Category Archives: ETFS

When to Buy Energy Stocks

back testing, educational newsletters, ETFS, jay kaeppel, Mutual funds

Crude oil and pretty much the entire energy sector has been crushed in recent months. This type of action sometimes causes investors to wonder if a buying opportunity may be forming.

The answer may well be, “Yes, but not just yet.”

Seasonality and Energy

Historically the energy sector shows strength during the February into May period.  This is especially true if the November through January period is negative.  Let’s take a closer look.

The Test

If Fidelity Select Energy (ticker FSENX) shows a loss during November through January then we will buy and hold FSENX from the end of January through the end of May.  The cumulative growth of $1,000 appears in Figure 1 and the yearly results in Figure 2.

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Figure 1 – Growth of $1,000 invested in FSENX ONLY during Feb-May ONLY IF Nov-Jan shows a loss

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Figure 2 – % + (-) from holding FSENX during Feb-May ONLY IF Nov-Jan shows a loss

Figure 3 displays ticker XLE (an energy ETF that tracks loosely with FSENX).  As you can see, at the moment the Nov-Jan return is down roughly -15%.

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Figure 3 – Ticker XLE (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

All of this suggests remaining patient and not trying to pick a bottom in the fickle energy sector. If, however, the energy sector shows a 3-month loss at the end of January, history suggests a buying opportunity may then be at end.

Summary

Paraphrasing here – “Patience, ah, people, patience”.

Jay Kaeppel

Disclaimer:  The data presented herein were obtained from various third-party sources.  While I believe the data to be reliable, no representation is made as to, and no responsibility, warranty or liability is accepted for the accuracy or completeness of such information.  The information, opinions and ideas expressed herein are for informational and educational purposes only and do not constitute and should not be construed as investment advice, an advertisement or offering of investment advisory services, or an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security.

Focus on “Investing” (not “the Market”)

educational newsletters, ETFS, jay kaeppel, portfolio management

I don’t offer “investment advice” here at JOTM so I have not commented much on the recent action of the market lest someone thinks I am “predicting” what will happen next.  Like most people, predicting the future is not one of my strengths.  I do have some thoughts though (which my doctor says is a good thing).

The Big Picture

Instead of talking about “the markets”, let’s talk first about “investing”, since that is really the heart of the matter.  “The markets” are simply a means to an end (i.e., accumulating wealth) which is accomplished by “investing”.  So, let me just run this one past you and you can think about it for a moment and see if it makes sense.

Macro Suggestion

*30% invested on a buy-and-hold basis

*30% invested using trend-following methods

*30% invested using tactical strategies

*10% whatever

30% Buy-and-Hold: Avoid the mistake that I made way back when – of thinking that you should always be 100% in or 100% out of the market.  No one gets timing right all the time.  And being 100% on the wrong side is pretty awful.  Put some portion of money into the market and leave it there.  You know, for all those times the market goes up when you think it shouldn’t.

30% using trend-following methods:  Let me just put this thought out there – one of the biggest keys to achieving long-term investment success in the stock market is avoiding some portion of those grueling 30% to 89% (1929-1932) declines that rip your investment soul from you body and make you never want to invest again.  Adopt some sort of trend-following method (or methods) so that when it all hits the fan you have some portion of your money “not getting killed”.

30% invested using (several) tactical strategies: For some examples of tactical strategies see here, here, here and here.  Not recommending these per se, but they do serve as decent examples.

10% whatever:  Got a hankering to buy a speculative stock?  Go ahead.  Want to trade options?  OK.  Want to buy commodity ETFs or closed-end funds or day-trade QQQ?  No problem.  Just make sure you don’t devote more than 10% of your capital to your “wild side.”

When the market is soaring you will likely have at a minimum 60% to 90% of your capital invested in the market.  And when it all goes south you will have at least 30% and probably more out of the market ready to reinvest when the worm turns.

Think about it.

The Current State of Affairs  

What follows are strictly (highly conflicted) opinions.  Overall sentiment seems to me to be very bearish – typically a bullish contrarian sign.  However, a lot of people whose opinions I respect are among those that are bearish.  So, it is not so easy to just “go the other way.”  But here is how I see the current “conflict”.

From a “technical” standpoint, things look awful.  Figures 1 and 2 show 4 major market averages and my 4 “bellwethers”.  They all look terrible.  Price breaking down below moving averages, moving average rolling over, and so on and so forth.  From a trend-following perspective this is bearish, so it makes sense to be “playing defense” with a portion of your capital as discussed above.

(click any Figure to enlarge)

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Figure 1 – Major market averages with 50-day and 200-day moving averages (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

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Figure 2 – Jay’s Market Bellwethers with 50-day and 200-day moving averages (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

On the flip side, the market is getting extremely oversold by some measure and we are on the cusp of a pre-election year – which has been by far the best historical performing year within the election cycle.

Figure 3 displays a post by the esteemed Walter Murphy regarding an old Marty Zweig indicator.  It looks at the 60-day average of the ratio of NYSE new highs to New Lows.  Low readings typically have marked good buying opportunities.

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Figure 3 – Marty Zweig Oversold Indicator (Source: Walter Murphy on Twitter)

Figure 4 displays the growth of $1,000 invested in the S&P 500 Index ONLY during pre-election years starting in 1927.  Make no mistake, pre-election year gains are no “sure thing.”  But the long-term track record is pretty good.

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Figure 4 – Growth of $1,00 invested in S&P 500 Index ONLY during pre-election years (1927-present)

There is no guarantee that an oversold market won’t continue to decline.  And seasonal trends are not guaranteed to work “the next time.”  But when you get an oversold market heading into a favorable seasonal period, don’t close your eyes to the bullish potential.

Summary

Too many investors seem to think in absolute terms – i.e., I must be fully invested OR I must be out.  This is (in my opinion) a mistake.   It makes perfect sense to be playing some defense given the current price action.  But try not to buy into the “doomsday” scenarios you might read about.  And don’t be surprised (and remember to get back in) if the market surprises in 2019.

Jay Kaeppel

Disclaimer:  The data presented herein were obtained from various third-party sources.  While I believe the data to be reliable, no representation is made as to, and no responsibility, warranty or liability is accepted for the accuracy or completeness of such information.  The information, opinions and ideas expressed herein are for informational and educational purposes only and do not constitute and should not be construed as investment advice, an advertisement or offering of investment advisory services,

The Two Most Important Bond Market Charts

educational newsletters, ETFS, jay kaeppel
A funny thing happened on the way that bond bear market.  But first the promised charts:
*Figure 1 strongly suggests that the next major move in bond yields is higher (as yields tend to move in roughly 30-year up and 30-year down waves).
1Figure 1 – 60-year bond yield cycle (Courtesy: www.mcoscillator.com)

*Figure 2 displays the 10-year treasury note yield – with a long, long downtrend followed by an advance to a potential “fake out breakout” to the upside.  More to follow.
2Figure 2 – 10-year treasury yields (x10); ticker TNX (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

Now for the recap:
*The 10-year treasury yield (TNX) topped out in the early 1980’s and declined to a low in July 2012.
*TNX then moved higher for about a year, then drifted lower to its ultimate low around 1.35 three years later in 2016.
*From there rates rose to roughly 3.25% by October 2018.  Along the way it took out its 120-month moving average, a horizontal resistance line at about 3.04% and finally a downward sloping trend line in October 2018.
*With “final resistance” pierced many bond market prognosticators assumed that yields were off to the races.
*And then that “funny thing” happened.  10-year yields fell from 3.25% in October to a recent level of roughly 2.90%.
At this point “predicting” where TNX is headed in the short run from here is pure conjecture.  There is a chance that rates will not rally anytime soon and that they may even continue to drift back lower.  Take your pick.  Flip a coin.  Whatever.  The bottom line is that what you see in Figure 2 is entirely in “the eye of the beholder.”
So let’s circle back to Figure 1.  The bottom line is this:
*The odds appear very good that the next 30 years in in bond yield will look a lot different than the last 30 years, when high grade bond yield fell from 15% to roughly 3% (which is OK, because if rates ever go negative and I have to pay the government just to hold my money I am going to be really pissed….but I digress).
*Short-term “traders” can trade long-term bonds to their hearts content.  However, “investors” may be wise to avoid long-term bonds.  Consider ticker TLT, the iShares 20+ year treasury bond ETF.  It presently has a 30-day SEC yield of 3.06% and an “average duration” of 17.42 years.  Here is how to understand that:
–Regarding yield, if price remained completely unchanged, and investor would theoretically earn roughly 3.06% in interest over the next 12 months
–Regarding duration, if interest rates rose one full percentage point, ticker TLT would theoretically lose -17.42% in value
Long-term bonds may rally from time to time.  However, for long-term investors holding bonds, this is NOT a favorable reward-to-risk tradeoff.
Summary
In the “big picture” we probably are in a long-term bear market for bonds.  But it may not look like it for a while.  So trade in and out as much as you’d like.  But for bond investment purposes I am keeping duration short.
Jay Kaeppel
Disclaimer:  The data presented herein were obtained from various third-party sources.  While I believe the data to be reliable, no representation is made as to, and no responsibility, warranty or liability is accepted for the accuracy or completeness of such information.  The information, opinions and ideas expressed herein are for informational and educational purposes only and do not constitute and should not be construed as investment advice, an advertisement or offering of investment advisory services, or an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security.

‘Dogs’ ‘Due’ for ‘Days’

commodities, ETFS, indexes, jay kaeppel

While I am by and large an avowed “trend-follower” I also recognize that sometimes things get beaten down so much that they ultimately offer great potential long-term value.  Or, as they say, “every dog has it’s day.”  So, let’s consider some “dogs”.

For the record, and as always, I am not “recommending” these assets – I am simply highlighting what look like potential opportunities.

Dog #1: Soybeans (ticker SOYB)

As I wrote about in this article, soybeans are very cyclical in nature.  According to that article there are two “bullish seasonal periods” for beans and one “bearish”:

*Long beans from close on the last trading day of January through the close on 2nd trading day of May

*Short beans from the close on 14th trading day of June through the close on 2nd trading day of October

*Long beans from the close on 2nd trading day of October through the close on 5th trading day of November

In Figure 1 (ticker SOYB – an ETF that tracks the price of soybean futures) has been beaten down quite a bit.  This doesn’t mean price can’t go lower.  However, given the cyclical nature of bean prices they probably won’t go down forever.

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Figure 1 – Weekly SOYB; prices beaten down (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

Figure 2 is a daily chart of SOYB and displays the recent “bearish” seasonal period and the latest “bullish” period so far.

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Figure 2 – Daily SOYB (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

Dog #2: Uranium (ticker URA)

In this article and this article, I wrote about the prospects for uranium and ticker URA – an ETF that tracks the price of uranium.  Since that time URA has basically continued to go nowhere.  As you can see in Figure 3, it has been doing just that for some time.  While there is no guarantee that the breakout out of the range indicated in Figure 2 will be to the upside, historically, elongated bases such as this often lead to just that.  A trader can buy it at current levels and put a stop loss somewhere below the low for the base and take a reasonable amount of risk if they are willing to bet on an eventual upside breakout.

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Figure 3 – Ticker URA with a long (really long) base (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

Dog #3: Base Metals (Ticker DBB)

Under the category of – I called this one way, way too soon – in this article I wrote about the potential for ticker DBB to be an outperformer in the years ahead.  As you can see in Figure 4, so far, not so good.

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Figure 4 – Base Metals via ticker DBB (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

Still, the argument for base metals is this:

*In Figure 3 is this article you can see that commodities as an asset class are due for a good move relative to stocks in the years ahead.

*In addition, the Fed is raising interest rates.

As discussed historically base metals have been the best performing commodity sector when interest rates are rising.  Ticker DBB offers investors a play on a basket of base metals.

Summary

Will any of these “dog” ideas pan out?  As always, only time will tell.  But given the cyclical nature of commodities and the price and fundamental factors that may impact these going forward, they might at least be worth a look.

In the meantime, “Woof” (which – as far as I can tell – means “Have a nice day”).

Jay Kaeppel

Disclaimer:  The data presented herein were obtained from various third-party sources.  While I believe the data to be reliable, no representation is made as to, and no responsibility, warranty or liability is accepted for the accuracy or completeness of such information.  The information, opinions and ideas expressed herein are for informational and educational purposes only and do not constitute and should not be construed as investment advice, an advertisement or offering of investment advisory services, or an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security.

Watch This Indicator

EDS, educational newsletters, ETFS, indexes, jay kaeppel, technical indicator

So, the big question on every investor’s mind is “What Comes Next?”  Since this is not an advisory service (and given the fact that I am not too good at predicting the future anyway) I have avoided commenting on “the state of the markets” lately.  That being said, I do have a few “thoughts”:

*The major averages (as of this exact moment) are still mostly above their longer-term moving averages (200-day, 10-month, 40-week, and so on and so forth).  So, on a trend-following basis the trend is still “up”.

0Figure 1 – The Major Index (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

*We are in the most favorable 15 months of the 48-month election cycle (though off to a pretty awful start obviously) which beings Oct.1 of the mid-term year and ends Dec. 31st of the pre-election year.

*Investors should be prepared for some volatility as bottoms following sharp drops usually take at least a little while to form and typically are choppy affairs.  One day the market is up big and everyone breathes a sigh of relief and then the next day the market tanks.  And so on and so forth.

An Indicator to Watch

At the outset let me state that there are no “magical” indicators.  Still, there are some that typically are pretty useful.  One that I follow I refer to as Nasdaq HiLoMA.  It works as follows:

A = Nasdaq daily new highs

B = Nasdaq daily new lows

C = (A / (A+B)) * 100

D = 10-day moving average of C

C can range from 0% to 100%.  D is simply a 10-day average of C.

Nasdaq HiLoMA = D

Interpretation: When Nasdaq HiLoMA drops below 20 the market is “oversold”.

Note that the sentence above says “the market is oversold” and NOT “BUY NOW AGGRESSIVELY WITH EVERY PENNY YOU HAVE.”  This is an important distinction because – like most indicators – while this one may often give useful signals, it will occasionally give a completely false signal (i.e., the market will continue to decline significantly).

A couple of “finer points”:

*Look for the indicator to bottom out before considering it to be “bullish”.

*A rise back above 20 is often a sign that the decline is over (but, importantly, not always).  Sometimes there may be another retest of recent lows and sometimes a bear market just re-exerts itself)

*If the 200-day moving average for the Dow or S&P 500 is currently trending lower be careful about using these signals.  Signals are typically more useful if the 200-day moving average for these indexes is rising or at least drifting sideways rather than clearly trending lower (ala 2008).

Figures 2 through 8 displays the S&P 500 Index with the Nasdaq HiLoMA indicator.  Click to enlarge any chart.

1Figure 2 – SPX with Jay’s Nasdaq HiLoMA ending 2006 (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

2Figure 3 – SPX with Jay’s Nasdaq HiLoMA ending 2008 (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

3Figure 4 – SPX with Jay’s Nasdaq HiLoMA ending 2010 (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

4Figure 5 – SPX with Jay’s Nasdaq HiLoMA ending 2012 (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

5Figure 6 – SPX with Jay’s Nasdaq HiLoMA ending 2014 (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

6Figure 7 – SPX with Jay’s Nasdaq HiLoMA ending 2016 (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

7Figure 8 – SPX with Jay’s Nasdaq HiLoMA ending 2018 (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

Summary

The stock market is in a favorable seasonal period and is oversold.  As long as the former remains true, react accordingly (with proper risk controls in place of course).

Jay Kaeppel

Disclaimer:  The data presented herein were obtained from various third-party sources.  While I believe the data to be reliable, no representation is made as to, and no responsibility, warranty or liability is accepted for the accuracy or completeness of such information.  The information, opinions and ideas expressed herein are for informational and educational purposes only and do not constitute and should not be construed as investment advice, an advertisement or offering of investment advisory services, or an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security.