Why a financial crisis could be the bulls’ best hope

I pointed out two weeks ago the strong disagreement between technical analysts, who were bullish because of strong price momentum, and macro investors, who were bearish because of concerns over hawkish central bank policy and a slowing growth outlook (see "Price leads fundamentals", or "Don't fight the Fed"?). In the wake of the market reaction...

Jackson Hole turbocharges the FOMC market cycle

Mid-week market update: The stock market has mostly followed an FOMC cycle where prices decline into an FOMC meeting and rallied afterward. While the Jackson Hole symposium wasn't an FOMC meeting, it nevertheless seems to have sparked market weakness.      After the S&P 500 stalled and pulled back at its 200 dma, I thought...

Six reasons why this was just a bear market rally

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.   The Trend...

Will Europe drag us into a global recession?

It's finally happened, the euro fell below par against the US Dollar. The weakness can be attributable to a combination of Fed hawkishness and European economic weakness.     Europe is almost certainly in a recession. Consumer confidence has skidded to levels last seen during the Eurozone Crisis of 2011-2012. The questions are whether the...

Short covering rally is over, now waiting for Powell

Mid-week market update: According to Goldman Sachs, systematic hedge fund positioning has reversed from a crowded short to a crowded long. Readings are similar to the levels seen at the market top in late March.      The S&P 500 stalled at 200 dma resistance. In light of this analysis of HF positioning, the bulls...