From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

The US Dollar Index’s $DXY break toward fresh lows resembles a defiant crawl more than an earnest march.

An image of dragging my children away from the toy aisle flashes across my mind.

(Actually, I let them walk around the store with their toy of choice. And then, we ditch the item before checkout after a couple rounds of negotiations. It works quite well – no screaming involved.) 

But while the DXY drags its feet, the individual currencies that comprise the index are picking up the pace. 

The Swiss franc is ripping. The euro is posting fresh 52-week highs. And the British pound is hitting our upside objective.

Our initial target for the pound marks a logical level of resistance.

But since the Dollar Index broke down less than a week ago, could the pound slice through this...

This is the video recording of the July 2023 Mid-month Conference Call.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

The US Dollar Index $DXY has resumed its march toward fresh lows.

It took a less direct route, meandering sideways for the past seven months.

Nevertheless, our roadmap for a DXY breakdown has remained useful.

The EUR/USD is trading above 1.08. And commodity currencies are recapturing their July pivot lows from last summer. 

These are key developments that support further USD weakness, leading us toward today’s breakdown.  

Thanks to sellers taking control of the market, today’s session is offering another critical piece of confirming evidence…

An oversold reading on the 14-day RSI.

Notice DXY never registered an RSI print below 30, even during the strong selloff last fall.

Wednesday’s oversold reading marks a significant shift in momentum....

While many investors have been focused on arbitrary lagging indicators like the economy, we rather keep our attention on reality.

We're grown adults. We don't need bedtime stories to go to sleep at night. So fairytales about recessions, or inflations, or bidens are just not anything we're interested in.

We get paid to sell things at higher prices than where we buy them.

And the bet we've been making for a long time is that the negative correlation between the US Dollar and stocks will remain in place.

That bet has paid off handsomely for us and anyone listening.

So as investors we all have a choice. Do we bet that the correlation is all of a sudden going to change tomorrow? Or do we bet that things just remain the same?

...

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

First stop, Singapore!

Steve Strazza and Sean McLaughlin are headed east on a whirlwind tour of Asia.

I must admit, I’m a bit jealous. And I’m not the jealous type!

They’ll visit seven cities over the course of the next month, meeting traders and financial professionals from the tip of the Malay Peninsula all the way to Japan.

I can’t physically travel with them, but I can live vicariously through their stories and videos, and, of course, my charts…

Check out the US dollar/Singapore dollar pair:

It’s not a bad time for Strazza and Sean to be in Singapore with greenbacks in their pockets.

Sure, it’s well off its September 2022 highs.

But it’s challenging the upper bounds of an eight-month range and looks poised to resolve higher.

If and when the USD/SGD breaks above 1.3575, I’m long with an initial target of 1.3875.  

I doubt the USD/SGD will...

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Most emerging market currencies have been in beast mode.

The Chinese yuan is a notable exception.

In fact, most Asian currencies haven’t fared well against the dollar over the trailing three months.

Latin American and Eastern European currencies – mainly the Brazilian real and the Mexican peso – are driving these markets.  

Analyzing these currencies through the Emerging Currency Fund $CEW as it makes new 52-week highs is useful.

But I’m more interested in the Chinese yuan as it slips and slides against the dollar.

Why? 

China represents the world’s second-largest economy.

And, based on the charts, the yuan could provide valuable insight into the direction of US stocks…

Check out the relationship of the US dollar to the offshore yuan, or the renminbi (USD/CNH):

The USD/CNH is the...

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Tuesday night we held our June Monthly Conference Call, which Premium Members can access and rewatch here.

In this post, we’ll do our best to summarize it by highlighting five of the most important charts and/or themes we covered, along with commentary on each.

Let’s get right into it!

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Dollar bulls, be warned!

The US Dollar Index $DXY is sliding toward the lower bounds of a multi-month range. 

Yes, it’s still a sideways mess. And it will remain a mess as long as its former support level holds.

But based on the most recent data, my money is on a downside resolution for King Dollar.

Especially when I consider last week’s breakout in Canadian dollar futures…

Besides the DXY trading below 101, I’ve monitored two key data points for confirmation of continued dollar weakness:

• the euro trading above 1.08, as it constitutes over 57% of the DXY (though recently it’s challenged a 1.10 handle); and
• commodity currencies, including the Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand dollars, reclaiming their respective July pivot lows.

It’s difficult to imagine the DXY ripping higher if its dominant component is completing a bearish-to-bullish reversal. Which the euro is.

Check.

This is the video recording of the June 2023 Mid-month Conference Call.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Markets are bracing for tomorrow’s FOMC decision – including the dollar.

That’s right – we have more indecisive action on tap. Let’s call it the knee-jerk before the knee-jerk, with a little help from today’s May CPI print. 

Interest rates, the US Dollar Index $DXY, and gold have yet to make a decisive directional move.

To be fair, most markets are trading within their respective year-to-date ranges (except the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, of course).

But if we turn to emerging market currencies, we don’t see any sign of hesitation…

Check out our EM Commodity Currency Index (equally weighting the Mexican peso, the Brazilian real, the Chilean peso, and the South African rand) posting new 52-week highs after violating a long-term downtrend line at the beginning of the year:

...

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Petrocurrencies and crude oil futures are diverging.

The currencies that benefit most from higher oil prices refuse to roll with crude’s steady decline. 

Perhaps it’s more about the US dollar than a handful of currencies tied to oil’s supply and demand dynamic.

But with OPEC up to its old tricks again – Saudi Arabia announced deeper production cuts last weekend – the question arises…

Is crude oil due for a bounce?

Check out the overlay chart of our petrocurrency index and crude oil futures:

Crude oil posted a key pivot high a week after our index bottomed in late September. Since then, these markets have taken separate paths.

Yes, correlations tend to come and go. It’s the natural rhythm of the markets. Yet past divergences have ultimately corrected over time. 

Our currency index led crude off the bottom in early 2016. It also peaked well before the 2018 and 2022 tops in...

This is the video recording of our June 5th Monthly Charts Live Strategy Session