Will Powell twist?

Jens Nordvig recently conducted an unscientific Twitter poll on the FOMC's action at the December meeting/ While there was a small plurality leaning towards a "steady as she goes" course, there was a significant minority calling for another Operation Twist, in which the Fed shifts buying from the short end to the medium and long...

A Wall of Worry, or Slope of Hope?

Preface: Explaining our market timing models We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade.  ...

How to outperform by 50-250% over 2-3 years

Investors are increasingly convinced that the cyclical and Great Rotation trade is very real and long-lasting (see Everything you need to know about the Great Rotation but were afraid to ask). That should be bullish for the S&P 500, right?   Well, sort of.   Despite the cyclical and reflationary tailwinds for stocks, the S&P...

Too far, too fast?

Preface: Explaining our market timing models We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade.  ...

Will Mnuchin and COVID derail the cyclical rebound?

I hope that I haven't offended the market gods. Just after my bullish call for a cyclical recovery (see Everything you need to know about the Great Rotation but were afraid to ask), a number of contrary data points have appeared to cast doubt on the reflation thesis.   The markets were jolted by the...

A crowded long, or a “good overbought” advance?

Mid-week market update: In case you missed it, the Dow Theory flashed a definitive buy signal. Both the Dow Jones Industrial and Transportation Averages made all-time highs on Monday. This is the granddaddy of all technical analysis systems, and investors should sit up and pay attention. Moreover, the Dow may be tracing out a series...

Value picks and pans

I recently made a presentation at a virtual conference, and an audience member asked me to name some of my favorite value sectors. I had a few answers, but let me start with what I would avoid, namely financial stocks.     Financial stocks are statistically cheap and comprise a significant weight in most value...

Still testing triple-top resistance

Preface: Explaining our market timing models We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade.  ...

Everything you need to know about the Great Rotation, but were afraid to ask

The market lurched upwards on Vaccine Monday on the Pfizer-BioNTech news that it had found promising results in its vaccine trial. In a "Great Rotation", investors piled into value stocks and abandoned former growth darlings. The Daily Shot published this chart from Goldman Sachs estimating how a successful vaccine rollout could impact sectors. But that's not...

ZBT missed – again!

Mid-week market update: It is ironic that four weeks ago today, I pointed out that the market missed flashing a rare Zweig Breadth Thrust buy signal by one day (see Trading the breadth thrust). Market breadth, as measured by the ZBT Indicator, has to rise from an oversold level of 0.40 to an overbought reading...

Zweig Breadth Thrust and triple-top watch

Preface: Explaining our market timing models We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade.  ...

Growth, interrupted?

Two weeks ago, I rhetorically asked if investors should be buying into the cyclical recovery theme (see Buy the cyclical and reflation trade?). Global green shoots of recovery were appearing, but I identified the "uncertainty of additional fiscal stimulus" as a key risk to the cyclical rebound thesis. Now that Biden appears to be winning...

Scenario planning ahead of the Big Event

Preface: Explaining our market timing models We maintain several market timing models, each with differing time horizons. The "Ultimate Market Timing Model" is a long-term market timing model based on the research outlined in our post, Building the ultimate market timing model. This model tends to generate only a handful of signals each decade.  ...

Emerging tail-risk: An invasion of Taiwan

I am not in the habit of peddling conspiracy theories, but this is inadvertently becoming a Halloween tradition. Last Halloween, I wrote about how China could control Taiwan without firing a shot (see Scary Halloween story: How a weak USD could hand China a major victory). This year, a new geopolitical tail-risk is materializing for investors...