Quote from killATwill:
i have to agree about HSI. it's a blow off top and it'll crumple like urkle in a steel cage match soon enough.
the housing sales figure always gets revised, so i wouldn't put to much stock in it. if you read the press release in full, the gov even says that the stats have a huge margin of error and sales may have actually fallen last month. permits are what you want to keep an eye out for considering they're easier to monitor. better yet, watch a 3 month rolling average of permits.
chicago pmi i can't argue with. it was decent.
but you better get short BOTH tech and housing brother. don't play this spread hedge crap.
I'm not surprised the new housing #s were decent for Nov, as the MBA applications had that spike up 2 weeks ago. all the pumper analysts are taking it as a bottoming sign; i see it as a brief illusory pause in the beginning of a 5 year deeping bearish housing cycle, stimulated by expensive treasuries for the month. I guarantee the #s for the next few months won't hurt the housing bears, additionally helped a bit by seasonal falloff in transactions. Oh ... and look at the bond market.
Now I like the spread hedge crap, because its the only way in good conscious I can carry all of these positions overnight. My idea: just in case I'm wrong and can't time this market, I'll get to enjoy at least one side of the movement. Sure it'll limit my gains potentially, but you never know, I could be right at both.
Better question - what are the odds housing is going to shoot to the stratosphere and NASDAQ sells off hard?
But I'm not buying the nasdaq selling off right now... who cares that its breaking through a channel. these indexes (nq, es, and ym) and virtually married to each other, and I perceive the nq as being underbought (you like that, different terminology for oversold?)
ya sure, exchange stocks like ICE, NMX, and NYX are pricy. So are casinos (WYNN, MGM, etc.) ... but there are diamonds in the rough. Look at MOT or SNDK. Look at those cash positions, forward PEs, and LOW expectations !!! (you wouldn't think they are high judging by price) etc.. there is a lot more upside to these than down in my view.
Furthermore, this 'housing collapse' has not yet permeated into the earnings of the broad market, especially techs (look at RIMM a few days ago) ... So why be bearish and decide to call the top?
January is historically the most bullish month of the year ... And the news reports have not yet turned bearish. When jobs start falling off, and earnings confirm it, I'll believe it.
Until then, its called consolidation (buy the dips).

