Market Structure Insights
July 3, 2024
There’s a moat between haves and have-nots in the stock market. The S&P 500 Equal Weight Index that treats the 500 components the same is up 0.5% through yesterday versus Dec 31, 2021. Cumulative inflation over that time is 13%. So the equality index is...
June 26, 2024
Why are the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones Industrial Average diverging wildly? It might resolve in the next few days. But it’s not small. Back up to June 20 and performance was aligned. At one point Monday, five-day divergence was more than 4%. The DJIA...
June 5, 2024
Somebody pulled a pin and dropped a grenade in the stock market and nobody noticed. Let me explain: Now, there were explanations. Index options on the SPX expired at month-end as they do every last trading day of the month, and MSCI indices rebalanced. But...
May 29, 2024
Size matters. Does trade-size matter? The average trade in S&P 500 stocks is 87 shares this week (five-day average). Think about that. Quotes are in 100-share increments but the trades average less than the quote. It can fluctuate around month-ends, index-rebalances, options-expirations. NVDA’s average is...
May 22, 2024
It’s tough being a market strategist. Mike Wilson, chief equity strategist for Morgan Stanley, has thrown his bear towel on the laundry pile and lifted his year-end target for the S&P 500 to 5,400 from 4,500. He’ll be braining himself with a brick if the...
May 1, 2024
The cost of fast food has exploded. No, I’m not doing field research. While I’ve got nothing against fast food, it’s generally incompatible with getting in boat shape (ever harder as I get older), riding bikes, skiing, etc. And I’d rather take my empty calories...