Julius de Kempenaer

Julius de Kempenaer


Julius is a CMT and the creator of Relative Rotation Graphs™. This unique method to visualize relative strength within a universe of securities first launched on Bloomberg professional services terminals in 2011 and later on StockCharts in 2014. Learn More 

Archived News

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Watch Out For More Weakness In Financials This Week!

Watch Out For More Weakness In Financials This Week!

On the daily Relative Rotation Graph for US sectors, the rotation of Financials stands out. The tail is relatively long, indicating that there is good momentum behind this move, The bad news is that the rotation is taking place inside the weakening quadrant and has almost reached the lagging quadrant....   READ MORE 

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The Staples Sector Is Improving, But Which Stocks Deserve Attention?

The Staples Sector Is Improving, But Which Stocks Deserve Attention?

The Relative Rotation Graph shows the rotation of the stocks in the Consumer Staples sector against XLP, the Consumer Staples sector index. Keen observers may notice that I have left out COTY and CAG because they are very disconnected and distorting the picture. If you click on the image and...   READ MORE 

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Save This Chart To Keep Track Of The Yield Curve Interaction With The Economic Cycle

Save This Chart To Keep Track Of The Yield Curve Interaction With The Economic Cycle

The chart that I want to share with you today is part of a (bigger) research project that I am doing with regard to the various phases in economic cycles and their relation to the (shape of) yield curve. The chart above shows the S&P Index in the...   READ MORE 

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Using Relative Rotation Graphs To Break Down The Bloomberg Commodity Index Family

Using Relative Rotation Graphs To Break Down The Bloomberg Commodity Index Family

This article was published in the RRG blog on 31 January and takes a look at the Bloomberg Commodity Index Groups through the lens of a Relative Rotation Graph. When possible, I prefer to use data-sets that come from the same family and creating a "closed universe." This...   READ MORE 

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Breaking Down The Bloomberg Commodity Index Family On RRG

Breaking Down The Bloomberg Commodity Index Family On RRG

In this article, we are going to take a look at commodities using Relative Rotation Graphs and the Bloomberg commodity index family. When possible, I prefer to use data-sets that come from the same family and creating a "closed universe." This is a universe where all securities on...   READ MORE 

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Real(ly) Good Real-Estate (XLRE) But It Needs To Break Resistance

Real(ly) Good Real-Estate (XLRE) But It Needs To Break Resistance

The Relative Rotation Graph for US sectors shows a remarkably steady rotation for the Real-Estate sector. This is a daily RRG showing a 15 day tail, or three weeks. Yesterday XLRE crossed over into the leading quadrant and is now the only sector inside the leading quadrant at a solidly...   READ MORE 

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Defensive Sectors Starting Positive Rotations Again On Daily Relative Rotation Graphs

Defensive Sectors Starting Positive Rotations Again On Daily Relative Rotation Graphs

The Relative Rotation Graph for US sectors is showing a split picture. On the right, we have Utilities, Real-Estate, Consumer Staples and Healthcare. With the exception of Real-Estate maybe, these are generally accepted as "defensive" sectors. All other sectors (7) are positioned to the left of the benchmark...   READ MORE 

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Water ($DJUSWU) Is The Leading Group Inside The Utilities Sector (XLU)

Water ($DJUSWU) Is The Leading Group Inside The Utilities Sector (XLU)

One of the pages that I often visit on Stockcharts.com is the sector summary. It gives a tabular overview of the price changes that occurred over a certain period (you can choose). From that page, it is possible to open a Relative Rotation Graph that breaks the sector down...   READ MORE 

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New Pre-Defined Groups And A Look At FAANG Stocks On Relative Rotation Graphs

New Pre-Defined Groups And A Look At FAANG Stocks On Relative Rotation Graphs

If you are a regular user of Relative Rotation Graphs you are probably aware of the pre-defined groups (universes) that you can choose from when you open the drop-down box at the top op the chart. In order to make life easier (for our users) and provide structure, I am...   READ MORE 

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SPY Arrived In "Trouble Territory"

SPY Arrived In "Trouble Territory"

After the sharp sell-off in Q4 of last year, the market (SPY) started to recover from its lows near 235. And IMHO it is still a "recovery" before turning down again as opposed to a "turnaround" back up. This weekly chart above clearly shows that the...   READ MORE 

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Long Tail And Strong RRG-Heading For IRM

Long Tail And Strong RRG-Heading For IRM

The Relative Rotation Graph above highlights the rotation of IRM (Iron Mountain Inc.) in comparison to the other stocks in the S&P Real-Estate sector (XLRE). The sector itself is interesting to keep an eye on as it is positioned well inside the leading quadrant but rolling over, at...   READ MORE 

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Relative Rotation Graphs And Factor ETFs

Relative Rotation Graphs And Factor ETFs

It's Friday morning in Amsterdam and I just dropped my daughter off at school. On the way to my office, I usually stop at the local Coffee Company for a cappuccino and reading some, market-related, news, blogs etc. For some reason, I noticed a lot of talk and...   READ MORE 

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This DOW stock is pushing to new relative highs and rotates back into the leading quadrant on the Relative Rotation Graph

This DOW stock is pushing to new relative highs and rotates back into the leading quadrant on the Relative Rotation Graph

Visa is showing up, just, inside the leading quadrant on the Relative Rotation Graph vs $INDU above. These images are zoomed in from the RRG holding all the 30 DJ Industrials stocks (benchmark $INDU). The tail in the chart on the left above shows 30 weeks of rotation and as...   READ MORE 

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Use Relative Rotation Graphs To Get A Handle On International Markets

Use Relative Rotation Graphs To Get A Handle On International Markets

With the US stock market declining investors (may) need to look for alternatives in order to preserve capital. Sure enough, there are good opportunities in the US with bonds, IEF is doing very well, and cash is a very viable alternative if you do not "need" to be...   READ MORE 

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NIFTY (India) As An Alternative For SPY (US Stocks)

NIFTY (India) As An Alternative For SPY (US Stocks)

With the US stock market declining investors (may) need to look for alternatives in order to preserve capital. Sure enough, there are good opportunities in the US with bonds, IEF is doing very well, and cash is a very viable alternative if you do not "need" to be...   READ MORE 

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If the SPY:IEF ratio is going to test its support at the 2015 peaks where do SPY and IEF prices need to go?

If the SPY:IEF ratio is going to test its support at the 2015 peaks where do SPY and IEF prices need to go?

The above chart shows the stocks/bonds ratio using monthly bars since 2004. IMHO this is one of the most useful charts to decide on an important portion of the asset allocation in your portfolio. Should you invest in stocks or in bonds. In other words, "Risk ON"...   READ MORE 

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Okay, So You Rallied 1000 Points...? That Don't Impress Me Much.

Okay, So You Rallied 1000 Points...? That Don't Impress Me Much.

Yesterday, on boxing day, the Dow jumped 1000 points from its 52-week low which, coincidentally, was also set yesterday. Never a dull moment. But, what does it mean? Looking at the weekly chart above, at least IMHO, it means only a (small) recovery of the damage that has been done...   READ MORE 

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Relative Rotation Graph Shows BOB (EXC & WELL) vs WOW (NBL & FTV) Stocks

Relative Rotation Graph Shows BOB (EXC & WELL) vs WOW (NBL & FTV) Stocks

In my previous post, I highlighted both the Real-Estate and the Utilities sectors as (strong) outperformers during this weak period for stocks in general. This "Double + for Utilities and Real Estate on Relative Rotation Graph" pointed to the position inside the leading quadrant for both sectors on both...   READ MORE 

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Utilities are OK but it's better to avoid EIX

Utilities are OK but it's better to avoid EIX

The Utilities sector is acting as a safe haven for a lot of investors that need to park their money in the stock market because they cannot, or are not allowed to, hold all or significant amounts of cash when markets are going down. These are the periods when relative...   READ MORE 

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The Yield Curve And The Business Cycle

The Yield Curve And The Business Cycle

The "Yield Curve" is a term often used in finance and refers to the relationship between (government) bonds with various maturities. The "Normal" relationship between the yield on various maturities is that the longer you lend money to someone. In this case the US government, the...   READ MORE 

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Oh WELL... What Can I Say?

Oh WELL... What Can I Say?

On the Relative Rotation Graph, the Real-estate sector is one of the better performing sectors vis-a-vis the S&P 500 index. The RRG above shows the rotation of all the stocks in XLRE against XLRE. This gives us a picture of the relative positions for all these stocks against...   READ MORE 

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Double + For Utilities And Real Estate On Relative Rotation Graph

Double + For Utilities And Real Estate On Relative Rotation Graph

The market keeps throwing us curve balls on a daily basis. The Relative Rotation Graph above translates these curve balls into (sector-) rotational patterns. The weekly chart above shows continuing strength for Utilities and Real Estate as they continue to move higher on both axes of the RRG. Staples and...   READ MORE 

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Why Is Everybody Talking About The Yield Curve? What Is All The Fuss About?

Why Is Everybody Talking About The Yield Curve? What Is All The Fuss About?

The yield curve has become a popular subject recently. Also, a few commentators on the site have mentioned the yield curve and its recent movements in their blogs recently. Read articles by Chief John, Greg Schnell, and Arthur Hill. In my DITC contribution of 18 October, I showed how Relative...   READ MORE 

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RRG Says Stocks Are The Weakest Asset Class

RRG Says Stocks Are The Weakest Asset Class

The Relative Rotation Graphs shows the rotation of various asset classes around a balance benchmark portfolio (VBINX). The message could not be more clear. Stocks (SPY) just crossed over from weakening into the lagging quadrant while ALL other asset classes are inside the leading quadrant. This is a pretty clear...   READ MORE 

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Plotting breadth indicators on Relative Rotation Graphs - Part II

Plotting breadth indicators on Relative Rotation Graphs - Part II

After finishing the previous article on plotting breadth indicators on Relative Rotation Graphs I have spent hours and hours on studying probably a couple of thousand different RRGs holding various groups of sectors in combination with their breadth equivalents. And although I did not find the perfect prediction tool or...   READ MORE 

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Market is still playing defense!

Market is still playing defense!

The recent rally of the S&P 500 index off the lows near 2600-2625 is nice but is it sustainable? The Relative Rotation Graph above shows the rotation of the 11 SPDR sector ETFs against SPY and the message is very clear! There is a clear split between the...   READ MORE 

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This Technology stock lost 50% of its value but is now hitting support levels.

This Technology stock lost 50% of its value but is now hitting support levels.

The Relative Rotation Graph for the technology stocks in XLK (Technology select sector SPDR) shows one big outlier that recently went through a big rotation. It crossed from improving to leading in June then pushed to a JdK RS-Ratio value over 140 before rolling over. Three weeks ago the rotation...   READ MORE 

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Plotting breadth indicators on Relative Rotation Graphs - Part I

Plotting breadth indicators on Relative Rotation Graphs - Part I

In my contribution to last week's Chartwatchers newsletter, I mentioned my current experiment on using breadth indicators on a Relative Rotation Graph. In this article, I want to take a look at a few of these setups side by side and see if there is indeed a leading...   READ MORE 

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Experimenting with breadth on Relative Rotation Graphs

Experimenting with breadth on Relative Rotation Graphs

Various breadth indicators are used to analyze the underlying strength or weakness of a broad market index like the S&P 500 index or NYSE. Over the years a number of different breadth indicators have been developed and/or used in their work by well known technical analysts. A...   READ MORE 

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Small cap stocks are leading the market lower.

Small cap stocks are leading the market lower.

There are many indexes available to monitor and analyze the stock market. The S&P500, together with Daddy "Dow" being among the more popular ones. But the S&P 500, although covering 500 stocks, is only looking at one segment of the total market. Only large-cap...   READ MORE 

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Using RRG to find some good and some not so good names inside the DJ Industrials index.

Using RRG to find some good and some not so good names inside the DJ Industrials index.

The relative rotation graph above shows the rotation of the 30 DJ Industrials stocks. Watching the interaction on the canvas, a few rotations catch the eye. Inside the lagging quadrant IBM, HD, and DWDP are clearly moving deeper into negative territory. On the opposite side inside the leading quadrant, we...   READ MORE 

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It takes two to tango for TTWO

It takes two to tango for TTWO

While browsing through some Relative Rotation Graphs, looking for DITC candidates, my eye fell on TTWO inside the Communications Services sector. XLC itself is inside the weakening quadrant vs SPY but very close to the benchmark, meaning that the performance of the sector is very close to that of SPY....   READ MORE 

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Some utility stocks worth paying attention to

Some utility stocks worth paying attention to

The relative rotation graph above shows a selection of stocks in the utilities sector. I have created this zoomed in version for better visibility. The fully populated RRG can be found here. In this post, I will highlight a few of the stocks shown in the picture. As XLU is...   READ MORE 

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Two stocks in the Consumer Staples sector that could offer shelter when needed.

Two stocks in the Consumer Staples sector that could offer shelter when needed.

In this blog post, I want to do a quick top-down analysis to arrive at a few stocks that could help investors to provide shelter in case the current hiccup in the market is ..... well a "hiccup." The Relative Rotation Graph above shows the rotation of various asset...   READ MORE 

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Can I have some fries with that please?

Can I have some fries with that please?

On the Relative Rotation Graph holding the 30 stocks in the DJ Industrials index, McDonald's (MCD) is one of the names that pop up as potentially interesting. The stock is positioned inside the improving quadrant for a few weeks now and moving towards the leading quadrant at a...   READ MORE 

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Is the bond market sending us a message?

Is the bond market sending us a message?

When markets are in transition and the bigger picture needs our attention it is always good to keep an eye on the yield curve. The absolute yield levels of the various maturities on the curve, starting at 3-Months all the way out to 20+ years are important to monitor. But...   READ MORE 

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Markets are cracking. Is it just another dip or are we witnessing a bigger event in the making?

Markets are cracking. Is it just another dip or are we witnessing a bigger event in the making?

The general market conditions for the various major indexes have been commented on extensively by other commentators here on the site. There is no doubt that there is more rumble in the markets now than we have seen for a long time. IMHO this makes it an interesting time for...   READ MORE 

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Japan against the rest of the world!

Japan against the rest of the world!

When markets around the world start to rumble it's usually a good exercise how all these moves compare against one another. The Relative Rotation Graph shows the relative picture for a number of major world equity markets against the Dow Jones World Index as the benchmark. The Indian...   READ MORE 

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Break in $NIFTY re-shuffles sector rotation in India

Break in $NIFTY re-shuffles sector rotation in India

This article is an extended and updated version of the article that appeared in last weekend's Chartwatchers newsletter. The Indian $NIFTY Index dropped out of an almost three-year uptrend at the close of last week. The rising support line that started at the low in early 2016 did...   READ MORE 

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NIFTY breaks trend. Pharma and IT show relative strength

NIFTY breaks trend. Pharma and IT show relative strength

The Indian $NIFTY Index dropped out of an almost three-year uptrend at the close of last week. The rising support line that started at the low in early 2016 did not manage to hold up and was clearly broken during last week's market action. This move changes the...   READ MORE