EWC – Andrew Thrasher

A Shift Favoring Canadian Equities

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Andrew Thrasher, CMT

Since last August traders have been showing a strong preference for U.S. equities over Canadian stocks. But this trend appears to be ending as the relative performance of the two markets has begun showing signs of a shift favoring Canada.

In September ’14 I wrote a post for See It Market titled Trouble Ahead For Canadian Stocks? as I outlined the bearish chart I was seeing for $EWC, the Canadian ETF. A double top had formed and was accompanied by a bearish divergence in momentum. Price ultimately broke support of the prior high and fell roughly 18% over the next five months before finding a low in January of this year.

While it seems the theme has been U.S.-focused over the last several months, that may be changing. J.C. Paret’s wrote a good post on this topic with his expectations for the second quarter of 2015. It seems Canada may also be showing some signs of positive relative strength. I first mentioned this ratio and the bullish divergence in momentum on Twitter in early February. However, price continued to favor the S&P 500 as Canada continued to lag our markets for another two months.

Below is daily chart of the relative performance of $EWC and $SPY. When $EWC is outperforming $SPY the line rises, when the opposite is true the line goes down. This can occur by $EWC rising more or even just falling less than the S&P 500 ($SPY). As you can see, the relative performance has been in a down trend since August while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) momentum indicator has been in a bearish range for the same period of time.

But as of late the tides have begun to turn. The ratio between these two markets has begun to rise and the declining trend has been broken. We can also see that momentum has broken above its resistance that helped define its range. This is a positive sign for $EWC that momentum may begin supporting the thesis of Canadian stocks taking the reins.

Disclaimer: Do not construe anything written in this post or this blog in its entirety as a recommendation, research, or an offer to buy or sell any securities. Everything in this post is meant for educational and entertainment purposes only. I or my affiliates may hold positions in securities mentioned in the blog. Please see my Disclosure page for full disclaimer. Connect with Andrew on Google+, Twitter, and StockTwits.

Weekly Technical Market Outlook 9/29/2014

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Andrew Thrasher, CMT

Last week in my Weekly Technical Market Outlook I discussed multiple divergences that were concerning me. Apparently I was not the only one as traders took stocks down 1.37% for the S&P 500 ($SPX). However, after Thursday’s close we had quite a few signs of mean-reversion flipping bullish. We saw a bounce on Friday and I’ll be watching to see if stocks continue to rise this week or if the divergences that are still in place keep buyers from pulling their triggers. With just two days left for the month, we sit with the S&P down roughly 1% for September, Small Caps ($IWM) are off 4.41%, and International stocks ($EFA) are down 2.91%.

Trend

As stocks fell last week we saw the S&P get close to testing its long-term trend line and 100-day Moving Average. Since neither of these measures were broken and we have yet to see a lower low, the trend remains positive.

Breadth

We almost saw a lower low in the Common Stock-Only Advance-Decline Line, but the bounce on Friday keep things in an up trend. We now have a defined range of support and resistance: the August low and the September/July high. With last week’s selling we saw more stocks break below their 200-day Moving Averages as shown by the indicator in the bottom panel of the chart.

Consumer Staples

In last week’s Technical Market Outlook I showed the Relative Rotation Graph for the nine S&P sectors. The Consumer Staples ($XLP) sector has been in the ‘lagging’ quadrant of the graph for the last eight weeks. But it has been rising for the last four as momentum of the relative performance trend has strengthened.

Below is a weekly chart of the ratio between $XLP and the S&P 500 ($SPY). It appears the recent strength in $XLP has created a false breakdown of the prior February low for the ratio. This false break also has occurred with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) creating a higher low, which produces a bullish divergence. I’ll be watching to see if $XLP can continue to gain ground.

When looking at the seasonal strength for the Consumer Staples sector, October has been the fourth strongest month over the last five years, up 75% of the time.

October Seasonality

My friend Ryan Detrick, CMT is constantly producing top-notch tables and charts on Twitter and his blog. Over the weekend Ryan discussed a few points regarding October seasonality. When looking at the 2nd year of the Presidential Cycle since 1950, Ryan noted that October has been the strongest month of the year. While I acknowledge that 16 occurrences is not a robust sample size, it’s still an interesting stat to point out. Will this October follow its historical trend?

Here’s Ryan’s table showing the monthly breakdown:

Momentum

Not much has changed for the Momentum chart from last week. While price weakened, the Relative Strength Index remained above its previous level of support. Both the RSI and the MACD remain in a bearish divergence with price, something bulls know they must fix in order to see another new high.

U.S. Dollar

The dollar rose 1.05% last week and is up almost 9% from its May low. It’s interesting to note that the U.S. dollar has been up for 11 weeks in a row! While the currency has been on a tear over the last several months, traders do not appear to have let up off the gas based on the latest COT data. The chart below comes from Eric Burroughs and shows the Speculator net-position which is at its highest level ever.

Burroughs also noted that when you take into account Open Interest with respect of the net-position that it’s not at a record high but is nearly two standard deviations above its mean.

60 Minute S&P 500

The intraday chart for the S&P shows that price found support at the trend line connecting the series of lower lows for September. We’ve yet to see price break its series of lower highs and remains under its 50-1 hour Moving Average.

Last Week’s Sector Performance

Last week we saw the Materials sector ($XLB) take the top spot in relative performance against the S&P. Consumer Staples ($XLP) and Health Care ($XLV) were the second and third best performers, respectively. The Industrial ($XLI), Energy ($XLE), and Utility ($XLU) were the worst performing sectors for the week.

Year-to-Date Sector Performance

Health Care, Utilities, Technology ($XLK) remain the strongest sectors for 2014. Consumer Discretionary ($XLY) and Industrials have been the weakest sectors YTD.

Is Trouble Ahead For Canadian Stocks?

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Andrew Thrasher, CMT

While Canadian stocks have been setting new highs, it appears some headwinds may be approaching for our northern neighbor. If we were to look at just the pure price action then things would look pretty good for the iShares Canada ETF($EWC). Price has broken above the previous high set in 2011. However, it’s when we look under the surface that we can see some problems.

The chart below shows EWC on a weekly basis going back to late 2010. On the top panel I’ve included the Relative Strength Index (RSI) which is a momentum indicator. Two weeks ago Canadian stocks made an attempt to break its July high but ended up producing a false break as price was unable to hold above $32.90. We also saw the RSI indicator make a lower high, creating a divergence with price.

Read the rest and see the chart at See It Market.

Is Canada Ready To Rebound?

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Andrew Thrasher, CMT

On Monday we saw strong relative performance out of Canadian equities during the market sell-off that pushed U.S. stocks 2+% lower. This has pushed the ratio between the Canadian ETF ($EWC) and the S&P 500 ($SPX) up to resistance, making this the topic of my TraderPlanet article for this week.

Here’s a piece:

Looking at the relative performance chart of $EWC and $SPY, we can see that when the green line is falling, $SPY is rising more or falling less than $EWC. With Monday’s bullish relative move in $EWC we are now approaching the multi-month trend line since October of last year. We also have a bullish divergence in the Relative Strength Index (RSI), a momentum indicator. As the ratio between these two equity ETFs made lower lows, the RSI indicator began to make higher lows which is a positive sign for Canadian equities relative to U.S. equities.

Read the rest: Is Canada Ready To Rebound? (TraderPlanet)

Can Canada Overcome Roadblocks?

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Andrew Thrasher, CMT

My article for TraderPlanet for this week takes a look at the latest price action in Canada, specifically the iShares Canada ETF ($EWC) and the level of resistance it’s butting up against right now.

Here’s a piece:

Since March, EWC has been finding resistance at the $28.30 level. If the selling persistence then we can see the rising trend line off the June and August lows could provide a level of support for EWC. It’s interesting to note that at each run up to $28.30 we haven’t seen momentum rocket higher. Only for a brief movement in July did we see the Relative Strength Index break into ‘overbought’ territory, only to retreat the following day.

Read the rest here: ETFs: Can Canada Overcome Roadblocks? (TraderPlanet)