A potential signal for further monetary stimulus, aka, Quantitative Easing

Ever since talk began surfacing of the ending of QE2 this month, the stock market has rolled over on the technical price charts. The more convinced that the markets have become that the Fed was going to take away the fun and games, the further the equity markets have dropped. It has now reached a point where the stock market is threatening to take out a critical support level. Should it do so, consumer confidence, already reeling from high foreclosure rates, falling property values, soaring gasoline, food and other energy prices, and a lackluster jobs situation, would immediately plummet.

The one thing that has helped to keep some of the population from becoming completely depressed has been the fact that they could look at their 401K programs and still see that those were in the plus column for the year. In other words, while the rest of the world was seemingly going to economic hell, at least they were making a bit of money on their retirement accounts.

Take away this last refuge of happiness, and the mood of the public will grow foul and fester, not to mention that of Wall Street and the many brokerage houses which do not generally make money during bear markets in equities.

Look at the weekly chart of the S&P (note - I use the emini S&P for charting purposes) and you will see the rising 50 week moving average along with a critical horizontal support level that comes in near the 1250 level. That is also the level near which the S&P began the new year of 2011. If it falls below that level, all gains from the year are gone and losses begin to then mount. That is when the general public will lose its last refuge of consolation.

I mentioned last week that if 1300 were to give way on the weekly chart, it would bode ill for the broad equity markets going forward. That level is still a key level but as of now the S&P is trading below it and cannot seem to recapture its footing above it. The momentum is growing to the downside on the charts and if we continue to get economic data that disappoints and reinforces the growing perception that the economy is in serious danger of rolling over, a very strong possibility exists for a move lower in the S&P to the 1250 level.

If this level gives way allowing the market to fall down towards the 50 week moving average which currently comes in near the 1225 level, expect a chorus of voices clamoring, nay, demanding further stimulus from the Fed. Those voices will firstly come from the Democrats whose election fortunes next year are directly linked to the welfare (or lack thereof) of the US economy. It will also come from the doves on the FOMC. Lastly it will come from many in the financial community who are more willing to take their chances on a falling Dollar than a falling stock market.

If the Fed hearkens to those voices, and I have no reason to doubt at this time that they will not, expect the US Dollar to not only take out critical chart support near 73 - 72.50, but to continue sinking lower. The result will be to push gold sharply higher and into new all time highs.

Silver - 4 hour chart update

There seems to be some risk type trades coming back on in today's session as many of the commodity markets are seeing good inflows of speculative money. In this environment silver will generally outperform gold. I should point out however that the buying is not broad based but seems to be selective in nature. Cotton for instance is sharply lower and copper is having some trouble maintaining any gains. On the flip side, sugar, cattle, hogs, corn and soybeans are higher. The weakness in the Dollar along with a generally higher US equities market has encouraged both short covering and new buying in some markets. Ironically, gold is moving lower as the move toward risk has some selling gold with its safe haven role being minimized somewhat.

Try not to read too much into any given day's price action as tomorrow can just as easily bring risk aversion to the forefront in this fickle environment.

The long bond is lower but has still not broken down through any major support levels indicating that bond traders are not convinced that the risk trades are warranted to any sizeable degree, at least for today.

The Dollar is inching closer to that critical 73 level on the USDX chart. Support seems to have evaporated from beneath the greenback. It has not been able to recover ever since FOMC governor Bullard first pulled out the rug from under it. As stated previously here, the voices of the hawks at the Fed have gone silent and I expect them to remain that way until the economic data numbers begin to improve.

The HUI and the XAU are weaker but continue to hold above their recent lows. They too look rangebound. The summer doldrums are approaching for the precious metals markets. They will need a catalyst to arise to generate some strong excitement.

4 Hour Gold Chart - update at 10:30 AM CDT

Trader Dan on King World News Weekly Metals Wrap

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Gold - 4 Hour chart update

Continuous Commodity Index grinding higher but overall trend lower

Employment Data undercuts US Dollar

This morning's abysmal US payrolls data caps off a 'weak' in which economic data releases confirmed that the US economy is headed for a "double dip". A pitiful 54,000 jobs were supposedly created in the month of May with the unemployment rate moving up to 9.1%.

While we market watchers and traders have come to expect news like this to drive off the risk trades and send safe haven flows into the US Dollar, no such thing happened. I mentioned earlier this week that the Dollar's tepid response to the weak ADP numbers was interesting and beared watching. Looking back that was now a harbinger of things to come.

What has apparently happened is that the US economic data has become so rotten, that traders are not moving money into the US Dollar even on news that otherwise would have driven safe haven flows in its direction. The reason is simple - market players are now convinced that the string of consecutive poor news is leaving the hawks at the Fed with no arguments for their case and has brought the doves there into the ascendancy. In other words, interest rates in the US are going to be forced to stay at ultra low levels for a long time to come and while QE2 is coming to an end this month, further monetary accomodation is coming forthwith. At least that is what the market is attempting to signal to the Fed as to its wishes.

The news initially caused a sell off in stocks taking the S&P futures below important chart support near the 1300 level. It has since recovered and moved above it as I write this but as to how it is going to fare the rest of the day is unclear. A close below this level and the stock market chart gets even uglier. A stock market that enters a bearish downtrend is going to be at the forefront of the minds of the FOMC as they consider their next move on the monetary front.


BAck to the Dollar however. It is now trading well below the 50 day moving average and has fallen back below all of the major shorter term moving averages as well. The 10 dma has made a bearish downside crossover of the 20 dma and both look to be getting ready for a bearish downside crossover of the 50 dma. In short, the technicals have completely soured for the greenback and it is once again flirting with the 74 level on its daily chart. A breach of this level that sees the Dollar close underneath it and it is going back down to 73, a level which is extremely, and I do mean, 'extremely' critical from a technical support level.

Meanwhile the combined weakness in the Dollar along with true safe haven flows into gold, is pushing the metal back up and away from its chart support near $1530. If it can claw back towards $1550 and push through that level, it is going to make a run towards $1575 very quickly. The key will be the $1550 level.

Gold - 4 Hour chart update and comments

Gold has met the initial upside target of $1,550 based on the breakout above $1,530. It is displaying this strength in the face of widespread commodity selling by the hedgies as they run from risk once again and unload long positions cross the entirety of the complex. Only the markets with the strongest fundamentals have been able to shrug off this huge algorithm-generated selling.

I am now looking for a solid close in gold ABOVE the $1,550 level to signal a run back towards the recent all time high near $1575. If gold fails to extend its gains above $1,550 it will set back some and dip towards $1,530 where it should encounter some decent sized buying, particularly if strength in both Euro-gold and British Pound-gold continues.

Risk trades are being yanked off in droves today but in spite of that, the Dollar, while higher, is not getting that much of a bid. That is most interesting and bears watching. This is the 4th consecutive close by the Dollar below the 50 day moving average, not particularly inspiring if you are a Dollar bull. A failure by the Dollar to extend its gains will be positive for the metals, gold in particular, which is trading as a hard currency against the paper currencies right now.

The ADP number has taken the wind out of the equity bulls' sails and has left the chart of the S&P looking quite ugly and very disconcerting for any future prospects regarding the US economy overall. It had managed to claw its way back above the 50 day moving average but completely broke down in today's session. It looks heavy and feels like it wants to go back down and retest 1300. If it fails there, it is going to get ugly in equityville.

The long bond bubble is beginning to form once again and it will take another round of QE to pop it. While the Fed loves the low interest rate environment being created by this mad rush into low yielding bonds, they do not love the ACCOMPANYING market behavior of the equities and many of the commodity markets because that is signaling deflation. What the Fed wants, and is NOT GOING TO GET, is a low interest rate environment accompanied by RISING stock prices and gradually rising commodity prices. They will not get that either. If they push in another round of stimulus, they are going to get a collapse in bond prices alongside a surge in equities and commodities. If they fail to stimulate, they are going to get their dreaded deflation bubble in bonds.