$IWM: 180 Noteably StrongWe show cased an hourly trade here that took longer than expected to play out. This is a post showcasing the potential for IWM to keep moving but still looking for the long positions to continue to be a hold. I believe rate expectations might give bulls a bit of something to chew on. Growth sectors like KRE, ARKK and XRT are looking good as well...
IWM trade ideas
SHORT RUT Russell 2000 small capsFolks are getting all hot under the collar and bulled up on stonks after recent mindless rally on stupidity of lower rates in early 2024 and lower inflation.
Folks I hate to break it to you but we are in the early innings of a generational bull market for inflation and yields. Buying stonks at these egregious valuations is a recipe for disaster.
I added to long term shorts on RUT at 1830 today expecting at least 10% or more downside from here and maybe a lot more in coming months.
Oh and by the way, the RUT is now FLAT over the last 3 years since Nov 2020. How do you like that bull market eh, especially when you could have been in cash earning a nice yield risk free!
IWM has now ended the 1st ABC up decline now in waveB The chart posted is the IWM Russell 2000 tracking etf . As the forecast called for an ABC rally back to just above 181 we should now see a 3 wave decline to about 171/165 focus on 167 area over the next 2 weeks and then rally in a 5 wave structure from that low about dec 4 to the 10 th low into a peak at .618 at the 185.7 to 187.10 area about dec 24th to dec 29th Before the next very clear leg down in the BEAR market The market could holdup to jan 10 to the 17th some what but after that the data get very very neg in the Business cycle
#IWM US Small caps at Significant levelThe US Small cap equities index - IWM - Russel 2000, has approached a massive level of polarity. This 160 level is where the old resistance has turned into support previously. Monitor for reversal and continuation upwards. A break of this level however could really cause massive technical damage. The bulls have their work cut out for them this week
Despite a strong week, IWM remains in trading rangePrimary Chart: IWM / Russell 2000 Weekly Timeframe
The Russell 2000 (IWM) is often a leading indicator in US markets. It led to the downside in early November 2021 after a false breakout out of its 2021 topping-pattern's resistance around $234. SPX topped nearly two months later on January 4, 2022. While small-caps are not necessarily always the first to make a move, it is something frequently cited by commentators and analysts. This is why the Russell 2000 is important for traders and investors to follow to maintain a deeper understanding of the broader US equity markets.
Despite a very strong weekly close for IWM, its price remains in the lower half of its trading range. This trading range has contained price for the past 1.5 years, since the topping pattern's support (at the upper blue rectangle) broke down in January 2022. Unlike other major US indices like the Nasdaq 100, IWM has continued to struggle and remains well below its August 2022 and January / February 2023 highs.
Two months ago, in a recent post titled " Something is Rotten in the State of Markets ," IWM's underperformance of SPX provided a basis for discussion as to why US equity markets may remain unhealthy despite the bullish price action YTD (see link below). A strong and long-lasting bull market should show signs of broad participation. Many breadth indicators have shown very narrow breadth. It's not a surprise, in fact, that SPX's rally and upside performance has been driven by 5 to 10 SPX names, with the other 490-495 flat, lagging, or up weakly.
Supplementary Chart A
This previous April 10 analysis displayed a hypothetical price path intended to reflect the possibility of more sideways and choppy price action in the intermediate term. The choppy price action has largely unfolded as expected (click the play / refresh arrow on the prior post from April 10, 2023). In fact, IWM's price at the time of the prior post was at $173.89, and a month later on May 8 it had closed almost at the same level around $172.72.
Now IWM appears to be breaking above the recent trading range. Major levels of resistance appear on the Primary Chart as Fibonacci levels (the .618 retracement and the .50 retracement, which is not technically a Fibonacci proportion) as well as the anchored VWAP from the November 2021 ATH. How price responds to these levels will be important to watch in coming weeks especially after June 16, 2023 OPEX—a quad witching event.
It is notable that IWM trades far below its major ATH VWAP from November 2021. Compare how IWM's price trades relative to this VWAP (labeled on the Primary Chart above) with how SPY's price trades relative to its ATH VWAP. SPY's VWAP anchored to its ATH is shown in Supplementary chart B below.
Supplementary Chart B
Finally, a relative chart of Russell 2000 vs. S&P 500 is helpful to examine these two major US equity indices and how IWM has performed YTD relative to the SPY / SPX. See Supplementary Chart C below. This relative chart shows IWM still in a downtrend relative to SPY. And it still shows that IWM vs. SPY remains below major resistance. Given that IWM is a leading index at times, it will be interesting to see whether what happens to the major resistance on this relative chart that was broken in early April 2023. Will it hold?
Supplementary Chart C
In summary, the small-cap stocks in the US equity market are lagging despite putting in a strong weekly performance this week of +3.33%. The primary trend in small caps remains sideways by any measure. Will IWM play catch up to the other main US indices like S&P 500 ( SP:SPX ) and Nasdaq 100 ( NASDAQ:NDX NASDAQ:QQQ )? No one knows for sure. But the liquidity problems plaguing the US economy tend to show up in the weakest names first, which usually are also the smallest names. Could IWM's underperformance be a sign of this liquidity stress? Or will it catch up to confirm that the current rally in NDX and SPY are perfectly healthy under the hood and headed to new all-time highs? Stay tuned.
And thanks for reading this and for your encouragement and support.
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Author's Comment: Thank you for reviewing this post and considering its charts and analysis. The author welcomes comments, discussion and debate (respectfully presented) in the comment section. Shared charts are especially helpful to support any opposing or alternative view. This article is intended to present an unbiased, technical view of the security or tradable risk asset discussed.
Please note further that this technical-analysis viewpoint is short-term in nature. This is not a trade recommendation but a technical-analysis overview and commentary with levels to watch for the near term. This technical-analysis viewpoint could change at a moment's notice should price move beyond a level of invalidation. Further, proper risk-management techniques are vital to trading success. And countertrend or mean-reversion trading, e.g., trading a rally in a bear market, is lower probability and is tricky and challenging even for the most experienced traders.
DISCLAIMER: This post contains commentary published solely for educational and informational purposes. This post's content (and any content available through links in this post) and its views do not constitute financial advice or an investment or trading recommendation, and they do not account for readers' personal financial circumstances, or their investing or trading objectives, time frame, and risk tolerance. Readers should perform their own due diligence, and consult a qualified financial adviser or other investment / financial professional before entering any trade, investment or other transaction.
Opening (IRA): IWM Dec 15th/Dec 29th/Jan 19th 160/157/153Comments: Targeting the <16 delta short put strikes paying around 1% of the strike price in credit to emulate dollar cost averaging into the broad market.
December 15th 160: 1.64 credit
December 29th 157: 1.63 credit
January 19th 153: 1.57 credit
Opening (IRA): IWM February 16th 151 Short Put... for a 1.58 credit.
Comments: Targeting the <16 delta strike paying around 1% of the strike price in credit to emulate dollar cost averaging into the broad market. I would've gone shorter duration, but already have rungs camped out at where I would've pitched my tent, so starting to building out first quarter rungs here.
Weekly Update: Do Small Caps Still Lead the Broader Markets?We've all heard that the small capitalized publicly traded companies lead the larger cap companies, more so featured in the broader indices. A quick look back shows the Small Caps Topped in November 2021, whereas the Nasdaq and SP500 did not top till January 2022. Subsequently, the IWM bottomed in June of 2022, and it took the NDX and SPX till October of 2022 to form a bottom.
So it appears we do not have to go back too far to see this phenomenon is still valid. If this price action of leading the broader markets continues to persist, then the IWM is now poised to literally "Drop like Rock".
A quick observation shows the small caps are around their lows bouncing slightly for wave 2 in our primary c-wave down. You can read my prior posts on the SPX and NDX indices but it appears if you want to know if the recent bullish feeling rally in the DJIA, NDX and SP500 has sustainable legs...look no further than the IWM.
Best to all,
Chris