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...

Monday, 28 February 2022

Market Signals for the US stock market S and P 500 Index and Indian Stock Market Nifty Index for the Week beginning February 28

 

Indicator

Weekly Level / Change

Implication for

S & P 500

Implication for Nifty*

S & P 500

4385, 0.82%

Bullish

Bullish

Nifty

16658, -3.58%

Neutral **

Bearish

China Shanghai Index

3451, -1.13%

Bearish

Bearish

Gold

1891, -0.91%

Bearish

Bearish

WTIC Crude

91.93, 0.34%

Neutral

Neutral

Copper

4.48, -0.95%

Bearish

Bearish

Baltic Dry Index

2076, 1.52%

Bullish

Bullish

Euro

1.1268, -0.47%

Neutral

Neutral

Dollar/Yen

115.54, 0.47%

Neutral

Neutral

Dow Transports

15207, 1.58%

Bullish

Bullish

Corporate Bonds (ETF)

123.48, -0.16%

Neutral

Neutral

High Yield Bonds (ETF)

104.23, 0.82%

Bullish

Bullish

US 10-year Bond Yield

1.97%, 2.24%

Bearish

Bearish

NYSE Summation Index

-724, -19.1%

Bearish

Neutral

US Vix

27.59, -0.58%

Bullish

Bullish

Skew

133

Neutral

Neutral

20 DMA, S & P 500

4443, Below

Bearish

Neutral

50 DMA, S & P 500

4559, Below

Bearish

Neutral

200 DMA, S & P 500

4461, Below

Bearish

Neutral

20 DMA, Nifty

17253, Below

Neutral

Bearish

50 DMA, Nifty

17413, Below

Neutral

Bearish

200 DMA, Nifty

16888, Below

Neutral

Bearish

S & P 500 P/E

25.00

Bearish

Neutral

Nifty P/E

21.42

Neutral

Bearish

India Vix

26.74, 20.64%

Neutral

Bearish

Dollar/Rupee

75.06, 0.52%

Neutral

Bearish

 

 

Overall

 

 

S & P 500

 

 

Nifty

 

Bullish Indications

5

5

Bearish Indications

9

11

Outlook

Bearish

Bearish

Observation

The S and P rallied and the Nifty fell last week. Indicators are bearish for the week.

The markets have begun a correction. Watch those stops.

On the Horizon

US - Employment data, Eurozone – CPI, German Employment data

*Nifty

India’s Benchmark Stock Market Index

Raw Data

Courtesy Stock charts, investing.com, multpl.com, NSE

**Neutral

Changes less than 0.5% are considered neutral

 


The S and P rallied and the Nifty fell last week. Indicators are bearish for the week. Deflation is in the air despite the recent inflationary spike. Feels like a 2000 style recession trade has begun. The recent rebound has run into resistance. (My views don’t matter, kindly pay attention to the levels). The S&P 500 closed below the 200 DMA recently, after spending a very long time above it. This spells trouble ahead and opens up significant downside ahead, which should at least test the recent lows near 4215 on the S &P, the first retest held but the jury is still out on whether further retests will hold. Markets have been making new highs amid loads of divergences and risky assets are breaking to the downside. 

Earnings revisions have been average, but any significant upward revisions appear unlikely. Typical late-cycle FED put stuff has led to a taper tantrum following the recent taper announcement from the FED and a likely topTail risk has skyrocketed with the Skew/Vix ratio recently touching double digits. The market is about to begin an epic correction. Deflationary busts often begin after inflationary scares (the market is calling the Fed’s bluff) and long bonds are telegraphing just that. 

While tail risk has abated a bit, The transports, the Dollar, market breadth, corporate bonds, and high yield bonds, are still flashing major warning signs. The epic correction signal is alive and well with retail, hedge funds, and speculators all in, despite the recent melt-up, suggesting a major top may be in. The moment of reckoning is very near.  Technicals are tracking fundamentals and have turned bearish. The market is yet to price in one of the worst earnings decline periods in stock market history. With extremely high valuations, a crash is on the menu. Extremely low volatility suggests complacency and downside ahead.

We rallied 46% right after the great depressions (the 1930s) first collapse and we have rallied over 120% in our most recent rally of the lows in the last 2-year period. After extreme euphoria for the indices, a highly probable selloff to the 4300 area is emerging on the S and P, and 15000 should arrive on the Nifty in the next few months. The FED is repeating the Japan experiment and the 3 lost decades in Japan (1989-2019) are set to repeat across the globe. SPX 1800 and lower in a year and we stay there till 2030, scary? The markets are very close to an epic meltdown and the SPX is headed way lower.

The markets are overvalued, overbought and out of touch with economic realities. Long term, the epic meltdown is set to continue resulting in a 5 year plus bear market with lot lower levels that may be as low as 800 on the S and P. QE forever from the FED is about to trigger the deflationary collapse of the century as we make a major top in global equity markets. The market is looking like the short of a lifetime with topping action in the transports, other global indices, and commodities. High valuations continue.

The recent global virus epidemic (black swan) has dented global GDP significantly and will usher in a depression much faster than most think. The trend is about to change from bullish to bearish and the markets are about to get smashed by a strong dollar. Looking for significant underperformance in the Nifty going forward on rapidly deteriorating macros. A 5-year deflationary wave has started in key asset classes like the Euro, stocks, and commodities amidst several bearish divergences and overstretched valuations.

We are entering a multi-year great depression. The markets are still trading well over 3 standard deviations above their long-term averages from which corrections usually result. Tail risk has been very high of late, as interest rates are about to plunge yet again reflecting a major recession. The critical levels to watch for the week are 4400 (up) and 4370 (down) on the S & P 500 and 16750 (up) and 16600 (down) on the Nifty. A significant breach of the above levels could trigger the next big move in the above markets.  High beta / P/E is getting torched as expected. Gold is increasingly looking like the asset class to own in the upcoming decade. You can check out last week’s report for a comparison. Love your thoughts and feedback.

 

 

Tuesday, 22 February 2022

Trader Tools - LWTD Indicator

 I am a big fan of Mr. Vijay Bhambwani renowned trader and investor, who I have followed for over 12 years. regular viewers of his content would be familiar with tools such as statistical beta and Impetus which are very useful tools in the hand of traders. Here is his latest brainchild the LWTD indicator:

Monday, 21 February 2022

Market Signals for the US stock market S and P 500 Index and Indian Stock Market Nifty Index for the Week beginning February 21

 

Indicator

Weekly Level / Change

Implication for

S & P 500

Implication for Nifty*

S & P 500

4349, -1.58%

Bearish

Bearish

Nifty

17276, -0.57%

Neutral **

Bearish

China Shanghai Index

3491, 0.80%

Bullish

Bullish

Gold

1901, 3.19%

Bullish

Bullish

WTIC Crude

91.80, -1.40%

Bearish

Bearish

Copper

4.52, 0.96%

Bullish

Bullish

Baltic Dry Index

1964, -0.66%

Bearish

Bearish

Euro

1.1323, -0.23%

Neutral

Neutral

Dollar/Yen

115.00, -0.36%

Neutral

Neutral

Dow Transports

14971, -0.19%

Neutral

Neutral

Corporate Bonds (ETF)

123.68, -0.93%

Bearish

Bearish

High Yield Bonds (ETF)

103.38, 0.24%

Neutral

Neutral

US 10-year Bond Yield

1.93%, 0.46%

Neutral

Neutral

NYSE Summation Index

-609, -5.9%

Bearish

Neutral

US Vix

27.75, 1.43%

Bearish

Bearish

Skew

128

Neutral

Neutral

20 DMA, S & P 500

4455, Below

Bearish

Neutral

50 DMA, S & P 500

4588, Below

Bearish

Neutral

200 DMA, S & P 500

4458, Below

Bearish

Neutral

20 DMA, Nifty

17353, Below

Neutral

Bearish

50 DMA, Nifty

17461, Below

Neutral

Bearish

200 DMA, Nifty

16835, Above

Neutral

Bullish

S & P 500 P/E

24.80

Bearish

Neutral

Nifty P/E

22.21

Neutral

Bearish

India Vix

22.17, 18.66%

Neutral

Bearish

Dollar/Rupee

74.68, -0.84%

Neutral

Bullish

 

 

Overall

 

 

S & P 500

 

 

Nifty

 

Bullish Indications

3

5

Bearish Indications

10

10

Outlook

Bearish

Bearish

Observation

The S and P and the Nifty fell last week. Indicators are bearish for the week.

The markets have begun a correction. Watch those stops.

On the Horizon

US - GDP, Eurozone –CPI, German GDP, China – PBOC rate decision

*Nifty

India’s Benchmark Stock Market Index

Raw Data

Courtesy Stock charts, investing.com, multpl.com, NSE

**Neutral

Changes less than 0.5% are considered neutral

 


The S and P and the Nifty fell last week. Indicators are bearish for the week. Deflation is in the air despite the recent inflationary spike. Feels like a 2000 style recession trade has begun. The recent rebound has run into resistance. (My views don’t matter, kindly pay attention to the levels). The S&P 500 closed below the 200 DMA for 6 consecutive sessions, after spending a very long time above it. This spells trouble ahead and opens up significant downside ahead, which should at least test the recent lows near 4215 on the S &P. Markets have been making new highs amid loads of divergences and risky assets are breaking to the downside. Earnings revisions have been average, but any significant upward revisions appear unlikely. Typical late-cycle FED put stuff has led to a taper tantrum following the recent taper announcement from the FED and a likely topTail risk has skyrocketed with the Skew/Vix ratio recently touching double digits. The market is about to begin an epic correction. Deflationary busts often begin after inflationary scares (the market is calling the Fed’s bluff) and long bonds are telegraphing just that. 

The transports, the Dollar, market breadth, corporate bonds, and high yield bonds, are still flashing major warning signs. The epic correction signal is alive and well with retail, hedge funds, and speculators all in, despite the recent melt-up, suggesting a major top may be in. The moment of reckoning is very near.  Technicals are tracking fundamentals and have turned bearish. The market is yet to price in one of the worst earnings decline periods in stock market history. With extremely high valuations, a crash is on the menu. Extremely low volatility suggests complacency and downside ahead.

We rallied 46% right after the great depressions (1930’s) first collapse and we have rallied over 120% in our most recent rally of the lows in the last 2-year period. After extreme euphoria for the indices, a highly probable selloff to the 4300 area is emerging on the S and P, and 15000 should arrive on the Nifty in the next few months. The FED is repeating the Japan experiment and the 3 lost decades in Japan (1989-2019) are set to repeat across the globe. SPX 1800 and lower in a year and we stay there till 2030, scary? The markets are very close to an epic meltdown and the SPX is headed way lower.

The markets are overvalued, overbought and out of touch with economic realities. Long term, the epic meltdown is set to continue resulting in a 5 year plus bear market with lot lower levels that may be as low as 800 on the S and P. QE forever from the FED is about to trigger the deflationary collapse of the century as we make a major top in global equity markets. The market is looking like the short of a lifetime with topping action in the transports, other global indices, and commodities. High valuations continue.

The recent global virus epidemic (black swan) has dented global GDP significantly and will usher in a depression much faster than most think. The trend is about to change from bullish to bearish and the markets are about to get smashed by a strong dollar. Looking for significant underperformance in the Nifty going forward on rapidly deteriorating macros. A 5-year deflationary wave has started in key asset classes like the Euro, stocks, and commodities amidst several bearish divergences and overstretched valuations.

We are entering a multi-year great depression. The markets are still trading well over 3 standard deviations above their long-term averages from which corrections usually result. Tail risk has been very high of late, as interest rates are about to plunge yet again reflecting a major recession. The critical levels to watch for the week are 4360 (up) and 4335 (down) on the S & P 500 and 17350 (up) and 17200 (down) on the Nifty. A significant breach of the above levels could trigger the next big move in the above markets.  High beta / P/E is getting torched as expected. Gold is increasingly looking like the asset class to own in the upcoming decade. You can check out last week’s report for a comparison. Love your thoughts and feedback.

 

 

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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.