Global Market Comments
May 21, 2020
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(MAY 20 BIWEEKLY STRATEGY WEBINAR Q&A),
(GLD), (SDS), (TSLA), (VIX), (ROM), (SPY),
(TLT), (TBT), (DRI), (CCI), (BOTZ)
(TESTIMONIAL)
Posts
Below please find subscribers’ Q&A for the Mad Hedge Fund Trader May 20 Global Strategy Webinar broadcast from Silicon Valley, CA with my guest and co-host Bill Davis of the Mad Day Trader. Keep those questions coming!
Q: Do you believe chairman Powell when he says no negative rates?
A: I do believe that he does not want negative rates—that would be hugely detrimental to the economy. Europe and Japan have been trying them for the last ten years and they absolutely do not work. When it costs something to deposit money in the bank, people take it out of the financial system and hide it under their mattresses or buy gold (GLD). Although Powell doesn’t want negative rates, he may not have a choice; the market’s already taking them there in the futures market one year out. If we do get a big second wave of corona in the fall, and we do go to new lows in the stock market, and unemployment goes to new highs, negative rates will happen on their own whether Powell wants them or not.
Q: What is your best metric for determining when this bounce is over?
A: We passed those metrics on when a normal bounce is over weeks and weeks ago, and it just keeps going up. If you’ll notice, I have no stocks right now. I have some balanced long and short stock indexes but that’s it. My big trade is short bonds. When an asset class is no longer attractive, avoid it like Covid-19.
Q: What range should I wait for to buy the Proshares Ultra Short S&P 500 ETF (SDS)?
A: I’m really only using (SDS) as a hedge to limit the risk on much bigger long positions that I may have. (SDS) doesn’t lend itself to normal technical analysis because it is an artificial construct.
Q: What price to get into Tesla (TSLA)?
A: If you look at the Tesla chart, it's almost exactly the same as all of the other FANGS, as it’s essentially becoming the next FANG. So, they will trade with the FANGS for that reason, at least in the short term. Don’t buy it here, wait for the next major selloff to $600 or so. We actually had a bunch of concierge customers to buy long term leaps under $500 dollars in March, and they got 500% returns in 3 weeks.
Q: Why didn’t we just buy the ProShares Ultra Technology ETF (ROM) and go to sleep for five years?
A: If you recall, I was actually recommending just that in March when (ROM) was trading in the $80s, and we actually had a (ROM) position that we got stopped out of. The (ROM) is the 2x long technology ETF that's gone from $80 to $160 since the market bottomed almost 2 months ago.
Q: Why do you keep using deep in the money put spreads and call spreads?
A: You use them when volatility is very high like it is now—right now the Volatility Index (VIX) is at $28. The normal price is at $14 or $15, and we’ve just come down from $80. Even in the high $20s, you still get huge payoffs (like 10% a month) per call and put spread. As long as (VIX) is that high, we’ll keep doing them. They are also the perfect trade to have in range trading markets like we’ve had for the past month. They give you a nice extra kicker on your P&L.
Q: What is the worst-case scenario?
A: We get a second wave of the virus, another couple hundred thousand Americans die, the stock market goes to new lows, and we have a presidential election. How’s that for a worst-case scenario? Other than that, how is your day going?
Q: Do you trade pre and post market?
A: No; I used to when I ran my hedge fund, but I don’t do anything now if it’s beyond the capability of most individuals. I only want to put out trade alerts that people can get done. So, I'm only trading US hours. The reason you trade overseas is that you always get the highest highs and lowest lows in the Asian markets. During the late 1990s, I was the number one or two volume trader in the Singapore futures market.
Q: Do you think the 200-day moving average will be substantial resistance to the market?
A: I think absolutely yes, and I also believe that the only downside trigger for a major breakdown in the market is a second corona wave.
Q: If we get negative interest rates, would (SDS) fall?
A: No, (SDS) is a 2X bear (SPY) ETF that would go through the roof because negative rates would only happen if the stock market was collapsing. You might get a double on (SDS) on a second corona wave and negative interest rates. That’s why I’m keeping my position.
Q: Could the market just keep going up with no major pullbacks if the Fed keeps stimulating the economy?
A: Yes, and that’s what has been happening. Jerome Powell has said that the Fed’s ability to borrow is unlimited, therefore the amount of stimulus they can keep throwing is also unlimited, and if that’s what happens, all of that money will go into financial assets, even if the real economy is in utter freefall (which it has been). You can’t rule out anything these days. You always have to trade with the belief that anything can happen at any time.
Q: I need help setting up Long term Equity Participation Securities (LEAPS). Is there a video on that?
A: You can take all the educational videos we have on call spreads and put spreads, and everything applies exactly the same, except that instead of doing a one-month maturity, you do a two-year maturity. If you play around with the maturity tab on your platform, you can find the longest dated maturity on each option series. Sometimes, it’s only a year, sometimes all the way up to 2.5 years.
Q: Are there any other options besides the United States Treasury Bond Fund (TLT) to short the bond market?
A: Yes, there’s the ProShares Ultra Short 20 Year Treasury ETF (TBT); that’s a 2x short bond market ETF. But you don’t get anywhere near the leverage that we have in the (TLT) put options spreads.
Q: Do you expect a return in inflation with all the stimulus going on?
A: Absolutely yes; food prices have already increased 20%—that will be a big inflationary push. Another $14 trillion in government QE and spending hitting the economy is also highly inflationary. And a lot of the price cuts which fueled deflation are ending as global supply chains are cut and the US food distribution system breaks down.
Q: Is the Great Depression on the table?
A: We are in a Great Depression now that is already far worse than the last one, except that this one will be shorter than the decade seen in the 1930s.
Q: How long will it take for unemployment to recover to the December 2019 3.5% unemployment lows?
A: We will never get back to those lows. A lot of that was over employment (artificial employment), with a lot of temporary marginal workers being picked up. And the net effect of the epidemic will be to make businesses forcibly more efficient; that means getting a lot more done with a lot fewer workers. So, I don't think we’ll ever see that 3.5% rate again. Economists are predicting that the next new low in unemployment may be 5% or 6%, and even that could take 2 or 3 years to get there.
Q: Will the market soar on vaccine news?
A: Well probably not; I would bet that two-thirds of any real vaccines are already in the price. We are getting vaccine announcements every day and the market is immediately discounting it, so when we actually do get the real thing, we may get a rally of only a few days and that’s it. We also won’t know for many months if it is real and is moved to mass production.
Q: If you would buy one restaurant, what would it be?
A: None; I would not touch the restaurants here with a 10-foot pole. None of the restaurant chains have any prospect of making a profit, except for maybe the ones that already had takeout models like Subway or Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG). Some hedge funds are buying Darden (DRI), but with their money, not mine.
Q: Should I double my short position in volatility (VIX)?
A: No, not down here, especially after a huge run in the stock market like we had—a 40% rise off the bottom. If we do get above $50 though, I will be shorting volatility then.
Q: I bought the (BOTZ) AI and robotics ETF, on your recommendation—it’s now almost double off the lows. What should I do with it now?
A: Short term, take profits, long term keep it. I think the (BOTZ) doubles again from these levels, and I know some of you out there bought LEAPS on the (BOTZ) at the lows and you’re up 1,000% on those. If you have a 1,000% profit take it, you probably won’t get another one in your lifetime.
Q: Time to refi the house?
A: No, I think refi rates are artificially high now (and totally out of line with the bond market) because the default rate is so high—8%. Once that default rate starts to drop, the interest rate on mortgages should also fall, and I think you could see 2.5% on the 30-year fixed rate mortgage. Europe has had 0% rates for almost 10 years, and their home mortgages are at 2%, so that’s ultimately how low we could go.
Q: Are you worried about the debt related to Crown Castle International (CCI)?
A: No because they’re putting all the debt to good use and they can always refi at lower rates. There is no question that the demand for cell phone towers is going to be enormous—epidemic or not, because of the roll-out of 5G phones.
Good Luck and Stay Healthy.
John Thomas
CEO & Publisher
The Diary of a Mad Hedge Fund Trader
Global Market Comments
May 18, 2020
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(MARKET OUTLOOK FOR THE WEEK AHEAD, or THE MARKET IS BRACKETED)
(SPY), (TLT), (VIX), (DIS)
We are all living the Bill Murray movie “Groundhog Day” over and over again. Every day seems to blend seamlessly into the next, ad infinitum.
I think it’s Monday, but I’m not sure. The stock market is open so that must mean it’s Monday to Friday. The trash goes out tomorrow, so it might be Tuesday. No, wait! CBS 60 Minutes was on last night, so it has to be Monday. Maybe.
When a Marine Corp 60mm mortar team zeros in on a target, it is said to be “bracketed.” No matter which way the enemy goes, he gets blown up.
The S&P 500 is now “bracketed”.
If it falls, the support of the free Fed put option kicks in to limit the damage via QE infinity. If the market tries to rally, it is capped by the worst economic data in history, last week joined by a new trade war with China.
Who is the enemy that gets destroyed in this military metaphor? Anyone betting on an imminent upside or downside breakout, especially those who are long the Volatility Index (VIX).
That means the thousands who follow the Mad Hedge Fund Trader have just been given a money-printing machine, a new rich uncle.
For every time the market rallies, you simply buy a vertical bear put option spread in the front month with strikes prices well outside the bracketed area as I did last week with (DIS). When it dives, you strap on vertical bull call spreads, as I did last week with the (DIS) and the (SPY). Then you laugh all the way to the bank.
We could be bracketed a long time. The early data from opening-up states is that consumers returning to stores only amounts to a ruinous 7% of pre-pandemic levels. That suggests the Unemployment Rate will soar to 30% or more before it peaks, exceeding the Great Depression apex. There are easily another 10 million that haven’t been counted yet because the state benefit processors are so slow.
However, as long as we are bracketed, I reckon I can make 10% a month, as I already have done from the Middle of April and in May.
It is not a riskless strategy.
The day an actual vaccine is announced, the market Dow Average could soar by 3,000 points in a day, wiping out the shorts. The White House has been declaring this on a daily basis. But until we get a vaccine the market believes, we will remain bracketed. That could take years, if ever.
Dr. Fauci triggered a 1,000-point market dive with his sobering analysis of the course of the pandemic in the coming months. Don’t count on going back to school in the fall.
No “V” for the economy, said the Fed. The job losses are a complete economic disaster that will take years to recover from. That’s the opinion of Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari. The president just said Corona deaths will reach 100,000. Buzzkill. Do you think the stock market will notice?
Fed funds futures are discounting negative interest rates in a year. They say they don’t want negative rates but may not have a choice. The markets may go there without them. The disruptions to the financial service will be enormous. Do you really want to pay the bank to deposit your hard-earned money?
Fed Governor Powell warns the worst is yet to come, and the need for more stimulus is paramount. However, negative interest rates which failed in Europe and Japan won’t work here either. The problem is rampant fear, not the overnight cost of funds.
Weekly Jobless Claims are still soaring, up 3 million on the week to 36.5 million. It’s going to get worse before it gets better. The Fed is targeting a peak of 36.5 million. Connecticut is the worst-performing state, California the best.
Stan Druckenmiller says stocks are the most overvalued in his career, says my former client, one of the best traders in the market. My friend David Tepper says they’re the most expensive since 1999. It may be splitting hairs, but how much do you want to own here? Keep those shorts!
Another death knell for US Treasury bonds (TLT) as the April budget deficit soars to $738 billion. That is an $8.85 trillion annual rate. Overissuance is about to destroy deflation big time.
Retail Sales collapse by 16.4%, the worst on record in another Great Depressionary data release. The stock market is starting to lean towards a view that the economy will take years to recover, not months. I’m somewhere in the middle.
A new trade war with China heats up, with the president banning more export items, especially chips for telecom giant Huawei. I guess our economy isn’t bad enough. Knock another few thousand off the Dow.
When we come out on the other side of this, we will be perfectly poised to launch into my new American Golden Age, or the next Roaring Twenties. With interest rates at zero, oil at $0 a barrel, and many stocks down by three quarters, there will be no reason not to. The Dow Average will rise by 400% or more in the coming decade.
My Global Trading Dispatch performance had another fabulous week, up an awesome +11.26%, and blasting us up to a new eleven-year all-time high of 20%. It has been one of the most heroic performance comebacks of all time.
My aggressive short bond positions gave back some money on the ‘RISK OFF” posture for the week. However, we offset those losses and a lot more on longs in bonds and shorts in the (SPY) and Walt Disney (DIS).
That takes my 2020 YTD return up to +7.29%. That compares to a loss for the Dow Average of -16.89%. My trailing one-year return exploded to 48.47%. My eleven-year average annualized profit returned to +34.59%.
The only numbers that count for the market are the number of US Coronavirus cases and deaths, which you can find here.
On Monday, May 18 at 10:00 AM, the NAHB Housing Market Index for May is released.
On Tuesday, May 19 at 8:30 AM, US Housing Starts for April are printed. Home Depot (HD) and Walmart (WMT) report.
On Wednesday, May 20, at 10:30 AM, weekly EIA Crude Oil Stocks are published. Target (TGT) and Lowes (LOW) report.
On Thursday, May 21 at 8:30 AM, Weekly Jobless Claims are announced. NVIDIA (NVDA) reports.
On Friday, May 22, the Baker Hughes Rig Count follows at 2:00 PM. Alibaba (BABA) reports.
As for me, I am headed back up to Incline Village, NV, a town completely free of Covid-19. The village is thinking of barring entry to all non-residents. Maybe it’s the fresh air.
Stay healthy.
John Thomas
CEO & Publisher
The Diary of a Mad Hedge Fund Trader
Global Market Comments
May 14, 2020
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(TEN UGLY MESSAGES FROM THE BOND MARKET),
(TLT), (TBT), (USO), (GLD), (GS), (SPY)
The global bond markets have been screaming an ugly message at us loud and clear, and I’m afraid that it’s not a positive one.
Amazingly, US Treasury bonds have soared early this year, taking the (TLT) up a stunning 40 points.
In the meantime, stocks have suffered the sharpest crash in history, plunging ten times faster than the worst days of the 1929 crash, down 37%.
The implications for your investment portfolio are so momentous and far-reaching that I am going to have to list them one by one.
Read them and weep:
1) The US is in a severe depression.
2) The pandemic is not even close to ending. US deaths topped 85,000 yesterday and may triple from here.
3) The presidential election has become a major source of instability, and no one has any idea of how this will all end. Trump is currently trying to bankrupt the US Post Office to frustrate mail-in voting.
4) The immigration crisis is reaching a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions. It has become our Syria, which landed four million immigrants in Europe.
5) The stock market is in the process of crashing…. Again, failing dramatically at the 200-day moving average. That “Sell in May” thing may work big time this year.
6) The Trump trade is toast. Financials, commodity, energy, coal, and industrial stocks are leading the charge to the downside.
7) Oil (USO) is in free fall and may go negative again, another classic recession predictor. For the first time in history. Most small and medium-sized energy companies will go under. Coal has dropped to a historic low of 19% of US electricity production, less than total alternative sources, and is never coming back.
8) Bitcoin is rocketing, up an eye-popping 100% since the crash began. This has become the big hot money trade of 2020 in addition to that other great flight to safety trade, gold (GLD).
9) The US dollar (UUP) is flatlining, wiping out the growth of the foreign earnings of US multinationals. Foreign economies are collapsing even faster than ours, taking their interest rates and currencies lower at warp speed.
10) The unemployment rate, now at all-time lows, not bottom out for months. The great irony here is that while the president vociferously campaigned on an aggressive jobs program, he may well preside over the biggest job losses in history. The Fed is targeting total unemployment of 52 million, worst than the Great Depression.
For more on this, please read my recent piece, “Why You Will Lose Your Job in the Next Five Years and What to Do About It” by clicking here.
There is another alternative explanation to all of this.
A certain Monty Python sketch about a parrot comes to mind.
That all we saw a giant short squeeze in the hedge funds’ core short position in bonds for the umpteenth time, and that we are almost done.
Hedge funds have grown in size to where they are now the perfect contrary market indicator. It is the classic “Too many people in one side of the canoe” trade. A Yogi Berra quote comes to mind; “Nobody goes there anymore because it is too crowded.”
There are other structural factors at play here which are hard to beat. For more on this, please read my opus on “Why Are Bond Yields So Low” by clicking here.
Long Bonds are About to Take a Chainsaw to Your Portfolio
Global Market Comments
May 11, 2020
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(MARKET OUTLOOK FOR THE WEEK AHEAD, or THE NEXT GOLDEN AGE HAS ALREADY STARTED)
(TLT), (TBT), (SPY), (INDU), (VIX),
(DAL), (BRK/A), (LUV), (AA), (UAL)
I always get my best ideas when hiking up a steep mountain carrying a heavy backpack.
Yesterday, I was just passing through the 9,000-foot level on the Tahoe Rim Trail when suddenly, the fog lifted and the skies cleared. I was hit with an epiphany.
It was my “AHA” moment.
The next American Golden Age, the next Roaring Twenties, started on March 23.
However, you have to dive deep into investor psychology to reach that astonishing conclusion.
The conundrum of the day is why stocks are trading at a plus 30X multiple two months into a Great Depression. The economic data has been so horrific that the mainstream news has been reporting them.
Some 30 million unemployed on the way to 51 million? Those are Fed numbers, not mine (click here for the link ). Over 52% of small businesses going bankrupt in the next six months? A GDP that is shrinking at an amazing -40% annualized rate?
Yet, we have a Dow Average that has risen a breathtaking 38% in six weeks. The market has essentially dropped 38% and risen 38% over three months, with the Volatility Index (VIX) making a brief visit to the $80 handle.
To understand these massive contradictions, you have to understand what investors think they are buying. They are not hoovering up stocks that are cheap, offer value, or at the bottom of an economic cycle.
Instead, they are investing in a hope, a vision, an expectation that the coming decade will bring a major economic boom. Yes, they are buying my coming American Golden Age.
Only 10% of the value of a stock is reflected in current year earnings, according to Dr. Jeremy Siegal at the Wharton School of Economics (click here to go to the site). The other 90% is in the following nine years. Investors have written off this year’s earnings and are paying up for the following nine.
Long term followers of this newsletter are well aware of my approaching forecast of the next Roaring Twenties (click here for the link).
Except that this time we have a catapult, the pump-priming effects of the pandemic. The government has stepped in with $14 trillion worth of fiscal and monetary stimulus. Creative destruction is taking place at an exponential rate. Companies have to become hyper-efficient overnight or die.
It’s not rocket science. More than 85 million millennials are aging into their peak spending years, buying homes, cars, and all the luxuries of life. Every time this has happened for the past century, US economic growth leaped to 4%.
It happened in the 1920s, the 1960s, the 1990s, and is about to take place in the 2020s. And with each pop in growth, the stock market rises about 400%. Look at your long-term charts and you’ll see I’m dead right.
That takes us from the March 23 Dow Average low at 18,000 up to 72,000 by 2030, except that it’s a low number. Throw in the hyper-acceleration of innovation by the technology and biotech sectors, a Dow 120,000 is within reach.
You may recall that number from my marketing pitches, except that this time it’s happening. In a decade you are going to look like an absolute genius by following the recommendation of the Mad Hedge Fund Trader.
It also means that we may not see market corrections of any more than 10% this year. That would take us down to a Dow Average of 22,500, and an (SPX) of 2,600 in the coming months. That’s where you should jump in and buy with both hands. The only way I would be wrong is if the US epidemic explodes to unimaginable levels, which is not impossible.
Last week, U-6 unemployment rates exploding to a stratospheric 22.8%. The rate was far higher among high school graduates, but only 8% for college grads. Some 20.2 million lost jobs, ten times the previous record, and more than seen during the Great Depression. The BLS (click here) said the true figure was probably 5% higher due to counting anomalies and a huge backlog of data. And this is just the beginning. The good news is that next month, only 10 million jobs will be lost.
NASDAQ (QQQ) turned positive for 2020, and the followers who piled into tech LEAPS at the March bottom are eternally grateful. Tech and biotech are the only places to be. Everywhere else is a waste of time and money. The entire country is turning into a tech economy or going out of business. Buy tech on dips.
Warren Buffet sold all his airline shares, taking a major loss, including Delta (DAL), Southwest (LUV), American (AA) and United (UAL). The Fed’s $50 billion airline bailout blocked him from making a real killing. His Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/A) (click here) owned close to 10% of all of them. The complete collapse of tourism and business travel are the issues. He sees no recovery in the foreseeable future. They don’t call him the “Oracle of Omaha” for nothing.
US Auto Sales are down a mind-blowing -48% in April, the worst on record. Only 8.6 million cars were sold in the US against last year’s annual rate of 17 million. Toyota and Honda saw the biggest falls as their ships can’t unload due to lack of storage space.
The US Treasury will borrow $3 Trillion this Quarter to fund the massive bailout programs. Announced programs amount to 20 times the $789 billion 2009 rescue package, which Republicans opposed. I’m increasing my bond shorts. Sell short (TLT) again, even if we don’t get a decent rally. Oh, and Trump is threatening a default too. He doesn’t see the connection.
Bonds crashed on massive issuance, with the Treasury announcing a record 20-year bond floatation. Yields hit a one-month high. With the (TLT) down $18 from its recent high, I am taking profits on my bond shorts. I’ll be selling the next rally….again. This could be my core trade for the next decade.
Consumer Debt soared to $14.3 trillion in Q1, a new all-time high. A lot of people are living on their credit cards right now.
Trump threatens to cancel China trade deal, blaming them for Covid-19, sending stocks into a 400-point dive. The last time he did this, shares plunged 20%. It’s all part of an effort to divert attention from the administration’s disastrous handling of the pandemic. America’s Corona deaths are now 20 times China’s, and they are still an emerging nation. Just what we needed, a renewed trade war on top of a pandemic-caused Great Depression, as if the market needed more uncertainty. Sell rallies in the (SPY)
When we come out on the other side of this, we will be perfectly poised to launch into my new American Golden Age, or the next Roaring Twenties. With interest rates at zero, oil at $0 a barrel, and many stocks down by three quarters, there will be no reason not to. The Dow Average will rise by 400% or more in the coming decade.
My Global Trading Dispatch performance had one of the best weeks in years again, up a gob-smacking +6.46%. We are now only 0.65% short of a new all-time high.
My aggressive short bond positions came in big time on the back of theannounced $3 trillion in new debt issuance in Q2. Short bonds are far and away the better quality trade of buying stocks at these elevated levels.
May is up +6.46%, taking my 2020 YTD return up to 2.59%. That compares to a loss for the Dow Average of -13.43% from the February top. My trailing one-year return exploded to 43.77%. My ten-year average annualized profit returned to +34.14%.
This week, Q1 earnings reports continue, and so far, they are coming in much worse than the most dire forecasts. We also get the monthly payroll data, which should be heart-stopping to say the list.
The only numbers that count for the market are the number of US Coronavirus cases and deaths, which you can find here.
On Monday, May 11 at 10:00 AM, the April US Inflation Expectations are out. Caesar’s Entertainment (CZR) and Marriot International (MAR) report earnings.
On Tuesday, May 12 at 5:00 PM, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for April is released. Toyota Motors (TM) reports earnings.
On Wednesday, May 13 at 9:30 AM, the ever fascinating weekly Cushing Crude Oil Stocks is announced. Cisco Systems (CSCO) reports earnings.
On Thursday, May 14 at 8:30 AM, we get another blockbuster Weekly Jobless Claims. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) reports earnings.
On Friday, May 15 at 7:30, AM the Empire State Manufacturing Index is published. The Baker Hughes Rig Count follows at 2:00 PM.
As for me, I’ll continue my solo circumlocution of the 160 mile Tahoe Rim Trail every afternoon in ten-mile segments. Why solo? Do you know anyone else who wants to hike 160 miles at 10,000 feet in two weeks?
Stay healthy.
John Thomas
CEO & Publisher
The Diary of a Mad Hedge Fund Trader
We Had a 3 Month Warning of the Pandemic and Did Nothing
Global Market Comments
May 8, 2020
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(MAY 6 BIWEEKLY STRATEGY WEBINAR Q&A),
(UNG), (UAL), (DAL), (INDU), (SPY), (SDS),
(P), (BA), (TWTR), (GLD), (TLT), (TBT)
Below please find subscribers’ Q&A for the Mad Hedge Fund Trader May 6 Global Strategy Webinar broadcast from Silicon Valley, CA with my guest and co-host Bill Davis of the Mad Day Trader. Keep those questions coming!
Q: What broker do you use? The last four bond trades I couldn’t get done.
A: That is purely a function of selling into a falling market. The bond market started to collapse 2 weeks ago. We got into the very beginning of that. We put out seven trade alerts to sell bonds, we’re out of five of them now. And whenever you hit the market with a sell, everyone just automatically drops their bids among the market makers. It’s hard to get an accurate, executable price when a market is falling that fast. The important point is that you were given the right asset class with a ticker symbol and the right direction and that is golden. People who have been with my service for a long time learn how to work around these trade alerts.
Q: Is there any specific catalyst apart from the second wave that will trigger the expected selloff?
A: First of all, if corona deaths go from 2 to 3, 4, 5 thousand a day, that could take us back down to the lows. Also, the market is currently expecting a V-shaped recovery in the economy which is not going to happen. The best we can get is a U-shape and the worst is an L-shape, which is no recovery at all. What if everything opens up and no customers show? This is almost certain to happen in the beginning.
Q: How long will the depression last?
A: Initially, I thought we could get out of this in 3-6 months. As more data comes in and the damage to the economy becomes known, I would say more like 6-9, or even 9-12 months.
Q: In natural gas, the (UNG) chart looks like a bullish breakout. Does it seem like a good trade?
A: No, the energy disaster is far from over. We still have a massive supply/demand gap. And with (UNG), you want to be especially careful because there is an enormous contango—up to 50 or 100% a year—between the spot price and the one-year contract price, which (UNG) owns. Once I saw the spot price of natural gas rise by 40% and the (UNG) fell by 40%. So, you could have a chart on the (UNG) which looks bullish, but the actual spot prices in front month could be bearish. That's almost certainly what’s going to happen. In fact, a lot of people are predicting negative prices again on the June oil contract futures expiration, which comes in a couple of weeks.
Q: What about LEAPS on United (UAL) and Delta (DAL)?
A: I am withdrawing all of my recommendations for LEAPS on the airlines. When Warren Buffet sells a sector for an enormous loss, I'm not inclined to argue with him. It’s really hard to visualize the airlines coming out of this without a complete government takeover and wipeout of all existing equity investors. Airlines have only enough cash to survive, at best, 6-8 months of zero sales, and when they do start up, they will have more virus-related costs, so I would just rather invest in tech stocks. If you’re in, I would get out even if it means taking a loss. They don’t call him the Oracle of Omaha for nothing.
Q: Any reason not to do bullish LEAPS on a selloff?
A: None at all, that is the best thing you can do. And I’m not doing LEAPS right now, I’m putting out lists of LEAPS to buy on a selloff, but I wouldn't be buying any right now. You’d be much better off waiting. Firstly, you get a longer expiration, and secondly, you get a much better price if you could buy a LEAP on a 2,000 or 3,000 point selloff in the Dow Average (INDU).
Q: Would you add the 2X ProShares Ultra Short S&P 500 (SDS) position here if you did not get on the original alert?
A: I would, I would just do a single 10% weighting. But don’t expect too much out of it, maybe you'll get a couple of points. And it’s also a good hedge for any longs you have.
Q: What happens if the second wave in the epidemic is smaller?
A: Second waves are always bigger because they’re starting off with a much larger base. There isn't a scientist out there expecting a smaller second wave than the first one. So, I wouldn't be making any investment bets on that.
Q: Pfizer (P) and others seem close to having a vaccine, moving on to human trials. Does that play into your view?
A: No, because no one has a vaccine that works yet. They may be getting tons of P.R. from the administration about potential vaccines, but the actual fact is that these are much more difficult to develop than most people understand. They have been trying to find an AIDS vaccine for 40 years and a cancer vaccine for 100 years. And it takes a year of testing just to see if they work at all. A bad vaccine could kill off a sizeable chunk of the US population. We’ve been taking flu shots for 30 years and they haven’t eliminated the flu because it keeps evolving, and it looks like coronavirus may be one of those. You may get better antivirals for treatment once you get the disease, but a vaccine is a good time off, if ever.
Q: Is this a good time to buy Boeing (BA)?
A: No, it’s too risky. The administration keeps pushing off the approval date for the 737 MAX because the planes are made in a blue state, Washington. The main customers of (BA), the airlines, are all going broke. I would imagine that their 1,000-plane order book has shrunk considerably. Go buy more tech instead, or a hotel or a home builder if you really want to roll the dice.
Q: How can the market actually drop to the lows, taking massive support from the Fed and further injections into account?
A: I don’t think we will get to new lows, I think we may test the lows. And my argument has been that we give half of the recent gains, which would take us down to 21,000 in the Dow and 2400 in the (SPX). But I've been waiting for a month for that to happen and it's not happening, which is why I've also developed my sideways scenario. That said, a lot of single stocks will go to new all-time lows, such as in retailers (RTF) and airlines (JETS).
Q: Would you stay in a Twitter (TWTR) LEAP?
A: If you have a profit, I would take it.
Q: What about Walt Disney (DIS)?
A: There are so many things wrong with Disney right now. Even though it's a great company for the long term, I'm waiting for more of a selloff, at least another $10. It’s actually rallying today on the earnings report. Around the low $90s I would really love to get into LEAPS on this. I think more bad news has to hit the stock for it to get lower.
Q: Are you continuing to play the (TLT)?
A: Absolutely yes, however, we’re at a level now where I want to take a break, let the market digest its recent fall, see if we can get any kind of a rally to sell into. I’ll sell into the next five-point rally.
Q: Any reason not to do calls outright versus spreads on LEAPS?
A: With LEAPS, because you are long and short, you could take a much larger position and therefore get a much bigger profit on a rise in the stock. Outright calls right now are some of the most expensive they’ve ever been. So, you really need to get something like a $10 or $15 rise in the stock just to break even on the premium that you’re paying. Calls are only good if you expect a very immediate short term move up in the stop in a matter of days. LEAPS you can run for two years.
Q: Is gold (GLD) still a buy?
A: Yes, the fundamental argument for gold is stronger than ever. However, it has been tracking one for one with the stock market lately. That's why I'm staying out of gold—I’d rather wait for a selloff in stocks to take gold down; then I’ll be in there as a buyer.
Q: Should I take profits on what I bought in April and reestablish on a correction?
A: Absolutely. If you have monster profits on a lot of these tech LEAPS you bought in the March/early April lows, then yes, I would take them. I think you will get another shot to buy these cheaper, and by coming out now and coming in later, you get to extend your maturity, which is always good in the LEAPS world.
Q: Would you buy casinos, or is it the same risk as the airlines?
A: I would buy casinos and hotels—they have a greater probability of survival than the airlines and a lot less debt, although they’re going to be losing money for years. I don’t know exactly how the casinos plan on getting out of this.
Q: Should we exit ProShares ultra short 20+ year Treasury Bond Fund (TBT) now?
A: No, that’s more of a longer-term trade. I would hang on to that—you could get from $16 to $20 or $25 in the foreseeable future if our down move in bond continues.
Good Luck and Stay Healthy.
John Thomas
CEO & Publisher
The Diary of a Mad Hedge Fund Trader
