About

Ahead of the Curve provides analysis and insight into today's global financial markets. The latest news and views from global stock, bond, commodity, and FOREX markets are discussed. Rajveer Rawlin is a PhD and received his MBA in finance from the Cardiff Metropolitan University, Wales, UK. He is an avid market watcher, having followed capital markets in the US and India since 1993. His research interests include capital markets, banking, investment analysis, and portfolio management, and he has over 20 years of experience in the above areas, covering the US and Indian markets. He has several publications in the above areas. He currently teaches business and management students at CHRIST University. The views expressed here are his own and should not be construed as advice to buy or sell securities.

Featured post

Time Series Analysis with GRETL

This video shows key time-series analyses techniques such as ARIMA, Granger Causality, Co-integration, and VECM performed via GRETL. Key dia...

Wednesday, 26 October 2016

Daily Forex Insight

Here are some insights from the currency strategists at dailyfx. They cover the fundamentals and technicals of key Forex pairs and other key markets along with some of the key economic news of the day. Today's commentary looks at the ever falling Pound:

Tuesday, 25 October 2016

Daily Forex Insight

Here are some insights from the currency strategists at dailyfx. They cover the fundamentals and technicals of key Forex pairs and other key markets along with some of the key economic news of the day. Today's commentary looks at the Dollar, Euro and the Pound:

Monday, 24 October 2016

Daily Forex Insight

Here are some insights from the currency strategists at dailyfx. They cover the fundamentals and technicals of key Forex pairs and other key markets along with some of the key economic news of the day. Today's commentary looks at the dollar and the S & P 500:

Sunday, 23 October 2016

Market Signals for the US stock market S and P 500 Index and Indian Stock Market Nifty Index for the Week beginning October 24

Indicator
Weekly Level / Change
Implication for
S & P 500
Implication for Nifty*
S & P 500
2141, 0.38%
Neutral
Neutral
Nifty
8693, 1.28%
Neutral**
Bullish
China Shanghai Index
3091, 0.89%
Bullish
Bullish
Gold
1268, 0.97%
Bullish
Bullish
WTIC Crude
50.85, 0.20%
Neutral
Neutral
Copper
2.09, -1.04%
Bearish
Bearish
Baltic Dry Index
842, -5.61%
Bearish
Bearish
Euro
1.089, -0.77%
Bearish
Bearish
Dollar/Yen
103.82, -0.32%
Neutral
Neutral
Dow Transports
8027, -0.16%
Neutral
Neutral
High Yield (ETF)
36.84, 0.71%
Bullish
Bullish
US 10 year Bond Yield
1.74%, -3.01%
Bullish
Bullish
Nyse Summation Index
135, -37.85%
Bearish
Neutral
US Vix
13.34, -17.25%
Bullish
Bullish
20 DMA, S and P 500
2149, Below
Bearish
Neutral
50 DMA, S and P 500
2160, Below
Bearish
Neutral
200 DMA, S and P 500
2072, Above
Bullish
Neutral
20 DMA, Nifty
8693, At
Neutral
Neutral
50 DMA, Nifty
8710, Below
Neutral
Bearish
200 DMA, Nifty
8055, Above
Neutral
Bullish
India Vix
13.83, -7.01%
Neutral
Bullish
Dollar/Rupee
66.92, 0.31%
Neutral
Neutral


Overall


S & P 500


Nifty

Bullish Indications
6

8
Bearish Indications
6
4
Outlook
Neutral
Bullish
Observation
The S and P 500 and the Nifty bounced back last week. Indicators are mildly bullish.
Markets are failing at resistance again. Time to tighten those stops.
On the Horizon
Japan – CPI, Australia – CPI, UK – GDP,
Euro zone – German CPI,
US – Durable goods, Consumer confidence, GDP, Personal consumption, Trade balance
*Nifty
India’s Benchmark Stock Market Index
Raw Data
Courtesy Google finance, Stock charts, dailyfx.com
**Neutral
Changes less than 0.5% are considered neutral

s & p 500 rising wedge 1



The S and P 500 and the Nifty rallied last week. Signals are slightly bullish for the upcoming week. Market momentum and breadth have been showing divergences for months now and sentiment indicators are still highly complacent and a big breakdown will likely start soon. It is interesting to see most risk assets suddenly moving together much like in 2008. This is setting us up for some serious downside unless recent resistance gets taken out soon. The market is struggling to get past its 50 DMA and gold recently made a massive move down which is deflationary. Short term we are oversold but any oversold bounces may not last long. The critical levels to watch are 2150 (up) and 2130 (down) on the S & P and 8800 (up) and 8600 (down) on the Nifty. A significant breach of the above levels could trigger the next big move in the above markets. You can check out last week’s report for a comparison. Love your thoughts and feedback.

Thursday, 20 October 2016

Chart of the Week - Balance Sheet of the US Federal Reserve

The chart of the week is courtesy Charles Hugh Smith and shows the current balance sheet of the FED. The current balance sheet show a total asset base exceeding 4.5 Trillion dollars thanks to a series of quantitative easing (QE). This is up from the 1.0 Trillion mark in 2008 when the FED flooded the world with cheap money via its unconventional monetary policy. Wonder how long this continues?
US FED balance sheet

Daily Forex Insight

Here are some insights from the currency strategists at dailyfx. They cover the fundamentals and technicals of key Forex pairs and other key markets along with some of the key economic news of the day. Today's commentary looks at the Euro ahead of the ECB:

Tuesday, 18 October 2016

Daily Forex Insight

Here are some insights from the currency strategists at dailyfx. They cover the fundamentals and technicals of key Forex pairs and other key markets along with some of the key economic news of the day. Today's commentary looks at the Pound:

Monday, 17 October 2016

Daily Forex Insight

Here are some insights from the currency strategists at dailyfx. They cover the fundamentals and technicals of key Forex pairs and other key markets along with some of the key economic news of the day. Today's commentary looks at a possible head and shoulders pattern forming in the S & P 500:

Sunday, 16 October 2016

Daily Forex Insight

Here are some insights from the currency strategists at dailyfx. They cover the fundamentals and technicals of key Forex pairs and other key markets along with some of the key economic news of the day. Today's commentary looks at the dollar ahead of the important ECB meeting and Chinese GDP:

Saturday, 15 October 2016

Market Signals for the US stock market S and P 500 Index and Indian Stock Market Nifty Index for the Week beginning October 17

Indicator
Weekly Level / Change
Implication for
S & P 500
Implication for Nifty*
S & P 500
2133, -0.96%
Bearish
Bearish
Nifty
8583, -1.31%
Neutral**
Bearish
China Shanghai Index
3064, 1.97%
Bullish
Bullish
Gold
1256, 0.29%
Neutral
Neutral
WTIC Crude
50.75, 1.89%
Bullish
Bullish
Copper
2.11, -2.45%
Bearish
Bearish
Baltic Dry Index
892, -3.15%
Bearish
Bearish
Euro
1.097, -2.06%
Bearish
Bearish
Dollar/Yen
104.16, 1.21%
Bullish
Bullish
Dow Transports
8039, -0.22%
Neutral
Neutral
High Yield (ETF)
36.58, -0.27%
Neutral
Neutral
US 10 year Bond Yield
1.79%, 3.34%
Bearish
Bearish
Nyse Summation Index
217, -50.36%
Bearish
Neutral
US Vix
16.12, 19.58%
Bearish
Bearish
20 DMA, S and P 500
2154, Below
Bearish
Neutral
50 DMA, S and P 500
2165, Below
Bearish
Neutral
200 DMA, S and P 500
2069, Above
Bullish
Neutral
20 DMA, Nifty
8724, Below
Neutral
Bearish
50 DMA, Nifty
8706, Below
Neutral
Bearish
200 DMA, Nifty
8035, Above
Neutral
Bullish
India Vix
14.89, 2.78%
Neutral
Bearish
Dollar/Rupee
66.71, 0.15%
Neutral
Neutral


Overall


S & P 500


Nifty

Bullish Indications
4

4
Bearish Indications
9
10
Outlook
Bearish
Bearish
Observation
The S and P 500 and the Nifty fell last week. Indicators are bearish.
Markets are failing at resistance again. Time to tighten those stops.
On the Horizon
China – GDP, Australia – Employment data, New Zealand – CPI, UK – CPI,
Euro zone – ECB rate decision,
Canada – CPI, Rate decision, U.S – CPI, Presidential race debate
*Nifty
India’s Benchmark Stock Market Index
Raw Data
Courtesy Google finance, Stock charts, dailyfx.com
**Neutral
Changes less than 0.5% are considered neutral

stock market rising wedge



The S and P 500 and the Nifty fell last week. Signals are bearish for the upcoming week. Market momentum and breadth have been showing divergences for months now and sentiment indicators are still highly complacent and a big breakdown will likely start soon. It is interesting to see most risk assets suddenly moving together much like in 2008. This is setting us up for some serious downside unless recent resistance gets taken out soon. The market is struggling to get past its 50 DMA and gold just made a massive move down which is deflationary. Short term we are oversold but any oversold bounces may not last long. The critical levels to watch are 2140 (up) and 2120 (down) on the S & P and 8700 (up) and 8500 (down) on the Nifty. A significant breach of the above levels could trigger the next big move in the above markets. You can check out last week’s report for a comparison. Love your thoughts and feedback.

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My Favorite Books

  • The Intelligent Investor
  • Liars Poker
  • One up on Wall Street
  • Beating the Street
  • Remniscience of a stock operator

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My Asset Allocation Strategy (Indian Market)

Cash - 40%
Bonds - 20%
Fixed deposit - 20%
Gold - 5%
Stocks - 10% ( Majority of this in dividend funds)
Other Asset Classes - 5%

My belief is that stocks are relatively overvalued compared to bonds and attractive buying opportunities can come along after 1-2 years. In a deflationary scenario no asset class does well other than U.S bonds, the U.S dollar and the Japanese yen, so better to be safe than sorry with high quality government bonds and fixed deposits. Cash is the king always. Of course this varies with the person's age.