Extreme fear in $SPY at close yesterdayIf you track the CBOE:SKEW index, it reveals when put options on the S&P500 ( AMEX:SPY , FX:SPX500 ) are at high levels relative to calls. Sometimes that means there is a big event ahead and the market participants are buying "insurance" against a sharp drop in the market over the life of the options contracts.
So, I think it is important to track CBOE:SKEW and to show you what that high CBOE:SKEW looks like in options prices, I have pulled up the prices of one month options on AMEX:SPY from the close yesterday (I did this work at the open today and posted it at my Key Hidden Levels chat room here at TradingView).
I have plotted just 3 different options for calls and 3 for puts to show you. The green boxes are the call options that are just "out of the money". The bottom of the box is on the strike price and the height of the box is the option premium which means the top of the box is the "breakeven price" where the AMEX:SPY would have to rise to at expiration to be worth exactly what you pay for it (in this example).
I plotted the boxes at the expiration date as shown by the black line at May 19th.
410p = 410 put option = $492/contract ($4.92 per share, but a contract is 100 shares).
The 400p is $2.77 or 277 dollars for 1 contract which is 15 points down from the close yesterday. That compares to a 430c or 430 call option at $1.34 or $134/option contract. So the result is the market is willing to pay twice as much to protect against a decline in the market and only half as much to participate in an advance.
If you track this data day-to-day and week-to-week or after a large move in CBOE:SKEW you can see how the market is thinking ahead of key news like the Fed Meeting Date on May 3rd. I graphed the Fed Meeting Dates with red-dotted lines to show you some key risk dates ahead. We are also in earnings season here and plenty of fears of recession or inflation, but mostly of the Fed hiking further.
I hope this graph is useful to visualize and understand options prices and how the market is positioned at the moment.
Cheers,
Tim
12:06PM EST, April 19th, 2023
VIX CBOE Volatility Index
Breakout, 19 May 2023🖼 Daily Technical Picture 📈
"The market has broken out,
So has my trading drought,
We are back in the action,
Will we profit? That is the question."
➤ The colour theme of today's chart background is fire 🔥 because it looks like the equity market is red hot. Is the Bear market over? It's certainly pointing that way. 👆
➤ To be frank, I'm not a big fan of breakout trades. It probably worked very well during those times before I was born but these days there are more fakeouts. Price may either completely reverse or sometimes retrace the break. Both actions can result in an exit for a loss.
➤ If I lose, I guess I can always quit trading and make money through rhymes...Oh wait there's CHATGPT.
➤ I'm long with a large position
➤ Conclusion: 🐆 MrStocky the Sometime Trader, Rhymer of Words, King of Patience, Protector of Profit (but not yet the King of Copytrading)
EQUITY TREND:
⦿ Short-term (weeks) - UP
⦿ Medium-term (< 6 months) - UP
⦿ Long-term (>6 months) - DOWN
$SPX looks like it wants to keep goingWith the TVC:VIX breaking the symmetrical triangle, see previous post, to the downside we're seeing high levels of complacency.
Much of this doesn't make sense but we've been saying for the longest times that markets are IRRATIONAL!
With #SPX breaking we could very well see a bigger push and faster. At the moment they are saying it's just a handful of companies leading, while there is truth in that, equal weight indices are beginning to push higher.
$VIX threw in the towel long agoTVC:VIX mini inverse head & shoulder pattern has gone way of dodo bird
Long term trend has been broken for some time
We stated long ago that the direction this would be broken would show how #stocks would react
What does SP:SPX look like it wants to keep doing?
Will post quickly right after this
#SPX #VIX
Averting Disaster, 18 May 2023🖼 Daily Technical Picture 📈
➤ S&P500 moved higher to the top of the range. It has been consolidating since 18th April. Wyckoff enthusiasts will note that we may be approaching the latter stages (Phase C). If I were to use a plane analogy, the plane is taxiing towards the runway ready for lift-off. The issue is that we aren't told if we are heading North or South.
➤ Consolidations are tricky to trade, especially if it is narrow (distance between top and bottom of the range. We got caught out at the start of this range with a -1.5% losing trade (early May) and we've been "lucky" to have averted further loss (so far). Yesterday, a Short trade almost materialised. If that had triggered, we would be sitting on a -2.5% (unrealised) loss.
➤ Furthermore, we would have been chopped to pieces if other trades were triggered earlier in this consolidation phase. In that sense, Non-Trades are just as important as actual Trades. Although Non-trades will not make you a profit, it does prevent you from making a loss.
➤ I highlight all this because I take managing risks very seriously. My nickname is the Professional Loss Maker. I am an expert at handling losses. Afterall, you don't want Amateurs to be handling explosives. 💣
➤ Conclusion: 🐆 MrStocky the Non-Trader.
EQUITY TREND:
⦿ Short-term (weeks) - NEUTRAL
⦿ Medium-term (< 6 months) - UP
⦿ Long-term (>6 months) - DOWN
A Nose Hair Away, 17 May 2023🖼 Daily Technical Picture 📈
➤ S&P500 showed further signs of weakness. Can you guess which stocks prevented the true weakness from showing? We were a nose hair away from triggering a Short trade. In fact I had the order page ready on all my trading platforms. Perhaps we need to wait another day.
➤ To be truthful, I'm glad we haven't been in any trades these past week or so. If a trade(s) had triggered, we would have been chopped to pieces. This may be due to pure luck on our part but I'd like to think that my Strategy didn't trigger those trades to avoid this potential.
➤ It's a totally different story when it comes to individual stock trading. Here trade potential is vast. This is one of the benefits over index trading. Even with my short-list of just 33 stocks divided by the main sectors of the S&P500, I have found plenty of trades.
➤ Conclusion: 🐆 I can smell a Trade coming.
End of the End, 16 May 2023🖼 Daily Technical Picture 📈
➤ Daily range of the S&P500 is coiling tighter together, forming a symmetrical triangle pattern (▶︎). Can you see it? That means price is about to make a move. It's the end of the end.
➤ Symmetrical triangles are symmetrical for one reason, the price movement out of the triangle is a 50/50 toss of a coin, up or down. There is no edge to be obtained from guessing which direction it will go.
➤ So relax like I have been by chewing on some good ol' bamboo and wait for price to resolve itself. That is when the action starts.
➤ Conclusion: 🐆 Enter the beginning of the beginning.
P.S. For those of you following my Live Paper Testing (trading of individual stocks and multi-asset classes), take note that I'm shorting quite a number of stocks. Despite the market moving higher today most of those stocks fell. This reflects the funny market where a handful of mega tech stocks are holding up the index.
Dollar Got it's 50 day MA touch and should continue it's descentTraders,
As you know everything is about the dollar rn. What it does determines what the rest of the U.S. market does. And, so far, what the U.S. market does has been helping us determine what Bitcoin will do. Bitcoin, being the lead dog, shows us what the remainder of the alt space will eventually do. This is how we follow the breadcrumbs to our next projected bull move.
As you know if you have been following me for any length of time, I have been calling for a blow-off top in the U.S. stock markets. This will be followed by a more serious recession that very well could become hyper-inflationary in nature, meaning that it will take many, many more dollars to buy a thing. This "thing" would include anything from eggs to shares. The market is smart (but sometimes a little slow) and will eventually price this inflationary pressure (or dollar weakness in).
When the dollar goes up, it's strong. It takes less dollars to buy a thing. So, markets generally go sideways or down.
When the dollar is up and the VIX (fear index) is up, the markets almost always trend down.
When the dollar is down and the VIX is down, the market will fly.
The VIX is down currently. So now, we simply need to determine which way the dollar could continue. From my perspective, the overall trend remains descending. We have now touched the 50 day moving average, which, as you know, I had been hoping for for some time. The price movement is completed and we can now expect further downside and a retest of that larger Head and Shoulders neckline. Should that neckline break? Bye bye U.S. dollar.
It is at this moment you will know the blow-off top has truly begun. We can expect new highs in our market to come before our recession.
Best to you all in your trades during these times,
Stew
Entering SDOW is the ideaDIA daily went to a sell, waiting for price action to approach the P.O.M.O Position of maximum opportunity on DIA. With such a nice risk reward why not. My idea would be to play it via SDOW
This short is riskier, Vix 1hr and 15min are R/R. DIA and SPY 1hrs went green. You just want to note the daily went to sell on DIA, waiting for it to retrace up to the pomo'y area for a small risk trade.
Overall trading this way (waiting for a pomo that meets your bias) is about like a sore peter, you just can't beat it.
AMEX:SDOW
AMEX:DIA
AMEX:SPY
Stalemate, 12 May 2023🖼 Daily Technical Picture 📈
➤ Equities are trading in a range within a range within another range in varying timeframes. It’s a stalemate. After the stalemate comes the party. I’m getting my outfit ready. 👗
➤ Although equities are in a stalemate, other asset classes are not. GOLD looks to be in the early stages of breaking lower. EURUSD is already on the way down. I’m looking at this from a short-term trade opportunity.
➤ If you have seen my trading history you will notice plenty of flat spots where I am not involved in the equity market like now. Periods like this don't last very long.
➤ Conclusion: 🐆 Don't miss out on the Party! 🎉
EQUITY TREND:
⦿ Short-term (weeks) - NEUTRAL
⦿ Medium-term (< 6 months) - UP
⦿ Long-term (>6 months) - DOWN
The Exception, 11 May 2023🖼 Daily Technical Picture 📈
➤ SeePI is out of the way and we are pretty much none-the-wiser. TLT representing long-term interest rates remain in a range and not giving anything away, equities is also trapped in a range. The only exception is the NASDAQ, it has broken above a trading range.
➤ Will it remain the exception? It may do as long as broad markets trade sideways or well supported. I doubt it will continue to outperform if markets begin to fall.
➤ In last week's daily note I talked about topping formations in the SPY in recent times. Currently, the price is testing the high. A failed test of the high (meaning we don't see a new high but a lower high) would be the likely trigger for a reasonably sized fall.
➤ Conclusion: 🐆 Stalking my prey...
EQUITY TREND:
⦿ Short-term (weeks) - NEUTRAL
⦿ Medium-term (< 6 months) - UP
⦿ Long-term (>6 months) - DOWN
UVXY Volatility Index ETFUVXY as shown in the 15 minute chart is slightly above the basis line on the Bollinger Bands
as shown also on the BB indicator or Luxalgo. Price is slightly below the mean VWAP of the
anchored VWAP situated in the fair value area as also confirmed by the volume profile and
its POC line confluent with the VWAP bands. Given impending federal data reports and news,
I expect volatility will rise. UVXY could have positive price action in the range of 10% in
tomorrow's trading day which can be day traded or scalped.
Sell in May, 10 May 2023🖼 Daily Technical Picture 📈
➤ Yawn!!! 🥱. That's all for today's description of price action. See you on SeePI Wednesday...
➤ Now I fully comprehend the adage "Sell in May and Go Away". Because nothing happens in May. May as well cash out and earn some juicy returns in a money market fund at 4 or 5% pa.
➤ Let's see if CPI numbers present some volatility (and oh that debt ceiling drumming is getting louder too)
➤ Conclusion: 🐆 Trading is 99% boredom
EQUITY TREND:
⦿ Short-term (weeks) - NEUTRAL
⦿ Medium-term (< 6 months) - UP
⦿ Long-term (>6 months) - DOWN
SeePI, 9 May 2023🖼 Daily Technical Picture 📈
➤ Equities changed little on Monday trade. It is probably digesting the price reactions from last week. It is also probably awaiting to see the CPI numbers on Wednesday. The data is released pre-market 1hr before US open so we may see some positioning ahead of the inflation number during Tuesday trade.
➤ To be honest I'm not expecting too much action on Wednesday either. This is because prices are trading within a range and I don't think the ranging activity is done. Furthermore, there is a distinct lack of movement in TLT, the 20yr US bond ETF. This is either because no one knows what's going on with interest rates over the long-term i.e. buyers/sellers are equally opposing each other or they think interest rates will stay at current levels for the foreseeable future. The comfounding economic data certaintly points to the latter.
➤ I'm yet to get a trade signal. We are confined to the sidelines until then. I'm hoping the CPI numbers will provide us with a trade opportunity.
➤ Conclusion: 🐆 Trading is patience.
EQUITY TREND:
⦿ Short-term (weeks) - NEUTRAL
⦿ Medium-term (< 6 months) - UP
⦿ Long-term (>6 months) - DOWN
🟩 VIX is continuing to improveVIX DROPS SIGNIFICANTLY 📉
The VIX has experienced a dramatic decrease, which is crucial to observe as we shift from a bearish to a more favorable market. Similar to what occurred in December and at the start of the year, the 28 level serves as a warning signal, particularly after a substantial market movement. This indicates that the market may be overheating, and we should be on the lookout for a potential bear market. Throughout the recent bearish phase, the VIX remained elevated above the 28 level.
SEEKING LOWER LEVELS 🎯
Ideally, we'd like to see the VIX return to lower levels. While occasional upticks are expected, it's important that they remain within the lower historical ranges. Lower volatility benefits the indices, but it's equally important for individual stocks to exhibit reduced volatility as wel
Dec VIX closing is very, very important!Monthly line charts are so simplistic; yet so important to analyze.
If you've read my previous DOW posts you know we are closely following the 2000-2002 bear market cycle vs. any other bear market and this chart further confirms my thoughts.
Notice how the VIX today (2017 to present) vs. the VIX 1994-2000 timeframe is diverging with the S&P. Both are making higher highs and higher lows until something breaks. In the 2000-2002 case we had the dot com bust (Rate of Change in very high risk/internet stocks plummeted) while today we have the Bond bust (Rate of Change within the bond market has plummeted). Towards the end of the VIX/S&P divergence (in the 2000-2002 case) the VIX ended up remaining "in trend" while the S&P lost about 46% over a 2 year period (see below chart). The VIX remaining "in-trend" for such a long period of time was a warning that something was going to break at some point and the indexes eventually lost a fair amount of value over a 2 year period.
In sum...my thoughts:
If we close Dec VIX below the blue dotted; Oct low will hold
If we close Dec VIX above the blue dotted line; Oct low will NOT hold.
Neither Here Nor There, 5 May 2023🖼 Daily Technical Picture 📈
➤ Another day down, you'd start to think it's becoming a trend. It may be the start but as for now I've downgraded the Short-Term equity trend to Neutral - meaning it's trendless, neither here nor there. The reason for the trendless tag is that we have experienced a higher high and lower low in recent days - a mix of opposing trend definitions.
➤ Note the price gaps all over the place as indicated by the blue arrows. Today's price gap in the SPY warns of that "acceleration" top formation I described in yesterday's post.
➤ Interestingly, both my Primary and Secondary strategy gave exit signals and this has been executed. I currently hold no positions. It is reflective of the opposing forces. This was a nice hedge that helped to protect capital and delivered on the "diversifying" benefits of incorporating both strategies.
➤ Still, we suffered a loss on this hunt and we go hungry. The price action is developing into a familiar structure. If it plays out our way, I think we won't go hungry for long.
➤ Conclusion: 🐆 Trading is a battle between feast and famine.
EQUITY TREND:
⦿ Short-term (weeks) - NEUTRAL
⦿ Medium-term (< 6 months) - UP
⦿ Long-term (>6 months) - DOWN
Topping Formations, 4 May 2023🖼 Daily Technical Picture 📈
➤ Equities continued to sell-off but not aggressively. It wasn't the kind of impact we have had on previous interest rate decision days. That being said, futures are down further in Asian trade.
➤ Let's have a look at the last couple of topping formations of the SPY at previous peaks in Dec 2022 and Feb 2023. If we have just witnessed another peak we might be able to gain some insight on how this may play out in the immediate future.
➤ We saw two types of topping formations. Dec 2022 was a double-top with a failed upthrust at the second peak. Feb 2023 was a common topping process where there was a failed re-test of the high.
➤ The current "assumed" peak could be a replay of either scenarios as described. It can also be a third process where price continues to fall without any attempt to re-test the high. The price action signals a "rush for the doors". This is less common. It would be similar to the Aug 2022 peak. What we should expect to see is price gapping lower to reflect an acceleration downward.
➤ I remain long with a small position.
➤ Conclusion: 🐆 Have we peaked? May the 4th be with You.
EQUITY TREND:
⦿ Short-term (weeks) - UP
⦿ Medium-term (< 6 months) - UP
⦿ Long-term (>6 months) - DOWN
$VIX back into Triangle Pattern, $SPX toppishTVC:VIX gaining some momentum on the daily but cannot deny the damage that was done to it last month
#VIX is a tad harder to chart but it does look like it wants to bottom here
Opening AMEX:VIXM put selling strategy = bull
Keeping tight stops @ support levels