Volatility, Volatility and more Volatility

There are several things at work in today's session - Commodities in general are getting sold as profit taking and some fresh shorts looking to pick tops are coming in. Copper continues to show signs of weakness with some talking about its chart pattern as indicative of expectations for a slowdown in global growth.

That is being fed by news of China's trade balance which has some talking about a slowdown in Chinese growth. I personally do not buy into that thinking as I think the data was skewed by the Lunar New Year holiday.

The USDA reports were viewed by most in the market as bearish for wheat, and not particularly friendly for corn although the numbers are certainly not bearish for corn. Beans are higher shrugging off weakness from its neighbors.
This is feeding through to the CCI which is falling today.

With crude oil sharply lower, the precious metals are getting hit with a strong round of selling that is being fed also by a move higher in the Dollar as the Euro is getting pounded over re-emerging fears of sovereign debt issues with the downgrade of Spain by Moody's.

All in all, selling is hitting nearly everywhere with the exception of the Dollar and the US bond market. US equities are off their worst levels of the session as bulls are buying the dip especially with the weakness in crude oil.

The crude oil market is obviously not expecting much to come of the so-called "Day of Rage" that has been promoted for tomorrow in Saudi Arabia. The manner in which crude is trading suggests that some are beginning to focus more on the fundamentals around oil especially with the Saudi's reassuring that they can make up any shortfall in crude oil supplies. They have been saying that for days now but suddenly it seems as if everyone is now believing them. 

If those sovereign debt woes begin coming more to the forefront of traders' minds, look for gold to receive solid support especially in terms of gold priced in Euro terms.