It’s a Trader’s Market This Week as Potential Headwinds Loom – Here’s What to Watch

Markets are steady going into this week, with major indices posting slight gains throughout the morning, but there are a lot of things to watch out for that could create volatile swings. Overall, we still need to be very careful out here and stay nimble, prioritizing short-term trades over committing to long-term positions.

If you haven’t checked out my piece on Friday about last week’s 24-hour “rally to rout” in the bond market, you really should, because it’s going to impact how this week (and in fact, the future of the stock market as interest rates remain higher for longer) shakes out.

The “buyer’s strike” in 30-year Treasuries suggests that the usual players who have reliably bought bonds in the past, including the Federal Reserve, are no longer in the market, and things could get ugly if banks, private investors, and retail investors also continue to hold out in a perpetual stalling action for higher term premiums.

On top of that, we have a lot of information coming out this week that could create narrative headwinds for equities in general. We’ve got at least eleven Federal Reserve members speaking this week, all of whom have the potential to influence investor confidence for better or for worse. Retail sales numbers and consumer spending reports will give us an idea of economic activity going into the holiday season – if things are going too well, it could stoke fears of another rate hike in December.

All in all, there are a lot of balls in the air. This video should help you keep track of everything you need to be watching:

As always, when we find ideal opportunities for you, we’ll keep you posted. Keep an eye out until then.