Whipsaw Galore

In the past two weeks the S&P has been riding the express elevator several time between the penthouse (i.e. the volume abyss above 1980) and the attic (i.e. the volume hole below 1940) and then back again. There is no telling how far this trading range is going to extend (see Scott’s weekend update) but what’s rather clear is that getting positioned anywhere in between is tantamount to committing ritual seppuku – it’s not going to be fun and you can be sure there will be blood left on the carpet.

Which means if you insist on playing the S&P futures then being short near 1980 reduces your risk significantly. Yes, one of those days it’ll break higher but it doesn’t make sense worrying about that – simply put your stop above the volume abyss and if she breaches you can always flip sides with little lost on the short side. Same applies if you feel an insatiable appetite for long positions here – choose a salad instead and then wait until at least 1945.

Meanwhile at the VIX cave all those gyrations have been lifting us off the record low IV readings we’ve been enjoying as of late. As you can see by the ATR(14) panel – volatility of volatility is rising. And per Mandelbrot that big spike higher last week suggests that we might be seeing more. VIN/VIF is also creeping higher which means some folks are getting nervous.

In case this means nothing to you: It is a little known fact that the CBOE actually maintains separate indices for the near-term month VIX (VIN) and the far-term month VIX (VIF). Just pop those tickers into your streaming quotes and you too can watch not just the VIX, but the two components used in the VIX constant maturity blend.

And frankly speaking a meaningful correction is way overdue at this point. After all we have have not seen one since 2011!! Since we tested SPX 1100 it’s been but one directional crawl higher. Get this – counting all monthly green candles since we marked that low gets me to 27 compared with mere 7 months lower. Quite mind boggling – had you simply bought on the first of each month you would have won 74% of the time! Heck, I’d kill for these odds and so would you.

Of course – until that green trendline is broken the bears will most likely have to endure more of the daily pain they have learned to live with in the past five years. Calling tops is for losers (apparently) and until important LT trend lines are broken the trend remains intact.

Now having said all that let me present a short setup on the equities side 😉

Well actually it’s a bi-directional one. Obviously the Russell has been clearly lagging all other indices and as you can see has not been participating in the sideways churn we’ve been seeing on the equities side. And if I am going to short ANYTHING in that sector then it’s going to be the weakest bitch boy I can get my claws on. The long side doesn’t look shabby but quite frankly I would be more excited about a failed failed hammer short here – plus it’s also an inside day. Pick your poison.

Gold – very juicy RTV-L plus IP-S today and I wouldn’t be feeding this one to you leeches if I didn’t have a lot more waiting below the fold. So grab your secret decoder key and meet me in the lair (we have air-conditioning):

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You have been briefed – now have fun but keep it frosty. See you guys tomorrow.

Cheers,