Category Archives: indexes

All Eyes on Energy

ETFS, indexes, jay kaeppel, Uncategorized

The energy sector – not just unloved, but pretty much reviled not that long ago – is suddenly everybody’s favorite sector.  And why not, what with crude oil rallying steadily in the last year and pulling pretty much everything energy related higher with it?

Anecdotally, everything I read seems to be on board with a continuation of the energy rally. And that may well prove to be the case. But at least for the moment I am waiting for some confirmation.

Two Concerns

The first – which I mentioned in this article – is the fact that the best time of year for energy is the February into early May period.  See Figure 1.

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Figure 1 – Ticker XLE Seasonality (www.Sentimentrader.com)

With that period just about past it is possible that the energy sector may at least pause for a while.

The second concern is that a lot of “things” in the energy sector are presently “bumping their head” against resistance.  Here is the point:

*This does not preclude a breakout and further run to higher ground.

*But until the breakout is confirmed a little bit of caution is in order.

I created an index comprised of a variety of energy related ETFs. As you can see in Figures 2 through 4 that index recently was turned away at a significant resistance level.

Figure 3 shows the same information on a weekly chart.

2a

Figure 3  – Jay’s Energy ETF Index – Weekly (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

Figure 4 zooms in to view the action on a daily basis.

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Figure 4  – Jay’s Energy ETF Index – Daily (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

As you can see in Figure 4, the index made an effort to break out above the January high then reversed and closed lower before declining a little bit more the next day.

The action displayed in the charts above may prove to be nothing more that “the pause that refreshes.” If price breaks out to the upside another bull leg may well ensue.  But note also in Figure 5 that ticker XLE – the broad-based SPDR Energy ETF – demonstrated the same type of hesitation as the ETF Index in the previous charts.

It too faces it’s own significant resistance levels as seen in Figure 5.

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Figure 5 – Ticker XLE faces resistance  (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

Summary

Energies have showed great relative strength of late even in the context of a choppy stock market overall.   So there is no reason to believe that the rally can’t continue. But two things to watch for:

1. If energy related assets clear their recent resistance levels a powerful new upleg may ensue.

2. Until those resistance levels are pierced, a bit of caution is in order.  Energy has been the leading sector of late.  Any time the leading sector runs into trouble it pays to “keep an eye out” for trouble in the broader market.

No predictions one way or the other – just some encouragement to pay close attention at a potentially critical juncture.

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.

Lines in the Sand; The Bonds, REIT and MLP Edition

ETFS, indexes, jay kaeppel
Last week I wrote an article purporting to highlight significant levels of support and resistance across a variety of financial markets.  Well, it turns out there are more.
More Notes on “Lines”
I certainly look at the markets more from the “technical” side than the “fundamental” side (not even a conscious choice really – I just never really had much success buying things based on fundamentals. That doesn’t mean I think fundamentals are useless or that they don’t “work” – they just didn’t work for me).
Once I settled on the technical side of things, I started reading books about technical analysis.  All the classics.  I learned about chart patterns and trend lines.  By definition, a trend line is a line drawn on a price chart that connects two or more successive lows or highs.
And then I got to work looking through charts and applying everything that I thought I had learned. And like a lot of “newbie” technicians – and a surprising number of seasoned ones – I typically ended up drawing “lines on charts” that would resemble something like what you see in Figure 1.
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Figure 1 – “Important” trend lines (or not?) (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)
For a technical analyst this is sort of the equivalent of “throwing up” on a chart (and the real pisser was that back  in the day a fresh updated booklet of charts would show up in the mail each week – so you had to “throw up’ all over all the charts again and redraw every #$^& “important” line!!).
At some point I realized that perhaps every “important” line that I was drawing on a multitude of charts was perhaps maybe not so “important” after all. This revelation led me to establish the following maxim (as much to force me to “fight the urge” as anything:
Jay’s Trading Maxim #18: If you draw enough lines on a bar chart, price will eventually hit one or more of them.
(See also JayOnTheMarkets.com: The Line(s) in the Sand for Everything)     
True Confession Time
There are certain dirty little secrets that no respectable technician should ever utter. But just to “get a little crazy” (OK, at last by my standards – which are quite low, apparently) I’m going to put it down in print:
I hate trend lines
There, I said it.  Now for the record, up sloping and down sloping trend lines are a perfectly viable trading tool if used properly.  I personally know plenty of people trading successfully using trend lines drawn on a price chart.  Sadly, I’m just not one of them.
So remember the lesson I learned the hard way – “There is no defense for user error.”
The full truth is that I have nothing against trend lines, and yes I understand that there are “objective” methods out there detailing the “correct” method for choosing which two points to connect to draw a proper trend line (DeMark, Magee, I think Pring to name a few).  But I somehow seem to have failed that lesson.
One Line I Do Like
I still draw slanting trend lines from time to time. But the only lines I really like are lines that are drawn horizontally across a bar chart – i.e., “support” and “resistance” lines.  A multiple top or a multiple bottom marks a level where the bulls or the bears made a run and could not break through. Now that’s an “important” price level.  If that price level ultimately holds it means the charge failed and that a significant reversal is imminent.  If it ultimately fails to hold it means a breakout and a possible new charge to ever further new highs or lows as the case may be (for the record, it could also mean that a false breakout followed by a whipsaw is about to occur.  But, hey, that’s the price of admission).
I also like horizontal lines because even if very single horizontal line does not prove to be useful as a trading tool, it can still serve a purpose as a “perspective tool”.  Rather than explaining that theory let’s just “go to the charts.”
More “Lines in the Sand”
Figure 2 displays an index of bond and income related ETFs that I created.  Roughly half of the ETFs have a higher correlation to treasury bonds and the other half to the S&P 500 Index (i.e., CWB – convertible bonds, JNK – high yield corporate, PFF – preferred stock and XLU – utilities all react to interest rates but are more correlated to the stock market than to treasury bonds).
aiq bonds1
Figure 2 – Bond and Income Related ETF Index (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)
This monthly chart clearly illustrates the struggle going on in the interest rate related sector.  Interest rates mostly bottomed out in 2013 and have been grinding sideways to higher since.  As you can see, interest rate related securities have been trapped in a sort of large trading range for years.  Eventually, if the long-term trend in rates turns higher this chart should be expected to break through the lower (support) line Figure 2.
Still focusing on interest rate related sectors, Figure 3 displays a monthly index comprised of 3 REITs.  Talk about a market sector trapped in a range.
aiq reit
Figure 3 – REIT Index; Monthly (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)
For what it is worth, Figure 4 displays a weekly chart of the same index with an indicator I call Vixfixaverage (code for this indicator appears at the end of the article).  Typically, when this indicator exceeds 60 and then tops out, a decent rally often ensues (one word of warning, there is also often some further downside before that rally ensues to caution is in order).
reit 2
Figure 4 – REIT Index; Weekly (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)
Speaking of oversold “things”, Figure 5 displays an index of Master Limited Partnerships (MLP’s).  As you can see in Figure 5, a) divergences between price and the 4-month RSI are often followed by significant rallies, and b) a new such divergence has just been established.  Does this mean that MLP’s are destined to rally higher?  Not necessarily, but given the information in Figure 5 and the fact that everybody hates MLP’s right now, it’s something to think about.
aiq mlp
Figure 5 – MLP Index (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)
AIQ TradingExpert Code for Vixfixaverage
hivalclose is hival([close],22).
vixfix is (((hivalclose-[low])/hivalclose)*100)+50.
vixfixaverage is Expavg(vixfix,3).
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.

“Yes”, We are at a Critical Juncture

indexes, jay kaeppel, market timing

There are times when the market just moves along from day-to-day and us “junkies” might hang on every move but to the average investor what happens today or tomorrow is really not all that meaningful in the whole big spectrum of things.

And then there are times like now.  As you can see in Figure 1, the major market indexes are struggling and are testing their respective 200-day moving averages.  How this “dance” plays out may have important implications for virtually all stock market investors.

(click to enlarge)

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Figure 1 – Major indexes “on the edge” (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

First off let me say this: There is nothing “magic” about a 200-day moving average.  It was interesting that the other day when the S&P 500 Index closed below its 200-day average (it was the only major index to do so) roughly 22,367 articles appeared on the internet sounding the alarm.  Now I do pay a lot of attention to moving averages, but more to get a sense of trend than as automatic buy and sell triggers.  Which leads me to invoke:

Jay’s Trading Maxim #81: Contrary to popular belief, a price drop below a “key” moving average does NOT imply the onset of immediate and total Armageddon.

And

Jay’s Trading Maxim #81a: Um, but it could. So best to pay attention.

3 Possibilities

Actually there are a few others but the most likely outcomes – and the implications – are:

1. A reversal back to the upside – If the major averages hold here above their recent lows.  If this happens a strong rally to the upside is a strong possibility. Which is one reason it is too soon to “jump ship.”

2. A breakdown by all major indexes – If a majority of the major indexes break down below their recent lows investors are urged to take defensive measure.  Whether that involves selling shares/funds/ETFs/etc or hedging with options and/or inverse products is up to each investor.

3. A whipsaw – One other dreaded possibility involves both of the above – i.e., the average break down far enough briefly to trigger a defensive action only to quickly reverse back to the upside. This often leaves a lot of investors standing there dumbstruck and unable to pull the trigger to get back in.

Like I said, this is a critical juncture.  Whatever happens, investors need to pay attention and stand ready to, a) do nothing, or, b) take defensive action, or, c) take defensive action and then undo the defensive action and get bullish again (in the event of a whipsaw).

Steady, people, steady….

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.

The Pause That $@%! Refreshes?

educational newsletters, indexes, jay kaeppel, market timing

A glance at the history of the Presidential Election Cycle in the stock market suggests that we should:

*Not be surprised that the stock market is foundering a bit at the moment

*Not be terribly surprised if things get worse – particularly during the months of June through September of this year

*Anticipate that if the market does take a bigger hit in the months ahead that it may well set the stage for another significant advance into the middle of the mid-term election year.

A Little Presidential Election Cycle History

For our purposes we will start the test on 12/31/1932 and define the cycle as containing the following four years:

*Post-Election

*Mid-Term

*Pre-Election

*Election

First the Bad News: Figure 1 displays the growth of $1,000 invested in the S&P 500 Index (using monthly closing price data) ONLY from the end of January of each Mid-Term Election Year through the end of September of each Mid-Term Election Year (i.e., the latest iteration began on 1/31/2018 and will extend through 9/30/2018).

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Figure 1 – Growth of $1,000 invested in S&P 500 Index ONLY from Jan31 through Sep30 of each Mid-Term Election Year (1932-2018)

As you can see, the cumulative performance for the S&P 500 Index during the Mid-Term February through September period is a fairly painful -44.3% (for the record, the cumulative gain from buying and holding the S&P 500 from 12/31/1932 through 2/28/2018 was +39,288%, so yes, this qualifies as a period of some serious under performance).

That being said, it should be noted that this Mid-Term Feb through Sep period showed a gain 12 times and a loss only 9 times.  So a “rough patch” is no sure thing. The problem is that when this period is bad, it is “very bad”.  As you can see in Figure 3 later, this period experienced 6 losses in excess of -17.5% (FYI, a -17.5% decline from the 1/31/2018 close of 2823.81 would see the S&P 500 Index hit 2330).

Then the Good News: On the brighter side, Figure 2 displays the growth of $1,000 invested in the S&P 500 Index (using monthly closing price data) ONLY from the end of September of each Mid-Term Election Year through the end of July of each Pre-Election Year (i.e., the latest iteration begins on 9/30/2018 and will extend through 7/31/2019).

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Figure 2 – Growth of $1,000 invested in S&P 500 Index ONLY from Sep30 of each Mid-Term Election Year through Jul31 of each Pre-Election Year (1932-2018)

Notice any difference between Figures 1 and 2?  This favorable period saw the S&P 500 register a gain during 20 of the past 21 completed election cycles (i.e., 95% of the time), with an average gain of +21.6%, and a cumulative gain of +3,730%.

Figure 3 displays the numerical results for each cycle.

Mid-Term Pre-Election Mid-Term Feb through Sep Mid-Term Oct thru Pre-Election July
1934 1935 (18.5) 21.8
1938 1939 14.5 (1.6)
1942 1943 0.5 32.0
1946 1947 (19.4) 5.3
1950 1951 14.1 15.2
1954 1955 23.9 34.7
1958 1959 20.0 20.9
1962 1963 (18.3) 22.9
1966 1967 (17.6) 23.8
1970 1971 (0.8) 13.4
1974 1975 (34.2) 39.7
1978 1979 14.9 1.2
1982 1983 0.0 35.0
1986 1987 9.2 37.8
1990 1991 (7.0) 26.7
1994 1995 (3.9) 21.5
1998 1999 3.7 30.6
2002 2003 (27.9) 21.5
2006 2007 4.4 8.9
2010 2011 6.3 13.2
2014 2015 10.6 6.7

Figure 3 – Unfavorable versus Favorable portions of Election Cycle

Summary

So what does it all mean?  Well, it means a few things. By my objective measurements the overall trend is still “bullish” and a number of “oversold” indicators are suggesting that a bounce of some significance may be at hand.  That being said, if the major market indexes do start to break down below their respective 200-day moving averages investors may be wise to take some defensive action.  If the market does experience a further break between now and the end of September, it may well be “one of the painful kind.”  So if you haven’t already, make your contingency plans now.

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Figure 4 – Major Market Indexes with 200-day moving averages (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

At the same time, as the end of September of 2018 nears – especially if the stock market has experienced or is experiencing at the time, a significant break – remember that history suggests that that will be a good time to “think bullish.”

Call me a cynic, but my guess is that alot of investors will do exactly the opposite on both counts (i.e., hang on if the market breaks down and then sell as the next bottom forms – Same it as ever was….)

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.

Prepare to Bounce

EDS, indexes, jay kaeppel, market timing, Mutual funds

2018 sure was a great year for the stock market.  For almost a month anyway.  Since then, not so much.  And on the heels of last week’s selloff a lot of pundits and prognosticators are suggesting more loudly that the Great Bull Run is dead. And maybe they are right.  But maybe not.

It is almost always a mistake to hang your hat on one indicator to guide your actions going forward.  But at the same time, sometimes one indicator generates a signal so clear it perhaps should grab your attention.  Let’s look at one that is on the verge of sending an important signal.

The VixRSIRatio Indicator

This is an indicator that I developed a number of years ago by basically – I am going to use some highly technical terms here to describe the process I followed so please try to stay with me – mashing together several other indicators from other people.  If you are interested in the actual calculations they appear at the end of the article.  For now, just know that I refer to it as VixRSIRatio.  As I follow it, it gives meaningful signals very infrequently.  But that is OK as the signals it does give often prove to be useful.

For our purposes we will apply it to ticker SPY – an ETF that tracks the S&P 500 Index. The rule is simple:

*A “Bullish Alert” occurs when VixRSIRatio drops to -210 or below and then turns up.

That’s it. Now please note the use of the phrase “Bullish Alert” and the lack of the words “You”, “Can’t” and “Lose”, as well as the lack of the phrase “by putting all of your money in the market at the exact moment a signal occurs.”

This is key.  Also note that there is nothing “magic” about the value -210. Nothing scientific about it. It just seems like a useful cutoff.  Now let’s look at the “Bullish Alert” signals in recent years.  They appear in Figures 1 through 4.

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Figure 1 – Jay’s VixRSIRatio; 2014-2018 (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

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Figure 2 – Jay’s VixRSIRatio; 2010-2013(Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

3

Figure 3 – Jay’s VixRSIRatio; 2006-2009 (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

4

Figure 4 – Jay’s VixRSIRatio; 2001-2005 (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)

As you can see in Figures 1 through 4:

a) Readings below -210 tend to be followed by – at the least – decent trading opportunities.

b) Often these readings presage significant market advances

c) And alas, sometimes the signals come too soon and/or are not followed by much of an advance.

The Here and Now

As of 3/23/18 the VixRSIRatio for ticker SPY stood -354.  So clearly “Buy Alert” is at hand.  So the obvious question is “What comes next”?  Will it be a, b, or c above?

As always, time will tell.

Calculations

In a nutshell, VixRSIRatio combines Larry Williams’ Vixfix indicator with Welles Wilder’s 3-day and 14-day RSI indicators to create two more indicators – VixRSI3 and VixRSI14.  We then divide VixRSI3 by VixRSI14 and invert the whole thing (so that we get an indicator that gives negative readings when the market goes down).

Now you see why I put this at the end….

Below is the code for AIQ Expert Design Studio

############## Larry Williams Vixfix #################

xx is 15.

hivalclose is hival([close],22).

vixfix is (((hivalclose-[low])/hivalclose)*100)+50.

############ Welles Wilder RSI 3-day ##############

Define days3 5.

U3 is [close]-val([close],1).

D3 is val([close],1)-[close].

AvgU3 is ExpAvg(iff(U3>0,U3,0),days3).

AvgD3 is ExpAvg(iff(D3>=0,D3,0),days3).

RSI3 is 100-(100/(1+(AvgU3/AvgD3))).

############ Welles Wilder RSI 14-day ##############

Define days14 27.

U14 is [close]-val([close],1).

D14 is val([close],1)-[close].

AvgU14 is ExpAvg(iff(U14>0,U14,0),days14).

AvgD14 is ExpAvg(iff(D14>=0,D14,0),days14).

RSI14 is 100-(100/(1+(AvgU14/AvgD14))).

############Jay’s VixRSIRatio ##############

VixRSI3 is expavg(vixfix,3)/expavg(RSI3,3).

VixRSI14 is expavg(vixfix,3)/expavg(RSI14,3).

VixRSIRatio is -((((VixRSI3/VixRSI14)-1)*100)-50).

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.