Last Friday, December 2017 monthly retail sales were reported. The Commerce Department said on Friday that retail sales rose 0.4% last month. Data for November was revised to show sales gaining 0.9% instead of the previously reported 0.8% increase. Retail sales in December rose 5.4% from a year ago. Excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and…
The Dow Jones industrial average e-mini futures were up nearly 1%, or 243 points, ahead of the U.S. markets opening for trading Tuesday morning. The move puts DJIA squarely in the cross hairs of achieving Dow 26,000 in a most remarkable fashion and speed. Some of the most recent market rally can be attributed to…
What a week it was for the major averages. The meteoric rise would almost have to find perma-bears and “top callers” in dismay had they not left long positions in play until the markets showed actual signs of resistance and subsequent declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 4.4% and the S&P 500 has rallied…
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What a week it was for the major averages. The meteoric rise would almost have to find perma-bears and “top callers” in dismay had they not left long positions in play until the markets showed actual signs of resistance and subsequent declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 4.4% and the S&P 500 has rallied…...
If you trade the within the VIX complex you are likely following a trend that has tapped into the “the nature of volatility”, which is to decline over time. But the question many may have not considered is why, why is that the nature of volatility. For most people trading the VIX complex or volatility…
We heard from one Federal Reserve President today, whom offered a cautionary statement to markets. The Federal Reserve may have to “press harder on the brakes” at some point over the next few years, increasing the risk of a hard landing for the economy, New York Fed President William Dudley said Thursday. It should be…
Models are useful. They help us understand the world around us and aid us in predicting what will happen next. But it’s important to remember that models don’t necessarily reflect the underlying reality of the thing we’re modeling. The Ptolemaic model of the solar system assumed the Earth was the center of everything, but in spite of…...
Entering Thursday, U.S. equity Futures are flat to slightly higher as bond yields pull back from yesterday’s headlines in price. After the 10-yr U.S. Treasury touched 2.59% it has pulled back to 2.53% in early morning trade. As the Asian markets traded overnight, headlines surrounding China’s “U.S. bond policy” came into focus. China’s regulators pushed…
That was much to do about nothing now wasn’t it. Well, the major averages did finish lower, which is a bit of a new occurrence in the New Year. And after a bump in volatility at the opening of the trading day, the VIX managed to finish below 10 once again in 2018. The S&P…
