The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a momentum oscillator that measures the speed and change of price moves. The RSI moves between zero and 100 and is considered overbought with a reading above 70 and oversold when below 30. Note the RSI can sustain an overbought (oversold) reading in a strong up (down) trend.
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Seeing some technical breaks in the global equity indices.
Breaking 20-day moving average
S&P500, Russell 2000, Nasdaq, Mexican Bolsa, Kospi
Breaking 50-day moving average
Russell 2000, DAX, FTSE
Breaking 100-day moving average
CAC, Mexican Bolsa
Breaking 200-day moving average
Kospi, SENSEX
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Fascinating interview with Nick D’Aloisio, the 17-year old who just sold his mobile app, Summly, to Yahoo for an estimated $30 million. He’s nails a market in the age of information overload and Twitter. Yet another another labor destroying technology.
The interviewed aired March 28th. It’s worth your 16 minutes.
Click here for interview.
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Starting to see some technical breakdowns in selected sectors ETF this week.
Breaking 20-day moving average
XLY, XLE, XLF, XLI, XLB, XLK
Breaking 50-day moving average
XLE, XLI, XLB, XLK
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Key Data Points
German 10-year Bund 8 bps lower;
France 20 bps tighter to the Bund;
Belgium 18 bps tighter;
Ireland 10 bps tighter;
Italy 30 bps tighter;
Spain 23 bps tighter;
Portugal 7 bps wider;
Greece 21 bps tighter;
Large Eurozone banks weekly change, 1.41 to -2.49 percent;
Euro$ up, 1.41 percent.
Comments
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…let me stress that Cyprus is not a template!
– Mario Draghi, ECB President
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Ugly employment data. Retail hit hard hard losing 24K compared to a gain of 24K last month. Relatively large net losses at building/materials and clothing stores. Construction generated 18K net jobs compared to 48K last month. Job creation in the information industry was lower than last month’s 20K, which was pumped up by the motion picture industry, falling to 5K in March. Government lost 7K, including 12K U.S. postal service jobs.
The other big headline is the civilian labor force declined by 496,000 over the month. The debate rages why this is happening. Demographics as the baby boomers age? Depressed workers giving up? Increased government incentives to stay out labor force as more workers move to disability? Aging workforce prone to injury and disability benefits? Probably all of the above.
Here are money quotes from this morning’s BLS release:
Nonfarm payroll employment edged up in March (+88,000), and the unemployment rate was little changed at 7.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment grew in professional and business services and in health care but declined in retail trade…
The civilian labor force declined by 496,000 over the month, and the labor force participation rate decreased by 0.2 percentage point to 63.3 percent. The employment-population ratio, at 58.5 percent, changed little…
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 34.6 hours. The manufacturing workweek decreased by 0.1 hour to 40.8 hours, and factory overtime rose by 0.1 hour to 3.4 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.8 hours.
In March, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, at $23.82, changed little (+1 cent). Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 42 cents, or 1.8 percent. Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees, at $20.03, changed little (-1 cent) in March.
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for January was revised from +119,000 to +148,000, and the change for February was revised from +236,000 to +268,000.
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U.S. stocks continue to play red light green light. The only difference is that financials and materials outperformed staples and health care. Energy is a dog that don’t hunt.
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Global Macro Monitor 