Sector Detector: Technology surges to top of quant rankings
by Sabrient - November 30th, 2011 9:56 pm
Reminder: Sabrient is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.
Courtesy of Scott Martindale, Sabrient Systems and Gradient Analytics
Fear has subsided enough to let loose the bulls, which in turn has sent bears running for cover to add fuel to the rally. On Wednesday, an international effort to support global liquidity, along with a host of other positive headlines, got the party started. The Dow soared nearly 500 points to close just above the 12,000 level. This put the markets back near the flat line for both the month of November and for 2011 YTD—which in retrospect is a welcome result, indeed, given the huge price swings and pervasive fears of global economic collapse.
Energy and Basic Materials have led the rally this week, but it is Technology that now sits atop Sabrient’s SectorCast rankings of the 10 U.S. sector iShares.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve, ECB, and other central banks stepped in to shore up global money markets and ensure that European banks have sufficient funding, as government bond yields have surged. This is essential for keeping interest on debt at a manageable level. It followed China’s unexpected reduction in bank reserve requirements, intended to boost its somewhat sluggish economy.
The ten highest-yielding Dow stocks (a.k.a., Dogs of the Dow) are now yielding over 4%, which is more than double the 10-year Treasury yield, so stock valuations are low. Earnings reports, industrial production, payrolls, and consumer confidence have all been quite promising, so the only holdup has been Europe. Any sign of a possible solution to their debt crisis is an excuse for the U.S. stock market to rally.
The market now has some positive momentum as it enters the month of December, which is historically strong. With market essentially flat for the year, there is a chance for a net gain for 2011.
Despite good overall earnings reports this season, suspect earnings quality nevertheless has been the downfall of a number of stocks. Forensic accounting firm and recent Sabrient acquisition Gradient Analytics (http://www.EarningsQuality.com) saw a number of stocks that it had red-flagged fall after their earnings reports. Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and j2 Global Communications (JCOM) are two of the latest stocks that have taken a fall.
The SPY closed Wednesday right at the 125 level. After pulling a big turkey last week, with one of the worst…
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DiggCablevision Experiences and Remediates DDoS Attack on Optimum Online
by Insider Scoop - November 30th, 2011 9:05 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) is alerting customers that it experienced a Distributed Denial of Service attack on the Optimum Online network during the evening hours Tuesday night. The company announced that the attack has been remediated and resolved. It began at approximately 6 p.m. Tuesday and was resolved shortly after midnight, when all service returned to normal.
The attack Tuesday night caused a disruptive increase in automated requests on a portion of the network, which impacted the ability of some customers to access certain websites and other Internet services.
DDoS attacks have been directed at several leading technology companies in recent months. Cablevision is continuing to investigate the cause of the attack.
For more Benzinga, visit Benzinga Professional Service, Value Investor, and Stocks Under $5.
Of Imminent Defaults And Self Deception. Kyle Bass Prepares For The Worst
by Zero Hedge - November 30th, 2011 9:03 pm
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by Tyler Durden.
In his latest letter to LPs, Kyle Bass of Hayman Capital Management, offers his tell-tale clarity on what may lie ahead for Europe and Japan. With his over-arching thesis of debt saturation becoming more plain to see around every corner, Bass bundles the simple (and somewhat unarguable) facts of quantitative analysis with a qualitative perspective on the cruel self-deception that we all see and read every day about Europe.
Whether it is Kahneman’s “availability heuristic” (wherein participants assess the probability of an event based on whether relevant examples are cognitively “available”), the Pavlovian pro-cyclicality of thought, or the extraordinary delusions of groupthink, investors in today’s sovereign debt markets can’t seem to envision the consequences of a default.
His Japanese scenario is no less convicted, as we have discussed a number of times, with the accelerant of this debt-bomb being the very-same European debacle and his time-frame for this is set to begin in the next few months.
(h/t The Fly)
China Manufacturing Contracts As New Export Orders See Biggest 2 Month Drop Since Dec2008
by Zero Hedge - November 30th, 2011 8:44 pm
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by Tyler Durden.
Suddenly this morning’s RRR cut doesn’t feel quite so much like China doing Europe a favor. Chinese Manufacturing PMI printed at a lower-than-expectations 49, signaling its first contraction (<50) since Feb 2009. As if it was really ever so, as clearly concerns were growing since we had the Flash PMIs earlier in the month. Across the board, sub-indices were weak with New Orders and New Export Orders falling significantly as the latter remains below 50 and Inventories rose significantly. Notably New Export Orders have now fallen the most over two months since Dec 2008.
The overall index fell below 50 for the first time since Feb 2009.
And New Orders and New Export Orders continue to slide.
But the two-month drop in New Export Orders is very significant – as bad as entering the previous dramatic downturn.
Charts: Bloomberg
UPDATE: HSBC China Manufacturing PMI prints at 47.7, deteriorating at fastest rate (and lowest level) in 32 Months
China Manufacturing Contracts As New Export Orders See Biggest 2 Month Drop Since Dec 2008
by ilene - November 30th, 2011 8:44 pm
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Suddenly this morning’s RRR cut doesn’t feel quite so much like China doing Europe a favor. Chinese Manufacturing PMI printed at a lower-than-expectations 49, signaling its first contraction (<50) since Feb 2009. As if it was really ever so, as clearly concerns were growing since we had the Flash PMIs earlier in the month. Across the board, sub-indices were weak with New Orders and New Export Orders falling significantly as the latter remains below 50 and Inventories rose significantly. Notably New Export Orders have now fallen the most over two months since Dec 2008.
The overall index fell below 50 for the first time since Feb 2009.
And New Orders and New Export Orders continue to slide.
But the two-month drop in New Export Orders is very significant – as bad as entering the previous dramatic downturn.
Charts: Bloomberg
Deflation is coming
by Zero Hedge - November 30th, 2011 8:04 pm
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by South of Wall Street.
Deflation is coming
www.southofwallstreet.com
Rosenberg from 3/18/08 at ML:
We believe that Fed Chairman Bernanke is now fully in charge of the FOMC and he likely does not want to take a chance of disappointing the still very fragile financial markets. More importantly he understands that we are simultaneously facing a credit crisis, deepening housing market meltdown, and an unfolding economic recession. (Sounds a lot like today, doesn’t it?)
He goes on to question what Bernanke can do if rate cuts don’t work:
Since the last rate cut, the Dow is down more than 500 points and
BBB corporate spreads have widened out an extra 50 basis points. Financial
conditions are actually tightening. So don’t think for a second that Bernanke does not have something up his sleeve – we think the press statement is going to be very key. What other aggressive action can the central bank possibly take?
The Fed can inject money into the economy in still other ways. For example, the Fed has the authority to buy foreign government debt, as well as domestic government debt. Potentially, this class of assets offers huge scope for Fed operations, as the quantity of foreign assets eligible for purchase by the Fed is several times the stock of U.S. government debt
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Peter Schiff Explains What Today’s Global Fed-Funded Bailout Means For The Future
by Zero Hedge - November 30th, 2011 7:27 pm
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by Tyler Durden.
If anyone is still confused by what has transpired today, here is Peter Schiff explaining in simple words, why what happened “may be one of the most important economic events of the year” and what to do next: “Today’s unprecedented announcement by the world’s most powerful central banks was a loud and clear bell ringing to buy precious metals. The move, disguised as an attempt to help the fragile state of the global economy, is in reality a move to prop up failing banks in Europe and the US. By reducing interest rates paid for dollar swaps, central bankers are in effect increasing the quantity of global dollars in circulation. The result? The dollar will weaken, inflation will rise, and gold will soar. Gold was up more than $30 today, and the dollar got crushed. I urge you to take 7 minutes to watch the video I recorded exclusively for my subscribers a few hours ago. It explains, in plain language, what happened today – and what is the likely outcome for your portfolio. This may be one of the most important economic events of the year.” And pardon Schiff’s self-promotional piece at the end, but the truth is that he is essentially correct about what the actions means from a big picture perspective. Furthermore, as Goldman made all too clear, this is merely the beginning as more and more inflationary actions have to be undertaken by central banks to save banks from being crushed by untenable debt loads. Whether they succeed in overturning the deflationary tsunami is unknown. What is certain is that they will bring fiat currencies to the verge of viability (and beyond) in trying.
Goldman On Today’s Coordinated Central Bank Bailout: “It Isn’t Enough To Save Anyone Or Solve Averything” And “Why Now?”
by Zero Hedge - November 30th, 2011 7:16 pm
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by Tyler Durden.
Naturally, if there was one party that would be disappointed by today’s action, it would be Goldman Sachs: on one hand because it is nowhere near enough to actually fix anything, and on the other because it delayed the moment when the 2-3 European banks which we have been saying for over a week would keel over and die leaving a power vacuum for Goldman to fill, has just been delayed. As a result, Goldman dissatisfied note makes more than enough sense: “Up, up, and away for stocks after the coordinated ease this morning. USD funding just got cheaper, which is of course a good thing. But the difference between OIS + 50 and OIS + 100 isn’t enough to save anyone or solve everything. It’s the symbolism of policy-makers again acting in concert that I find most encouraging.” But, and there is always a but: “Although there is the obvious counter: why act now – is there something lurking around the corner? Those are worries for tomorrow though.” Indeed, and when the worries resurface, as they will, especially following the resumption in European record yielding auctions, which incidentally the Fed’s action does nothing to fix, following France and Spain bond auctions. And who knows what else. Oh yes, Goldman just cut its GDP forecast for Europe from +0.1% to -0.8%: hello, recession, the very same catalyst which S&P said a month ago will be sufficient for it to downgrade France. As usual, Egan-Jones was way ahead of the crowd.
More from Goldman:
If the FED is giving the world dollars, then sell your dollars. Less reason now to hold USD longs to cover your USD funding. EURUSD trade to a high of 1.3533. Stops the whole way up. A steady drip lower for the rest of the session though yesterday’s high providing support. Just missed out on a bullish key day reversal – that was what started October’s rally. Still 1% higher in EURUSD is nothing to sneeze at. AUD the day’s best performer though. Up 2.8% vs. the dollar. USDBRL back to 1.80. Amazing that just last week we were testing the top of the 1.70 / 1.90 range. So much for EM being an elevator only on the way down.
The rates market finished
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Central Banks’ Latest Move Shows Desperation
by Zero Hedge - November 30th, 2011 6:35 pm
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by George Washington.
The coordinated swap line bailout by the Federal Reserve Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, and the Swiss National Bank- and China’s reduction of reserve requirements by .5% – shows desperation. (For background on swap lines, see this, this and this.)
The Street notes:
Don’t get flustered by the terminology of “dollar swap lines” above. Here’s a more simple explanation: Central banks around the globe have acted in desperation to boost liquidity in the system, which has sparked a rally in equities.
In a separate article, The Street points out:
What’s great for the banks isn’t so good for everyone else, though. Investment strategists already are noting the desperation of the move, adding that flooding the banking system with liquidity doesn’t do anything to solve the real problem of ballooning, unmanageable debt levels.
Ron Paul said today:
The Fed’s latest actions in cooperating with foreign central banks to undertake liquidity swaps of dollars for foreign currencies is another reason why Congress needs enhanced power to oversee and audit the Fed. Under current law Congress cannot examine these types of agreements. Those who would argue that auditing the Fed or these agreements with central banks harms the Fed’s independence should reevaluate the Fed’s supposed independence when the Fed bails out Europe so soon after President Obama promised US assistance in resolving the Euro crisis.
Rather than calming markets, these arrangements should indicate just how frightened governments around the world are about the European financial crisis. Central banks are grasping at straws, hoping that flooding the world with money created out of thin air will somehow resolve a crisis caused by uncontrolled government spending and irresponsible debt issuance. Congress should not permit this type of open-ended commitment on the part of the Fed, a commitment which could easily run into the trillions of dollars. These dollar swaps are purely inflationary and will harm American consumers as much as any form of quantitative easing.
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Moving Averages: Month-End Update
by Chart School - November 30th, 2011 6:35 pm
Courtesy of Doug Short.
Valid until the market close on December 30, 2011
The S&P 500 closed November with an impressive 4.33% rally on the last day of the month. But November’s close was down 0.51% from the October close. The index signals remain unchanged from last month. See the specifics here.
The Ivy Portfolio
The table below shows the current 10-month simple moving average (SMA) signal for each of the five ETFs featured in The Ivy Portfolio. I’ve also included a table of 12-month SMAs for the same ETFs for this popular alternative strategy.
Backtesting Moving Averages
Over the past few years I’ve used Excel to track the performance of various moving-average timing strategies. But now I use the backtesting tools available on the ETFReplay.com website. Anyone who is interested in market timing with ETFs should have a look at this website. Here are the two tools I most frequently use:
- Backtest an Individual ETF
- Backtest an ETF Portfolio
(requires a paid subscription)
Background on Moving Averages
Buying and selling based on a moving average of monthly closes can be an effective strategy for managing the risk of severe loss from major bear markets. In essence, when the monthly close of the index is above the moving average value, you hold the index. When the index closes below, you move to cash. The disadvantage is that it never gets you out at the precise top or back in at the very bottom. Also, it can produce the occasional whipsaw (short-term buy or sell signal), such as we’ve experienced this summer.
Nevertheless, a chart of the S&P 500 monthly closes since 1995 shows that a 10- or 12-month simple moving average (SMA) strategy would have insured participation in most of the upside price movement while dramatically reducing losses.
The 10-month exponential moving average (EMA) is a slight variant on the simple moving average. This version mathematically increases the weighting of newer data in the 10-month sequence. Since 1995 it has produced fewer whipsaws than the equivalent simple moving average, although it was a month slower to signal a sell after these two market tops.
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