From the Desk of  Ian Culley @Ianculley

The market environment has been shifting in favor of the bulls all summer.

Breadth thrusts are firing as participation beneath the surface expands. Risk assets – commodities and stocks alike – are reclaiming critical levels of former support.

And our bull market rebirth checklist is triggering four out of five criteria.

This is a huge departure from earlier in the year.

But one aspect of the environment remains the same – interest rates. Yes, rates have come off their June peak. And, yes, US yields have paused at a logical level marked by a series of former highs.

That’s all true, and it all makes perfect sense.

But we still find ourselves in a rising-rate market as the underlying uptrend remains intact – for now.

Earlier in the month, we broke down the ranges in the 30-, 10-, and 5-year US yields. Today, we'll turn our attention overseas.

From the Desk of  Ian Culley @Ianculley

More pieces of the puzzle are falling into place for the bulls.

We’ve been pounding the table about the dollar and rates for months, and now they’re starting to take shape.

On Wednesday, the US Dollar Index $DXY broke to fresh lows, violating a multi-month trend line.

And interest rates… well, they haven’t moved much. They continue to hold their range after peaking in June. 

As expected, stocks surged yesterday in response to a weaker dollar and stable bond market. 

But stocks aren’t the only risk assets on the rise. Investors are moving out on the risk curve and bidding up high-yield bonds, too.

Here’s a dual-pane chart of the Fallen Angel High-Yield Bond ETF $ANGL and the S&P 500 Index $SPX:

From the Desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Ian Culley @Ianculley  

It’s been an action-packed year for the bond market. Rates have ripped, and bonds have been in free fall worldwide. But US yields stopped going up in June. 

More recently, many European benchmark rates have turned lower in dramatic fashion.

Now the question is whether US yields will roll over and follow to the downside.

Instead of getting caught up in the Fed chatter and all its implications, let’s focus on the key levels we’re using as a roadmap for treasury markets in the coming weeks and months.

Here’s a triple-pane chart of the US 30-, 10-, and five-year yields:

All three are carving out potential tops just beneath their respective 2018 highs. You can see the tops in the chart above.

And those critical 2018 highs are highlighted below:

From the desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

It’s the day after the FOMC announcement, and markets are mixed. They’ve already moved past yesterday’s 75-basis-point hike and are now in the process of pricing in all available data, including the prospects of future Fed policy.    

Instead of getting caught up in the recession chatter and what the Fed might do next, let’s focus on one undeniable fact: The 10-year US Treasury yield $TNX is still at a key inflection point.

I know we’ve been obnoxious about the US dollar and rates. They continue to be two of the most important charts out there. That’s the environment we’re in – plain and simple.

And with the 10-year yield stuck just below a critical shelf of former highs, there’s no better time to remind ourselves of some classic intermarket relationships.

Here’s a chart of the US 10-year yield overlaid with the Metals and Mining ETF $XME with the ARK Innovation ETF $ARKK in the lower pane:

From the desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley  

Buying bonds is finally becoming an attractive proposition again.

For months, we’ve noted the lack of confirmation from intermarket ratios such as copper versus gold, regional banks versus REITs, and high-yield bonds versus US Treasuries.

These ratios typically trend in the same direction as interest rates. But this hasn't been the case since last year.

And when we consider that yields are trapped below major resistance zones, we really like the counter-trend opportunity bonds are offering at these levels.

Let’s review a few setups from our Q3 Playbook we like for buying a bounce in bonds.

From the desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

No one likes a bear market, except for the bears of course.

They haze the uninitiated, test market veterans, and remind everyone that assets can go to zero.

Not fun for most!

When we take a step back and assess all the data in front of us today, the outlook remains dismal for the overall market.

The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq have posted more new lows than new highs for 31 weeks and counting. Leadership groups carry a defensive tone. Topping patterns continue to resolve lower. Support levels are being ignored and violated. Long story short, it's ugly out here.

And it's not only stocks... Bitcoin just booked its worst month and quarter in over a decade and bonds are having one of their worst years in history.

No wonder investor sentiment is in the dumps. It’s clear we are in the midst of a bear market. 

They’ve replaced the comical “stocks only go up” memes with images of the grim reaper coming for our favorite names. Even memes aren’t as funny in a bear market!

From the desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Ian Culley @Ianculley  

Bonds are off to their worst start in the past 40 years, possibly ever! 

It’s not even close. 

As we near the end of Q2, the US Treasury Bond ETF $TLT is down almost 22% year to date. And that’s after its recent bounce higher.

There's been nowhere to hide, as these traditional safe-haven assets have been an absolute dumpster fire along with stocks.

But we’re starting to see some of those flames extinguished.

Some of the worst-performing stocks tipped the bond market’s hand ahead of the recent lows. That’s right: Those Big Tech names and Chinese internet stocks stopped going down months ago and now bonds are following higher.

Believe it or not, bonds and high-duration equities have a lot in common. The Growth $IWF versus Value $IWD ratio really tells the story.

Let’s take a look.

Here’s an overlay chart of the TLT and the IWF/IWD ratio:

From the desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Ian Culley @Ianculley  

Now that inflation is no longer transitory and we’ve officially entered bear market territory, "recession" is the next buzzword on deck.

And don’t worry: Plenty of banter surrounding the yield curve will take center stage during all this recession talk. 

Somehow, an inverted yield curve has become synonymous with recession even though the historical record supporting this narrative leaves room for plenty of interpretation. 

The purpose of this post is not to present an argument on whether we’re already in a recession or if one is imminent. We’ll leave that up to the talking heads and economists.

Instead, we'll simply share where the yield curve is today and assess the likelihood of potential inversion.

Let’s take a look…

Here’s a triple-pane chart of the US 30-year, 10-year, and 5-year yields:

From the desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Ian Culley @Ianculley  

The Japanese yen continues to be front and center, as the safe-haven currency can't seem to find its footing.

In a market where risk assets are struggling to catch any sort of sustained bid, finding investment opportunities in yen has been a great strategy. It continues to work.

Long USD/JPY has been one of the best trades on the sheets this year – by far! And it looks to be continuing its upward trajectory, as it hit fresh 20-year highs earlier this week.

Aside from providing a stellar trading opportunity, the current intermarket relationship between this forex cross and the bond market may reveal the near-term direction of the US 10-year yield.

Let’s take a look.

Here’s an overlay chart of the USD/JPY pair and the US 10-year yield with a 26-day correlation study in the lower pane:

From the desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Ian Culley @Ianculley  

Back in January, the big story was the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note printing new multi-year highs.

At the time, other benchmark yields worldwide were also resolving higher, completing large bases.

This was confirming evidence that added to our conviction US yields were headed higher and that we were in the early stages of a rising rate environment.

The confirmation from global yields proved valuable information.

Almost six months later, the US benchmark is just below 3.00%. As it pauses below a critical level, we again turn to overseas rates to get a read on the potential near-term direction of the 10-year yield.

And just like earlier in the year, they’re pointing higher.

Let’s take a look.

From the desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Ian Culley @Ianculley    

When it comes to the bond market, credit spreads are always top of mind. They provide critical information regarding the liquidity and stress of the largest markets in the world.

While most of us aren’t full-time bond traders, in many cases we turn to these assets to offset the risk associated with the equity side of our portfolios. That’s fine.

But when credit markets come under stress, it affects all asset classes, especially equities. We’re seeing this now.

Earlier in the month, we noted that these crucial spreads were widening to their highest level since late 2020 as the high-yield bond versus Treasury ratio $HYG/$IEI hit new 52-week lows. 

It’s no coincidence that the major stock market averages fell to their lowest level in over a year as this was happening.

This is why we pay close attention to credit spreads. They give us information about the health of other risk assets.

From the desk of Steven Strazza @Sstrazza and Ian Culley @Ianculley

Bonds are digging in at some familiar levels.

For years now, we’ve pounded the table about the importance of the 2018 highs for various risk assets.

That’s because those former highs marked significant peaks for both the stock market and certain procyclical commodities and currencies during the last cycle.

As far as the bond market is concerned, 2018 was also when yields peaked. Benchmark rates in the US are testing these old highs.

As such, it’s not the 2018 highs but the 2018 lows that we’re paying attention to when analyzing the prices of Treasuries.

A handful of bonds and bond funds are trying to find a bottom at these key former lows right now. 

Let’s take a look.

Here’s a chart of the 20+yr T-Bond ETF $TLT: