I discussed this with Eric King on this week's Metals Wrap over at KWN but I wanted to detail it the price chart as the visuals are more often conducive to making a point.
The last time gold managed this feat (it was back in early August) the metal put on another $100 or so. That is not to say it is going to do so again but what happened as a result of this was that the hedge fund buy programs began to kick in. For whatever reason, market technicians have decided that markets closing above or below the 50 day moving average is a big deal, especially when they manage to do so on at least two consecutive days.
If you look at the chart and go back into November of last year you can see that the metal had managed to push past the 50 day moving average up near $1740 or so. It then managed to keep its footing above this level but unfortunately FAILED TO EXTEND HIGHER the next two sessions. The initial breach was constructive but the inability to BUILD on that performance was disappointing. ON the third day after the breach of the 50 DMA, the market then failed to hold above this level and back down it went. From that point on, in both January and February, this moving average capped all further upside progress.
It was not until July this year that the moving average came into play again. Notice the technical battle that occurred around this level that month. In early August, price once again cleared the 50 DMA. This time it managed to STAY ABOVE the average. Three days later, it took out the high of the day on which it first broke above this barrier. From that point on, the market rallied sharply until it ran out of steam up near $1430 or so.
So where does that leave us this week? Answer - looking for the performance of the metal early next week. If the market can push past the high of Friday and close strong on Monday, it should begin to gather some upside steam as I believe we will see some shorts begin to exit as well as attract some fresh momentum based buying. If it sets back, we want to see it STAY ABOVE the 50 day moving average, at least on the CLOSE of the pit session.
I should note here that Friday's high just so happened to reach right into a strong zone of resistance centered near $1350. That gives the performance of gold early next week even more significance. The bulls have managed to grasp the initiative in the market even if it is only a slight victory at this point. It is up to them to press their advantage at this juncture if they wish to cause some more discomfort for the shorts. If they can do so, $1375 should be an easy target for this initial push. Take it through there and they have a good chance to make a push to $1395- $1400.
If the market fails to extend higher as stated above, then bulls will want to see the price stay above $1300. There is some light chart support first near $1320-$1316 and more down near $1305.
I will say something else here that is important but is yet a good way's off. If gold were for some reason able to clear that spike high above $1425, it would be a TEXTBOOK CHART PATTERN of an important bottom. That would attract a major amount of buying which would set the market up for a run to $1480 - $1490. Again, that is a long way off but one can hope can they not? Let's see if the metal can even get a "14" handle on it before getting too carried away!
I want to note here that the HUI has also managed to claw its way back higher and is also perched above the 50 day moving average as well. that is a nice confirmation. Gold bulls never want to see the shares moving lower while the metal puts on some gains.
I personally believe that the plight of the US Dollar is going to be what determines whether or not we see gold and the shares tacking on some additional upside. I noted earlier this week in a post that confidence in the US Dollar appeared to be waning based on its price action and the chart pattern. There seems to have been a shift in sentiment towards the greenback that came on the heels of the government shutdown and the resultant increase in the US borrowing limit. That was further compounded when with one voice the various FOMC governors, even the usual hawks among that group, were signaling that any bond buying tapering was off the table for the rest of the year at a bare minimum. Subsequent weak economic data confirmed that in the minds of trader and as it did, more selling hit the US Dollar.
If you look at the following price chart, you can see the Dollar's recent woes in pictorial form. Notice how the price has been contained in a broad range since mid-March of LAST year. It did make a brief breakout above the range when the Fed was suddenly sounding hawkish on the QE bond taper caper this summer but once that came and went, back down into the range it went. This time however is it now plumbing the bottom of the range. As you can see, it has not been below the low of that range now over a year. If, and this is a BIG "IF", the dollar were to fail and fall through that low, it should continue until it falls to the next important level down near 78. If that were to give way, heaven help us all because all manner of chaos is going to break out in the commodity sector once again.
It is going to be interesting if that occurs to see what the response of the Fed is going to be because odds are that the speculative crowd will start coming back blindly onto the long side of the commodity sector once again in anticipation of a wave of inflationary pressures related to the falling currency. Again, this is just a guess at this time as I have no way of knowing whether or not the Dollar is indeed going to fail to hold at support. I am merely laying out scenarios that we could see if it does.
This is the biggest problem that I see with this unending madness known as QE. It lays the groundwork for the undermining of any confidence in the Dollar and sets it on a course of weakness. I do not want to see the Dollar weaken as an American but with this idiocy being engaged in by the Fed, and especially with the choice of Yellen ( the Dove of Doves), it is difficult for me to envision a scenario in which the Dollar embarks on a strong bull move as long as the hawkish voices on the FOMC are silent. Keep in mind it was all the hawkish talk coming of the Fed this past summer that pushed the Dollar higher along with a rise in interest rates. Until that sort of thing re-emerges, what would be the factors that could drive the Dollar higher again? The only ones I see would be if there were a resurgence of issues related to sovereign debt back over in the Euro Zone again.
Oh what a mess these meddling Central Bankers have created for us all. Heaven spare us from this plague of locusts! Has this become the new norm and are we now destined to see a perpetually rising Federal Reserve Balance Sheet (now approaching $4 TRILLION) for the rest of our lives? When does this end?
I have said this many times before but it bears repeating - as a TRADER, I have to go with the swings and the shifting sentiment in the markets in order to survive and make a living but as a long term oriented investor and a concerned and deeply worried citizen, I also have to look at gold as the only insurance against these modern day alchemists known as Central Bankers. They are going to be the ruin of us all.