SOL / USD ConsolidationNeutral consolidation for a week heading into major economic data. Any sort of risk-on response from the overall market could lead to significant upside. However a breakdown could flush out a lot of bulls in quick fashion.
Upwards price targets of: 151, 158, 163, and 184+
Downwards price targets: 134, 110, 104
Riskon-riskoff
commodities high conviction entry in FebLooking back, commodities had a high conviction in february based on a longterm trend. Combining macd and BB break out.
Markets have either risk-on sentiment or defensive. During risk-on phase people want to put money to work, there is too much money. During risk-off or defensive, people want money and safety. Assets become too expensive. Bitcoin rallies during risk-on phases. Oil or gold can be either risk-on and risk-off . Markets are fascinating.
Faang can be a risk-on and risk-off, till everything becomes too expensive to have.
Markets leave clues. and they move on cycles.
It makes sense why commodities are risk-off . Small caps usually are risk-on (when economy does well, there are no global conflicts; ie the future is BRIGHT).
More concerns move the weight to risk-off , ie markets are a weighing machine longterm.
People tend to be stuck in one mood or another, and it's tough to adjust? markets can change gears quickly.
GBPJPY D1 - Long SignalGBPJPY is flirting between this 185 support price and 188 region, a solid 300 point range, we are hopeful to see a pullback and another opportunity to enter long from this 185 psychological price zone. From here we can look to targets 1R, 3R, 6R respectively.
A lucrative setup, with lots of mileage upside, nothing to say we can't target 190.00.
just an observation. $SPY vs $IEF / $HYGAppears we are running out of risk appetite. Put also looks like we have built a very nice base for a significant move higher. Hopefully, that's a risk on move, not a risk-off move.
Personally, I believe we have already corrected in each individual sector, it just didn't happen all at once like it normally does.
According to this, risk aversion and sentiment have been flat in a range for the past few months according to IEF/HYG.
DXY predictions for 2023Now that a lot of sell side liquidity targets have been met on this week, I'd like to see it comeback up a bit to rebalance the weekly FVG then drop lower into the Monthly FVG cause it would be healthy for the next expansion to new highs on this cycle, final target 120 with bumps on the roads at the lvl I drawn my pink arrow
Tesla vs Pharma: Selling Safety to Take on RiskRisk on or risk off? Those kind of sentiment changes are one of the most important things for traders in the stock market. Today gave an example of how quickly the herd can sometimes pivot.
Tesla, a classic “risk on” name recently struggled near 52-week lows, while “safe-haven” Eli Lilly pushed to new record highs. But Thursday’s rally on softer inflation data seems to have changed all of that and drawn investors back to riskier growth stocks.
This process of selling safety and moving back to risk seems especially visible on the intraday chart below, which compares price action minute by minute. Notice how LLY slid early (despite a lack of news) as TSLA muscled higher. Next came an inversely correlated rebound in favor of LLY, followed by more downside in the drug stock and more upside in the electric-car maker.
Most traders know this process of risk on and risk off. But seldom does it appear so clearly. It’s a good lesson on the importance of sentiment in the market.
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DXY D1 - Bullish Break ExpectedDXY D1
With the above being said... 'key global topics' and other comments, we have to understand the market correlation and timeframes... We can take yesterdays D1 close with a pinch of salt, due to inconsistent volume, but lets see where we close after today (hoping support holds).
US based FX and commodities look like they want to be correcting somewhat. Which might see DXY dip below support. US stock space is slower paced and a little delayed. So correlation isn't going to be 100% inverted.
RISK ON vs RISK OFF ‼️Today we will talk about RISK ON vs RISK OFF Market Sentiment as i use this confluence to enter trades.
✅ Risk ON vs Risk OFF market sentiment reflects all the market activity its not a market sentiment for crypto or forex or stock market its for all the financial markets, when i use this confluence i try to understand what are institutional/retail investors are doing the are buying risk on assets or they are buying risk on assets.
✅ Usually investors buy risk on assets when they are looking for risk meaning they want higher yield on their investment they want to MULTIPLY money(key word) this is happening during times of financial prosperity, no wars, no lockdowns, no problems around the world everyone are doing great and making money on viceversa risk off is when investors tend to buy financil assets that PROTECT (key word) their capital they dont want a high yield they want just to save their money and protect during time of financial stress, wars, lockdowns when everything is not clear and safe.
RISK ON vs RISK OFF ‼️Risk-on risk-off is an investment setting in which price behavior responds to and is driven by changes in investor risk tolerance. Risk-on risk-off refers to changes in investment activity in response to global economic patterns.
During periods when risk is perceived as low, the risk-on risk-off theory states that investors tend to engage in higher-risk investments. When risk is perceived to be high, investors have the tendency to gravitate toward lower-risk investments.
RISK ON - is when investor are looking to multiply their money, they are looking for RISK. MORE RISK - MORE MONEY
RISK OFF - is when investors are looking to keep/save their money, they are looking to protect more than to RISK. MORE PROTECTION - LESS MONEY
What on Earth does Risk-On / Risk-Off Mean?If you have been hearing people say things like "The market is in risk-on mode today" and you have no idea what the hell they are on about, then read this.
TLDR: Risk-On means that in general, the winds are fair for the market. Market participants feel that there is no real bad news around, economies are running along quite nicely, thank you. Risk-Off means there is either some nervousness or even a panic.
When looking at the equity market's Risk-On / Risk-Off status, amazingly, people look at the major currencies for the clue. This may not seem intuitive, but here's why:
There are 8 major currencies. Some of them are "commodity currencies". These are CAD (Oil), AUD (minerals mining) and NZD (foodstuffs). When the world economy is rockin', these states to sell and their tax receipts go up, and the rest of the world needs to own their currency to buy their goods. So, their currencies appreciate. Also lumped in with them (certainly for me) is GBP, as the United Kingdom sells services to the world like accountancy, and these services are in more demand when the world is in good shape.
So, that gives 4 major Risk-On currencies. There are also 4 Risk-Off currencies. USD, JPY, CHF and (more and more) EUR.
These 4 are seen as "reserve" currencies, "safe havens" in a storm, especially USD. When the smelly stuff hits the fan, nervous people sell their CADs and AUDs etc and run for safety. All the safe currencies rally and the commodity currencies sag. Take a look at March 2020, Pandemic hits:
Equities traders running around with their pants on the heads, and the "reserve" currencies rally.
The indicator used in this chart is freely available in my profile. It might be used to indicate the overbought or oversold nature of the two sets of currencies, to help index and equities traders.
S&P 500 / SPY Breaks Down to Support, Bounce or Larger Crash?The S&P 500 has broken down to trendline support after a failed breakout at 4240. The SPY index formed a high at 4238 and tried to break it at 4255, but failed to hold above that alltimehigh. It is now testing trendline support, and the question is whether price will bounce here at support or will support fail to hold and thus lead to a much larger correction.
Part of the reason that I'm looking at the S&P500 even though I mostly focus on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is that the correlation between the two has recently been quite high, and they have both been retracing in the past few days, so a recovery in the S&P500 could also bode well for a recovery in Bitcoin and the wider cryptoassets.
The key level to watch is 4175. If this level holds, then we remain above the trendline and can expect another leg up. If we close below 4175, then be prepared for some volatility upon trendline break as we might have formed a double top, which will likely also trickle over to Bitcoin and other risk-on assets as well. Of course, it's possible that what we are seeing is similar to what we saw back in March, when price failed to hold a higher high, broke down a bit, and then rallied higher.
If price does break down, then the 200 day moving average at 3900 should serve as ultimate support, though I'd think that the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve would have stepped in before that happens.
NASDAQ100 (H8) Price this previous week has made a nice correction that was overdue.. Price reached the bottom of the ascending channel, & rejected off structure support (Green zone). Unless that region is broken, I will remain bullish on this pair & will be looking for price to move towards the top of the channel once again.
US30 (H1) Price today has rejected off strong resistance at the top (blue zone), where a lot of bearish pressure occurred to break price below support structure. Price is now pulling back to the previous support where I will be looking for a new lower high / retest of broken support as new resistance to be made. Looking left, you can see how powerful moves occurred off this level in the past, & may do the same again now.
USDJPY Potential CTL RetestI’ll be watching UJ along with US Equities & Gold to gauge whether or not this setup is truly risk off.
Ultimately, it is likely to bounce before a larger countertrend move to the downside. If no immediate rejection from the zone identified takes place, shorts could get rekt.
Whether up or down, a setup should materialize. Short term bullish, medium term bearish is what I’m thinking.
Side note:
We have Cheeto Bandito in the Whitehouse with dusty hand puppet Jerome Powell going absolute full send hyperinflation (QE )straight into equity futures.
Short USD/JPY via risk=> Here we are isolating the Yen once more and expecting a worsening outlook of US assets to continue which will raise the prospect of asset repatriation out of the US.
Whilst risk may be rebounding temporarily as the FED attempts a dovish shift, and US-China trade tensions are likely to continue de-escalating, USDJPY will still like remain on offer amid broader USD weakness.
Here we also expect the rebound in risk sentiment to be temporary rather than fixed, meaning JPY will see some inflows. If Japanese banks tighten conditions further we will have a greater incentive for real money to reduce their exposure in the US.
The only risk here is if risk on sentiment stays supported and the US macro outlook improves.
For those interested in more details on the "flash crash" please see our previous USDJPY weekly chart!
Good luck and all the best for those invested in the US.
Practical Exercise - Market Risk EnvironmentGenerally, the market will either be in a risk-on or a risk-off environment.
During uncertain times, the market is considered to be in a risk-off mode where investors prefer to park their money on lower risk investments.
During recovery or bullish times, the market is considered to be in a risk-on mode where investors are willing to park their money on higher risk investments.
Practical Exercise
1) Using the market risk indicator, identify what is the current market risk environment.
2) List down what are the financial instruments to take note, and the likely impact on them.
3) Post your exercise on the comment section in the thread.
RANGE BOUND - USDJPY: TRADING STRATEGY - PART 2 Trading for this week:
1. My plan for next week focuses on point "3." from the previous post - I am waiting for risk-on or risk-off assets to confirm investor conviction by using USDJPY as a barometer for net risk sentiment. Despite the market uncertainty and high volatility UJ last week traded within a 200pip range for the between 101.3-103.3. Therefore, I consider a 60pip break of either level to confirm the conviction to a sentiment e.g. 60pips higher is risk-on (Yen selling), 60pips Lower is risk-off (Yen buying).
So of the two possibilities for this week (based on the previous post) Most likely i think is:
1) Global risk continues its recovery as I ask myself what possible risks/ events are there that could tip risk-off sentiment? My answer is none. However, there are several arguments for a risk-on bias e.g. 1) Central bank easing continues to offer risk higher e.g. a dovish RBA (5th) and BOE meeting (14th) price JPY lower and UJ higher
2) Implied vol continues dropping below realised vol, aiding bullish sentiment.
3) Brexit uncertainty continues its de-risking/ pricing as its unlikelihood increases. Further, I think Equities have another week of rallying to price before earnings uncertainty selling will become a factor.
Trading Strategy:
If Yen carries on Ranging I advise buying UJ at lows of the range e.g. between 101.3-101.9 - or you could buy at any price in the range as I have a target of 106 in the near-term and 110+ in the next 4+wks.
Alternatively, I advise placing BUY STOP orders at 103.9-104.2 (level that confirms a risk-on breakout) as there will be 80% of UJ short Stop-Losses at this level, so we will likely see a short squeeze take us 200pips up instantly once UJ trades to at or about 104.
I like owning UJ structurally in the medium term as even if UJ falls lower in the near term which is unlikely (what risk is likely to drive it lower?) as UJ trading at or below 101 (and the further it falls) the more likely the BOJ will be to launch emergency FX intervention and/or near term lower UJ increases odds of an aggressive BOJ cut at its July 28th meeting - which will make UJ trade 500pips+ higher, dependent on the measures/ aggressiveness taken.
For some background/ support for the UJ higher trade
1. based on BOJ easing, recently JPY retail sales disappointed at -1.9% vs -1.6%, as did inflation which was seen at -0.4% nationally for CPI and Core and -0.5% for the same in Tokyo + BOJ's own Core measure continued its strong MoM downtrend at 0.8% (from 0.9% last) - consistently unresponsive inflation is the single biggest driver for BOJ easing/ cutting policy, and the poor inflation has been problematic since the last cut in January 2016 so this gives further weight to another cut, especially since it was 6+ months ago.
- Also BOJ Kuroda and JPY Govt Aso and Abe had several emergency meetings last week as a result of the Brexit vote/ JPY appreciation, in which they discussed FX levels, although taking no action, such rhetoric and actions imply and give likelihood that the BOJ will take substantial action in July.
- Technically, UJ has been oversold for several weeks, even if UJ higher isnt structurally long, we should at least be able to realise a 600-800pip recovery rally before moving lower again.
Volatility
- USDJPY Realised Volatility is trading higher than implied (bullish signal) with 2wk and 1mth at 19.64% & 15.6% vs implied's trading at 11.25% & 13.43% + there are some large notional OTM call strikes at 104.2 and 105, indicating the market may have a bullish bias. Also, the UJ 1wk/1m 25 Delta Risk Reversals Trade at apprx -1.6%, and falling, indicating the market is becoming more bullish by 1) being positioned long in the spot market but buying less downside option coverage and/or 2) Speculative Demand for UJ downside puts is falling.
*Read my previous post "RANGE BOUND - USDJPY: IS THIS GLOBAL RISK RECOVERY REAL? PART 1" for analysis of last week and mo
RANGE BOUND - USDJPY: IS THIS GLOBAL RISK RECOVERY REAL? PART 1Expectations vs Reality:
1. Following the referendum decision on Friday, as expected GBP sold off 10%+, the FTSE plummeted in a similar fashion and global risk assets sold off across the board, but FTSE/ Risk recovered a significant amount of those losses into Fridays close and for the rest of the next week.. So what happened to BREXIT?
- Such behaviour would lead you to believe that the Brexit decision was all just a bad dream, with much of the price action volatility confined to Friday alone - rather where I had expected the decision on Friday to start a cascade of risk-on asset selling, as the brexit backdrop provides the perfect impetus to trigger the risk-off fear for the wider global risks e.g. US Election, Global growth, China Debt - and, ofc, the Brexit Macro economic spill-over itself.
Why did we witness this Risk Recovery Paradox?
1. I think the main reason that risk managed to avoid carrying its bid bias into this week from Friday was PM David Cameron's decision early on Friday/ Monday to 1) Resign in October and 2) Refuse to sign the Article 50 which formally/ actually starts the Brexit Negotiations - the net effect is that brexit risks have been shifted into 2017 (or never) rather than present, thus providing investor confidence to buy risk at its Friday discount (why not) and take bets on a Brexit no show (illustrated by a buoyed GBP which imo should have fallen more).
- What this combination of events now means is that Brexit now trades as a function of Political possibility rather than as a certainty because 1) By resigning in Oct and refusing to start the negotiations now, it means that Brexit itself is put on hold until at least October. Further, the fact that the above is the case, the whole "Brexit" likelihood is brought into question in itself as 1) How likely is the new PM in Oct going to sign the article 50 as soon as they get into office? I think VERY unlikely, its career suicide to start such a volatile process immediately when in office so that means the Brexit Negotiations are pushed further out and likely into 2017 (66.66% chance it occurs in 2017 now from odds-checker). 2) Will Brexit go ahead at all? I think Brexit absolutely is unlikely, as the new PM wont want the economic and political uncertainty that will follow - especially as the vote didnt happen under their leadership - imo its more likely that the new PM will forgo the blame onto Previous PM Cameron and/ or call for a re-referendum or scrap the idea completely and instead offer a solution to solve the "leave" voters problems e.g. Bid to fix EU immigration.
2. Worldwide Central Banks supportive/ Dovish statements - All Major CB have offered their support if their economy calls for it as a result of Brexit - namely the front-end of the FOMC's rate hike curve was severely flattened (Dec or 2017 hike now likely) and the BOE Gov Carney put 250bn in QE and 25bps of Int rate cuts on the cards - the net effect of these actions has been to smooth investor fear, and allow risk to rally, as low rates and QE has no doubt been the biggest driver for stocks in the last 8 years - the FTSE's recovery was/ is 100% underpinned by the BOE stance imo.
3. And the most interesting possibility is that - Investors don't believe in this risk-rally, instead it is just a micro unfolding that will eventually unravel, forcing risk to sell-off in the near future. And by looking at the stability of Gold, Bonds and Yen, this argument does carry alot of weight and is something ive been watching all week. All risk-off assets have traded flat/ higher, despite risk rallying - when risk-on and risk-off assets FAIL to maintain their negative correlation (as they are failing to do now, and are actually slightly positively correlated as they both rise) it usually means the rally is being undermined by a longer-term macro view - since liquidity is a 0 sum game in the long run, all assets cant grow at the same time, either risk must sell-off or
BREXIT & GEO-POLITICAL AFTERMATH: SHORT GBPUSD - HOW TO TRADEGBPUSD
- At the end of last week GU traded to lows of 1.32 on the brexit vote, before retracing substantially to 1.39 by the end of the day.
- GU retraced 600-700pips after the brexit event IMO solely as investors took profit from their shorts (which causes buying) - thus there was no structural reason for GU recovering e.g. it was that 1.32 had mispriced GU too low for the brexit vote.
On the back of this I expect the following for GU this week:
1. I have a 8/10 short conviction on GU and ultimately believe it will trade <1.30 by weeks end for the following reasons: -
- As on friday, the bearish movements we saw on GBP were 90% fast money trades and NOT real/ slow money positioning (due to different regulations and trading strategies) therefore, this week, slow/ real money will now be able to get behind the short sterling move thus providing momentum for GBP to move lower and sub 1.30.
*Fast money is hedge funds and slow money is asset managers*
- David Cameron UK PM also resigned following the result, thus putting further downside expectations on GBP in the near-medium term particularly as it as all come at once.
- Also the BOE plans to increase its QE by 66% 350bn to 600bn to support markets but this printing increasing GBP money supply affect puts downward pressure on the GBPUSD.
- Further, members of the European parliament have asked and put pressure on the UK to make their exit faster than previously expected, this puts further uncertainty around the brexit and increases the negative impact it may have on the economy and therefore the GBP speculation is made further bearish.
- As pictured I had expected the 1.356-1.382 range that had held at the end of last week to hold for the next 24hrs and for GU to trade relatively flat (24hrs for people to make decisions on positioning) however it looks like corporations and other entities have derisked their GBP exposure over the weekend hence we opened 300pips lower at 1.342.
- With this range broken we now trade in no mans land, thus with all the negative biases my target from now is for GU to drift towards the lows set from last week for now - If the market changes significantly within the next few hours (e.g. trades back into range) i will update this view.
- My target for GBP is <1.30 with a terminal value of 1.25 within the quarter - though i consider that the supportive (no hike) policy of the FOMC will ease GBPUSD losses somewhat. This in mind shorts at these levels are fair 1.34. Alternatively, I also encourage my favourite tactic of shorting/ fading any GBP rallies to 1.38/39 however the chance of GU realising such upside imo is only 50%, with bid trading dominating
Volatility update:
Current GU ATM 50 delta vols trade at 25%, which is surprisingly 2x higher than it was last week (the risk and volatility may not be over).
1wk GU ATM 50 delta vols trade at 30%, significantly higher than last week also.
However 1ms trade 20.49% and are significantly lower than they were last week (illustrating the event risk that has elapsed).
Current GU Option demand is skewed significantly to the downside, with Puts 27.5% vs calls 22.5% thus puts are in demand by about 20% more than calls - this supports current short views (RR -5).
1wk GU demand is also skewed in favour of downside coverage, with puts at 33% vs calls 28%, (RR -5%) with puts being demanded apprx 3% more than calls - supporting the near terms view of short GU
USDJPY as a measure of market risk.
I still suggest using UJ as a measure of GBPUSD market risk - the volatility seemingly isnt over, and with near term uncertainty high, it is prudent to track UJ and use breaks of its 101.2-103.2 range as signals of net risk on or risk-off commitment .e.g. UJ higher risk on (jpy selling), UJ lower risk off (jp buying).
The risk off move for GU imo is lower in this environment, and the risk-on move is higher. Thus, IMO UJ and GU are sync'd, and the two should be used as a tool.