(IWM) Archives

Check Out These Interesting Charts

I ran through a number of charts provided by my friends at Stockcharts.com, and as a person who has been piling on the shorts for the past two weeks I was greatly encouraged. Almost every single one was pregnant with gloomy implications. This is all happening a mere 12 days before the Great Escape in May commences. Virtually every technical indicator I follow is now flashing warning signs and ringing alarm bells.

Here is my own personal interpretation. The Russell 2000 (IWM) could potentially be setting up a head own shoulder top targeting $75 on the downside. My short here is one of my biggest positions. The Consumer Discretionary Select SPDR (XLY) is pulling away from the absolute top end of its upward channel and is ripe for a 10% pullback. Ditto for the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK), which could give back 15%. The Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF), one of the hottest areas this year, could actually be setting up a new downtrend. The same is true for the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB). And tell me that is not a double top in the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI).

This all suggests that 1,325 for the S&P 500 is a chip shot on the downside, and maybe more. I have a feeling that killings are about to me made on the short side.

Where to Play From the Short Side

Newsletter

This time I am going to start with the fundamental argument first, then follow up with the Trade Alert.

We are getting perilously close to a substantial pull back in global risk assets. While this has already started in commodities, the ags, oil, copper, and precious metals, we have yet to see the whites of their eyes in equities. I believe at these levels stocks are the planet?s most overvalued assets, at least on a short term trading basis. So I have begun more aggressively searching for plays that would benefit from substantial moves southward.

My personal preference is to gain downside exposure on small capitalization stocks. You can achieve this through buying put options on the Russell 2000 iShares ETF (IWM).

You have several things going for you in falling markets with this ETF. Small stocks are illiquid and therefore suffer the biggest pullback during market corrections. If Heaven forbid, double dip fears return this summer, small caps will fall the farthest and the fastest. They are most dependent on outside financing which rapidly dries up during times of economic distress.

You can see this clearly during last year?s summer swoon. The last time we thought the world was going to end, the (SPX) fell by 20% while the (IWM) plunged by 29.5%. This means that small cap stocks are likely to deliver 150% of the downside compared to big cap stocks. Making money then with shorts in the (IWM) was like shooting fish in a barrel.

You see this on the upside as well. Since the October, 2011 lows, the (SPX) leapt by 30% compared to a much more virile 38% move by (IWM). The (IWM) really does present the scenario where the smaller (or higher) they are, the harder they fall.

If you go into the options market you get this extra volatility at a discount. June at-the-money puts for the (SPY) carry an implied volatility of 15%, compared to 20% for the (IWM) puts. That means you get 50% more anticipated movement in the index for a premium of only 33%.

For those who wish to avoid options, you can buy the inverse ETF on the sector, the (RWM). But the liquidity for this instrument is a mere shadow of its upside cousin, the (IWM). You are better off shorting the (IWM) than buying the (RWM).

These Look Pretty Interesting

Bear Trap Sprung

Diary

The coming bear trap that I warned about last week sprung this morning on the non-subscribing unwary, triggering panic buying by short sellers in all ?RISK ON? assets. Oil (USO), gold (GLD), silver (SLV), copper (CU), and foreign currencies all moved in lockstep to the upside. The trigger was news that leaked out over the weekend that the International Monetary Fund would make available several hundred billion dollars to bail out the beleaguered European ?PIIGS?.

Never mind that the IMF immediately denied any such moves from multiple offices around the world. The tipoff that something big was coming was the strong performance during Friday?s stock market opening, ostensibly off the back of healthy ?Black Friday? figures, which rapidly faded at the close. I suppose the big money was too busy fighting turkey indigestion to maintain the ephemeral gains. Once the buying started during the Sunday Asian market hours, it was all over but the crying.

With many managers poo-pooing today's move, one has to ask if this is a one day wonder, a much needed 24 hour holiday from the deluge of bad news from the Continent?

The charts below suggest that this is more than a one day wonder and that there is more juice to go. Certainly breaking the 50 day moving average at 1,205 would be a positive development. At the very least, we should take a run to the old S&P 500 support level at 1,230, which should now pose substantial resistance. Break that, and the 200 day moving average at 1,266 comes into play, close to the three month highs we saw two weeks ago.

The interesting mover today was the Euro, which hardly moved at all, the ETF (FXE) gained a scant 0.53%. You would think that the troubled European currency would be the primary beneficiary of any rescue attempts. It wasn?t. This feeble response tells me that the Euro is fundamentally flawed, is still the currency that everyone loves to hate, and is looking at more downside than upside. That is why I didn?t join the lemmings this morning scrambling to cover shorts.

Cover Those Shorts!

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