At the Edge of Chaos: Market Breadth Breakout Signals Returning Uptrend as Options Market Remains Doubtful of Rally
Something’s got to give in the markets. And it may not take long before the next long term trend becomes apparent. The most reliable market indicator since 2016, the New York Stock Exchange Advance Decline line (NYAD), see below for full details, exploded
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Something's got to give in the markets. And it may not take long before the next long term trend becomes apparent.
The most reliable market indicator since 2016, the New York Stock Exchange Advance Decline line (NYAD), see below for full details, exploded to a new all time high on 10/20/21, and did not fall apart by week's end. This is signaling that for now, against all odds, despite the Fed's confirmation that the QE tapering is coming, the uptrend for stocks is back.
More interesting, as I will detail below, is the fact that even though stocks have broken out, options players remain very skeptical of the gains and bond traders are expecting the Fed's actions to slow the economy.
MELA Test Straight Ahead
The likelihood of a major move in the MELA system, where the markets (M), the economy (E), people's life decisions (L) and the algos interact (A), is approaching.
I know this sounds a bit confusing. But here's what seems to be happening. As I've noted here before, the bond market is torn between the sellers, who are afraid of inflation, and the buyers, who are betting that when the Fed tapers the economy will tumble.
Lately, the sellers have been in control of the bond market, as evidenced by the rising yield on the U.S. Ten Year note (TNX). This rise in market interest rates has put a damper on the stock market, which in true MELA fashion, has put a bit of crimp on the economy, especially areas such as home buying, as people have become cautious and slowed down their purchases. All of which has been amplified by the algos and created a choppy trading range for stocks.
Until Friday, that is, when Fed Chairman Powell noted that it was "time to taper," and TNX rolled over after running into intermediate-term resistance near the 1.7% yield area as the buyers came in.
So now we have an interesting setup. With less than a week before November, the month in which the Fed has signaled it will start its taper, bond traders are betting that the Fed's actions will hurt the economy while stock traders are betting that the bull trend in stocks has returned.
How is this possible?
Remember that the stock market is the centerpiece of MELA since it is the source of wealth for a large number of people via their 401 (k) plans and other stock trading related venues. In other words when the 401 (k) does well, as in periods when stocks rise, people feel wealthy and buy things.
And what do stocks like best? They love lower interest rates. All of which means that if the Fed tapers and things slow down, stock traders are betting that the Fed will likely have to restart QE.
In other words, it's all about the Fed and how the bond and stock markets respond because it will all play out in MELA.
It's time to buckle up.
"The edge of chaos is a transition space between order and disorder that is hypothesized to exist within a wide variety of systems. This transition zone is a region of bounded instability that engenders a constant dynamic interplay between order and disorder." – Complexity Labs
I own shares in APP as of this writing. For detailed option strategies and stock picks chose a FREE trial to Joe Duarte in the Money Options.com. Click here. You can also check out my latest video which expands on these strategies here.
Why Astra Zeneca's Monoclonal COVID Antibody Gamble May Pay Off
Shares of pharmaceutical giant Astra Zeneca (AZN) have been under quiet accumulation of late and recently scored a price breakout.
The breakout is interesting for sure, mostly because AZN's COVID vaccine has been associated with rare but serious complications. At the same time, other COVID vaccines have also been associated with complications. All of which means that even though the vaccines have been useful against the pandemic, there is clearly a treatment niche that needs filling in the fight against the virus.
Certainly, AZN has a top notch research team, which is why it's no surprise that they have developed a new and very promising monoclonal antibody to treat COVID infections which may fill that niche. Of course, at first glance they seem to be getting to the party a bit late given that Eli Lilly (LLY) and Regeneron (REGN) already have very successful COVID antibodies on the market.
But here is what could be the game changer; AZN's antibody may be useful as a preventive treatment for COVID, meaning that it is a potential vaccine-like product, although not likely a replacement. At least that's what the studies suggest, and what the company is trying to convince the FDA and global health agency approval committees of.
Put another way; AZN may have an alternative or an adjunct to COVID vaccines which would not likely replace vaccines but would give physicians another treatment option based on well accepted clinical situations such as patients at high risk of vaccine reactions. In addition, the AZN antibody can be administered on an outpatient basis, reducing costs and keeping hospital beds open for emergencies.
Moreover, the stock is also attractive based on the fact that AZN has several blockbuster drugs that have been flying under the radar of late such as its diabetes treatment Forxiga and several key anti-cancer drugs which are fueling year over year sales gains above 30% and an earnings growth rate of 20%.
Technically, AZN has cleared long term resistance above $61, where it may consolidate in the short term as traders wait for approval news on the antibody. But the stock is in an excellent setup for sure as Accumulation Distribution (ADI) has flattened out which suggests that short sellers are exhausted while On Balance Volume (OBV) has been moving higher, confirming that buyers have been using recent price dips to move into the stock.
I own shares in AZN as of this writing. For detailed option strategies and stock picks chose a FREE trial to Joe Duarte in the Money Options.com. Click here.
Options Traders Just Don't Trust this Market
In what may be a bullish contrarian sign, put volume continues to outshine call volume at key strike prices on the SPY options. What's most interesting is that even as the market's breadth (see below) has improved, option traders remain skittish and continue to buy puts just below the most current market price.
Of course, the precise nature of this development suggests that algos are hedging their bets. And while market maker algos hedge their bets based on order flow, CTA algos (quant funds) make bets on technical analysis based support and resistance levels.
It's not clear whether what we're seeing is the market makers or the CTAs. If it's the CTAs the odds may favor a rally if the market breakout continues as they will have to cover their shorts further. If the market maker algos are hedging, though, it could mean that the order flows are bearish and that this rally could be short lived.
To get the latest up to date information on options trading, check out "Options Trading for Dummies", now in its 4th Edition – Available Now!
# 1 New Release on Options Trading
Market Breadth Finally Breaks Out
After a nearly five month trading range the stock market's breadth finally broke out with the New York Stock Advance Decline line (NYAD) moving above recent and multiply times tested resistance level. Thus, until proven otherwise the uptrend has been re-established.
The S & P 500 (SPX) is hovering near its all time highs and trading above 4500 as well as its 20,50, 100, and 200 day moving averages with good confirmation from Accumulation Distribution (ADI) and On Balance Volume (OBV).
The Nasdaq 100 index (NDX) did not fare as well as SPX as it did not deliver an all time high and ended last week on a much weaker note.
Meanwhile the S & P Small Cap 600 index (SML) is knocking on the door of a potential breakout, but still remains somewhat further away from its all time highs than NDX and SPX.
Good news! I've made my NYAD-Complexity, Chaos chart (featured on my YD5 videos) and a few other favorites public. You can find them here.
Joe Duarte
In The Money Options
Joe Duarte is a former money manager, an active trader and a widely recognized independent stock market analyst since 1987. He is author of eight investment books, including the best selling Trading Options for Dummies, rated a TOP Options Book for 2018 by Benzinga.com - now in its third edition, The Everything Investing in your 20s and 30s and six other trading books.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Ten Year note yield (TNX) is trading in a The Everything Investing in your 20s & 30s at Amazon and The Everything Investing in your 20s & 30s at Barnes and Noble.
A Washington Post Color of Money Book of the Month is now available.
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nasdaq stocks pandemic qe fed etf vaccine treatment fda antibodies interest rates stock markets
Uncategorized
Homes listed for sale in early June sell for $7,700 more
New Zillow research suggests the spring home shopping season may see a second wave this summer if mortgage rates fall
The post Homes listed for sale in…
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- A Zillow analysis of 2023 home sales finds homes listed in the first two weeks of June sold for 2.3% more.
- The best time to list a home for sale is a month later than it was in 2019, likely driven by mortgage rates.
- The best time to list can be as early as the second half of February in San Francisco, and as late as the first half of July in New York and Philadelphia.
Spring home sellers looking to maximize their sale price may want to wait it out and list their home for sale in the first half of June. A new Zillow® analysis of 2023 sales found that homes listed in the first two weeks of June sold for 2.3% more, a $7,700 boost on a typical U.S. home.
The best time to list consistently had been early May in the years leading up to the pandemic. The shift to June suggests mortgage rates are strongly influencing demand on top of the usual seasonality that brings buyers to the market in the spring. This home-shopping season is poised to follow a similar pattern as that in 2023, with the potential for a second wave if the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates midyear or later.
The 2.3% sale price premium registered last June followed the first spring in more than 15 years with mortgage rates over 6% on a 30-year fixed-rate loan. The high rates put home buyers on the back foot, and as rates continued upward through May, they were still reassessing and less likely to bid boldly. In June, however, rates pulled back a little from 6.79% to 6.67%, which likely presented an opportunity for determined buyers heading into summer. More buyers understood their market position and could afford to transact, boosting competition and sale prices.
The old logic was that sellers could earn a premium by listing in late spring, when search activity hit its peak. Now, with persistently low inventory, mortgage rate fluctuations make their own seasonality. First-time home buyers who are on the edge of qualifying for a home loan may dip in and out of the market, depending on what’s happening with rates. It is almost certain the Federal Reserve will push back any interest-rate cuts to mid-2024 at the earliest. If mortgage rates follow, that could bring another surge of buyers later this year.
Mortgage rates have been impacting affordability and sale prices since they began rising rapidly two years ago. In 2022, sellers nationwide saw the highest sale premium when they listed their home in late March, right before rates barreled past 5% and continued climbing.
Zillow’s research finds the best time to list can vary widely by metropolitan area. In 2023, it was as early as the second half of February in San Francisco, and as late as the first half of July in New York. Thirty of the top 35 largest metro areas saw for-sale listings command the highest sale prices between May and early July last year.
Zillow also found a wide range in the sale price premiums associated with homes listed during those peak periods. At the hottest time of the year in San Jose, homes sold for 5.5% more, a $88,000 boost on a typical home. Meanwhile, homes in San Antonio sold for 1.9% more during that same time period.
| Metropolitan Area | Best Time to List | Price Premium | Dollar Boost |
| United States | First half of June | 2.3% | $7,700 |
| New York, NY | First half of July | 2.4% | $15,500 |
| Los Angeles, CA | First half of May | 4.1% | $39,300 |
| Chicago, IL | First half of June | 2.8% | $8,800 |
| Dallas, TX | First half of June | 2.5% | $9,200 |
| Houston, TX | Second half of April | 2.0% | $6,200 |
| Washington, DC | Second half of June | 2.2% | $12,700 |
| Philadelphia, PA | First half of July | 2.4% | $8,200 |
| Miami, FL | First half of June | 2.3% | $12,900 |
| Atlanta, GA | Second half of June | 2.3% | $8,700 |
| Boston, MA | Second half of May | 3.5% | $23,600 |
| Phoenix, AZ | First half of June | 3.2% | $14,700 |
| San Francisco, CA | Second half of February | 4.2% | $50,300 |
| Riverside, CA | First half of May | 2.7% | $15,600 |
| Detroit, MI | First half of July | 3.3% | $7,900 |
| Seattle, WA | First half of June | 4.3% | $31,500 |
| Minneapolis, MN | Second half of May | 3.7% | $13,400 |
| San Diego, CA | Second half of April | 3.1% | $29,600 |
| Tampa, FL | Second half of June | 2.1% | $8,000 |
| Denver, CO | Second half of May | 2.9% | $16,900 |
| Baltimore, MD | First half of July | 2.2% | $8,200 |
| St. Louis, MO | First half of June | 2.9% | $7,000 |
| Orlando, FL | First half of June | 2.2% | $8,700 |
| Charlotte, NC | Second half of May | 3.0% | $11,000 |
| San Antonio, TX | First half of June | 1.9% | $5,400 |
| Portland, OR | Second half of April | 2.6% | $14,300 |
| Sacramento, CA | First half of June | 3.2% | $17,900 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | Second half of June | 2.3% | $4,700 |
| Cincinnati, OH | Second half of April | 2.7% | $7,500 |
| Austin, TX | Second half of May | 2.8% | $12,600 |
| Las Vegas, NV | First half of June | 3.4% | $14,600 |
| Kansas City, MO | Second half of May | 2.5% | $7,300 |
| Columbus, OH | Second half of June | 3.3% | $10,400 |
| Indianapolis, IN | First half of July | 3.0% | $8,100 |
| Cleveland, OH | First half of July | 3.4% | $7,400 |
| San Jose, CA | First half of June | 5.5% | $88,400 |
The post Homes listed for sale in early June sell for $7,700 more appeared first on Zillow Research.
federal reserve pandemic home sales mortgage rates interest ratesGovernment
Survey Shows Declining Concerns Among Americans About COVID-19
Survey Shows Declining Concerns Among Americans About COVID-19
A new survey reveals that only 20% of Americans view covid-19 as "a major threat"…
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A new survey reveals that only 20% of Americans view covid-19 as "a major threat" to the health of the US population - a sharp decline from a high of 67% in July 2020.
What's more, the Pew Research Center survey conducted from Feb. 7 to Feb. 11 showed that just 10% of Americans are concerned that they will catch the disease and require hospitalization.
"This data represents a low ebb of public concern about the virus that reached its height in the summer and fall of 2020, when as many as two-thirds of Americans viewed COVID-19 as a major threat to public health," reads the report, which was published March 7.
According to the survey, half of the participants understand the significance of researchers and healthcare providers in understanding and treating long COVID - however 27% of participants consider this issue less important, while 22% of Americans are unaware of long COVID.
What's more, while Democrats were far more worried than Republicans in the past, that gap has narrowed significantly.
"In the pandemic’s first year, Democrats were routinely about 40 points more likely than Republicans to view the coronavirus as a major threat to the health of the U.S. population. This gap has waned as overall levels of concern have fallen," reads the report.
More via the Epoch Times;
The survey found that three in ten Democrats under 50 have received an updated COVID-19 vaccine, compared with 66 percent of Democrats ages 65 and older.
Moreover, 66 percent of Democrats ages 65 and older have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine, while only 24 percent of Republicans ages 65 and older have done so.
“This 42-point partisan gap is much wider now than at other points since the start of the outbreak. For instance, in August 2021, 93 percent of older Democrats and 78 percent of older Republicans said they had received all the shots needed to be fully vaccinated (a 15-point gap),” it noted.
COVID-19 No Longer an Emergency
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued its updated recommendations for the virus, which no longer require people to stay home for five days after testing positive for COVID-19.
The updated guidance recommends that people who contracted a respiratory virus stay home, and they can resume normal activities when their symptoms improve overall and their fever subsides for 24 hours without medication.
“We still must use the commonsense solutions we know work to protect ourselves and others from serious illness from respiratory viruses, this includes vaccination, treatment, and staying home when we get sick,” CDC director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in a statement.
The CDC said that while the virus remains a threat, it is now less likely to cause severe illness because of widespread immunity and improved tools to prevent and treat the disease.
“Importantly, states and countries that have already adjusted recommended isolation times have not seen increased hospitalizations or deaths related to COVID-19,” it stated.
The federal government suspended its free at-home COVID-19 test program on March 8, according to a website set up by the government, following a decrease in COVID-19-related hospitalizations.
According to the CDC, hospitalization rates for COVID-19 and influenza diseases remain “elevated” but are decreasing in some parts of the United States.
Government
Rand Paul Teases Senate GOP Leader Run – Musk Says “I Would Support”
Rand Paul Teases Senate GOP Leader Run – Musk Says "I Would Support"
Republican Kentucky Senator Rand Paul on Friday hinted that he may jump…
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Republican Kentucky Senator Rand Paul on Friday hinted that he may jump into the race to become the next Senate GOP leader, and Elon Musk was quick to support the idea. Republicans must find a successor for periodically malfunctioning Mitch McConnell, who recently announced he'll step down in November, though intending to keep his Senate seat until his term ends in January 2027, when he'd be within weeks of turning 86.
So far, the announced field consists of two quintessential establishment types: John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota. While John Barrasso's name had been thrown around as one of "The Three Johns" considered top contenders, the Wyoming senator on Tuesday said he'll instead seek the number two slot as party whip.
Paul used X to tease his potential bid for the position which -- if the GOP takes back the upper chamber in November -- could graduate from Minority Leader to Majority Leader. He started by telling his 5.1 million followers he'd had lots of people asking him about his interest in running...
Thousands of people have been asking if I'd run for Senate leadership...
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 8, 2024
...then followed up with a poll in which he predictably annihilated Cornyn and Thune, taking a 96% share as of Friday night, with the other two below 2% each.
????????️VOTE NOW ????️ ???? Who would you like to be the next Senate leader?
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 8, 2024
Elon Musk was quick to back the idea of Paul as GOP leader, while daring Cornyn and Thune to follow Paul's lead by throwing their names out for consideration by the Twitter-verse X-verse.
I would support Rand Paul and suspect that other candidates will not actually run polls out of concern for the results, but let’s see if they will!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 8, 2024
Paul has been a stalwart opponent of security-state mass surveillance, foreign interventionism -- to include shoveling billions of dollars into the proxy war in Ukraine -- and out-of-control spending in general. He demonstrated the latter passion on the Senate floor this week as he ridiculed the latest kick-the-can spending package:
This bill is an insult to the American people. The earmarks are all the wasteful spending that you could ever hope to see, and it should be defeated. Read more: https://t.co/Jt8K5iucA4 pic.twitter.com/I5okd4QgDg
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) March 8, 2024
In February, Paul used Senate rules to force his colleagues into a grueling Super Bowl weekend of votes, as he worked to derail a $95 billion foreign aid bill. "I think we should stay here as long as it takes,” said Paul. “If it takes a week or a month, I’ll force them to stay here to discuss why they think the border of Ukraine is more important than the US border.”
Don't expect a Majority Leader Paul to ditch the filibuster -- he's been a hardy user of the legislative delay tactic. In 2013, he spoke for 13 hours to fight the nomination of John Brennan as CIA director. In 2015, he orated for 10-and-a-half-hours to oppose extension of the Patriot Act.
Among the general public, Paul is probably best known as Capitol Hill's chief tormentor of Dr. Anthony Fauci, who was director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease during the Covid-19 pandemic. Paul says the evidence indicates the virus emerged from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology. He's accused Fauci and other members of the US government public health apparatus of evading questions about their funding of the Chinese lab's "gain of function" research, which takes natural viruses and morphs them into something more dangerous. Paul has pointedly said that Fauci committed perjury in congressional hearings and that he belongs in jail "without question."
Musk is neither the only nor the first noteworthy figure to back Paul for party leader. Just hours after McConnell announced his upcoming step-down from leadership, independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr voiced his support:
Mitch McConnell, who has served in the Senate for almost 40 years, announced he'll step down this November.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) February 28, 2024
Part of public service is about knowing when to usher in a new generation. It’s time to promote leaders in Washington, DC who won’t kowtow to the military contractors or…
In a testament to the extent to which the establishment recoils at the libertarian-minded Paul, mainstream media outlets -- which have been quick to report on other developments in the majority leader race -- pretended not to notice that Paul had signaled his interest in the job. More than 24 hours after Paul's test-the-waters tweet-fest began, not a single major outlet had brought it to the attention of their audience.
That may be his strongest endorsement yet.
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