Agree about casino. I find it a bit gross and obscene to profit
off stealing from the middle class and poor like this, but at least
it's predictable these days. I was buying almost zero cost spreads
near the bottom that have absolutely exploded. For example, I
had a bunch of
SEP 18 5600 (+1)
OCT 4 5700 (-1)
OCT 4 5800 (+1)
They absolutely exploded higher this week.
I had the same setup going to the downside. Because I had
most setup as nearly zero cost and a credit in some cases, I lost
very little on the downside put protection, but I could sleep
knowing I was good if we opened up down 150 SPX points (or more).
This trade required massive movement in a short time to work.
But that's what we've been getting, so it was a no brainer to put
it on in size.
Long story short - dollar strength (over a certain level) has
been a consistent sign of dysfunction in the global economy in the
era of globalization. I love a strong dollar as a traveling
American, but I also get that if you crush your trading partners a
global recession will eventually come back to bite us all (I'm
definitely not saying I agree with the approach - only that I
understand it...to the extent a non phd economist can understand
it).
Fascinating event coming up. Jerome cannot be completely honest
about needing 50 (that's 100% honest) but he needs to essentially
crash the dollar ASAP (keep crashing it). He's a saint, so the
election plays no part in his thinking, but I'm sure the market
does (e.g. he doesn't want to spark a crash). If I was stuck
in his position, I would do 25 and hint in very strong ways, just
short of coming right out and saying it, that there would be AT
LEAST a 50 cut in November. The dollar would dump immediately and
the banks and wealthy would cheer. I'm just not sure how he
accomplishes that with hints (you know he's not going to say it
directly). And, I still think he is riding a fine line to
significant weakness because emotional humans are trading, not
machines that realize that QE is either here already or coming
quickly.
Or maybe he's playing 4D chess and leaked the 50 to get some
shock value out of the 25 and plans to make up the difference ++ in
the background with QE (e.g. many people will be thinking something
is very wrong if 50 so they might be shocked in a positive way with
a 25, whereas it didn't have that kind of dynamic embedded before
the leak).
Not shocked that the Fed leaked to the WSJ yesterday about
the potential for 50 bps cut, but I think the market has the
highest probability of experiencing a crash like event on a 50 than
a 25. The problem is, they kind of need 50 to follow the rest
of the world and keep the dollar weak and they can't just go on
stage and say "look people, I don't know what you're smoking but
this nonsense about strength when GDP is under 3 and Gov spending
is above 6 is nonsensical" The market would crash...so they
are trying to wiggle their way into position and end up coming into
the week with a nearly 50/50 choice between the two (and that took
them leaking to Nick at WSJ). They're in a pickle.
Find the last time we went into Fed week with a 50/50 outcome
on the board. Good luck.
SPY 5m - H&S setting up. Given the amount of times price has
run through a demark 13 today, I'm thinking we either blow straight
up from here and negate the pattern (full banana mode) or cut just
below the neckline before reversing to make a new high (tricky
banana mode)
Simple way to look at it: if the Gov is injecting 6% of GDP per
year and the Atlanta Fed is projecting 2.5% total GDP this year,
is the non Gov economy in a recession or not?
These V bottoms are just the result of unemotional math (so
yeah, AI would fit the bill). We have been and will be in a
recession with Gov spending backed out - it would be severe at this
point, but Gov spending is not backed out and won't be backed out
so we do not enter a recession on paper. Asset prices go up
broadly because of currency debasement - that's just what asset
prices do (almost all go up during debasement, not just the ones
accruing value, which is a short list). There are many
academic papers that discuss when you enter the diminishing return
phases of debt fueled stimulus and we're WELL PAST the line (I
think around 70% of debt to GDP) where countries get a better than
1:1 return on debt. We're now quite negative return on
stimulus and accelerating.
Except that one year where they printed and spent 6% of GDP in
excess of revenues (currency debasement) for multiple years, while
the economy was very hot. Oh wait, that's never happened
before now. Banana Zone seems more likely, but, either way,
it's hard to make historical comparisons when conditions don't
match well (which is why we keep getting V bottoms - people
thinking it's the same as before when it's not).
Matt - After using it for a while now, I have a suggestion about
the format of the HP KISS section table. It would be very
helpful if the star column (far right, used to mark favorites) is
shifted to the far left, maybe in between the "Minutes" and
"Stats/Trades" columns.
I code a bit here and there and have lots of experience with
advanced Excel use, so I get that it might not be as easy as it
sounds e.g. maybe you have a lot of dependencies created with the
structure (using column numbers in code instead of column
names...which is still common). Just thought I'd ask because it
would be super helpful for me visually as I update my favorites
regularly as the "hot" sectors of the market change and some days
I'm just game for more alerts than other days. In the current
format, I find myself clicking the wrong star a lot and I've taken
to keeping a ruler next to my computer to hold against the screen
to check the line.
*before I started using table column names instead of column
numbers for things like concatenation, if I ran into an issue where
I had invested to much time to go back and change the structure, I
would consider adding a column at the end that repeated a previous
column (simply for visual help). If that was the situation here,
maybe you could bookend the table with the "Symbol/Chart" column
data (e.g. NVDA shown on both far left and far right)
SPY 2 hour - if my model holds up, the slope projects 570 around
October 4th. Feels like it will do that by tomorrow (and it
has achieved targets faster than projected in recent past), but
there will probably be at least some back and fill between now and
then. Or we could finally be in Rao Pauls predicted "banana zone"
where prices go parabolic beyond any historical norms or what
people thought could be possible. I think we've been in that
zone for years, but he thinks the real party is still to
come.
Hard to argue with this standard CNBC talking point in today's
world (don't want to get cancelled). But not everyone has the
same opinion about Fed independence and their impartial, non
partisan, god like approach. The vast majority of their
employees are registered in the same party. I believe it's over 70%
and the rest are registered as independents and a very small, less
than 10%, are registered with the GOP (there are actual peer
reviewed studies on this topic available online....I'm guessing
based on reading many months ago...please fact check me). But maybe
this particular herd of PhD's is so amazingly intelligent and
devoted to their craft and their duty to impartiality that they
avoid any alignment with their strongly held beliefs in their
personal political lives? You never know.
Looks increasingly likely that the Fed is going to start an
easing cycle next Wednesday at all time highs in the equity
indexes, firm to slightly rising inflation (if you believe Gov
data), and 6 weeks out from a major election. The press conference
commentary should be interesting! The ultra wealthy are
essentially demanding either 50 basis points or super dovish speak
to go with 25. They will probably get what they demand (super
dove speak from Jerome - 50 is off the table).
Nice candle. Maybe everyone realizing the above at about the
same time and deciding to ease up a bit on the squeeze until we
actually get the juice?
Silver great today, but you could throw a dart at just about any
name in the broad basket of names associated with protecting
yourself from Govs with fiat currency issues and done very very
well today. Silver is leading (on my list) for the day...actually
#2 behind COIN. We'll see how it ends the day, but I'm also
thinking that silver hasn't done well relative to the others in the
basket on a risk adjusted basis - even bitcoin has been better
(risk adjusted). Given how much heat SLV has taken, I would argue
it should be outperforming by even more today. GLD, although only
up a meager 1.65% on the day, didn't experience anywhere near that
pain that silver has. Maybe silver will catch up?
Shorting the QQQ's is like betting on a poker match between
two players when everyone, even the player on the other side, even
the announcer covering the match, knows that the dominant player is
counterfeiting chips under the table. They all know but they just
make up cute names for counterfeiting and continue the game. So, I
won't be shorting - just pointing out some "levels of
interest."
The toasty PPI has people selling bonds (yields rising) and the
2/10 curve is about to invert again (like I mentioned yesterday).
It was under 1.0 for a hot second overnight before recovering
a bit. Gold sniffing out what many knew was inevitable - the
Fed is stuck in a box with no good way out and will choose to ease
into inflation, causing more inflation, to save the banks and the
wealthy.
Nice and toasty PPI today. market should be biased to the upside
for sure with inflation still going strong, basing and accelerating
in some areas while the FED has already locked themselves into at
least one rate cut (lots of wealthy asset owners will argue that
the FED has has promised more than one and a cycle instead
because it's never enough for them no matter how much it hurts the
rest, but we'll see). Very good for asset inflation in the near
term.
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URA - 1st checkback after
Posted by bthefnd on 13th of Sep 2024 at 02:58 pm
URA - 1st checkback after going crazy off a double bottom?
Agree about casino. I find
SPY 5m - H&S setting up. Given the amount of ...
Posted by bthefnd on 13th of Sep 2024 at 02:05 pm
Agree about casino. I find it a bit gross and obscene to profit off stealing from the middle class and poor like this, but at least it's predictable these days. I was buying almost zero cost spreads near the bottom that have absolutely exploded. For example, I had a bunch of
SEP 18 5600 (+1)
OCT 4 5700 (-1)
OCT 4 5800 (+1)
They absolutely exploded higher this week.
I had the same setup going to the downside. Because I had most setup as nearly zero cost and a credit in some cases, I lost very little on the downside put protection, but I could sleep knowing I was good if we opened up down 150 SPX points (or more).
This trade required massive movement in a short time to work. But that's what we've been getting, so it was a no brainer to put it on in size.
Long story short - dollar
SPY 5m - H&S setting up. Given the amount of ...
Posted by bthefnd on 13th of Sep 2024 at 01:58 pm
Long story short - dollar strength (over a certain level) has been a consistent sign of dysfunction in the global economy in the era of globalization. I love a strong dollar as a traveling American, but I also get that if you crush your trading partners a global recession will eventually come back to bite us all (I'm definitely not saying I agree with the approach - only that I understand it...to the extent a non phd economist can understand it).
Fascinating event coming up. Jerome
SPY 5m - H&S setting up. Given the amount of ...
Posted by bthefnd on 13th of Sep 2024 at 01:43 pm
Fascinating event coming up. Jerome cannot be completely honest about needing 50 (that's 100% honest) but he needs to essentially crash the dollar ASAP (keep crashing it). He's a saint, so the election plays no part in his thinking, but I'm sure the market does (e.g. he doesn't want to spark a crash). If I was stuck in his position, I would do 25 and hint in very strong ways, just short of coming right out and saying it, that there would be AT LEAST a 50 cut in November. The dollar would dump immediately and the banks and wealthy would cheer. I'm just not sure how he accomplishes that with hints (you know he's not going to say it directly). And, I still think he is riding a fine line to significant weakness because emotional humans are trading, not machines that realize that QE is either here already or coming quickly.
Or maybe he's playing 4D chess and leaked the 50 to get some shock value out of the 25 and plans to make up the difference ++ in the background with QE (e.g. many people will be thinking something is very wrong if 50 so they might be shocked in a positive way with a 25, whereas it didn't have that kind of dynamic embedded before the leak).
Full banana mode confirmed Not shocked
SPY 5m - H&S setting up. Given the amount of ...
Posted by bthefnd on 13th of Sep 2024 at 01:26 pm
Full banana mode confirmed
Not shocked that the Fed leaked to the WSJ yesterday about the potential for 50 bps cut, but I think the market has the highest probability of experiencing a crash like event on a 50 than a 25. The problem is, they kind of need 50 to follow the rest of the world and keep the dollar weak and they can't just go on stage and say "look people, I don't know what you're smoking but this nonsense about strength when GDP is under 3 and Gov spending is above 6 is nonsensical" The market would crash...so they are trying to wiggle their way into position and end up coming into the week with a nearly 50/50 choice between the two (and that took them leaking to Nick at WSJ). They're in a pickle.
Find the last time we went into Fed week with a 50/50 outcome on the board. Good luck.
SPY 5m - H&S setting
Posted by bthefnd on 13th of Sep 2024 at 01:01 pm
SPY 5m - H&S setting up. Given the amount of times price has run through a demark 13 today, I'm thinking we either blow straight up from here and negate the pattern (full banana mode) or cut just below the neckline before reversing to make a new high (tricky banana mode)
Simple way to look at
Friend of mine pointed out that next week (historically) is ...
Posted by bthefnd on 13th of Sep 2024 at 12:23 pm
Simple way to look at it: if the Gov is injecting 6% of GDP per year and the Atlanta Fed is projecting 2.5% total GDP this year, is the non Gov economy in a recession or not?
These V bottoms are just
Friend of mine pointed out that next week (historically) is ...
Posted by bthefnd on 13th of Sep 2024 at 12:16 pm
These V bottoms are just the result of unemotional math (so yeah, AI would fit the bill). We have been and will be in a recession with Gov spending backed out - it would be severe at this point, but Gov spending is not backed out and won't be backed out so we do not enter a recession on paper. Asset prices go up broadly because of currency debasement - that's just what asset prices do (almost all go up during debasement, not just the ones accruing value, which is a short list). There are many academic papers that discuss when you enter the diminishing return phases of debt fueled stimulus and we're WELL PAST the line (I think around 70% of debt to GDP) where countries get a better than 1:1 return on debt. We're now quite negative return on stimulus and accelerating.
Except that one year where
Friend of mine pointed out that next week (historically) is ...
Posted by bthefnd on 13th of Sep 2024 at 12:00 pm
Except that one year where they printed and spent 6% of GDP in excess of revenues (currency debasement) for multiple years, while the economy was very hot. Oh wait, that's never happened before now. Banana Zone seems more likely, but, either way, it's hard to make historical comparisons when conditions don't match well (which is why we keep getting V bottoms - people thinking it's the same as before when it's not).
AI cracks me up sometimes,
Posted by bthefnd on 13th of Sep 2024 at 11:05 am
AI cracks me up sometimes, but I'm not sure how Kenny Loggins would feel about this take on an 80's classic.
Decades of nerdy excel life
Matt - After using it for a while now, I ...
Posted by bthefnd on 13th of Sep 2024 at 10:52 am
Decades of nerdy excel life helped me out for once
Yes, freezing the header row
Matt - After using it for a while now, I ...
Posted by bthefnd on 13th of Sep 2024 at 10:49 am
Yes, freezing the header row would be awesome.
Matt - After using it
Posted by bthefnd on 13th of Sep 2024 at 10:40 am
Matt - After using it for a while now, I have a suggestion about the format of the HP KISS section table. It would be very helpful if the star column (far right, used to mark favorites) is shifted to the far left, maybe in between the "Minutes" and "Stats/Trades" columns.
I code a bit here and there and have lots of experience with advanced Excel use, so I get that it might not be as easy as it sounds e.g. maybe you have a lot of dependencies created with the structure (using column numbers in code instead of column names...which is still common). Just thought I'd ask because it would be super helpful for me visually as I update my favorites regularly as the "hot" sectors of the market change and some days I'm just game for more alerts than other days. In the current format, I find myself clicking the wrong star a lot and I've taken to keeping a ruler next to my computer to hold against the screen to check the line.
*before I started using table column names instead of column numbers for things like concatenation, if I ran into an issue where I had invested to much time to go back and change the structure, I would consider adding a column at the end that repeated a previous column (simply for visual help). If that was the situation here, maybe you could bookend the table with the "Symbol/Chart" column data (e.g. NVDA shown on both far left and far right)
SPY 2 hour - if
Posted by bthefnd on 12th of Sep 2024 at 05:23 pm
SPY 2 hour - if my model holds up, the slope projects 570 around October 4th. Feels like it will do that by tomorrow (and it has achieved targets faster than projected in recent past), but there will probably be at least some back and fill between now and then. Or we could finally be in Rao Pauls predicted "banana zone" where prices go parabolic beyond any historical norms or what people thought could be possible. I think we've been in that zone for years, but he thinks the real party is still to come.
Hard to argue with this
Looks increasingly likely that the Fed is going to start ...
Posted by bthefnd on 12th of Sep 2024 at 03:02 pm
Hard to argue with this standard CNBC talking point in today's world (don't want to get cancelled). But not everyone has the same opinion about Fed independence and their impartial, non partisan, god like approach. The vast majority of their employees are registered in the same party. I believe it's over 70% and the rest are registered as independents and a very small, less than 10%, are registered with the GOP (there are actual peer reviewed studies on this topic available online....I'm guessing based on reading many months ago...please fact check me). But maybe this particular herd of PhD's is so amazingly intelligent and devoted to their craft and their duty to impartiality that they avoid any alignment with their strongly held beliefs in their personal political lives? You never know.
Looks increasingly likely that the
Posted by bthefnd on 12th of Sep 2024 at 02:49 pm
Looks increasingly likely that the Fed is going to start an easing cycle next Wednesday at all time highs in the equity indexes, firm to slightly rising inflation (if you believe Gov data), and 6 weeks out from a major election. The press conference commentary should be interesting! The ultra wealthy are essentially demanding either 50 basis points or super dovish speak to go with 25. They will probably get what they demand (super dove speak from Jerome - 50 is off the table).
Nice candle. Maybe everyone realizing the above at about the same time and deciding to ease up a bit on the squeeze until we actually get the juice?
Silver great today, but you
Wow silver is going nuts, and CDE in particular is ...
Posted by bthefnd on 12th of Sep 2024 at 02:19 pm
Silver great today, but you could throw a dart at just about any name in the broad basket of names associated with protecting yourself from Govs with fiat currency issues and done very very well today. Silver is leading (on my list) for the day...actually #2 behind COIN. We'll see how it ends the day, but I'm also thinking that silver hasn't done well relative to the others in the basket on a risk adjusted basis - even bitcoin has been better (risk adjusted). Given how much heat SLV has taken, I would argue it should be outperforming by even more today. GLD, although only up a meager 1.65% on the day, didn't experience anywhere near that pain that silver has. Maybe silver will catch up?
Interesting spot to try a
Posted by bthefnd on 12th of Sep 2024 at 12:38 pm
Interesting spot to try a short on the QQQ's.
Shorting the QQQ's is like betting on a poker match between two players when everyone, even the player on the other side, even the announcer covering the match, knows that the dominant player is counterfeiting chips under the table. They all know but they just make up cute names for counterfeiting and continue the game. So, I won't be shorting - just pointing out some "levels of interest."
The toasty PPI has people
Nice and toasty PPI today. market should be biased to ...
Posted by bthefnd on 12th of Sep 2024 at 12:00 pm
The toasty PPI has people selling bonds (yields rising) and the 2/10 curve is about to invert again (like I mentioned yesterday). It was under 1.0 for a hot second overnight before recovering a bit. Gold sniffing out what many knew was inevitable - the Fed is stuck in a box with no good way out and will choose to ease into inflation, causing more inflation, to save the banks and the wealthy.
Nice and toasty PPI today.
Posted by bthefnd on 12th of Sep 2024 at 10:22 am
Nice and toasty PPI today. market should be biased to the upside for sure with inflation still going strong, basing and accelerating in some areas while the FED has already locked themselves into at least one rate cut (lots of wealthy asset owners will argue that the FED has has promised more than one and a cycle instead because it's never enough for them no matter how much it hurts the rest, but we'll see). Very good for asset inflation in the near term.