Gold is acting in textbook fashion according to the technical signals thus far. Once it took out the overhead resistance level that the bullion banks were attempting to enforce at the $1610 level, the weaker shorts who were piggybacking the large bears had to beat a hasty retreat and cover. Their buying triggered some of the system trades to send in additional buy orders with the result that prices shot directly to the first resistance level near $1625 before setting back a tad.
I should note that in today's session (Tuesday), gold dipped back down towards $1610 but found more buying and not liquidation related selling. That seem to catch a lot of traders by surprise with the result that the opportunistic shorts were once again forced to retreat under a withering barrage of buy orders.
This market continues to astound skeptics as it as of yet shows no sign of weakening interest on the buy side. Coming on a day in which option sellers were desperate to keep their cash gravy train from sinking in the river crossing, makes the performance even more the sweeter. Those option writers have skinned so many longs in years past that it is nice to see them get their comeuppance, even if it is only for one day's option expiration.
I have put up a weekly chart of gold to attempt to show you the channel in which gold is rising, a channel which has very neatly defined both its upper reaches and its downside forays for the better part of 2 1/2 years now. Note carefully that since March of this year, the downside moves have not made it as low as the bottom of the channel. Instead, buyers have come in rather quickly and kept price from testing the lower limits of the channel. This is evidence that the bulls have been in control of this market since that time frame.
Looking back we know the reason for this from a fundamental standpoint as sovereign debt woes began to intensify out of Euro land, inflation reared its ugly head across China and other emerging economic powerhouses in that region and elsewhere and the Federal Reserve telegraphed that the US economy was so weak that monetary policy was going to stay extremely accommodative for the foreseeable future.
What now appears to be happening is that traders and investors are watching the US' deteriorating fiscal condition and have added that into the mix. Simply put, most want no part of the US Dollar which is paying next to nothing as far as yield goes and is threatening a technical washout to the downside as it inches ever closer to a major chart support level.
The buyers have now taken gold to the top of the innermost channel noted on the price chart. This week that top of the wider channel comes in near $1665 - $1675. There is psychological resistance near the $1650 level, as these increments of $50 are always significant for gold not from a chart level but just from the fact that so many traders look at these round numbers when gauging price performance.
If gold plows through the upper channel anytime within the next few weeks time, it should begin to accelerate at a steeper rate. It will then form another price channel albeit this one will be at a much steeper slope. One thing I would like to point out is that the price channel currently noted on the chart is one that is very modest and orderly; only since March of this year has the rise of gold began to steepen somewhat but even at that, it is a far cry from going vertical. Once gold does go vertical (and it will at some point) then the gains will be remarkable. At that time I expect the long suffering holders of many of the quality mining shares that have been lagging to finally see the rewards of their patience.
From a chart support level, we could conceivably fall as low as $1525 and stay within the steeper channel being formed on the chart but unless we see some rather remarkable turnarounds in the above three factors that have been driving gold of late, I would be very surprised to see the metal move to that level. If it did, one would suspect eager buyers would be quite active, particularly if such an occurrence were to develop during the latter part of the third quarter, since gold will be entering its strongest time of the year from a seasonal perspective.
I would like to make a comment in regards to my good friend Jim Sinclair who caught a fair amount of grief from naysayers and other assorted trolls earlier this year when his gutsy call of $1650 gold did not materialize in January, a call which he made well in advance of 2011. Now that gold is sitting up closer to $1625, a larger number of pundits are now talking about $1650 as a minor stop along the path to considerably higher prices. Nice going Jim - you were a tad early but a prediction that far out ahead of time is still pretty damned good as far as this trader is concerned.
Believe it or not, sometimes a trader or a holder of a particular stock can be absolutely right in their expectations if they have carefully done their homework and have a wealth of experience to back up their conclusions. The problem is that until the rest of the pack actually catches up with you and sees the actual things that you see now, the stock or commodity does not go anywhere. It takes the rest of the herd to come in and reach the conclusion that you have already arrived at to make your investment choice a prosperous one. Their buying then takes the market to new highs or to levels that your analysis suggests it might very well go.
The flip side to this is that you may have found an undiscovered gem out there for an investment but until the rest of the public thinks the same way about that stock or commodity as you do, it ain't going to go anywhere. Remember that the next time you decide to drop your live's savings on some obscure stock.
Let's see how gold closes out this week to decipher where the market is telling us that this thing might want to head next.
The Dollar is looking pitiful right now.
