Blog

How Volatile Are US Treasury Bond Yields?

The volatility in global bond markets have generated quite the discussion among market participants. So much so that BlackRock has indicated publicly that their old risk models need to be redone. BlackRock was speaking specifically about the European sovereign bond market but in light of the recent volatility in US treasuries I wanted to contextualize what's happening domestically. Especially considering I went out on a limb regarding the relative-value offered by the US long bond I thought thi

READ MORE →

Composite Sector ETF Valuation Report [6.15.2015]

Check out the updated IPython Notebook where I take a look at changes and trends in ETF valuations using the Implied Cost of Capital model. To learn more about the model and the methodology used see here and here. For reference here is a Table of Contents, but due to some technical issues the TOC is not working properly on the nbviewer.org page. I'll keep working to fix it for the next issue.

READ MORE →

COMPOSITE SECTOR ETF VALUATION UPDATED [5.24.2015]

Check out my updated IPython Notebook where I take a look at changes and trends in ETF valuations using the Implied Cost of Capital model. To learn more about the model and the methodology used see here and here. Composite Sector ETF Valuation updated [5.24.2015]

READ MORE →

Composite Sector ETF Valuation updated [5.10.2015]

Check out my updated IPython Notebook where I take a look at changes and trends in ETF valuations using the Implied Cost of Capital model. To learn more about the model and the methodology used see here and here. Composite Sector ETF Valuation updated [5.10.2015]

READ MORE →

The US Treasury Fakeout

Global bond market volatility was at a relative extreme this week. Following the markets you would see headlines like this: The basic premise being that the world is awash in liquidity and as a result of the prices of government bonds, investment grade bonds (IG), and high yield (HY), have been bid so heavily that the yields of these instruments no longer reflect the credit and/or currency risks associated with the issues. Of particular interest to me was the relentless selling in USD based as

READ MORE →

Sector ETF Valuation Using the Implied Cost of Capital (ICC) Model

This post is part of a series examining the ICC model's use as a valuation tool. I first introduced the topic in this post, where I outlined the following: * how I calculate the ICC formula for use in this sector ETF relative valuation model * my assumptions for the model * expected model output and sanity check * why and how I use the model results to enhance my investing Recently I expanded on the subject by detailing the Python code I use to run the analysis along with my interpretation

READ MORE →

How to get Free Intraday Stock Data from Netfonds

Daily stock data is everywhere for free. Yahoo, Google, and Quandl all provide useful daily stock prices for basic number crunching. However computational analysis for intraday stock data is much harder to find. In fact, Intraday stock data can be very expensive. So what is a cost conscious quant supposed to do? The Norwegian website Netfonds.no provides free intraday data on stocks and ETF's on the NYSE, Nasdaq, and Amex exchanges. They provide up to 5 days of trade/bid/offer data. I wrote som

READ MORE →

How I use Implied Cost of Capital (ICC) as a market valuation tool

What is Implied Cost of Capital? I love the intuition behind the model although I don't use it as proxy for expected returns. I use it as a relative value measure to identify analyst/institutional sentiment between different market sectors at a point in time. The actual calculation of the measure can be somewhat complex and involved. The below equation is the common form of the ICC model. As an active trader my primary concern is practical application and implementation so I simplified an

READ MORE →

Why I bought back into RDC ( UPDATED 3.15.2015 )

I'm going to keep this relatively short and sweet. Back in late December 2014 I bought ( RDC ) at a cost basis of ~$20 for the following reasons: * The bulk of RDC's most critical assets are contracted through 2015 and into 2016 * Strongest balance sheet (lowest debt leverage) compared to other offshore drillers in the industry * Management team considered best in industry * Long term buyers appeared to defend the $20 share price level * At ~$20 the price to book is an absurd 0.5! Simply

READ MORE →

Swiss FX Shock

On January 15, 2015 the Swiss National Bank (SNB) shocked the world with a surprise break away from the Euro peg which caused a cataclysmic revaluation of the relative value of the Euro and Polish Zloty. Some context: During the summer/fall of 2011, in response to the European debt crisis the SNB stunned FX traders ~2.5 years ago when it announced it would peg it's currency to the Euro in an attempt to neutralize the Swiss Franc's (CHF) rapid appreciation due to its safe haven status. The SNB d

READ MORE →

Is Canada a short?

In previous blog posts, I've discussed my bearish stance on the Canadian economy as expressed through ( EWC, FXC ) due to the collapse in global oil prices. My original hypothesis was Canada is a resource/energy based economy and declining oil prices would make the 'expensive' oil produced in the oil sands less attractive economically from a producer/investment standpoint. Let's explore that thesis a little more and see if it's validated by facts. Alberta, Canada contains the 'oil sands' depos

READ MORE →

What I'm Watching ( Week of 12.29.14 )

This week it's simple. I'm watching/waiting for volume to reenter the market and confirm or reject last week's holiday action. Last week ( SPY, DIA, QQQ ) all traded to new 52 week highs with my short target ( EWC ) bouncing significantly in sympathy. ( OIL ) price action appears to have moderated a little in terms of downside volatility; buyers and sellers that remained haven't shown conviction one way or the other yet. There is good reason to be skeptical of last week's broad market moves.

READ MORE →