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Morning Call Express: Calm Before the Storm
In today’s Morning Call Express video, T3 Live’s Kurt Capra breaks down the market action ahead of the weekend. Kurt covers: This week’s contraction in volatility What could signal more momentum to the downside Levels that could indicate a move back to all-time highs The down move in financials The strength in gold (GLD) and gold mining stocks (GDX) The downtrend in the US dollar P.S. Looking for Scott Redler’s Morning Call videos? They are only available to Redler All-Access subscribers. Click here to learn more.
Continue Reading -->The Bulls Are Coming Out of Their Caves
Last Friday, traders sentiment was right smack-in-the-middle neutral, perfectly reflecting the back and forth action in the market. On Tuesday, the SPX started on a very weak note, trading down to 2428.20 before the dip buyers stepped in, putting us as high as 2478.26 on Thursday. With this big rebound behind us, let’s see if traders’ moods have gotten better to close out the week. (click here for a primer on the sentiment indicators below) 1) VIX Spread – Bullish Three weeks ago, the VIX hit 17.28, but with markets steadying themselves, it hit a low of 10.02 on Friday morning, not far from generational lows. The 3-month spread is at +4.41, which means traders are very bullish. We’ve seen many readings above 4 this year, which is what I regard serious bullishness. Readings of +5 should be considered outright froth. If the SPX breaks out to new record highs, we coudl see such a reading again. (click here for a primer on the VIX spread) 2) CNN Fear & Greed Index – Neutral The Fear & Greed Index is at 46, up from just 22 last Friday. The F&G Index operates on a 1-100 scale, and a reading of 46 qualifies as as neutral. 3) AAII Sentiment – Bearish The latest AAII Sentiment Survey shows that just 25% of individual investors are bullish. This is down from 28.1% last week. This 25.0 reading indicates that individual investors are bearish, and it’s the lowest reading since May 18. 4) CBOE Equity Put-Call – Bullish The CBOE Equity-Put Call ratio was at 0.57 Thursday, which is well below the long-term average of 0.655. The 3-day moving average is 0.58, which is below the long-term average and thus bullish. These numbers indicate that traders are very bullish Conclusion Out of 4 sentiment indicators, we have: 2 bullish (flat last week) 1 neutral (up from 0 last week) 1 bearish (down from 2 last week) We have 2 bullish, 1 neutral, and 1 bearish indicators this week. So traders are moderately bullish and in a better mood than last week. We’re definitely not in frothy territory, but if the SPX finds its footing again and blasts above 2490 to new all-time highs, that could change quickly. Whether that happens soon is unclear. On the plus side, it looks like traders are looking past today’s weak nonfarm payrolls report (or at least that was already priced in), since financials are very strong. Tech has been very resilient, but it would be nice to see small caps participate on a consistent basis.
Continue Reading -->AVAV: Anatomy of a Winning Earnings Play
In this special video, Nightly Game Plan Moderator Sami Abusaad walks you through a winning earnings play in drone company AeroVironment (AVAV). This video series is typically focused on swing trades, but since no swing trades triggered, this will be a special edition focused on Sami’s proprietary Earnings Play strategy, which he only started using this year. Sami used the Earnings Play to enter AVAV at $39.35, and exit the next morning at $44.67 for a $1,330 profit. (click here for a breakdown of our P&L calculations) Here’s how the trade went down: In the video above, Sami’s going to walk you through the Earnings Play from start to finish so you can understand: How Sami analyzed the daily trend in QQQ, which he uses as a market proxy The rationale behind the Earnings Play strategy Tips for predicting the post-earnings reaction How to judge expectations for earnings Lessons from past earnings playes like DHR, TMO, and CY Why AVAV appeared on Sami’s radar The ‘proof’ Sami got that AVAV was a bullish play Why he only took 250 shares Click here to learn about Sami’s Nightly Game Plan P.S. Earnings Season is still going strong. Be sure to check out this FREE Earnings Season resource: The Ultimate Guide to Trading Earnings Season
Continue Reading -->Sentiment Update: From Depressed to Indifferent
Last Friday, traders became very bearish due to a combination of domestic and international strife, indicating that the market may finally be reacting to political volatility. Markets then powered up off the lows on Monday before a power rally on Tuesday. We’ve drifted sideways since then, so let’s take a fresh look at our 4 sentiment measures to see which way the crowd is leaning heading into this weekend. (click here for a primer on the sentiment indicators below) 1) VIX Spread – Bullish Two weeks ago, the VIX hit 17.28, but with markets steadying themselves, it’s back under 12. The 3-month spread is at +2.65, which means traders are moderately bullish. We’ve seen many readings above 4 this year, which is what I regard serious bullishness. (click here for a primer on the VIX spread) 2) CNN Fear & Greed Index – Bearish The Fear & Greed Index is at 22. The F&G Index operates on a 1-100 scale, and a reading of 22 qualifies as extremely fearful. This is just slightly up from 19 last week, and is one of the lowest readings we’ve seen this year. 3) AAII Sentiment – Bearish The latest AAII Sentiment Survey shows that 28.1% of individual investors are bullish, down from 34.2% last week. This 28.1% reading indicates that individual investors are moderately bearish, and it’s the lowest reading since June 1. 4) CBOE Equity Put-Call – Bullish The CBOE Equity-Put Call ratio was at 0.69 Thursday, which is justl above the long-term average of 0.655. The 3-day moving average is 0.61, which is below the long-term average and thus bullish. These numbers indicate that traders are moderately bullish Conclusion Out of 4 sentiment indicators, we have: 2 bullish (up from 0 last week) 0 neutral (down from 1 last week) 2 bearish (down from 3 last week) We have 2 bullish indicators and 2 bearish indicators, so they cancel each other out. So we’ve gone from very, very negative sentiment last week to pretty much neutral sentiment this week. Unfortunately, that means we don’t have much to go on heading into the weekend. When sentiment is leaning hard one way or the other, that can give us possible opportunities for countertrend trades, but we are definitely not there today. I like to say the bulls always say there are too many bears, and that bears always say there are too many bulls. But today everyone’s wrong: we’re split down the middle
Continue Reading -->Active Swing Trade Management: A $1500+ Profit in CBI
In this special video, Nightly Game Plan Moderator Sami Abusaad walks you through a winning trade in Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI). Like many infrastructure stocks, CBI was flying high after the President election, but it’s since come back down to Earth. But on August 22, Sami spotted an opportunity for a swing long with one of his favorte strategies: the Exhaustion Gap Fade As of the close on Thursday, August 24, the trade had returned $1,550 for Sami. (click here for a breakdown of our P&L calculations) In the video below, Sami’s going to walk you through the trade from start to finish so you can understand: Why Sami starts with the daily chart, and then drops down to the hourly How Sami identified the entry at $10.15, and how he managed his stops to minimize risk Risk-reward calculations What to do when a stock hits a target Trailing a stop for ongoing risk management How this trade fit into the 4 stages of stock movement Click here to learn about Sami’s Nightly Game Plan
Continue Reading -->How Sami Abusaad Spotted a Major Bottom in ENDP
In this special video, Sami Abusaad, Director of our Nightly Game Plan program walks you through a trade in fast-moving biotech stock Endo International (ENDP). ENDP dropped about 50% in 3 weeks, providing Sami with an opportunity to go long with his proprietary Climactic Buy Setup. This swing trade returned a profit of over $1,570 in under 3 days, giving you an important lesson: when everyone’s trying to get out, it may be time to get in. (click here for an explanation of how we calculate profits and losses) But that’s easier said than done. So Sami’s going to walk you through the trade step by step so you can understand exactly how he spotted a near-term bottom in this stock. Watch the video below and you’ll learn: How Sami used volume to spot capitulation Parameters for risk-reward and trade management Fear, greed, and how they helped Sami trigger the trade Why Sami went long at $7.93 How his targets of $8.75 and $9.50 were selected Here’s the video: Click here to learn more about Sami’s Nightly Game Plan.
Continue Reading -->Did Mr. Market Just Throw Another Sentiment Boomerang?
Last Friday, sentiment got pretty awful in the wake of North Korea’s threats of an attack on Guam. And then early this week, it went full-on psycho bullish after North Korea blinked and backed off. That was good for me since I’m speculating on a big decline in the VIX… and then it wasn’t so good. With traders fearing that President Trump will have trouble instituting pro-growth policies like tax and regulatory reforms, the VIX spiked as high as 15.77 on Wednesday, up 40% from Tuesday’s 11.25 low. So my nicely profitable trade is now a loser! Let’s take a fresh look at our 4 sentiment measures to see which way the crowd is leaning heading into the weekend. (click here for a primer on the sentiment indicators below) 1) VIX Spread – Bearish The VIX is at 14.82 this morning, well above the July 26 all-time low at 8.84, and also above trend for this year. The 3-month spread is at +0.2, which means the VIX curve is flat. Traders are pricing in quite a bit of short-term volatility, so once again, this reading is bearish. (click here for a primer on the VIX spread) 2) CNN Fear & Greed Index – Bearish The Fear & Greed Index is at 19. The F&G Index operates on a 1-100 scale, and a reading of 19 qualifies as extremely fearful. 3) AAII Sentiment – Neutral The latest AAII Sentiment Survey shows that 34.2% of individual investors are bullish. This 34.2% reading isn’t terribly far off the 38.5% long-term average, and indicates that individual investors are basically neutral. I thought this would be lower, but the number is what it is. 4) CBOE Equity Put-Call – Bearish The CBOE Equity-Put Call ratio was at 0.78 Thursday, which is well above the long-term average of 0.66. The 3-day moving average is 0.69, which is slight above the long-term average. The 10-day moving average is 0.74, which is fairly high. These numbers indicate that traders are very bearish. Conclusion Out of 4 sentiment indicators, we have: 0 bullish 1 neutral 3 bearish The data indicate that sentiment boomeranged in a big way. Traders were pricing in the end of the world last Friday. Then they got happy on Monday and early Tuesday. And now they’re depressed again. You could say volatility is becoming more volatile. And I think this is a great thing because the market’s actually giving some real back and forth action. That means more opportunities for active traders, and action that’s actually interesting to watch. I don’t know about you, but I found June through late July to be agonizing to watch. Maybe the sudden spike in volatiilty means there’s trouble down the road… but at least we’ll be awake for it. Now I’m still speculating on a decline in the VIX. To be more specific, I am: -Long VXX puts -Short VXX call spreads Will the trade go profitable again? The ideal situation is a repeat of last Friday to Monday, when sentiment boomeranged from extreme fear to extreme greed in the blink of an eye. I guess I’m about to find out if that’s just wishful thinking…
Continue Reading -->Sami Abusaad’s Trade of the Week: BUFF
In this special video, T3 Live Black Room Moderator Sami Abusaad walks you through a trade in fast-moving momentum name Blue Buffalo Pet Products (BUFF). On August 9, BUFF exploded higher on earnings, which opened the door for Sami to step in and take a day trade using a proprietary 60-minute Buy Setup. This trade returned $2,288 in profit in 90 minutes, or about half of his total trading profit for the day — pretty nice! In the video below, Sami’s going to walk you through the trade from start to finish so you can understand: Why a pro gap opened the door for the trade How Sami identified where buying interest could come in The entry off the 15-minute chart The power of simple bar-by-bar trade management The moving averages Sami used to place his 2 targets Here’s the video: Click here to learn about the Black Room
Continue Reading -->Is the Big VIX Move Over?
Fear is here, courtesy of North Korea. Just a couple weeks after the VIX hit an all-time low, volatility is exploding as traders start to price in a potential conflict with North Korea. This morning, the plot thickened after China said it won’t help North Korea if it launches missles at the US. However, it would not stand for the US attacking first. Way back in July, I used options to make a leveraged bet on the VIX, and the huge spike in the VIX put the trade in the green. I took off part of the position yesterday just before the equity market close, and will likely close out the rest this morning. At the end of this piece, I’ll outline why I may soon speculate on a VIX collapse. That makes now a great time to go through our 4 sentiment indicators to see if the crowd also sees sunshine ahead for equities. (click here for a primer on the 4 sentiment indicators below) 1) VIX Spread – Bearish The VIX is at 16.57, which means it’s nearly doubled the July 26 all-time low at 8.84. The 3-month spread is at -1.05, which means the curve is inverted and short-term fear is very, very high. (click here for a primer on the VIX spread) 2) CNN Fear & Greed Index – Bearish The Fear & Greed Index is at 31. The F&G Index operates on a 1-100 scale, and a reading of 31 qualifies as Fearful. 3) AAII Sentiment – Neutral The latest AAII Sentiment Survey shows that 33.7% of individual investors are bullish. This 33.7% reading isn’t terribly far off the 38.5% long-term average, and indicates that individual investors are basically neutral. 4) CBOE Equity Put-Call – Bearish The CBOE Equity-Put Call ratio was at 0.88 Thursday, which is well above the long-term average of 0.66. The 3-day moving average is 0.79, which is also well above the long-term average. These numbers indicate that traders are very bearish. Conclusion But of 4 sentiment indicators, we have: 0 bullish (down from 2 last week) 1 neutral (flat) 3 bearish (up from 1 last week In July, the crowd was absolutely nutty. But as we’ve seen many times this year, at the first sign of trouble, fear is getting priced in awfully quickly. The action is quite reminiscent of the April 13 volatility spike when the US dropped a 22,000 bomb on ISIS forces in Afghanistan. North Korea and Syria were also in the news. On that day, the CBOE equity put-call jumped to a whopping 0.96 with a 3-day moving average at 0.81. And as of yesterday, the CBOE equity put-call jumped to 0.88 with a 3-day moving average of 0.77.That dip was very short liveed, and the SPX soon spiked 60 points. This chart shows the SPX vs. the VIX (VIX is the purple line, with the April volatility spike highlighted: So I’m looking to close out the rest of my VIX position, and actually speculate on a VIX decline, likely through VXX put options. (UPDATE at 9:45 a.m. ET: I am now short VXX call spreads, and long VXX puts) To make a very long story short, the term structure of VIX futures puts a downward force on VXX over the long run. Shorting volatility has been the best trade of 2017. But the recent volatility spike likely had traders being forced to do 3 things: 1) Close outright short volatility bets on VIX/VXX puts cover shorts 2) Buy SPX/SPY/QQQ puts and VIX/VXX calls to hedge their short volatility exposure And now we’re looking at an inverted VIX curve and traders likely overpaying for VIX options. Meanwhile, China’s posture indicates that they want no part of a North Korea offensive. Saying they won’t tolerate a US aggression allows them to save face, and seems like a happy medium. If the fear gets ratcheted down, I suspect the VIX will be back in the 10-12 range in fairly short order. I’ll provide an update if I actually make a trade.
Continue Reading -->T3’s Take 3: Nuclear Summer
1) Fear Returns Traders were on edge again today on fears of a conflict with North Korea. Japan and South Korea warned that they would not tolerate aggressions from North Korea, including a missile launch at Guam. News reports indicate that Japan moved a PAC-3 Patriot missile system to Tokyo to shoot down North Korean missiles. Sentiment has been rapidly declining. The CBOE equity put-call ratio hit 0.83 yesterday, which is the highest reading since April 13, 2017. And what happened on April 13, 2017? The US military dropped that giant 22,000 bomb on ISIS forces on Afghanistan, which coincided with escalating tensions with North Korea. And a week prior, the US attacked Syria. As of yesterday’s close, the 3-day moving average for the equity put-call is now 0.76, which indicates negative short-term sentiment. And tomorrow morning, it should be much, much higher, since traders often buy lots of put options when the market drops quickly. Stocks immediately sold off at the open, and volatility expectations went into overdrive. the VIX rose as high as 16.17. putting it 82% above the July 26 record low at 8.84. That put my long VIX options trade nicely in the green. I used the pop to exit a big part of my position. I’ll look to get out of the rest tomorrow, and depending upon what I see tomorrow, I may end up getting short the VIX heading into the weekend. 2) Ugly Action The market did nothing in June, but judging by today’s big move in the VIX, August may be another story altogether. The SPX fell as low as 2444.91 this morning before bouncing, and then driving lower into the close to at 2438.21, down -1.5%. We saw relative weakness in key areas of the market like large-cap technology, biotechnology, and small caps. Traders watch these groups to judge the market composure. High-yield, regional banks, and materials ETF’s also took big hits. This implies that traders are fearful of the overnight news flow. Meanwhile, “risk off” instruments like US Treasuries, silver, gold, and utilities stocks performed well, with the Vaneck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) rising 1.6%. In early June, my colleague Jeff Cooper delivered compelling analysis on gold, saying the folowing: The breakout above $1280 is confirmed by trade over $1295, which issues significantly higher projections which we will detail before the weekend. At the same time, a close in gold above $1285 and especially $1295 on the important Friday weekly closing basis validates the idea of a new leg higher. Gold is now flirting with $1295, so keep an eye on it. If Jeff is correct, we could see a major rally. 3) Scott Redler’s Take: 75% Chance of Stormy Weather This afternoon, Scott Redler appeared on CNBC’s Futures Now Show to discuss the market’s recent breakdown. He estimated that there was a 75% chance that we’d see more trouble ahead. In terms of specific market levels to watch, Scott said it was important to see how the SPX and QQQ handled their respective 50 day moving averages at 2455 and $141.35. Both levels were lost today, so it’s clear that the bears have scored their first real victory in quite some time. Click here to watch Scott’s segment
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