Macro Extremes (week ending January 16, 2026)

A weekly Macro, Cross Asset review of prices trading at extremes which may generate future investment ideas and opportunities

The following assets (on a weekly timeframe) either registered an Overbought or Oversold reading and/or have traded more than 2.5 standard deviations above or below its rolling mean. 

n.b. pricing of (commodity) futures contracts is only considering the immediate front month. 

denotes multiple week inclusion 

Extremes above the Mean (at least 2.5 standard deviations) 

Chilean 10 year minus Chilean 2 year bond yield spread

Indian 10 year bond yield

S&P GSCI Index

Dutch TTF Gas

AUD/CAD *

COP/USD

CSI 300 Index *

DAX Index *

S&P Small Cap 600

FTSE 250 *

S&P Mid Cap 400 *

And Mexico’s IPC Index

Overbought (RSI > 70)  

Korean 10 year government bond yields *

The Japanese bond yield curve *

Platinum *

Gold in CAUD, AD, CHF, EUR, GBP & USD

AUD/JPY *

CLP/USD *

CNH/USD *

EUR/JPY *

MYR/USD

ZAR/USD *

Austria’s ATX Index *

Indonesia’s IDX Composite Index *

Dow Jones Transports *

Egypt’s EGX Index *

Spain’s IBEX *

Brazil’s BOVESPA Index

Pakistan’s KSE Index

South Korea’s KOSPI Index *

Nasdaq Biotech Index *

Japan’s Nikkei 225

Helsinki’s OMX

Czechia’s PX Index *

South Africa’s SA40 equity index *

Switzerland’s SMI Index *

Philadelphia SOX Index *

Chile’s IGPA *

Israel’s TA35 *

Nasdaq Transports *

Canada’s TSX equity index *

FTSE 100 *

Poland’s WIG Index *

S&P Biotech Index *

ASX Small Caps

And the ASX Materials Index

The Overbought Quinella (Both Overbought and Traded at > 2.5 standard deviations above the weekly mean) 

Lithium Carbonate *

Lithium Hydroxide *

Tin *

LME Aluminium *

Nickel *

Silver in AUD & USD *

Shanghai Composite

All World Developed (ex USA) *

Hungary’s BUX Index *

Russell 2000 *

Taiwan’s TAEIX *

Malaysia’s KLSE Index

Norway’s OBX Index

OMX Copenhagen Index *

OMX Stockholm Index *

Singapore’s Strait Times *

Vietnam’s VN Index *

And Turkiye’s BIST Index

Extremes below the Mean (at least 2.5 standard deviations) 

Corn

CAD/AUD *

Oversold (RSI < 30) 

Sugar #16 *

JPY/AUD *

JPY/GBP

JPY/EUR *

NZD/AUD *

USD/CLP *

USD/ZAR *

The Oversold Quinella (Both Oversold and Traded at < 2.5 standard deviations below the weekly mean) 

Chilean 2 year bond yield

USD/MXN

Notes & Ideas: 

Government bond yields generally eased.

Except for Euro, 5’s and 10’s along with Indian and Korean 10’s.

Japanese 10’s have climbed for 5 weeks.

Japanese 5’s have not declined for 12 weeks.

Korean 10 year and U.S. 3 year yields have risen for 4 weeks.

U.S. 5 and 10 year breakeven inflation rates are close to mean reverting while also entering a new upward trend.

U.S. 5 year yields have started a new upward trend.

And the U.S. 5 year bond minus 3 month bill spread is nearly overbought.

Equities had another good week.

We are now seeing many more indices registering overbought quinella’s.

The FCATC, TAIEX, OMXC, PSE, STI and KOSPI are in 4 week winning streaks. The latter has climbed 19% over that time.

The FTSE 250, OMX-H, OMX-S, SMI, SOX and Vietnam’s VN Index have risen for  5 weeks.

Poland’s WIG has climbed for 6 weeks.

The All World Developed-ex USA, Austria’s ATX, Norway’s OBX, Czechia’s PX and Spain’s IBEX have strung together 8 weeks of gains.

The Nasdaq Transports & Pakistan’s KSE have advanced for 10 consecutive weeks.

The U.S. KBW Bank and a biotech index dropped off the overbought list.

Commodities were mostly higher, again.

LNG, Lumber, Tin, Dutch Gas, Silver and Rice were the notable gainers. 

Shipping Rates, Cocoa, Copper, Palladium and Corn were the notable decliners.

Brent and WTI Crude are in a 4 week winning streak.

Rubber fell and broke a 6 week winning streak.

The U.S. Gulf Urea price has risen for 6 weeks.

Lumber is no longer oversold.

The latter broke its 7 week winning streak.

Nickel snapped a 4 week winning streak.

Orange Juice has advanced for 6 weeks, climbing 50% over that time.

Lithium, Coking Coal, Aluminium and Tin are all registering overbought quinella’s.

Lithium Hydroxide has advanced for 5 weeks.

Rubber has climbed for 6 weeks.

Uranium’s winning streak extends to 8 weeks.

While Natural Gas has fallen for 6 weeks, declining 38% over that time.

Currencies were quieter.

While the Aussie was firmer (ex ZAR) and the AUD/EUR is in a 4 week winning streak, many of the AUD pairs departed overbought territory.

Other notable changes this week is the Yen is less oversold.

The CAD rose.

The Euro was weaker.

CHF/AUD has fallen for 4 weeks.

EUR/GBP has declined for 5 weeks.

EUR/USD is entering a new downward trend.

PHP/USD is in a 4 week losing streak.

Inversely, the USD/INR has climbed for 4 weeks.

The NZD/AUD rose and snapped a 4 week losing streak.

And, the USD has fallen against the South African Rand for 8 weeks.

The larger advancers over the past week comprised of; 

Australian Coking Coal 3.6%, Lean Hogs 3.5%, Heating Oil 4.7%, JKM LNG 11.1%, Lumber 6.5%, LNG in Yen 13.6%, Lithium Carbonate 5.7%, Tin 18.8%, Newcastle Coal 4.2%, Orange Juice 2.4%, Robusta Coffee 2.5%, LME Tin 5.3%, Dutch TTF Gas 30%, Urea U.S. Gulf 2.3%, Gasoil 3.6%, Uranium 2.8%, Silver in AUD & USD 12.8%, Gold in AUD 2%, Gold in CAD 1.,9%, Gold in CHF 2.2%, Gold in EUR 2.3%, Gold in GBP 2.1%, Gold in USD 1.9%, Rice 3.4%, AD02 1.6%, AEX 2.2%, BUX 5%, IDX 1.6%, EGX 3.6%, FCATC 2.5%, HSCEI 1.9%, Hang Seng 2.3%, S&P Small Cap 600 1.7%, Russell 2000 2.1%, TAIEX 3.7%, KLSE 1.6%, Mexico 1.6%, Nikkei 225 3.8%, OBX 3.2%, OMXH 2%, OMXS 2.2%, PSE 1.8%, SA40 2%, SET 1.7%, SOX 3.8%, STI 2.2%, XFJ 1.9%, XJO 2.1%, XMJ 3.9%, XNJ 1.8%, XSO 2.1% and BIST rose 3.8%.

The group of largest decliners from the week included; 

Baltic Dry Index (7.2%), Cocoa (5%), Copper (1.2%), Natural Gas (2.1%), Palladium (2.6%), Corn (4.7%), KBW Banks (1.7%), China A50 (2.2%), IBB (1.4%) and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7%.

January 18, 2026

By Rob Zdravevski 

rob@karriasset.com.au 

more on Copper

What I’m seeing in the Copper price.

My cross asset referencing says there is a little more higher to go, but extrapolating the 2003-2007 analogue is a long bow to draw.

January 14, 2026

rob@karriasset.com.au

Dr Copper says…..

I don’t think it’s the best time to buy (or chase) Copper when the circles start appearing.

January 13, 2026

rob@karriasset.com.au

#meanreversion

#parabolas

‘Sub’ lithium and nickel out of the game

A year ago, I wrote about the oversold extremes seen in Nickel and Lithium.

Those extremes were illustrating my contrarian interest in ‘buying straw hats in winter’.

Then, “nobody” wanted to own lithium or nickel related securities.

There are also several articles in my archive featuring ASX listed Lithium and Nickel producer, IGO Group, where I warn of its overbought and oversold extremes.

Now, my weekly Macro Extremes publication lists Lithium (Carbonate & Hydroxide) and Nickel as being in overbought territory.

And today, IGO Group is completing a reversion up to a longer term mean.

It looks like we are getting to upper end of this bounce, particularly when various stocks have nearly trebled from their recent lows.

January 13, 2026

rob@karriasset.com.au

It looks crowded at the top

Who is ‘short’ Silver?

Nobody !

January 13, 2026

rob@karriasset.com.au

Macro Extremes (week ending of January 9, 2026)

A weekly Macro, Cross Asset review of prices trading at extremes which may generate future investment ideas and opportunities

The following assets (on a weekly timeframe) either registered an Overbought or Oversold reading and/or have traded more than 2.5 standard deviations above or below its rolling mean. 

n.b. pricing of (commodity) futures contracts is only considering the immediate front month. 

denotes multiple week inclusion 

Extremes above the Mean (at least 2.5 standard deviations) 

Copper/Gold Ratio

Copper

AUD/CAD

AUD/CHF

AUD/EUR

AUD/IDR

AUD/USD

Germany’s DAX

Italy’s MIB

Russell 2000

FTSE 250

S&P Midcap 400

And Türkiye’s BIST Index

Overbought (RSI > 70)  

Korean 10 year government bond yields *

The Japanese bond yield curve *

Lithium Carbonate

Tin *

LME Aluminium

Platinum

Silver in AUD & USD *

Gold in CAD, CHF, GBP & USD

AUD/JPY

CHF/JPY *

CLP/USD

CNH/USD *

EUR/JPY *

GBP/JPY *

CSI 300

Austria’s ATX Index *

U.S. KBW Bank Index *

Indonesia’s IDX Composite Index

Dow Jones Transports

Egypt’s EGX Index *

IBB Index

Spain’s IBEX *

Brazil’s BOVESPA Index

Taiwan’s TAEIX *

South Korea’s KOSPI Index *

Nasdaq Biotech Index *

OMX Helsinki Index *

OMX Stockholm Index

Czechia’s PX Index *

South Africa’s SA40 equity index *

Switzerland’s SMI Index

Philadelphia SOX Index

Chile’s IGPA *

Singapore’s Strait Times *

Israel’s TA35 *

Nasdaq Transports *

Canada’s TSX equity index *

FTSE 100 *

S&P Biotech Index *

And the ASX Materials Index

The Overbought Quinella (Both Overbought and Traded at > 2.5 standard deviations above the weekly mean) 

Chilean 10 year minus Chilean 2 year bond yield spread

Australian Coking Coal

Lithium Hydroxide

Nickel *

ZAR/USD *

Shanghai Composite

All World Developed (ex USA) *

Hungary’s BUX Index *

Pakistan’s KSE Index

OMX Copenhagen Index

Vietnam’s VN Index

Poland’s WIG Index *

Extremes below the Mean (at least 2.5 standard deviations) 

CAD/AUD

EUR/AUD

Oversold (RSI < 30) 

Lumber *

Sugar #16 *

JPY/AUD *

JPY/EUR

NZD/AUD *

The Oversold Quinella (Both Oversold and Traded at < 2.5 standard deviations below the weekly mean) 

Chilean 2 year bond yield

USD/ZAR *

Notes & Ideas: 

Government bond yields generally fell.

Except for shorter duration U.S. yields, the Japanese 5 year yield which have risen for 8 weeks and the Japanese 10’s have climbed for 4 weeks.

This week saw a few more yield extremes depart.

The U.S. 2 year bond yields rose and broke 4 weeks of decline.

Danish 10 year yields fell and broke a 5 week winning streak.

Indonesian 10 year yields rose and broke 5 weeks of advance.

Turkish 10’s rose and snapped 7 weeks of weakness.

Equities had a terrific week.

It has been months since seeing this many indices in overbought territory.

Helsinki’s OMX and Vietnam’s VN Index are in 4 week winning streaks.

Poland’s WIG has risen for 5 weeks.

The All World Developed Index-ex USA, Austria’s ATX, Norway’s OBX, Czechia’s PX and Spain’s IBEX have strung together 7 weeks of gains.

Pakistan’s KSE has climbed for 9 consecutive weeks.

Commodities were mostly higher.

Crude, Copper, Tin, Lithium, Nickel, Palladium, Platinum, Gasoline & Gold were the notable gainers. 

Shipping Rates, Cocoa, Natural Gas and LNG as priced in Yen were the notable decliners.

Lithium prices have rallied and are now overbought.

Platinum and Gild return to overbought territory.

Aluminium is overbought as priced on the LME and nearly there on the COMEX.

Richards Bay Coal & Rice are no longer oversold.

The latter broke its 7 week winning streak.

Nickel has climbed for 4 weeks, rising 22% over that time.

Orange Juice has advanced for 5 weeks, climbing 47% over that time.

Lithium Hydroxide and Rubber have also advanced for 5 weeks.

Uranium’s winning streak extends to 7 weeks.

Gasoline snapped its 4 weeks slump.

While Natural Gas has fallen for 5 weeks, declining 36% over that time.

Currencies were active.

The Aussie was stronger and appearing in the extremes.

CAD was weaker, again.

CNH/USD fell enough to break a 6 week winning streak.

GBP/EUR has risen for 4 weeks.

Overall, the British Pound was mixed.

Commodity currencies such as the Aussie and Chilean Peso are overbought.

The Yen is oversold, everywhere.

EUR/CHF rose to end 4 weeks of decline.

The Kiwi has slumped for 4 straight weeks against the Aussie.

And, the USD has fallen against the South African Rand for 7 weeks.

The larger advancers over the past week comprised of; 

Australian Coking Coal 2.3%, Richards Bay Coal 2.7%, Aluminium 2.9%, Bloomberg Commodity Index 2.4%, Brent Crude Oil 4.3%, WTI Crude Oil 3.1%, Copper 3.7%, Lithium Carbonate 22.1%, Lithium Hydroxide 16.2%, Tin 12.3%, LME Aluminium 5%, Nickel 4.9%, Orange Juice 3.1%, Palladium 10.6%, Platinum 7.5%, Gasoline 4.9%, Sugar 2%, S&P GSCI 2.2%, Urea U.S. Gulf 1.7%, Gasoil 3.4%, Urea Middle East 3.7%, Silver in AUD 9.9%, Silver in USD 9.8%, Gold in AUD 4.2%, Gold in CAD 5.5%, Gold in CHF 5.3%, Gold in EUR 4.8%, Gold in GBP 4.6%, Gold in USD 4.1%, Gold in ZAR 4.1%, Corn 1.9%, Oats 1.9%, Rice 5.3%, Soybean 1.6%, Wheat 2.1%, Shanghai Composite 3.8%, CSI 300 2.8%, AD02 1.7%, AEX 2.1%, KBW Banks 2.1%, BUX 4.9%, CAC 2%, IDX 2.2%, DAX 2.9%, DJ Industrials 2.4%, DJ Transports 3.7%, FCATC 4.2%, IBB 2%, Bovespa 1.8%, S&P SmallCap 600 4.2%, Russell 2000 4.6%, TAEIX 3.2%, Nasdaq Composite 1.9%, KRE Regional Banks 3.4%, KSE 3%, KOSPI 6.4%, FTSE 250 2.8%, S&P Midcap 400 3.3%, Mexico 3%, NBI 1.9%, Nasdaq 100 2.2%, Nikkei 225 3.2%, Copenhagen 4.3%, Stockholm 3.2%, PSE 3.5%, PX 1.8%, SA40 1.7%, SOX 3.7%, IGPA 4.6%, S&P 500 1.6%, STI 1.9%, TA35 4.4%, Nasdaq Transports 4.6%, TSX 2.3%, FTSE 100 1.7%, Vietnam 4.7%, XBI 2.5%, ASX Materials 3.7%, ASX Small Caps 2.1% and Türkiye’s BIST rose 6.1%.

The group of largest decliners from the week included; 

Baltic Dry Index (10.3%), Cocoa (9%), LNG in Yen (3.5%), Natural Gas (12.4%), Dutch TTF Gas (2.2%), Sensex (2.6%) and the ASX Financials fell 2.5%.

January 11, 2026

By Rob Zdravevski 

rob@karriasset.com.au 

There was a time to Sell or Short Heating Oil

Once upon a time (in my Macro Extremes publication for the week ending November 14, 2025),

Heating Oil appeared in the overbought extreme category…..

The chart below shows you the 15% decline since then.

January 9, 2026

rob@karriasset.com.au

Too late to chase Nickel

The circles in the study below are 2 moments when the price of Nickel was out of favour, unloved and trading at one of my ‘extremes’.

Those moments were highlighted in many presentations that I conducted in 2025 with investors, corporations and investment banks.

Any of the attendees would recall me using the line that buying Nickel was akin to “buying straw hats in winter”.

Today, the news outlets are posting headlines telling us that #Nickel has rallied.

There is a little bit to go, but it’s too late for now.

January 7, 2026

rob@karriasset.com.au

How to refill the SPR on the cheap

Between November 2021 and October 2022, the Biden administration announced that 260 million barrels of Oil would be released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Then, the mid-term elections were held in November 2022.

Now, there are 50 million barrels of Venezuelan “heavy sour” Oil (not light sweet, although the SPR holds both) bound for the U.S.

Later, they’ll send another 100 million barrels or so.

And sometime before November 2026, in time for the mid-term elections, (whether the oil arrives or not), the headline will read something like, “Trump replenishes the SPR which Biden sold off”.

January 7, 2026

rob@karriasset.com.au

Here was the trade…..

The Caracas General Index rose 16.5% in Monday’s trade…..

but it has risen 55% over the past 5 days.

#frontrunning

#votingmachine

January 6, 2026

rob@karriasset.com.au