Capitulation
Comment of the Day

May 13 2022

Commentary by Eoin Treacy

Capitulation

Thanks to a subscriber for this portion of a note from JPMorgan:

the bottom this time won't be a capitulatory puke, but more likely consistent selling which fades as it burns out, to wit:

... signs of a market bottom are unlikely to resemble traditional "capitulation" that’s played out in the last few years. Why? Because traditional capitulation is typically marked by a quick de-grossing by hedge funds + systematic macro strategies, where positioning is already light. Instead, the next leg of de-risking is likely to be more gradual, coming from asset allocators/real money/retail and is therefore likely slower to play out, making a precise bottom more difficult to call.

from a more tactical (i.e. very near term) standpoint, the bank writes that there are multiple metrics that suggest we could be closer to a bounce than before, including:

The magnitude of the drawdown in net and gross exposures (-33% for net and - 30% for gross) in N. America among L/S funds is now similar to the early 2016 and March 2020 declines

Retail flows in single-stocks have been very negative over the past 3 days, which has generally coincided with short-term lows over the past 6 months.

The drawdown in “risky” factors (e.g. high vol, small cap, low profitability) is one of the most extreme of the past 20+ years and the S&P has rallied over the following 1-3 months post hitting similar extremes

Buying of Defensives and selling of Cyclicals is also one of the most extreme with Staples vs. Discretionary in particular looking stretched

Eoin Treacy's view

The significant declines seen in stocks and the return of P/E ratios to average readings have been sufficient to encourage some speculative value buying over the last couple of days. The other side of that argument is oil prices remain firm and the Fed intends to hike rates by an additional 100 basis points before the end of July. Rallies are hard to sustain when liquidity is contracting.

Nevertheless, the 14-year bull market has conditioned investors to buy when the major indices approach the 1000-day MA. When I initially turned bearish in March I was looking for such a move. I took a partial profit on my short on May 4th and placed a break even stop on my new short opened on the 5th today. The first area of potential resistance is the lower side of the overhead range; around the 13000 level.
Bitcoin tested its 1000-day MA yesterday and that long-term trend mean has always been a reliable entry point in the past. That is bound to result in dip buying. However, it is struggling to get back above the $30000 and will need to extend a move above that level to pressure shorts and signal a return to demand dominance.
The ARK Innovation ETF is firming from the region of the 2020 lows, Considering, how deep the short-term oversold condition is, there is a clear scope for a rebound. That’s true even if the medium-term outlook is for type-3 base formation development for as long as rates are rising.
The FTSE-250 rebounded today to confirm a short-term low above the March nadir. That’s the first building block for a recovery.

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