Market Overview

by Eli WrightWithout doubt, the biggest event of the past week was the Fed's first (and only) rate hike in 2016. Though markets had already priced in the decision, the big speculation prior to...

At the very same moment Federal Reserve Board Chairman Janet Yellen had a press conference describing it’s outlook for 2017, President elect Donald Trump was meeting with the most powerful CEOs...

After executing our covered call writing trades, we immediately prepare for position management opportunities…exit strategies. One of these strategies in our arsenal is the Mid Contract Unwind...

There is a tendency in our industry to look at alternative investments as separate and distinct from traditional strategies. But at the most basic level, both alternative and traditional strategies...

Over the past week, all of my core market health indicators fell slightly. However, none of them weakened enough to change any portfolio allocations. Measures of market quality continue to inch toward...

Market movers ahead There have been several important central bank meetings this month but we still have one to go. We expect the Riksbank to prolong the current QE programme by six months (SEK30bn)...

Markets: The market mostly shrugged off the Fed rate hike this past week, with the Dow rising a bit, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ both flat, but the Russell 2000 fell 1.74%, as small caps faded. This...

It is both one of the greatest contradictions and greatest frauds in the entire realm of markets: the U.S. interest rate contradiction. The facts are these. At the end of 2008; the Federal Reserve...

Review and Dow 20,000Last week, I noted the market’s push toward the market milestone of Dow 20,000. To wit: “The Dow broke above 19700 and is within striking distance of the...

On December 14, right before the FOMC decision I took a snapshot of rate hike odds and posted them in Fed Hikes Today, Then What?Today, we compare the before vs. the after, the latter is from Friday,...

The small adjustment to the Fed's anticipated path for the Fed funds target helped lift the US dollar to its highest level against the euro since 2003, and to ten-month highs against the Japanese yen....

A Quick Chart OverviewBelow is an overview of charts we picked to illustrate the current market situation. The selection is a bit random, but not entirely so. The first set of charts concerns...

The most powerful speculative force in the currency futures is the turn of sentiment toward the Japanese yen. The bears added another 17.6k contracts to lift the gross short position to 125.9k...

If I hear one more idiot declare how well the economy is doing - I will scream. Half the population has not enjoyed economic improvement in the 21st century.Follow up: The economy is measured by the...