"Rates, the US dollar, crude oil, and the S&P 500... repeat!"
These charts swirl atop every investor’s mind as markets await the upcoming rate hike decision.
Meanwhile, it’s messy!
The S&P 500 challenges the upper bounds of a multi-month range. The US dollar and interest rates chop sideways. And crude oil remains resilient despite increased selling pressure.
But not all markets are trapped in a trading range right now. In fact, there’s one forex cross breaking down, suggesting lower yields and cheaper crude oil…
It's the nokkie-stocky, the Norwegian krone and the Swedish krone!
Check out the triple-pane chart of the US 1o-year yield, crude oil futures, and the NOK/SEK cross:
A weaker dollar remains a key ingredient for a risk-on rally. Yet, like interest rates, the buck refuses to roll over.
The US Dollar Index $DXY continues to hover well below last year’s peak, holding within a tight range for the past four months.
Today, we’ll review critical levels for DXY as this trendless action defines the chart.
We’ll also look beneath the surface for signs of broad strength or weakness and revisit a binding intermarket relationship for clues regarding the dollar’s next major move.
First, let’s define the critical boundaries of DXY’s multi-month range:
The 105 level has proven a significant area of resistance.
On the flip side, the February pivot lows at approximately 101 mark the lower boundary of the year-to-date range. That’s where we find DXY today.
As it turns out, markets can remain solvent longer than you can remain irrational.
Stocks continue to catch a bid. This is despite any so-called "banking crisis" or even the "upcoming recession" that I've been hearing about for so long.
Markets remain solvent as the major US Large-cap Indexes keep pushing up against new highs.
It's been broad based appreciation in stock prices since that October morning.
Every US Sector is positive and many are up over 20%, just since October alone. The numbers are even better when you anchor back to when the new 52-week lows list peaked in June.
Historically, during bull markets you see more and more stocks going up and making new highs. In bull markets you see more sectors participating to the upside and more countries around the world breaking out.
This is exactly what's been happening for about 10 months now.
All these uptrends you're seeing in most stocks is not a new phenomenon.
Trendless price action remains the way right now for currency markets.
Yes, some of our bearish dollar trades have triggered and are trending. But most have not.
It doesn’t mean they won’t, of course. But it would be irresponsible not to consider potential outcomes that conflict with my bearish USD thesis…
If the dollar rips, what USD dollar pair would I use to express a bullish outlook?
The answer: the South African rand.
Check out the weekly chart of the USD/ZAR pair:
The dollar has been in a strong uptrend versus the rand for more than a decade. It’s been one base breakout after another, leading to the USD/ZAR challenging its all-time highs last month.
Check out the chart of Canadian dollar futures with the Commitment of Traders Report (COT) in the lower pane (red line for commercials, black for large speculators, and gray for small speculators):
Commercials hold their largest net-long position since early 2019. Extreme positioning such as this tends to mark key inflection points.
Why?
Because commercial hedgers represent the largest short sellers for any given market. And strong hands move markets.
You're seeing the permabears pointing to the Equally-weighted S&P500 falling down towards new 52-week lows relative to the Market-cap weighted version.