From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

Nice pop this morning in the indices, then we dropped.

I was hoping for $SPY to close the gap at 408 before the sell-off, but that didn't happen.

Silver is clawing its way back after breaking down from a month-long consolidation and undercutting a critical shelf of former lows.

As we talked about last week, it all comes down to risk appetite. Silver bid speaks to a healthy risk-seeking environment favoring all precious metals.

And that's what we saw last week...

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Just a week ago, we captured the entire precious metals space in a single sentence: 

"Nothing bullish is happening for precious metals, while silver slides below multi-year support."

Is it really that simple?

Let’s take a look at an interesting development in precious metals that might change our minds…

Even with the impressive bounce heading into the weekend, the S&P 500 last week didn’t even get back up to its December high. Meanwhile nearly 10% of the industry groups in the S&P 1500 and more than 10% of global markets closed at new 52-week highs. That’s the longest new high list by the rest of the world in nearly a year.

More Context: The last decade has conditioned investors to look to the S&P 500 for leadership. Many have concluded that if US large-cap stocks are not showing strength there isn’t much opportunity in equities. That is becoming an expensive assumption. Our global equity work is tilting away from US exposure and within the US, large-cap growth is approaching max underweight. Getting stuck in the last decade’s paradigm means not seeing the strength that is emerging in this new environment. The S&P 500 continues to move sideways between its June low and August high and is contending with a challenging trend backdrop. It’s time to turn the page on that index and embrace new...

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Just a week ago, we captured the entire precious metals space in a single sentence: 

“Nothing bullish is happening for precious metals, while silver slides below multi-year support.”

Is it really that simple?

Let’s take a look at an interesting development in precious metals that might change our minds…

Silver futures stopped falling.

Check out the daily chart below:

Silver is clawing its way back to the scene of the crime after breaking down from a month-long consolidation and undercutting a critical shelf of former lows.

For me, trading back above 21.50 represents a green light – not only for silver but the entire precious metals space.

As I stated last week, it all comes down to risk appetite. Silver bid speaks to a healthy risk-seeking environment favoring all precious metals.

On the flip side, a lack of enthusiasm for the higher-beta play (silver) reminds me that no position is perhaps the best position.

I can’t help but view last week’s action as constructive. Bulls needed to step and support price fast, and they did.

Yes, silver continues to...

A Racecar manufacturer is off to the races and it's time for us to get involved with a bullish bet, defined risk, and reasonable odds of success.

We've adjusted a position in the Paid-to-Play portfolio today:

The largest insider buy on today's list comes in a Form 4 filing by Russell J. Weiner, the CEO of Domino's Pizza $DPZ.

Weiner revealed a $1 million purchase of DPZ shares.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

It was a big two-day move in the indices. $SPY went from 392 up to 404 -- now that's some power.

I think we can use a rest under the SPY 405 level then potentially push through to 408.

She was always the one.

All along it was the US dollar that was the best indicator.

Old reliable.

So why should we abandon it now?

Look at the US Dollar Index overlaid with the short ETF for the S&P500.

In other words, when the blue line goes up, that means stock market shorts are making money (along with rising dollars). But when the blue line falls, that means the shorts are losing and people who own stocks are the ones making money (with dollars falling):

It's the weekly commodity edition of What the FICC?

The wheat complex looks interesting at current levels, offering trading opportunities in either direction.

Check it out!