Monday 13 December 2010

Top Building a la Hindenburg

TMN has been calling for a top in the making in equities for a while now and it has not been a pleasure watching the daily chop. While the calls on the USD and on Bonds have been working out as expected, stock markets, with exception of the European periphery and selected emerging markets, have been puzzling TMN quite a bit. The deterioration of the quality of the advance has been one obvious feature of this market and it is only a matter of days until we will see an initial signal for a Hindeburg Omen on the NYSE. It is striking indeed that there are so many new 52w lows during a period when American stock indices are gunning for new highs on a daily basis. However, a closer look tells the real story, the issues scoring new 52w lows are almost exclusively listed trusts and funds that are heavily involved in Muni Bonds. A large number of US states are about as bancrupt as certain European countries and the market for their bonds has been declining strongly for the last few months now.





















Who knows, maybe the US government will seek an extension of the 'Build America' programme, although at the moment it does not look like it. This is politics though and therefore we know that things can change quickly...


Possibly TMN is getting caught here and is missing the point. Is it true that the market has developed a taste for privately owned enterprises over anything that is government owned? Could be, given the fact that also federal bonds have been under strong pressure lately. Let's double check:





















The above chart shows that there is still a battle going on. Obviously income seekers are not having an easy time these days, the choices available are simply horrible. The Feds have done a pretty good job in pushing people into stocks, commodities etc etc as the chart below shows:





















Even one of the poster boys is showing signs of deterioration, see below charted versus the USD:






















In any case, TMN remains highly suspicious of current price action and believes that the same old issue, namely CREDIT, will derail this advance soon. If so, then the chart below will have to turn up asap:





















TMN concludes that, as the entire advance out of the 2009 lows has been built on the thesis of credit not blowing up (for now), it should have an extremely negative impact on equities when credit actually does start blowing up! One of the next few down days on the NYSE will certainly trigger an initial Hindenburg signal. TMN fully expects the government and the FED to launch a counter attack (QE+N or an extension of the tax fun on muni bonds) as soon as this happens, which likely will produce another great selling opportunity for government bonds. It's not only income seekers who are trapped in this market it is to a rapidly increasing level also the government and the central banks. Public service has likely seen its peak, from now on they will have to work for their money or feel the consequences.

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Is a big surprise for the stock indexes around the corner?

It looks like that everytime the market cannot move upwards purely due to buying power/interest then either the FED, the ECB, the IMF or the US and German governments will do the trick. First we had the QEII, then we had the Irish bailout; the ECB followed by buying bonds that nobody else wants to hold, and yesterday we had Mr "O" extending the bush tax cuts.....ohhh, and the news that the European bailout fund will not increase in size (and its TMNs opinion that size does matter these days) was just thrown in the rubbish bin.
TMN believes that no matter how hard they try, the boat will eventually sink. Some European stock indexes already look weak but the US and German stock indexes present a different story. For instance, Italy and Spain have seen the top a year ago, with Belgium showing some weakness lately and not following the recent rally.






















So what about the recent rally in the US? TMN has discussed  previously the advance-decline index and anticipated a touch of the lower trendline at (4) where the market would either bounce or breakdown. TMN favoured a break of the trendline but that did not materialized. As a result, the bounce off the lower trendline has produced a rally that took us to new highs since March 2009. Nevertheless, TMN would like to be cautious as the index has not  made any new highs yet to confirm the recent new highs in the stock indexes.
















Additionally, there are some other indicators that show negative divergences for quite some time now, thus, making the recent new highs a bit suspicious. For example, TMNs volume indicator shows a negative divergence as, for the moment, it has made its high back in April. The longest negative divergence appears at the percentage of stocks above their 200MA; this index has seen its high a year ago and it looks like the downward trendline still provides good resistance. Similarly, NYMO shows negative divergences for about 6 months and its very close to zero. All the above makes TMN to believe that there is a great possibility that the market is due for a big surprise. Of course, a breakout of the advance-decline index and volume indicator will mean continuation of the recent rally, but for the time being TMN will stick with the negative divergences.

Friday 3 December 2010

Quick note on NFP and recessions since 1950

TMN has quickly checked how well the 6 month percentage change of Non-Farm Payrolls can capture/signal whether the US economy is about to enter in recession. The chart is self-explanatory where the shaded bars denote the US economic recessions and the black line is the 6 month percent change of NFP.

Looking at the chart, TMN would like to point out the abysmal effect of QEI on the employment situation. What remains to be seen is how the QEII will affect the employment situation. Is this time going to be different? TMN believes that the employment situation is not going to improve anytime soon and will rather deteriorate going forward.

Thursday 25 November 2010

Bonds might get a breather here - taking some profit on the short 30y bonds

TYX has had a good run since recommending the trade about 7 weeks ago. However, there are some tactical issues that make TMN think it might be a good point in time to pocket some right here. The advance in yields has been pretty furious and almost one way traffic, even politicians and central bankers have spotted it. Even worse, the markets are starting to show their dislike, too. In this case the example is taken from Germany's Bund auction, which is really the next closest asset class to US Bonds. In terms of general direction there is rarely much difference between the two.


Failed auctions are not something politicians in the US or Germany can tolerate, therefore, be sure, they will do their best to deliver a "reason" for buying this paper again. Display of power helps in such cases and it is pure coincidence of course that the American aircraft carrier 'George Washington' is headed for Korean waters anyway these days. Russia coming closer to the "western democracies" militarily also helps the case naturally. The Germans for their part have been beating the drum about haircuts which is surely short term bullish news for German Bunds. 


TMN is absolutely certain that politicians/central bankers will deliver the next gaffe (thank you Mr Weber, you are full of surprises, NOT) that will send bond yields higher again but in the short term, possibly into early 2011, bonds could find some support and retrace part of the lost ground. TMN will remain focussed on the emergence of buying opportunities in TYX / selling opportunities in T-Bonds. 

Tuesday 23 November 2010

Sell off likely to continue.....

Since the last post on 15/11, when SPX was trading at 1197 and TMN argued for a continuation of the sell off ,things have not changed much regarding TMN's target of 1150-1130.

The NYAD chart seems right on track for the reckoning day; are we going to bounce hard from the lower trendline (marking wave 4) or are we going to experience a breakdown? TMN believes that current events around the world certainly do no support the notion of the lower trendline providing support, but for the time being its target remains at 1150-1130.
















Other charts supporting the continuation of the sell off are that of the percentage of stocks trading above their 50 and 200 moving averages, and TMN's NYSE volume indicator. On the upper panel of the chart the percentage of stock trading above their 50 moving average has already given a sell signal (pink vertical lines).
On the same note, the percentage of stocks above their 200 moving average (lower panel) exhibits a negative divergence since Oct. 2009, and once again, it hit resistance on the downward trendline.

Regarding TMN's volume indicator it seems that after the March-April spike it is now quite clear what the trading levels for the indicator are. Having hit resistance, it is now headed to the first support level. TMN believes that all the above ingredients support its call for a continuation of the sell off.






















Finally, on 8/11 TMN suggested a possible wave count for the Spanish IBEX. Certainly the European periphery problems  will most likely continue, with counties like Portugal and Spain following the Greek and Irish examples (TMN also thinks that Belgium is another candidate and it will analyse this in a future post). Back to the chart of IBEX now, it can be seen that the wave count so far looks good, with possible wave 1 of (iii) of [3] almost done. Of course, wave 3 of (iii) of [3] can unfold in a different manner than that suggested by TMN, but it certainly looks like IBEX is heading towards big trouble.



Monday 15 November 2010

Sell off has more to give....next possible target SPX 1150-1130

Since the "bull" phase of the market that started back in March 2009 one candidate that has excelled in all tests is the NYAD.

Starting in March 2009 all the moves in the NYAD have unfolded in a 4 wave fashion. Waves 1-3 mark the upward trending of the stock market indexes, with waves 2-4 being the corrective ones so far.

Currently, it looks like wave 3 is completed and all that remains to be seen is if wave 4 will bounce on the lower trendline; otherwise, something bigger is in the cards for this sell off.

Another ability of the NYAD, thus far, is that of predicting bottoms, tops or breakouts (bold blue vertical lines). For instance, it has captured the bottoms of July and November 2009, as well as, the bottom of July 2010. It has also captured the break out of March 2010 that led to new highs and recently it has caught the top.

The way that NYAD looks at the moment says that there is more room for the sell off to continue; and when it reaches the lower trendline, TMN believes that we either fasten our seatbelts for a wild ride to the downside or we continue as normal and start another leg upwards.

Monday 8 November 2010

USD Index strongly up - Euro periphery issues: suggested IBEX wave count

The USD produced a strong up day today vs most other currencies. The commodities bloc is showing more resilience for now, however, with Oil failing one more time at $87 this resilience might be short lived. TMN has been looking at the USD as a medium term buying opportunity and it seems like this will be the start of a nice journey. 






















The IBEX closed again in the red today. TMN believes it will join the Dublin and Athens indices in the land of darkness soon. Please see the chart below for a suggested wave count. 




Sunday 7 November 2010

European Periphery Trouble Round II

In May 2010 it was labelled a "bailout of the Euro", which it clearly was not. Markets anticipated a US style QE which is what put pressure on the Euro back then. In reality it was a bailout of European banks that were and still are large holders of Greek, Irish, Portuguese etc sovereign debt. As immediate debt monetization was avoided, the Euro rallied vs most currencies in the aftermath throughout summer 2010 and has hit its best levels last week on the back of the FED's QE2 announcement. TMN has come to the conclusion that after all the timing of QE2 might have been picked in a rather clever way by ZimBabaBen and the 40 thieves. With the pressure on the Eurozone mounting again, as sovereign spreads are blowing out, the focus of the market's attention is likely to shift away from the USD. As TMN has been pointing out for a couple of weeks now, a major turn in the USD seems more and more likely. The technical set up has been the strongest in years. The European periphery troubles might be the catalyst that finally will push the USD higher and international equity markets lower.





















The Greek stock market index has been consolidating on low levels for a while and now looks ready for the final push into the land of darkness. TMN is expecting a hefty decline that will probably last into mid 2011. It is TMN's deepest conviction that it would have been best for Greece to default long time ago and default within the next 6 months remains TMN's base case scenario for Greece. German officials have spent most of last week managing market expectations in anticipation of what's coming next. 





















Of course it is not only Greece that is in trouble, Spain is where the big trouble will come from, trouble that has a good chance to impact availability of finance across Latin America severely.  The IBEX chart below looks clearly broken.






















Thursday 4 November 2010

$600bn and no internal high? Lousy!

TMN has been calling for a topping formation for a couple of weeks now and, as it turns out, this call has been a bit early, as we are still stuck in the procedure. It is TMN's deepest belief that QE2 will be a grand failure that will cost Benny his job. It will surely not succeed in the creation of jobs, neither will it succeed in increasing unit sales in anything of significance. It will just backfire badly. There are two items that will embarrass the FED every single day of the week if they "have to" and these items are long end bonds and Gold. The one person (and there will be more) that will just not stop questioning the FED's insane policies will be Ron Paul who will be chairman of the monetary policy subcommittee. QE1 was done to save the "system" and QE2 is done to boost stock prices? ZimBen is clearly out of order if he thinks that this will have any impact on spending and job creation. In any case, so far the rally in stocks has not even produced a new internal high as the chart below shows.

          click on the chart to enlarge





















Biotechnology shares that had the lead for most of the rally out of the March 2009 lows have not been very responsive to the FED's antics. They did not even produce an up day on a day like today...

      click on the chart to enlarge

























Monday 1 November 2010

More Fun, More Games & More Cracks the market

One of TMN's favourite 2007/08 CNBCisms was "the monoline insurers". Finally AMBAC hit the news today with its well deserved and fully anticipated end: they are done! This in combination with Merkel reminding the market that actually there will be bancruptcies helped JNK quite a bit lower today. Let's face it: the junk bond madness has reached stupid levels one more time again, everyone and their mum raising funds in the bond market. 
        click on the chart to enlarge














































Price action in BKX today pointed towards lower bank revenues from bond issues to be expected. Maybe banks were also down because of the foreclosure story. Or were they down because they still sit on a ton of repriced but still not better quality loans? TMN thinks it would be boring to continue the list of issues right now and is looking forward to CNBC living up to its purpose of existence: informing us in a timely manner...
            click on the chart to enlarge


SPX retested the "Shooting Star" top of last week again and failed. TMN is expecting possibly another one spike on the actual FED news but this should be it for now. 

                 click on the chart to enlarge

Friday 29 October 2010

The market is walking on a very fine line......possible NYSE count - PART II

Going into the FED meeting and QEII announcement, TMN expects two possible outcomes: (1) markets open down on Monday, with NYSE continuing its wave 3 down to around 7220; (2) NYSE moves upwards to a new high labelled as (E).

                              click on chart to enlarge

So far, we had a failed inverse HnS pattern (green colour) and this should normally take the market to the opposite direction (remember the failed HnS pattern failure of summer 2009?).

The bullish count until 03/11 is labelled with the black ABCDE, whereas the bearish count is labelled as the blue 1-2-3. 

TMN for the time being remains with the bearish count.

The market is walking on a very fine line......possible NYSE count

The markets are definitely looking a bit tired with different internals pointing to the downside.
A possible bearish count still in the cards is that of NYSE which can be seen in the chart below.
An alternative bullish count would be to label [2] as (1) of wave [3] up; but for the time being TMN will stick to the bearish one.
Since the July rally, divergences can be found in NYMO and TICK; the percentage of stocks above the 50MA has been in overbought territory for some time and  is now looking downwards; and finally, the volume indicator is going nowhere for the last couple of sessions and has printed its high at the beginning of October.
Certainly, the next trading sessions are going to be extremely important.....

                        click on chart to enlarge

Wednesday 27 October 2010

TMN Roundup on SPX, TYX and USD

As TMN has pointed out various times over the last 10 days, we are in the middle of a top building process in SPX. Tops are tedious procedures and sometimes seem to be taking forever. The short term trigger SPX (cash) 1171.5 has been hit today which suggests that a test of the mid Bollinger Bands (today @ 1168.87) on the daily charts is not far off. In an ideal world we will want to see a few closes below this level and head lower from there. 

         please click on chart to enlarge









































TYX is advancing as expected and has now cleared the area around the 38% fib level between the April 2010 top and the recent low. There is a small chance for a short term pull back, we will have to wait and see, could be noise..


         please click on chart to enlarge






















The USD is helping the case for both of the above mentioned views, as it is on the upward path today. TMN mentioned last Sunday that the DXY set up on the weekly charts was the strongest in years and this week we are getting a flavour of how this might play out. For a change TMN is posting the USD related ETF (Ticker UUP).


       please click on chart to enlarge



Tuesday 26 October 2010

"No Risk - No Fun" - back in play?

Junk Bonds have had a massive comeback over the last, eeeeerr, yes ever since the FED started injecting liquidity! A lot of issues went from 20-30 cents back to or at least close to par. What a miraculous recovery that has been...


                     click on the chart to enlarge

Rightly John Hussman is pointing out this week that Bernanke is leaping into the liquidity trap . Because the theoretical godfather himself knew:



"There is the possibility... that after the rate of interest has fallen to a certain level, liquidity preference is virtually absolute in the sense that almost everyone prefers cash to holding a debt at so low a rate of interest. In this event, the monetary authority would have lost effective control."
John Maynard Keynes, The General Theory

Well, for now markets tell us that it is still a bit of a way towards this situation but  thanks to the FED's fight fire with more fire approach to the debt issue TMN is certain we are headed this way if these guys do not get stopped either by the people or the government bond market. I mean, let's face it, risk premia are on the way to disappear again, as effectively there is no risk in holding a debt instrument.

As there seems to be no risk, but also no yield any more, TMN's natural thought must be: why bother with all this if there is no risk, no fun and potentially a big headache involved. Is this what the chart below is telling us? 

           click on the chart to enlarge

Unfortunately this is only yesterday's chart, however, today this ratio is about 2% down on the day. Please note that more often than not, when this ratio trades lower, there is a heavy deflationary sell off across asset classes happening at some point. Whereas, when you see this ratio headed higher chances are that not only government bonds are outperforming the USD but many other asset classes, too. 


The turn higher from June 2010 has got to go down in history as the period where even the dead had one last dance. TMN was not a market participant in 1987 but people that have been claim that one could have bought anything and it would have made money back then. Rings a bell?




 Anyhow, this chart now is suggesting that there is a chance  market participants are swapping "hope" for cash.  Precious metals seem to be getting some attention on the back of this (why bother with any paper??), as both Gold and Silver are up today but it could be a matter of time until also these two fall victim to short term liquidity needs. TMN would not short them outright, will stay short bonds though until further notice instead.





Monday 25 October 2010

The good, the bad and the ugly story of the tanker market

Second-hand tanker values continue to remain strong, despite the spot market enduring one of the longest periods of poor earnings in decades. 

Vessels continue to change hands and some companies/owners are still willing to pay high prices, even though daily earnings for most tanker companies are well below operating costs. For example,  a modern five-year-old aframax has actually increased in value over the last three months and has now reached $47million. On the other hand, aframax time charter equivalent earnings have fallen to an average of $6,873/day in the last three months, compared with $16,873/day in the previous three-month period. And the picture gets even uglier for the large VLCC, where the  time charter equivalent earnings for operating  in the spot market have averaged only $3,788/day. 


In the light of still heavy supply coming up, the level of second hand prices should be somewhat surprising. TMN wants to blame a mix between creditors' interest to "extend and pretend" and central bank engineered liquidity for this phenomenon for now. Many market participants still think hard assets are the way to play. However, hard assets that earn negative carry for an extended period of time have only one way to go. 

                                             click on chart to enlarge

SPX - Shooting Star likely to end "quantitative squeezing"

SPX produced a shooting star on the daily candlestick charts. This in itself is not a confirmation that a sell off will start immediately but more often than not reversal patterns commence after a shooting star. TMN would not exclude a retest of the top before the SPX finally rolls over, in any case TMN wants to give the current candle stick set up the benefit of doubt that we are dealing with an important top. The market has been advancing in extraordinarily steep fashion within a very short period of time (150 pts in 7 weeks) and, let's face it, the upswing came basically on the idea of renewed money printing by the FED and nothing else. TMN thinks the US are not quite anywhere near Zimbabwe yet but of course, should the FEDs go for the nuclear option, it will end just like it. Anyway, a clearer signal in favour of a top at these levels would be visible should the SPX produce a few closes below the mid Bollinger Band (currently @ 1165.09). A hint that these closes below the mid BB lvl will materialize would be given if SPX 1171.5 got tagged any time within the next few days. TMN can't wait to watch the movie plot unfold...


                 click on chart to enlarge























Sunday 24 October 2010

DXY and GBP update

TMN has discussed the weekly chart on the USD a few times over the last week and is convinced that the current set up is, from a purely technical viewpoint, the strongest in years. The up thrust that will get released here soon might be of immense nature. Until now we had to be happy with baby steps, the next baby step would a few firm daily closes above the mid BB on the daily chart you will see below (currently @ 77.74). For confirmation that we are on the right path, TMN wants to see weekly closing lvls above the 61% Fib lvl 77.93 (2008 low vs 2009 high).

              click on chart to enlarge






















The mix between austerity and green light for the BOE does not go down that well for GBP, as expectedGBP needs to put in a few daily closes below the support cluster around 1.5654 (50dma) and 1.5637 (50% fib between the 2009 high and the 2010 low) to confirm more downside to come. Although some indicators are looking close to oversold, TMN wants to stick with the short GBP recommendation for now and wait how next week plays out. 

            click on chart to enlarge

Tuesday 19 October 2010

DXY weekly trigger hit - more upside to come

As suspected by TMN the USD Index hit and exceeded last week's high today. Technically a stronger bounce in the USD should be under way and dips should get bought. 


                       Please click on chart to enlarge





















GBP has been trading on the weak side versus the USD for a few days now, TMN has been surprised it even took that long to get this one going. Tomorrow we will have details on spending cuts by the UK government. TMN is of the opinion that there is a good chance that they will come in on the tamer side, which should be bad for GBP fundamentally, however a short term bounce can not be excluded at this point. In any case GBP remains a sell on rallies.

                Please click on chart to enlarge

Boy (and girl) plungers keep watching this top building process


It looks like the topping process is coming to an end and the sell off, TMN is waiting for, will materialize soon.

As per TMN's previous post [boy (and girl) plungers, start your engines: equity market sell off imminent], the VIX 18 level has triggered rewarding sell offs in the past (1 and 2 on the chart) and this time, so far, looks no different. All that remains to be seen is a close above the middle BB and break out from the descending wedge.

                                  click on chart to enlarge



















The NYSE advance-decline issues have been in an upward channel with the moves unfolding into 4 waves. Waves 1 and 3 marking upward moves while waves 2 and 4 marking corrections.


It seems the NYAD has finished its 3rd wave up and we have already entered into the corrective wave 4. TMN thinks that the chances of NYAD correcting back to the lower trend line are significant.

                             click on the chart to enlarge
















The next few days are definitely going to be extremely interesting and TMN will be paying close attention to the NYAD and VIX charts for a confirmation that a sell off is underway.

Saturday 16 October 2010

DXY - counter trend bounce likely: Part II

Below a quick update on TMN's case for a counter trend bounce in the Dollar Index. TMN will not discuss all of the arguments made earlier this week in favour of this move again, as they have hardly changed, however there are a couple of new reasons to be (at least) short term bullish on the USD:


1) Benjie Boy's speech on Friday in Boston turned out to be rather cute.


2) The elections on November 2nd will likely reduce Bernanke's wardrobe to either a dress or a skirt. TMN thinks both do go well with a beard. Should Obama's Democrats suffer an election defeat, which TMN believes they will, the significance of the upcoming FED meeting will be limited to say the least. 




TMN does not think Bernanke will be stripped of his keyboard but the efficacy of some buttons might be reduced for at least as long as the president is not republican (except Ron Paul).








Despite the DXY dipping one more time since TMN's last comment on this topic, the technical set up has hardly changed. The inverted hammer that we had mid week on this chart turned into a massive doji. The top of this doji is at 77.93, which TMN regards as a trigger level for more upside once tagged. 
    
                 Click on the chart to enlarge

QE is not for free

As TMN has been highlighting throughout the week, a trend reversal in long end yields is under way. Ten year yields are embarking on a similar move. Weekly indicators are looking to work their way out of deeply oversold conditions and TMN will regard the move as confirmed upon TNX producing a weekly close above 28.27. This should at least lead to a follow through towards the 38% Fib. level at 32.90.

                  Please click on the chart to enlarge

Thursday 14 October 2010

Boy (and girl) plungers, start your engines: Equity Market Sell Off Imminent

On the VIX chart TMN has identified the level where the last 3 sell offs started from [labelled (1), (2) and (3)].


Going back to January 2010 [ number (1) on the chart] one can see that, after hoovering around the 18 level, VIX eventually broke out and the market sold off, giving back around 100pts. Next time around  late April 2010 once VIX traded higher than the 18 level [number (2) on the chart] the sell off commenced and was good for 200 pts.


Yesterday, VIX tested the 18 support level. After trading in a descending wedge for the last 3 months and a fake break down, it looks like VIX wants to resolve to the upside.


TMN will regard the move as confirmed as soon as VIX closes above the middle BB and and a break out from the descending wedge has been achieved.

        Please click on the chart to enlarge




















The BKX has been on a declining path over the last week and is sitting right on its 50 day moving average.


Additionally, we have a daily close near the 50% fib. level between the July 2009 bottom and the April 2010 top. The RSI has turned down and is below 50. MACD is rolling over and momentum is close to failure and a  drop below zero.


Caution: as we are dealing with strong forces that have tried everything so far to avoid this move to unfold, TMN will use wide stops and allow until early next week for the move to materialize.

       Please click on the chart to enlarge

US Initial Claims

The weekly number is out again, beating expectations and still standing at high levels (462K).

Even though the number is way off the highs, what is interesting is the fact that initial claims are still standing at high levels compared to the past. The historic average for times of expansion and recession is standing at 364K and 369K respectively; hence a lot of work needs to be done for the current number to drop 100K and stabilize around or lower its historic average.



The economy came out of recession in June 2009 and the massive liquidity injection into the system does not seem to have the expected impact on people seeking unemployment insurance. It remains to be seen how the QE II will affect unemployment in the coming months.

Could this time be different? Or are we going to experience a similar situation of back to back recessions like in the early 1980s?

Click Chart to Enlarge

Wednesday 13 October 2010

DXY - counter trend bounce likely

The USD has surely been the world's favourite funding currency over the last 4 months, as it is yielding nothing. Positioning has changed massively during this period, by now hardly anyone outside the US wants to hold USD. If you ask TMN, having enough USD still buys anything on this planet which is why TMN refuses to see the USD as the single worthless paper currency of the world. The others are by no means any better or worse, momentum, short term policy decisions and yields are the factors that are driving these markets. It took the market a while to get on this USD down move which is probably why it unfolded in such a violent manner. However, TMN is seeing signs of a reversal here. For now it might be only a counter trend bounce but it could be one worth playing.


TMN's reasons are of various nature: 


1) USD longs have had a very hard time lately, there are probably not many left, slow moving real money has switched into all kinds of currencies simply for the better yield, short term players most likely have enough of getting their fingers burned on a daily basis.


2) Yields, especially the long end, have been rising over the last few days and look like they will keep doing so for a while (see the older posts below).


3) US Banks will come in raising USD denominated equity at an increasing rate again, as the FED will disclose 2007-10 emergency lending to banks in detail on December 1st. Be sure speculators and their creditors will not get bailed out one more time. Politicians love their own job too much to deal with an angry public. Besides, bond market pressures are likely to force them to narrow down the "too big to fail" group to the inner core (Long JPM/Short GS could be a good pair trade from here). 


4) The EUR failed again at 1.40 on several occasions today and TMN thinks given Mr Weber's comments the other day the EUR should be trading way above 1.40 if the USD sell off was meant to continue. 


5) QE2 has been priced in to nuclear extent. Let's not forget that the "others" are money printers too, as the BOE has reminded us over the last weekend (see GBP related post below). ECB tough talk does not stop them to lend against collateral of very debatable quality after all. If it blows up in their face it will get monetized in one go and all the tough talk goes straight down the toilet. Mr. Weber might just make it into the ECB hot seat before that...


6) The technical set up shown below on the weekly chart (as per today's close) is hard to ignore. Admittedly these set ups occasionally get blown away by strong trends when they appear on shorter time frames but on weekly charts they are somewhat harder to take out. 


                          click on chart to enlarge