This is not a correlated market. The dollar is Down- and Crude is Down- which is not normal but the 30 year Bond is trading Higher. The Financials should always correlate with the US dollar such that if the dollar is lower then bonds should follow and vice-versa. The S&P is Higher and Crude is trading Lower which is correlated. Gold is trading Higher which is correlated with the US dollar trading Down. I tend to believe that Gold has an inverse relationship with the US Dollar as when the US Dollar is down, Gold tends to rise in value and vice-versa. Think of it as a seesaw, when one is up the other should be down. I point this out to you to make you aware that when we don't have a correlated market, it means something is wrong. As traders you need to be aware of this and proceed with your eyes wide open.

At this time Asia is trading Mixed with half the exchanges Higher and the other half Lower. Currently Europe is trading Mixed as well.

Possible Challenges To Traders Today:

Empire State Manufacturing Index is out at 8:30 AM EST. This is Major.
NAHB Housing Market Index is out at 10 AM EST. This is Major.
Mortgage Delinquencies - tentative. This is Major.
TIC Long-Term Purchases is out at 4 PM EST. Major.

Treasuries

We've elected to switch gears a bit and show correlation between the 30 year bond (ZB) and The S&P futures contract. The S&P contract is the Standard and Poor's and the purpose is to show reverse correlation between the two instruments. Remember it's liken to a seesaw, when up goes up the other should go down and vice versa.

On Friday the ZB made it's move at around 8 AM EST. The ZB hit a Low at around that time and the S&P moved Lower. If you look at the charts below ZB gave a signal at around 8 AM EST and the S&P moved Lower at around the same time. Look at the charts below and you'll see a pattern for both assets. ZB hit a Low at around 8 AM EST and the S&P was moving Lower shortly thereafter. These charts represent the newest version of MultiCharts and I've changed the timeframe to a 15 minute chart to display better. This represented a Long opportunity on the 30 year bond, as a trader you could have netted about 20 ticks per contract on this trade. Each tick is worth $31.25. Please note: the front month for the ZB is now Sept '20. The S&P contract has been changed to Sept '20. I've changed the format to Renko bars such that it may be more apparent and visible.

Charts Courtesy of MultiCharts built on an AMP platform

ZB - Sept 2020 - 8/14/20

S&P - Sept 2020 - 8/14/20

Bias

On Friday we gave the markets a Downside bias as the USD and Bonds were both trading Higher and this usually reflects a Downside day. The S&P and Nasdaq both traded Lower, the Dow closed Higher by 34 points. Today we aren't dealing with a correlated market and our bias is Neutral.

Could this change? Of Course. Remember anything can happen in a volatile market.

Commentary

So Friday we had a virtual news tsunami in that we had (just for the US Markets) 9 economic reports, all of which were major. Retail Sales fell short of expectation and no doubt this had an effect on Friday's session. Today we have Empire State Manufacturing Index and NAHB Housing Market Index both of which are major and proven market movers. Will this help to give the markets more direction? As in all things, time will tell.

Author

Nick Mastrandrea

Market Tea Leaves

EUR/USD flirts with daily highs, retargets 1.1900

EUR/USD regains upside traction, returning to the 1.1880 zone and refocusing its attention to the key 1.1900 barrier. The pair’s slight gains comes against the backdrop of a humble decline in the US Dollar as investors continue to assess the latest US CPI readings and the potential Fed’s rate path.

GBP/USD remains well bid around 1.3650

GBP/USD maintains its upside momentum in place, hovering around daily highs near 1.3650 and setting aside part of the recent three-day drop. Cable’s improved sentiment comes on the back of the Greenback’s irresolute price action, while recent hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill also collaborate with the uptick.

Gold holds above $5,000 as bears seem hesitant amid Fed rate cut bets

Gold edges lower at the start of a new week, though it defends the $5,000 psychological mark through the Asian session. The underlying bullish sentiment is seen acting as a headwind for the bullion. However, bets for more rate cuts by the Fed, bolstered by Friday's softer US CPI, keep the US Dollar bulls on the defensive and continue to support the non-yielding yellow metal as the focus now shifts to FOMC Minutes on Wednesday.

Week ahead: Data blitz, Fed Minutes and RBNZ decision in the spotlight

The US jobs report for January, which was delayed slightly, didn’t do the dovish Fed bets any favours, as expectations of a soft print did not materialize, confounding the raft of weak job indicators seen in the prior week.

Global inflation watch: Signs of cooling services inflation

Realized inflation landed close to expectations in January, as negative base effects weighed on the annual rates. Remaining sticky inflation is largely explained by services, while tariff-driven goods inflation remains limited even in the US.

Ripple Price Forecast: XRP potential bottom could be in sight

Ripple edges up above the intraday low of $1.35 at the time of writing on Friday amid mixed price actions across the crypto market. The remittance token failed to hold support at $1.40 the previous day, reflecting risk-off sentiment amid a decline in retail and institutional sentiment.