Momentum Book Update
- Posted by Leigh Drogen
- on February 20th, 2010
The market is one again trading above rising 20 and 50 day moving averages, a huge feat. I had expected serious resistance up around the 20 day moving average which we blew through in short order. Consolidation of this move is still warranted as we are in overbought territory short term. The $SPY stochastics are reading 95, signaling that the market needs a break, but shows excellent momentum to the upside. It’s completely possible that we are in store for a July type squeeze that pushes up up to and past the rally highs. The financials which had been the major poison afflicting this market are now trading back above major support levels.
The dollar / equity correlation continues to fade in and out. Net short positions in the Euro have reached all time highs, which leads me to believe that a $EURUSD squeeze could be the catalyst that fuels the next run in this market. The Euro is in a bear market to be sure, trading below all major declining moving averages. I’ll be looking for a counter trend rally up to the declining 50 day moving average as several momentum divergences are visible, especially in the RSI reading.
It was an excellent week for the momentum portfolio, I picked up a little over 70 basis points of alpha while holding 20%+ cash in a surging market that was up 2.87%. I struggled to keep myself from selling positions all week, but was able to hold off and enjoy the great momentum.
Major wins this week include $ARUN, $CPLA, and $PCLN which gapped up on earnings and continued to run. $CREE, $CTXS and $DLM also saw very strong weeks.
The only disappointment this week came on Thursday after hours when $LOPE reported earnings and was smacked around. I held on as there was no ability to get out after hours on the thin issue and sold out Friday afternoon a few cents above where I entered last week.
I sold 1/3 of my position in $ARUN on Friday afternoon as it surged 15%. Partial profits were also taken in $DLM on Wednesday as it surged past 12.50.
I’m getting a little bored in $IPXL, another 3 days or so is about all I’m going to give this position to move. It continues to hold the 20 day moving average and the setup is still strong.
I have zero exposure to the energy and materials sectors and the patterns are too messy right now and the $USDX continues to climb. The portfolio is still heavily weighted towards technology and service names.
On a low volume pull back early next week I’ll be looking to put some of that 20% cash position to work.
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Leigh Drogen is the founder and chief investment officer of Surfview Capital, LLC, a New York based investment management firm employing an intermediate term long/short momentum strategy. More »
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