4.3.24: Short Selling Activity Highest in 6 Months
For Public Readers: Weekly Key U.S. and China brief market notes by Larry Cheung's Analyst Staff Team for our Public Email List
Make sure to check out Interactive Brokers above as idle cash now will yield more than 4.5% as the Fed just raised rates.
Key Investing Resource: Strategist Larry uses Interactive Brokers as his core brokerage. Feel free to check out IB. I currently park excess cash at Interactive Brokers. Check it out. It’s a great brokerage.
In our emails, we will provide the following coverage points:
Brief Overview of U.S. & China Markets
Macro Chart in Focus
U.S. & China Upcoming Economic Calendar
Chart That Caught Our Eye
U.S and China Markets Brief Snapshot 🇺🇸 🇨🇳
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S&P 500 Index: 5,223.60
KWEB (Chinese Internet) ETF: $26.85
Analyst Team Note:
Short selling on individual US-listed stocks reached its highest level in six months, specifically in the tech, telecom, and media sector, which accounted for approximately 75% of the increase.
This trend comes in the wake of a significant 9% rise in the S&P 500 during the first quarter, which also saw the highest number of record closing highs since 2017.
Macro Chart In Focus
Analyst Team Note:
US companies increased their hiring efforts in March, marking the largest growth since July, with private payrolls rising by 184,000.
Wage growth saw a notable acceleration, especially among job changers, with a 10% increase from the previous year, while workers who remained in their positions experienced a 5.1% median wage increase.
Upcoming Economic Calendar
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U.S Economic Calendar (Upcoming Data Points)
China Economic Calendar (Upcoming Data Points)
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Analyst Team Note:
In March, growth in the US services sector slowed for the second consecutive month. At the same time, prices paid for materials and services fell to a four-year low, suggesting easing price pressures in the services sector.
Chart That Caught Our Eye
Analyst Team Note:
In Q4, corporate profits before taxes in the US reached $3.8 trillion on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, marking a notable 16.5% increase for the quarter and a 7.5% rise YoY.
However, these figures include losses from Federal Reserve Banks, which amounted to $126 billion on an annualized basis during the same period. When these Fed losses are excluded, corporate profitability becomes more consistent, with profits having increased for nine consecutive quarters since a slight decline in the third quarter of 2021.
Sentiment Check
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