2013 continues to sport far fewer risk on/off days than the last few years. Despite some larger stock moves in May, we saw yet another month with very few broad multi-market selloffs or rallies. This is only the second month of 2013 to see risk on/risk off days.
Category: Markets
10
Jun
2013
06
Jun
2013
Asset Class Scoreboard: May 2013
May was by far the biggest shakeup in the asset class scoreboard so far this year. Big reversals in multiple markets in the final weeks of the month shifted the landscape considerably, with US Real Estate, World Stocks, Managed Futures, Bonds and Commodities all falling. Stocks and Hedge Funds were the only classes on our […]
31
May
2013
Commodity ETF performance – May
We think Commodity ETFs are a poor choice for investors, but we may have to revisit our premise with commodity ETFs continuing to remain ahead of the Dec futures performance through the end of May.
30
May
2013
Is the government helping speculators manipulate grain futures? No.
Is the government (and CME) helping speculators manipulate the grain market? No. The recent article in Salon is little more than tired old cries of “greedy speculators” wrapped in criticism of High Frequency Trading (HFT) and sprinkled with some nutty conspiracy theory aimed at getting page views.
29
May
2013
Waiting for the Bond Bear: Thirty-third Time’s the Charm?
We won’t even try to count the number of times we’ve started get excited about the prospect of a bear market in bonds (rates higher, bonds lower). We just can’t help ourselves – a sustained downward trend in the market combined with higher T-bond yields would provide an excellent opportunity for managed futures to prosper. […]
24
May
2013
Black Gold, Texas Tea, and Brent Bubbly?
The story of the last few years in oil has been the growing spread between WTI and Brent crude, and the effect that’s had on the futures markets for both. The tide seemed to be turning decisively in Brent’s favor, but if the recent trend is any indication, that may not be the case for much longer.
21
May
2013
That’s not a Rally… THIS is a Rally
We were reminded of the old “That’s not a knife” line from Crocodile Dundee when taking a look at the Nikkei vs Dow chart put up on StockTwits today. While the move in the Dow has been impressive, those in Japan are likely saying something along the lines of “that’s not a rally” as the move in the Nikkei (black line) is approaching ludicrous speed.
17
May
2013
Gold Forming Classic “Frowny Face” Pattern
Not to heap any more on the unfortunate gold bugs – they’ve had it bad enough lately. We just wanted to draw your attention to a chart pattern we’ve been watching as it has developed: the classic “frowny face” pattern.
13
May
2013
Is the Yen Carry Trade Back?
The Yen has continued to plunge downward, and we’re hearing more and more about the Yen Carry Trade being back. All this talk reminded us of some of the infamous stories stemming from the last time that trade was popular. But even so, we think there’s a better way to capture moves like this.
09
May
2013
Funny Enough, We HAVE Heard of the CME…
This week’s Economist has a rarity: an article taking a look at the CME with the tagline “the biggest financial exchange you’ve never heard of.” Well, maybe it’s because we’re in the futures business and live in Chicago – but we would venture to guess most readers of the Economist probably have heard of the CME… right?
