher yields through new post-election economic realities. DSI sentiment is also extremely subdued.
Note - Election or no-election, economic realities don't change randomly. Rather, their interpretation changes but in the end everything cancels out in the direction of the primary trend
Following chart shows the near-term structure of the bond market. There are two ways to decipher this structure, but both ways suggest that this is a corrective structure. Below chart shows both the wave counts.
Last Word
A collapse of the bond market will be a very bad scenario for investors and the economy. Abrupt rise in interest rates can destroy US abilities to pay existing obligations and could lead to a significant market impact. This impact might start from the US but could quickly spread through out the world. And once such a spiral starts, it is almost impossible to halt it in the middle.
If you are an investor with a substantial portfolio in bonds, you need to carefully watch for trend change in the bond market. Our proprietary Market Classification Model remains in a bull market for Bonds.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Post Election Investment World
Such a market action in the face of presidential uncertainty is amazing. Although it bodes very well for the overall economy, we will talk about potential Trump impact in the upcoming post.
From an investment perspective there are different scenarios that one needs to be aware of.
Stock Market:
As stocks break out into uncharted territory and Nasdaq approaches the vacuum zone, it means that we are on the cusp of a major rally.
Like many rallies before it, this rally will also be debated by market participants as to why would market rally while president's economic plan would mean job losses. However, the pattern suggests that the stock market remains in a bull trend.
In essence, the underlying economy is very strong and would result in strong growth without any external influence. We will discuss internal structure of the market in future posts.
Bond Market:
Bond market's sharp sell-off probably suggests that the long-term bond bull market has ended. We are probably on the cusp of a significant inflation cycle. Near zero bonds are a thing of the past. Even though we might see some respite from the Federal Reserves, which might hold-off on the decision to increase the interest rates, we are surely in for higher rates.
Following chart shows a very long-term bond yields. Post-election rally has broken a long-term down trend line - another confirmation of the trend change. We have been keeping track of this wave count for years now and have discussed potential bond yield bottom with clients.
Many of our clients bought houses, properties etc in the last 2 years!
This market behavior has significant consequences for investors and we will discuss these consequences in detail. However, one should keep in mind that this kind of behavior will not result in bonds going to stratosphere in the near future. In fact, after couple more months of rising yields, yields might see a very sharp correction.
Metals
Copper has rallied very sharply over the past few days. Precious metals rallied on the news of potential Trump win - fear trade, but since then have declined. This decline was a significant intra-day reversal. But the overall trend in metals remains up.
Gold could continue to rally in anticipation of a higher inflationary environment. So will the gold stocks. Gold and Silver are tracing out very interesting patterns and could have significant upside potential if the can break above 1320 in Gold. We will also discuss the gold pattern in the near future. Past analysis on gold accurately predicted the bottom in October.
Portfolio Allocation:
Our proprietary model has performed extremely well in 2016. It not only kept us in the market during relevant bull phases, it also enabled us to maintain our calm whether during Brexit shock or Trump shocker. Any portfolio that can:
- Yield returns which are uncorrelated to the market
- Save a lot of heart-burn when the market goes against you by 1000s of points whether in futures or cash
- Provide you consistent returns AND
- Mitigate volatility and provides very high Sharp ratio
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Reasons to be Bullish - From Twitter
Market completed longer term corrective pattern - Higher prices ahead? https://t.co/lyQxShgxmX $SPY $DJIA $QQQ pic.twitter.com/SeQjjd6D9P
— U_S_Thrive (@survive_thrive) November 8, 2016
A rerun chart from last week. VIX now now longer above all its futures contracts. Looks therefore like it was a scary dip, not a downtrend. pic.twitter.com/xyklR0F14r
— Tom McClellan (@McClellanOsc) November 7, 2016
$VIX term structure suggests that we are approaching an inflection point but note that it has spiked much higher in a few cases#volatility pic.twitter.com/s36s0ZnGun
— Babak (@TN) November 3, 2016
Options Traders Ramp Up Put Buying As Fear Spikes - https://t.co/bq51yqoc8t blog by @JLyonsFundMgmt $SPY pic.twitter.com/UGvsSzqECd
— See It Market (@seeitmarket) November 7, 2016
Chart Of The Week (by views): Investors (Over?-)Prepared For Election Volatility (11/1) $VXST
— Dana Lyons (@JLyonsFundMgmt) November 5, 2016
Post: https://t.co/p7piJzdNeI pic.twitter.com/lOpF6pMibP
we have yet to see any panic from the CBOE equity put/call ratio (normalized by dividing 10d/150d MA) $OEX P/C ratio still negative for mkt pic.twitter.com/z2wvkaDdmv
— Babak (@TN) November 4, 2016
Elections and the Stock Market
We have maintained that the stock market remains in an uptrend and no matter how the election results come out, market would continue its uptrend till the time it enters a bear market. Right now there are no indications that the trend has reversed.
In fact, right now, market seems to have completed its ~4 month long sideways action and is on the verge of breaking out of current 2 year old range.
We discussed the market structure in this post few days ago. Following charts shows what was highlighted and what we saw today:
Friday, November 4, 2016
Market Approaches Key Levels
This worsening sentiment is essentially fuel for the market. Sentiment is one fuel which really kindles market rallies. Right now sentiment is at level normally seen at significant market bottoms, and the market structure is now supporting a potentially sharp rally.
Market Structure
Recent investigation of the market structure suggests that the SP500 along with other indices is tracing out a potentially corrective structure of 3 wave decline.
Following chart shows this structure. Wave C (3rd leg) seems like an ending diagonal. Ending diagonals take place towards the end of a market move and give way to a sharp rally. So once the market rallying, it could take-out many of the recent highs.
Similar pattern is visible in almost all major indices. Following chart highlights this structure in Dow Jones Industrial Average
Along side this market structure, stock market indices have also traced more than 50% of their rally since Brexit vote. This shows that recent correct is now very substantial and should be treated as a minor wave 2. If this is wave 2, it will give wave to a very sharp wave-3 rally.
Sentiment
Following charts show sentiment as measured through Fear/Greed indicators and AAII. Both of these measures suggest that the sentiment is in areas where we see significant bottoms.
If interested in free e-mail list or in paid services, please fill-out the form below.
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Market Trend Remains Up
Markets' sideways action remains intact. Even though in the last couple of days SP500 and US indices saw a relatively sharp decline, it did not impact the overall shape and form of the market.
Market Structure
SP500 is tracing out a diagonal pattern (shown below). One of the criteria of this pattern was to decline below C level, which it did yesterday. Now, the market needs to hold above yesterday's bottom to confirm that this pattern has been completed.
The overall market structure remains very choppy. This choppy action now spans over 4 months, which is a good enough time to correct the market through time. At weekly level this sideways action looks nothing more than a bull flag or pennant formation. And both of these are bullish in nature.
Sentiment
Recent decline has also improve sentiment measures to suggest that a more sustainable rally is possible.
Fear/Greed indicator is at levels where it typically signifies a market bottom.
Similar another indicator just generated a buy signal and could mean that the trend is about to turn to the upside.
Market Classification Model:
MCM for stocks continues to be in a bull market. Therefore, the trend remains up and we will soon see a sharp rally. Even with yesterday's sharp decline, our strategy performed well. While SP500 was down 0.72%, we were up 0.20%. Another proprietary model is suggesting a sharp rally in our strategic allocation portfolio. We will see. So far by the grace of almighty, our proprietary portfolio is up ~20% YTD (after 10 months), which SP500 is up ~6%.
If interested in free e-mail list or in paid services, please fill-out the form below.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
2016 YTD Strategy Performance
Conservative Strategy (Jan 1 - Oct 25) = 21%
Cumulative performance since January in relation with SP500 (total returns) is shown below:
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Inflection Point Model - Performance Recap
Analyzing IPM model in conjunction with the market structure showed us that the trend had been sideways to down since mid July. Hence, the likely scenario was for market to put in a bottom during the IPM turn window and rally.
Following chart shows the latest structure shared on the blog along with a blue box, highlighting potential market turn window.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Sideways Gyration Continues...
Along side regular investors, it significantly impacts options traders. Sideways market action is disastrous for option premium. As a result, options expire worthless. SP500 is currently at the same level as it was in early July. So over last 3 months, market has not gone any where.
If anything, it has a slightly downward trajectory since August. On one hand, this kind of market action is positive for long-term market gains, as market is digesting gains and will most likely breakout, it begs the questions whether we have seen the bottom or market still needs to do some work on the downside.
We are blessed to be up ~20% (YTD), while SP500 is up ~6%. Detailed performance analysis will be shared at the end of the month.
Identifying Next Market Move
Identifying a top or bottom remains a very difficult job. In order to correctly project market's next move, we need to take into account 4 items:
- Timing
- Structure
- Market Signal
- Confirmation
Friday, October 21, 2016
Stock Market Consolidation & Break-out Levels
A similar situation is present in case of SP500, where the downtrend line is crossing at 2166.
Therefore, a sustained rally of 100 points in DJIA and ~20 points in SP500 would confirm a break-out.
Overall, the markets remain in an uptrend. Market Classification Model remains in an uptrend. Therefore, there is a very high probability that we will soon experience a market break-out. Long lasting sideways action is preparing for a break-out after resetting optimistic sentiment, market valuations and technical indicators
If interested in free e-mail list or in paid services like Market Classification Model, IPM or others, please fill-out the form below.