This is not a correlated market. The USD is Up and Crude is Down which is normal, but the 30 Year T-Bond is trading Lower. The Financials should always correlate with the US dollar such that if the dollar is Higher, then the bonds should follow and vice-versa. The S&P is Lower and Crude is trading Lower which is not correlated. Gold is trading Lower which is correlated with the US dollar trading Up. 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. Asia is trading Lower with the exception of the Indian Sensex exchange. Europe is trading Higher with the exception of the London and the Milan exchanges which are Lower.

Possible challenges to traders

Final Services PMI out at 9:45 AM EST. This is Major.
ISM Services PMI is out at 10 AM EST. This is Major.
JOLTS Job Openings is out at 10 AM EST. This is Major.
RCM/TIPP Economic Optimism - tentative. This is Major.

Treasuries

Traders, please note that we've changed the Bond instrument from the 30 year (ZB) to the 10 year (ZN). They work exactly the same.

We've elected to switch gears a bit and show correlation between the 10-year bond (ZN) 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 likened to a seesaw, when up goes up the other should go down and vice versa. Today we aren't dealing with a correlated market and our bias is to the Upside.

Yesterday the ZN migrated Higher at around 9:30 AM EST as the S&P hit a High at around the same time. If you look at the charts below the S&P gave a signal at around 9:30 AM and the ZN started its Downward trend. Look at the charts below and you'll see a pattern for both assets. S&P hit a High at around 9:30 AM and migrated Lower. 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 10-year note, as a trader you could have netted about 20 plus ticks per contract on this trade. Each tick is worth $15.625. Please note: the front month for the ZN is now Dec '23. The S&P contract is now Dec' 23. I've changed the format to filled Candlesticks (not hollow) such that it may be more apparent and visible.

Charts courtesy of MultiCharts built on an AMP platform

ZN - Dec 2023 - 12/04/23

S&P - Dec 2023 - 12/04/23

Bias

Yesterday we gave the markets a Neutral or Mixed bias as we didn't see much in the way of Market Correlation Monday morning. The markets veered to the Downside as the Dow dropped 41 points and the other indices lost ground as well. Today we aren't dealing with a correlated market and our bias is to the Downside.

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

Commentary

At times like this it's very easy to get caught up in the notion of one day up, next day down. After all it's easy and who doesn't like that. The problem is that the markets don't always follow that pattern. Which is why we do our due diligence and analyst the markets on a daily basis to ensure that you, the trader have the most up to date information that there is concerning market direction. But we do our homework on a daily basis. Why? Because the markets change each and every day; so we can't and don't assume anything. Today we have more economic news than we had yesterday so time will tell how it all works out.

Author

Nick Mastrandrea

Market Tea Leaves

EUR/USD flat lines below 1.1900; divergent Fed-ECB expectations offer support

The EUR/USD pair struggles to capitalize on the overnight bounce from the 1.1835-1.1830 region and oscillates in a narrow band during the Asian session on Thursday. Spot prices currently trade around the 1.1875 area, remaining nearly unchanged for the day and staying within striking distance of an over one-week high, reached on Tuesday, amid mixed cues.

GBP/USD slips heading into the Thursday trading window

The Pound Sterling pulled back from four-year highs on Wednesday, weighed down by a combination of Bank of England dovishness and UK political uncertainty, even as the US Dollar weakened on soft labor market revisions.

Gold posts modest gains above $5,050 as US-Iran tensions persist despite strong labor data

Gold price trades in positive territory near $5,060 during the early Asian session on Thursday. The precious metal edges higher despite stronger-than-expected US employment data. The release of the US Consumer Price Index inflation report will take center stage later on Friday.

Bitcoin holds steady despite strong US labour market

Bitcoin briefly bounced from $66,000 to above $68,000 but slightly reversed those gains following Wednesday's US January jobs report. The top crypto is hovering around $67,000, down 2% over the past 24 hours as of writing on Wednesday.

The market trades the path not the past

The payroll number did not just beat. It reset the tone. 130,000 vs. 65,000 expected, with a 35,000 whisper. 79 of 80 economists leaning the wrong way. Unemployment and underemployment are edging lower. For all the statistical fog around birth-death adjustments and seasonal quirks, the core message was unmistakable. The labour market is not cracking.

XRP sell-off deepens amid weak retail interest, risk-off sentiment

Ripple (XRP) is edging lower around $1.36 at the time of writing on Wednesday, weighed down by low retail interest and macroeconomic uncertainty, which is accelerating risk-off sentiment.