US small caps are finally breaking out of their long pullback as the market recognizes that yields have likely topped, with inflation and Fed worries easing. x.com
Dr. Stoxx
Stock Trader & Author, Oxford DPhil, Trading Education
US small caps stand to gain most as a liquidity regime shift begins. Long-dated Treasuries look to be printing a final bottom, and if yields reverse lower from below 4.8%, better liquidity expectations would support risk assets on cooling inflation, continued earnings and eventual Fed cuts. With SpaceX, new Fed leadership and midterms ahead, yields look set to fall, letting speculative assets catch up in a Goldilocks phase or end-cycle melt-up. Weakening earnings would make it a late-cycle trap. … Show more
Falling rates and buying in financials, consumer discretionary and Home Depot make US small caps a very good buy here with high probability. The drawdown exceeds 11%, as it did at the start of the Iran war, and daily RSI and MACD are at similar bottoms. x.com
Small caps are more sensitive to higher rates, so they will suffer and underperform as yields climb, and today's move is just an oversold bounce. Fed fund futures are at 3.75%, and other Treasury yields are already higher, so the market is effectively there already. Another rate hike may not make much difference on its own, but not every stock can handle this level of rates. x.com
A seasonal bottom ahead of maximum seasonal bullishness favors US small caps now. Stock Traders Almanac says the Russell 2000 is down 11% from its August 14 high and expects small caps to bottom in mid-to-late October before rallying into year-end. x.com
US small caps would benefit if data cools without signaling recession, weakening rate-hike expectations and reviving rate-cut trades. Payrolls of 40,000-70,000 with 4.1-4.2% unemployment would be the ideal mix. ISM services instead came in strong at 55.4, with prices at 72.6 and employment at 47.8, a mild strong-growth, hot-prices, weak-jobs mix; the 10-year yield's rebound to 4.752% weighed on small caps, so this is not yet the ideal rate-cut setup. x.com x.com x.com
High interest rates are hurting US small caps. The Russell 2000 is retesting its May lows even while the Dow is up and the S&P 500 is only slightly lower. x.com
US small caps look as bullish as they possibly could after an insanely clean breakout and retest of a five-year accumulation range, a setup that can run for years, not months. As the highest-risk equity index, the Russell 2000 is a barometer for high-risk assets broadly, and US liquidity is breaking out from its lows at the same time. This is not a bear market; everything should go a lot higher this year. x.com
US large-cap equities are vulnerable because earnings have not caught up with total market capitalization. The market is farther from its 200-week moving average than at any point in 18 years, and cracks are starting to show; staying bullish ignores these risks. Rate hikes remain possible, oil is still high, and yields may climb again, so now is the time for caution. x.com x.com
US stocks and long-duration Treasuries face renewed pressure as the market now looks for the next potential rate hike rather than cuts, which is cause for alarm across the S&P 500, long bonds and small caps. This could be the final correction phase of the downturn that started in October. x.com x.com
US small caps are drawing a rotation that signals the market is quietly going more risk-on. When the Nasdaq and S&P 500 printed their first red daily candles after 14 straight green days, the Russell 2000 still closed higher, showing money moving from large caps into small caps rather than leaving the market. x.com