"When misguided public opinion honors what is despicable and despises what is honorable, punishes virtue and rewards vice, encourages what is harmful and discourages what is useful, applauds falsehood and smothers truth under indifference or insult, a nation turns its back on progress and can be restored only by the terrible lessons of catastrophe." … Frederic Bastiat
Evil talks about tolerance only when it’s weak. When it gains the upper hand, its vanity always requires the destruction of the good and the innocent, because the example of good and innocent lives is an ongoing witness against it. So it always has been. So it always will be. And America has no special immunity to becoming an enemy of its own founding beliefs about human freedom, human dignity, the limited power of the state, and the sovereignty of God. – Archbishop Chaput
Trader Dan's Work is NOW AVAILABLE AT WWW.TRADERDAN.NET
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Trader Dan on King World News Weekly Metals Wrap
Please click on the following link to listen in to my regular weekly radio interview with Eric King on the King World News Weekly Metals Wrap.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Riding in the Kangaroo Pouch
Trying to write a set of comments to describe what is going on in this market today, I tried to come up with what I feel might be the a good comparison to provide the perspective. The best I could come up with is how a baby kangaroo must feel after going for a cross outback ride in its mother's pouch. Bounce - Hit; Bounce - Hit; Bounce - Hit. UP-DOWN; UP-DOWN; UP-DOWN.
If this is an example of the "liquidity" that the High Frequency Trading crowd is supposed to be supplying to the market, a point which I might add we are constantly lectured upon by those parasites as well as the various exchanges which ADORE the volume that their churning provides to their bottom line, then we are in a heap more trouble than many suspect. There is no liquidity because this entire HFT crowd is all on the same side of the trade at the same moment in time attempting to front run each other and everyone else for that matter. This is why we are witnessing such enormous swings in price, going either direction, with those occuring with increasing frequency.Only a few brave and nimble floor traders can take the other side of those trades.
The catalyst for the volatility was the payrolls number, which exceeded the low expectations that had been factored into the markets earlier in the week (Wait until next month where they will probably come back and revise it downward), further fears of a meltdown in Euro land, news from the ECB about a potential bond buying program and then a press conference from Italian Prime Minister Berlesconi.
The equity markets first greeted the jobs number with euphoria rallying nicely off their lows as shorts covered. That rally then completely ran out of steam as new shorts sold the rally with stale longs using it to get out. The thinking was that the real epicenter of the current global economic woes is in Europe - "Who cares about a jobs number in the US" was the thought. That then took the markets, especially the tech-heavy Nasdaq, down over 2% for the day. It was then about halfway through the session, after the European markets were closed for the week, that news broke from Reuters that the ECB would buy both Italian and Spanish Bonds provided that their respective political leaders could institute necessary structural reforms. That seemed to be a game changer for the day. Out came all the fresh short seller; in came a bunch of bottom picking longs and away went all the losses for the stock market.
The bond markets here in the US then sold off sharply on the news with interest rates jumping after the yield on the Ten Year had fallen as low as 2.43%.
However, after Berlesconi gave his speech and began promising the same load of BS that we were just recently treated to here in the US during the debt ceiling charade, the equity markets began having some doubts about the ECB bond buying program and off came the markets from their gains. As I write this the equities are now higher once again however as shorts are getting very nervous heading into the weekend that they might actually come up with Europe's version of QE1. Make no mistake about it - this is exactly what Europe is planning - their own version of Quantitative Easing.To illustrate the madness, as the markets entered the last hour of trade, once again the sellers showed up and down went the stock markets again. Where are they going to end today? Who knows at this point?
Oddly enough, (although one can see the "logic" of the Euro trade), the Euro rose sharply on the news with the short Euro trade reversing sharply as risk trades were piled back on as risk aversion trades were taken off. If one looks at what happened to the Dollar during QE1 and QE2 it is obvious that this foray into monetary madness cut the floor out from beneath the Dollar as the supply of greenbacks was increased exponentially. If the ECB does go ahead with its QE, then the supply of Euros is going to soar and the trade will be to short the Euro. The problem is that this conflicts with the hedge fund risk trade which is to sell the Dollar and run back into the Euro and the commodity currencies. Get ready for more insane instability with the HFT crowd in there just screwing things up even more with their churning. I cannot say with certainty, but I am convinced that we had more than a few hedge funds disappear completely this week. The price swings were wiping out both longs and shorts. Sometimes the smartest place to be is to be on the sidelines watching and waiting while the other guys chew each other to shreds.
That brings us to gold which was all over the place today. It moved back and forth as the news changed, torn between the need to raise cash to meet margin calls, the desire to have a safe haven, the unwillingness of traders to hold "commodities" during a risk off trade, and severe doubt and skepticism towards both monetary authorities and political leaders not only in Europe but over here in the US.
Attempting to therefore make a projection as to where it is headed next in the SHORT TERM is an exercise in futility. All I do know is that it has been relatively solid even when the rest of the equity markets and commodity indices were getting whacked. It's safe haven status remains relatively unmarred even after being buffetted by all these money flow factors.
One of the factors that keeps some pressure on the gold market is the pitiful performance of the silver market. Right now that metal cannot get out of its own way as it is violating chart support levels with the HFT crowd going after it and driving the offers lower and lower. Both it and copper seem to be falling lower in unison. It is tricky to say right now but it might take a stabilization in copper to see silver get its footing here. It has managed to bounce off a support level near the $38.00 - $37.75 level but is acting heavy for the time being. Its 50 day moving average is just below the market near $37.35 so it if it going to prevent a further drop, it will need to remain above this level, preferably getting back over $39 once again.
The mining shares as evidenced by both the HUI and the XAU have remained joined at the hip to the broader markets and bounced when they bounced higher on the ECB news. From a technical chart perspective, they did rebound from a level that was critical for them to hold so I suppose that is a plus but the HUI is currently below its 50 WEEK moving average, which is a level that it must recapture if it is going to have a chance at staging a better rally. Ditto for the XAU which is some 12 points below its 50 WEEK moving average as I write this. It is holding above 190 however which is positive. At some point, the huge imbalance in valuation of these shares compared to gold is going to result in large acquisitions, especially by both the majors and the Chinese.
After the Dollar's huge rally yesterday, it surrendered half of those gains as longs bailed out on news of a possible ECB bond buying program. Where it goes next week completely depends on the kind of news that will greet us come Sunday evening here in the US when the markets reopen for trading in Asia. If we get some sort of confirmation that the ECB will definitely move forward with a bond buying program, look for further volatility in the currency markets as traders will be torn between selling the Dollar to put risk trades back on and buying the Dollar as they sell the Euro in anticipation of a program that will pressure the Euro lower on the crosses.
I will try to get a chart up of gold later on but I would not put too much stock in it until we see what happens over the weekend. I will say this, if the ECB does QE, it is going to be bullish gold, especially when priced in terms of the Euro. They will be debasing their currency just as the Fed attempted to debase ours and the B OJ used to practice it to debase the Yen.
The big thing I am watching right now is these interest rate markets. We might have seen a top in bond prices and a low in interest rates for the time being if the ECB QE program kicks in as all those guys who rushed into Treasuries this week will probably rush back out. Very hard to say however as too much is in flux right now.
If this is an example of the "liquidity" that the High Frequency Trading crowd is supposed to be supplying to the market, a point which I might add we are constantly lectured upon by those parasites as well as the various exchanges which ADORE the volume that their churning provides to their bottom line, then we are in a heap more trouble than many suspect. There is no liquidity because this entire HFT crowd is all on the same side of the trade at the same moment in time attempting to front run each other and everyone else for that matter. This is why we are witnessing such enormous swings in price, going either direction, with those occuring with increasing frequency.Only a few brave and nimble floor traders can take the other side of those trades.
The catalyst for the volatility was the payrolls number, which exceeded the low expectations that had been factored into the markets earlier in the week (Wait until next month where they will probably come back and revise it downward), further fears of a meltdown in Euro land, news from the ECB about a potential bond buying program and then a press conference from Italian Prime Minister Berlesconi.
The equity markets first greeted the jobs number with euphoria rallying nicely off their lows as shorts covered. That rally then completely ran out of steam as new shorts sold the rally with stale longs using it to get out. The thinking was that the real epicenter of the current global economic woes is in Europe - "Who cares about a jobs number in the US" was the thought. That then took the markets, especially the tech-heavy Nasdaq, down over 2% for the day. It was then about halfway through the session, after the European markets were closed for the week, that news broke from Reuters that the ECB would buy both Italian and Spanish Bonds provided that their respective political leaders could institute necessary structural reforms. That seemed to be a game changer for the day. Out came all the fresh short seller; in came a bunch of bottom picking longs and away went all the losses for the stock market.
The bond markets here in the US then sold off sharply on the news with interest rates jumping after the yield on the Ten Year had fallen as low as 2.43%.
However, after Berlesconi gave his speech and began promising the same load of BS that we were just recently treated to here in the US during the debt ceiling charade, the equity markets began having some doubts about the ECB bond buying program and off came the markets from their gains. As I write this the equities are now higher once again however as shorts are getting very nervous heading into the weekend that they might actually come up with Europe's version of QE1. Make no mistake about it - this is exactly what Europe is planning - their own version of Quantitative Easing.To illustrate the madness, as the markets entered the last hour of trade, once again the sellers showed up and down went the stock markets again. Where are they going to end today? Who knows at this point?
Oddly enough, (although one can see the "logic" of the Euro trade), the Euro rose sharply on the news with the short Euro trade reversing sharply as risk trades were piled back on as risk aversion trades were taken off. If one looks at what happened to the Dollar during QE1 and QE2 it is obvious that this foray into monetary madness cut the floor out from beneath the Dollar as the supply of greenbacks was increased exponentially. If the ECB does go ahead with its QE, then the supply of Euros is going to soar and the trade will be to short the Euro. The problem is that this conflicts with the hedge fund risk trade which is to sell the Dollar and run back into the Euro and the commodity currencies. Get ready for more insane instability with the HFT crowd in there just screwing things up even more with their churning. I cannot say with certainty, but I am convinced that we had more than a few hedge funds disappear completely this week. The price swings were wiping out both longs and shorts. Sometimes the smartest place to be is to be on the sidelines watching and waiting while the other guys chew each other to shreds.
That brings us to gold which was all over the place today. It moved back and forth as the news changed, torn between the need to raise cash to meet margin calls, the desire to have a safe haven, the unwillingness of traders to hold "commodities" during a risk off trade, and severe doubt and skepticism towards both monetary authorities and political leaders not only in Europe but over here in the US.
Attempting to therefore make a projection as to where it is headed next in the SHORT TERM is an exercise in futility. All I do know is that it has been relatively solid even when the rest of the equity markets and commodity indices were getting whacked. It's safe haven status remains relatively unmarred even after being buffetted by all these money flow factors.
One of the factors that keeps some pressure on the gold market is the pitiful performance of the silver market. Right now that metal cannot get out of its own way as it is violating chart support levels with the HFT crowd going after it and driving the offers lower and lower. Both it and copper seem to be falling lower in unison. It is tricky to say right now but it might take a stabilization in copper to see silver get its footing here. It has managed to bounce off a support level near the $38.00 - $37.75 level but is acting heavy for the time being. Its 50 day moving average is just below the market near $37.35 so it if it going to prevent a further drop, it will need to remain above this level, preferably getting back over $39 once again.
The mining shares as evidenced by both the HUI and the XAU have remained joined at the hip to the broader markets and bounced when they bounced higher on the ECB news. From a technical chart perspective, they did rebound from a level that was critical for them to hold so I suppose that is a plus but the HUI is currently below its 50 WEEK moving average, which is a level that it must recapture if it is going to have a chance at staging a better rally. Ditto for the XAU which is some 12 points below its 50 WEEK moving average as I write this. It is holding above 190 however which is positive. At some point, the huge imbalance in valuation of these shares compared to gold is going to result in large acquisitions, especially by both the majors and the Chinese.
After the Dollar's huge rally yesterday, it surrendered half of those gains as longs bailed out on news of a possible ECB bond buying program. Where it goes next week completely depends on the kind of news that will greet us come Sunday evening here in the US when the markets reopen for trading in Asia. If we get some sort of confirmation that the ECB will definitely move forward with a bond buying program, look for further volatility in the currency markets as traders will be torn between selling the Dollar to put risk trades back on and buying the Dollar as they sell the Euro in anticipation of a program that will pressure the Euro lower on the crosses.
I will try to get a chart up of gold later on but I would not put too much stock in it until we see what happens over the weekend. I will say this, if the EC
The big thing I am watching right now is these interest rate markets. We might have seen a top in bond prices and a low in interest rates for the time being if the ECB QE program kicks in as all those guys who rushed into Treasuries this week will probably rush back out. Very hard to say however as too much is in flux right now.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Extreme Volatility in Gold as market digests rumors and risk aversion trades
Very early this morning, gold shot up to another all time record high above the technically significant resistance level near $1680 as sovereign debt fears coming out of the Euro Zone intensified with the worsening news. It did not take long however as trading moved further into the New York session for gold to drop sharply lower as the US equity markets began imploding. The Dollar soared over 100 points, the Euro fell out of bed and the crude oil market was shellacked as investor after investor all began heading to the sidelines and running out of nearly everything out there except for US Treasuries.
Further intensifying the fear trade was news that a large bank (Bank of New Yokr Mellon) was actually charging customers a fee for putting cash INTO their bank! If that was not revealing, nothing was. It showed how nervous investors are becoming and how desperate they are to find a safe haven to park their wealth. THis news helped to further feed into the buying frenzy in the Treasury markets as investors basically shrugged their shoulders as if saying, "What the heck, if they are going to charge me a fee to put money in their bank, I might as well just buy Treasuries instead".
It occurs to me that the overnight intervention by the Japanese monetary authorities was extremely bullish for gold as it was further evidence of the currency debasement policy proliferation that we have been witnessing. We have seen the Swiss also playing that game along with the Brazilians which is the reason that gold has been going on to make one record high after another across a variety of major currency terms. However, all of this was outweighed by the sheer volume of money flows out of the markets in general. Many are attempting to come up with a new strategy to deal with the rapidly changing economic paradigm and prefer to just get out of their trades while they weigh their options. Others are just selling in order to raise cash to meet a plethora of margin calls. There will be more than a few utterly exhausted margin clerks before the closing bells ring on the various markets.
The Euro in particular and the commodity currencies in general were all whalloped today as traders are now coming around to the view that the next move by the ECB in regards to interest rates will be LOWER and not higher. That has led to a general theme of Euro selling along with Dollar buying. All of this mess really started in Europe which it now appears is dealing with its own version of Lehman Brothers and the liquidity crisis that erupted when that institution failed back in the summer of 2008. Their problem is related to their big banks however in the sense of the exposure that these entities have to the sovereign bonds of some of the major countries comprising the Euro Zone. Credit lock ups are what the real fear is.
The commodity currencies were crashed along with the CRB and the CCI (more on those indices later).
One of the few bright spots I can see as far as the consumer goes is that UNLEADED GASOLINE crashed through its recent low today which should eventually provide some relief at least at the gas pump for beleagured consumers. A nice $0.40 drop in the wholesale price will perhaps free up a bit of the little disposable income that consumers have left in their wallets.
There have been a large number of references back to the summer of 2008 today as the deflation trade dominated the markets at that time. This is being reflected in the mining shares once again which are absolutely horrendous today as the HUI is currently down over 5% as I write this while the XAU is down over 6%. Both have violated their 50 day moving averages and are back under their 100 day moving averages as well. There is some support on the price chart of the HUI near the 520 level and 190 on the XAU. Whether or not those hold is unclear at the given moment especially if this fear trade were to intensify further. An awful lot of traders have already thrown in the towel today based on the massive move lower across so many markets so perhaps the bulk of the selling is over. I am simply not sure but what I find rather remarkable is how quickly the "Buy the Dip" mentality in the broader equity markets completely evaporated today. All that happened in the mining sector is that the gold shares became even more undervalued compared to gold than they were before the day started. We will keep watching to see at what level enough value based buyers emerge in the shares to outweigh the hedge fund algorithm related selling that continues in association with that ratio spread trade of theirs.
Back to gold however - part of the reason it was hit so hard at one point in the trading session had to do with unsubstantiated rumors that were floating around that the CME Group was going to be hiking margin requirements on their gold futures contracts. Traders hit the gold market so hard with selling on that rumor that they knocked the price of gold down nearly $40 off its best level of the session. Later on the CME felt the need to address that and denied the rumor was true. That denial led to a counter rally in the gold market which came nicely off its lows only to run into another wall of selling once the neighboring silver market puked along with the downward acceleration in the US stock markets. While the near term technical price charts look a bit toppy on gold as a result of the margin related selling, considering the carnage across so many of the commodity markets, it was down less than 1%. I want to see how it performs overnight and into early tomorrow morning when we get the payrolls number from the US pencil pushers before I get a better sense of where it might be heading next in the short term. One has to respect the technicals in today's markets as that is what the computer algorithms are all based on and right now we are looking at a short term negative technical pattern on the gold chart. If Asian comes into to buy overnight or if we see additional gold buying out of Europe when it opens tomorrow, then there is a good chance that today's action will be negated. For the time being however, one cannot ignore the chart pattern so be careful. I will feel a bit more confident for the short term prospects of gold should it be able to recapture the $1,665 level on a closing basis.
Silver was mauled without mercy as it met with the fate of copper. This is to be expected during times of risk aversion. For all the silver bulls out there, please understand this basic principle - Silver will not outperform gold during a period of risk aversion. Period - Comex silver stocks do not matter. All that matters is that risk trades get yanked off and silver gets hit harder than gold because even though it has an historic role as a safe haven metal, it cannot shed its industrial metal role completely during such times. The Gold/Silver ratio will therefore move in the favor of gold during periods of risk aversion when fear trades are the rule. When the risk trades go back on and traders feel very comfortable taking risk, then silver will outperform gold to the upside.
All our eyes will now turn to that payrolls number tomorrow morning to see where things go next.
In the meantime, I cannot tell you how many times I heard the talking heads using the words “OVERSOLD” today. Funny how we rarely if ever see these same financial anchors use the term, “OVERB OUGHT”. One can almost sense just how badly they want the stock market to stop going down. If we get a larger than expected payrolls number tomorrow, they will probably get their wish.
Further intensifying the fear trade was news that a large bank (Bank of New Yokr Mellon) was actually charging customers a fee for putting cash INTO their bank! If that was not revealing, nothing was. It showed how nervous investors are becoming and how desperate they are to find a safe haven to park their wealth. THis news helped to further feed into the buying frenzy in the Treasury markets as investors basically shrugged their shoulders as if saying, "What the heck, if they are going to charge me a fee to put money in their bank, I might as well just buy Treasuries instead".
It occurs to me that the overnight intervention by the Japanese monetary authorities was extremely bullish for gold as it was further evidence of the currency debasement policy proliferation that we have been witnessing. We have seen the Swiss also playing that game along with the Brazilians which is the reason that gold has been going on to make one record high after another across a variety of major currency terms. However, all of this was outweighed by the sheer volume of money flows out of the markets in general. Many are attempting to come up with a new strategy to deal with the rapidly changing economic paradigm and prefer to just get out of their trades while they weigh their options. Others are just selling in order to raise cash to meet a plethora of margin calls. There will be more than a few utterly exhausted margin clerks before the closing bells ring on the various markets.
The Euro in particular and the commodity currencies in general were all whalloped today as traders are now coming around to the view that the next move by the ECB in regards to interest rates will be LOWER and not higher. That has led to a general theme of Euro selling along with Dollar buying. All of this mess really started in Europe which it now appears is dealing with its own version of Lehman Brothers and the liquidity crisis that erupted when that institution failed back in the summer of 2008. Their problem is related to their big banks however in the sense of the exposure that these entities have to the sovereign bonds of some of the major countries comprising the Euro Zone. Credit lock ups are what the real fear is.
The commodity currencies were crashed along with the CRB and the CCI (more on those indices later).
One of the few bright spots I can see as far as the consumer goes is that UNLEADED GASOLINE crashed through its recent low today which should eventually provide some relief at least at the gas pump for beleagured consumers. A nice $0.40 drop in the wholesale price will perhaps free up a bit of the little disposable income that consumers have left in their wallets.
There have been a large number of references back to the summer of 2008 today as the deflation trade dominated the markets at that time. This is being reflected in the mining shares once again which are absolutely horrendous today as the HUI is currently down over 5% as I write this while the XAU is down over 6%. Both have violated their 50 day moving averages and are back under their 100 day moving averages as well. There is some support on the price chart of the HUI near the 520 level and 190 on the XAU. Whether or not those hold is unclear at the given moment especially if this fear trade were to intensify further. An awful lot of traders have already thrown in the towel today based on the massive move lower across so many markets so perhaps the bulk of the selling is over. I am simply not sure but what I find rather remarkable is how quickly the "Buy the Dip" mentality in the broader equity markets completely evaporated today. All that happened in the mining sector is that the gold shares became even more undervalued compared to gold than they were before the day started. We will keep watching to see at what level enough value based buyers emerge in the shares to outweigh the hedge fund algorithm related selling that continues in association with that ratio spread trade of theirs.
The S&P 500 has smashed through downside support moving below psychological round number support at 1200. If you look at the weekly chart, you can also see that it is negative for the year and is sitting on the 25% Fibonacci Retracement Level for the rally from the early 2009 low to its recent top. It will need to recapture 1200 quickly to stem the bleeding somewhat or else we will see an eventual move towards the 38.2% level closer to 1107.
Keep in mind that I am speaking as a trader looking at a short term price chart. Longer term I believe many investors are looking for a dip in the gold price to secure more of the metal. The entire problem in the markets right now is that investors world wide, but particularly investors putting money into the Western economies, have LOST CONFIDENCE in the monetary authorities of those nations and in their political leaders. In effect, the markets have voted and that vote says, "WE DO NOT TRUST THEM TO BE ABLE TO PROPERLY DEAL WITH THE ROOT CAUSES OF THE PROBLEMS THAT ARE AFFLICTING THE NATION". Gold in that sense is the "ANTI-GOVERNMENT" vote as there is no government behind the metal. That will keep buyers interested in gold even in the midst of a money flow issue.
Silver was mauled without mercy as it met with the fate of copper. This is to be expected during times of risk aversion. For all the silver bulls out there, please understand this basic principle - Silver will not outperform gold during a period of risk aversion. Period - Comex silver stocks do not matter. All that matters is that risk trades get yanked off and silver gets hit harder than gold because even though it has an historic role as a safe haven metal, it cannot shed its industrial metal role completely during such times. The Gold/Silver ratio will therefore move in the favor of gold during periods of risk aversion when fear trades are the rule. When the risk trades go back on and traders feel very comfortable taking risk, then silver will outperform gold to the upside.
All our eyes will now turn to that payrolls number tomorrow morning to see where things go next.
In the meantime, I cannot tell you how many times I heard the talking heads using the words “OVERSOLD” today. Funny how we rarely if ever see these same financial anchors use the term, “OVER
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Japanese Monetary Authorities finally show up
It was inevitable that the fellows from the Land of the Rising Sun would make an appearance after what has been taking place in the yen over the past month. Once it began approaching the former level at which coordinated intervention took place back in March of this year, the Bank of Japan and Ministry of Finance began hearing from Japanese industry leaders whose export markets were taking a hit. The strength in the Yen was choking off export business and the crescendo of complaints had recently reached deafening levels.
You wil recall that when the earthquake/tsuanmi struck Japan, a massive unwind of the Yen carry trade began as risk aversion escalated. In addition, there was anticipation of widespread repatriation of overseas Yen investments by Japanese citizens and businesses, especially insurance companies, to deal with the aftermath of that tragedy. The result was a surge in the value of the Yen, especially against the Dollar which resulted in a rare coordinated intervention effort by the Bank of Japan, European Central Bank and Fed all which sold the Yen and bought the Dollar in an attempt to stem its rise. They did exactly that with the yen plummeting 10% in value against the Dollar in about two week's time.
However, the currency bottomed out and had begun a slow climb higher retracing more than half of its losses about a month after the bottom was formed. While Japanese monetary authorities were taking notice, they were content to watch it meander sideways. Not until its surge that began in July did they show any signs of concern. Apparently the move past the former coordinated intervention effort was enough to get them to intervene once again.
This time they have gone it alone (ECB and FEd officials were of course notified) so it remains to be seen how effective this latest round of war between the BOJ and the speculators is going to play out.
Suffice it to say, it is this intervention which is responsible for the strength in the Dollar this evening as it had just had the props knocked back out from underneath it during the day session Wednesday once rumors of additional Federal Reserve monetary stimulus began circulating through the markets. While the Dollar is up sharply against the Yen, note what has happened as a result of this Yen intervention to the price of gold in terms of the Yen - it has soared to a another record high. It seems as if we cannot get enough monetary authorities trying to deliberately debase their currencies can we?
You wil recall that when the earthquake/tsuanmi struck Japan, a massive unwind of the Yen carry trade began as risk aversion escalated. In addition, there was anticipation of widespread repatriation of overseas Yen investments by Japanese citizens and businesses, especially insurance companies, to deal with the aftermath of that tragedy. The result was a surge in the value of the Yen, especially against the Dollar which resulted in a rare coordinated intervention effort by the Bank of Japan, European Central Bank and Fed all which sold the Yen and bought the Dollar in an attempt to stem its rise. They did exactly that with the yen plummeting 10% in value against the Dollar in about two week's time.
However, the currency bottomed out and had begun a slow climb higher retracing more than half of its losses about a month after the bottom was formed. While Japanese monetary authorities were taking notice, they were content to watch it meander sideways. Not until its surge that began in July did they show any signs of concern. Apparently the move past the former coordinated intervention effort was enough to get them to intervene once again.
This time they have gone it alone (ECB and FEd officials were of course notified) so it remains to be seen how effective this latest round of war between the BOJ and the speculators is going to play out.
Suffice it to say, it is this intervention which is responsible for the strength in the Dollar this evening as it had just had the props knocked back out from underneath it during the day session Wednesday once rumors of additional Federal Reserve monetary stimulus began circulating through the markets. While the Dollar is up sharply against the Yen, note what has happened as a result of this Yen intervention to the price of gold in terms of the Yen - it has soared to a another record high. It seems as if we cannot get enough monetary authorities trying to deliberately debase their currencies can we?
Gold Chart -
The Breach of overhead resistance at the $1650 level set up a run towards resistance at $1680, which is, for charting purposes, effectively where gold has now run. It came in a bit shy of the actual number but as you can see from the chart, has encountered likely bullion bank opposition at the level noted.
You might also note that this resistance level is very near the top of the channel that has been formed over the last month's worth of price action. The angle of ascent for gold is much steeper than it has been in the past but it is certainly no where near parabolic. It has just moved to a bit more sharper angle as investor fears have grown. Even at that, the word "PANIC" is no where yet found (it will be later).
As long as we still hear commentators and analysts talking up how "CHEAP" stock valuations have become, you can rest assured we are no where near any sort of panic stage. Just look at how eager these guys are to back up the truck and reload it once again with equities. It is as if the entire generation has been conditioned to buy dips no matter what the hell is going on in the nation or the globe for that matter. I can see them still buying up stocks when the overall national debt of the nation heads to $20 trillion, then $25 trillion and then $30 trillion. "Buy 'em". Rating agency downgrade - "buy 'em". QE 5 - "Buy 'em". QE6 - "Buy 'em"... and so on and so on and so on. We just don't believe that there is any such thing as a BEAR market - those are no longer possible in this new day and age in which the Fed can print lots and lots of money to fix everything".
Today's big rumors and pit musings were started by Bill Gross of PIMCO commenting on the Federal Reserve preparing for another round of stimulus. A couple of other folks joined in on that parade and that was enough to pull the S&P 500 back from the brink. Yep - that is just what we need - more money printing! Then again, there is no other arrow left in their quiver except that one as the federal government is not going to provide another round of stimulus (not that it would do any good anyway). It was this chatter about another round of QE that knocked the props out from under the US Dollar and took some of the wind out of the long bond today which has recently been on a one way trip due north. I think Bill must be kicking himself still on that previous Treasury bond call.
In an odd manner, Federal Reserve bond buying programs are currently being viewed as NEGATIVE for bond prices. The idea is that once its sets out the punch bowl again, no one else will be buying bonds as they will all be rushing back to get their fill of equities as they load their boats with those and dump all the Treasuries they just stuffed under their mattresses. Yes, this is called "investing" in this day and age. Madness is how I prefer to describe it as another round of QE will do as much good in curing the structurally rooted problems in the US economy as the first two rounds did - mainly NOTHING.
News flash to this gang - QE will not create jobs. It has already been tried twice and been proven to be an absymal failure. Many corporations are showing good profits but that is because some of them have eliminated their single biggest expense - their payrolls! Think about it - the combined QE1 and QE2 was close to if not more than $2.5 TRILLION Dollars and how many jobs did it create?
This is what the monetary authorities of the US economy and that of the EuroZone have been reduced to - money printing. They think that by providing liquidity they can fix years of overspending and massive indebtedness. I don't know whether to laugh at such ignorant stupidity or cry because of where these people are taking us all. I sometimes wonder if we are under a divine curse that has inflicted upon us fools for leaders and policy makers. They act as if they are somehow immune from History. Or could it be that their hubris suggests to themselves that they are actually wiser and more learned than previous generations and know how to accomplish those things which their unfortunate predecessors could not?
It really does not matter at this point as the die are already cast and the drama now waits to be acted out to reach its inevitable conclusion. Debt has consequences not the least of which is it cannot be endlessly multiplied and renamed prosperity without corrupting those who are liable for it. Perhaps I am hopelessly antiquated but I learned that it is the SAVERS and the LENDERS who hold the true power and not the CREDITORS and BORROWERS. The FORMER become the masters; the latter become the slaves.
Back to gold however - it now needs to take out today's high and plow through $1680 to set up a run at $1695 - $1700. It should find some light buying support down first near $1650 and then better support near $1625, levels at which it encountered some selling resistance of the way up. Take a look at the chart and you can see the markings.
Open interest has begun to rise again which is a healthy sign - as long as it does, the market will move higher.
Silver finally made it to its target of $42 today before setting back some. It is basically running in $2 increments so look for a move to $44 should it be able to clear $42 and hold that level. Support in silver is back down near $40 for now.
Copper has rolled over on the price chart and seems to have confirmed a top in there. Any indication that another round of QE is on the way and this market will undoubtedly reverse to the upside once again. For now it is signaling a slowdown in global growth is the dominant view.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
S&P now in negative territory for year
The plunge in the stock indices in today's trading has wiped out the entirety of paper gains for the year. There are several things I wish to note about this.
The first is that the so-called "debt ceiling agreement" was supposed to be friendly towards stocks. Remember the soaring indices in Sunday evening trade as the news broke that the agreement had been reached. The market has put all that behind it and is now focusing on the pathetic growth rate in the US economy and the fact that lawmakers and the administration will now proceed to saddle this generation of Americans and the next with even more debt. That debt weighs like an anchor on future economic growth and this is not being lost on traders/investors. As I said in a previous post - only in modern day America could a bunch of hapless politicians congratulate themselves for sinking their nation and their countrymen deeper into a morass of indebtedness. Words cannot express my contempt and disdain for this bunch of pitiful "statesmen". They make Nero look like a genuine patriot by comparison. He at least did something constructive while his city burned. He played his fiddle. Our jokers played us instead.
Secondly - I made a point a while back that the one relatively bright spot for consumers was that even though gasoline prices were soaring higher and still remain stubbornly high, even though food prices continue to trek upwards and consumers leave the grocery stores with fewer goods in their bags for the same amount of money spent, even though medical costs continue to rocket higher, even though their home values continue to sink lower leaving more and more mortgages underwater, even though the employment situation reeks to high heaven, at least, at least, their 401K's and retirement plans were a bit in the black for the year. That has now evaporated like the morning dew. Can you even imagine what the next Consumer Confidence numbers are going to look like?
Friends and readers - this week will be one for the history books in my opinion as it will mark the beginning of the steady decline of the US economic might unless there is a drastic, and I do mean "drastic" change at the ballot box next year. It might even possibly be too late for even that to do any good at this point as the mathematics is now working against us all.
The markets are said to illustrate the combined wisdom of a host of individual traders/investors/players, who survey the current scene and then based on that survey, make decisions accordingly. Based on that alone the markets are saying that looking ahead, the environment for stocks in general is rapidly deteriorating and that we are heading back into Recession.
All eyes will then turn to the Fed for some further round of QE although I doubt it will be called that for political reasons. Either way, should that indeed happen, the floor under the Dollar will collapse.
The first is that the so-called "debt ceiling agreement" was supposed to be friendly towards stocks. Remember the soaring indices in Sunday evening trade as the news broke that the agreement had been reached. The market has put all that behind it and is now focusing on the pathetic growth rate in the US economy and the fact that lawmakers and the administration will now proceed to saddle this generation of Americans and the next with even more debt. That debt weighs like an anchor on future economic growth and this is not being lost on traders/investors. As I said in a previous post - only in modern day America could a bunch of hapless politicians congratulate themselves for sinking their nation and their countrymen deeper into a morass of indebtedness. Words cannot express my contempt and disdain for this bunch of pitiful "statesmen". They make Nero look like a genuine patriot by comparison. He at least did something constructive while his city burned. He played his fiddle. Our jokers played us instead.
Secondly - I made a point a while back that the one relatively bright spot for consumers was that even though gasoline prices were soaring higher and still remain stubbornly high, even though food prices continue to trek upwards and consumers leave the grocery stores with fewer goods in their bags for the same amount of money spent, even though medical costs continue to rocket higher, even though their home values continue to sink lower leaving more and more mortgages underwater, even though the employment situation reeks to high heaven, at least, at least, their 401K's and retirement plans were a bit in the black for the year. That has now evaporated like the morning dew. Can you even imagine what the next Consumer Confidence numbers are going to look like?
Friends and readers - this week will be one for the history books in my opinion as it will mark the beginning of the steady decline of the US economic might unless there is a drastic, and I do mean "drastic" change at the ballot box next year. It might even possibly be too late for even that to do any good at this point as the mathematics is now working against us all.
The markets are said to illustrate the combined wisdom of a host of individual traders/investors/players, who survey the current scene and then based on that survey, make decisions accordingly. Based on that alone the markets are saying that looking ahead, the environment for stocks in general is rapidly deteriorating and that we are heading back into Recession.
All eyes will then turn to the Fed for some further round of QE although I doubt it will be called that for political reasons. Either way, should that indeed happen, the floor under the Dollar will collapse.
Uptrending Channel is beginning to steepen for Gold
Since late 2008, gold has been rising in a strong and steady fashion within the confines of a channel that I have marked out on the weekly price chart. As mentioned previously, its rise has been orderly and solid unlike silver which burned itself out by rising too quickly at one point earlier this year and is just now attempting to re-establish a solid uptrend.
Since the year 2011 has begun, a new and steeper price channel appears to be forming as the fundamental factors that have driven the metal onto new record highs show no sign of ameliorationg; if anything they are growing worse.
These three factors are:
(1.) Sovereign debt woes out of the Eurozone
(2.) Raging inflation across China and other parts of Asia
(3.) Anemic economic growth in the US guaranteeing accomodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future
One can add to this a 4th factor which is the enormous amount of indebtedness being heaped upon the citizens of the US by politicians which is sinking the nation into an inescapable mire of perpetual debt slavery and has now set the stage for an inevitable downgrade of US debt worthiness. It seems to me that this recent travesty of a spectacle, in which lawmakers actually cheered plunging the nation further into bondage has brought home the gravity of the situation to an increasing number of citizens/investors.
In the West this has resulted in a loss of confidence in the monetary authorities and political leaders which has resulted in surging demand for gold as a safe haven and vehicle to protect the earning power of accumulated wealth. In the East it has led to gold buying as a hedge against soaring food and energy costs. All of this has now come together and is feeding the bullish sentiment for the metal.
Gold has been able to better the price cap near the $1625 level and is now in the process of attacking the $1650, the level which my good friend Jim Sinclair long predicted it would approach. Should it take out this level, it looks to be on a path to $1680 based on what I can from this newer channel. Downside support is initially at yesterday's low of $1608 followed by $1600.
Aiding its upward progress in US Dollar terms is the fact that it has once again scored new all time highs priced in both the Euro and the British Pound.
New Haven: The Chinese have long admired America's economic dynamism. But they have lost confidence in America's government and its dysfunctional economic stewardship. That message came through loud and clear in my recent travels to Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Hong Kong.
http://gulfnews.com/business/opinion/china-loses-trust-in-us-economic-stewardship-1.845120
Since the year 2011 has begun, a new and steeper price channel appears to be forming as the fundamental factors that have driven the metal onto new record highs show no sign of ameliorationg; if anything they are growing worse.
These three factors are:
(1.) Sovereign debt woes out of the Eurozone
(2.) Raging inflation across China and other parts of Asia
(3.) Anemic economic growth in the US guaranteeing accomodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future
One can add to this a 4th factor which is the enormous amount of indebtedness being heaped upon the citizens of the US by politicians which is sinking the nation into an inescapable mire of perpetual debt slavery and has now set the stage for an inevitable downgrade of US debt worthiness. It seems to me that this recent travesty of a spectacle, in which lawmakers actually cheered plunging the nation further into bondage has brought home the gravity of the situation to an increasing number of citizens/investors.
In the West this has resulted in a loss of confidence in the monetary authorities and political leaders which has resulted in surging demand for gold as a safe haven and vehicle to protect the earning power of accumulated wealth. In the East it has led to gold buying as a hedge against soaring food and energy costs. All of this has now come together and is feeding the bullish sentiment for the metal.
Gold has been able to better the price cap near the $1625 level and is now in the process of attacking the $1650, the level which my good friend Jim Sinclair long predicted it would approach. Should it take out this level, it looks to be on a path to $1680 based on what I can from this newer channel. Downside support is initially at yesterday's low of $1608 followed by $1600.
Aiding its upward progress in US Dollar terms is the fact that it has once again scored new all time highs priced in both the Euro and the British Pound.
The bond market is acting as if it has totally dismissed any rating agency potential downgrades. The Long bond continues moving vertically shoving rates lower putting a huge smile on the face of Federal Reserve officials and other assorted policy makers who are gleefuly watching the fools who would entrust their wealth to paper IOU's of the federal government. I do not care whether US bonds are considered safe compared to the bonds of many EU member countries' or not - buying Treasuries is a fool's game especially when the US government is spitting them out faster than a Persian cat can spit out hairballs. They are utterly and completely worthless. Even China is sick to death of the things.
China loses trust in US economic stewardship
Asian giant to say no to dollar dominance
By Stephen S. Roach
Published: 00:00 July 31, 2011
http://gulfnews.com/business/opinion/china-loses-trust-in-us-economic-stewardship-1.845120
The S&P 500 has returned back down into a region from which it will have to soon reverse or else it will experience a rather rude sell off. If we get another rotten payrolls number, it is difficult to see how it is not going to break below 1250 this time.
Bureaucratic Insanity
I could not resist posting this story as an example of the utter stupidity of unaccountable and unelectable meddling bureaucrats who are destroying the country that I grew up in by their sheer mindlessness and preening sense of self-importance. I have long suspected that many bureaucrats and officials who pull these sorts of stunts have deep psychological issues that prevent their minds from functioning in a rational manner.
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (WUSA) -- Eleven-year-old aspiring veterinarian, Skylar Capo, sprang into action the second she learned that a baby woodpecker in her Dad's backyard was about to be eaten by the family cat.
"I've just always loved animals," said Skylar Capo. "I couldn't stand to watch it be eaten.
http://wusa9.com/news/article/161065/158/Woodpecker-Saving-Daughter-Costs-Mom-500
Woodpecker-Saving Daughter Costs Mom $500, Possible Jail Time
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (WUSA) -- Eleven-year-old aspiring veterinarian, Skylar Capo, sprang into action the second she learned that a baby woodpecker in her Dad's backyard was about to be eaten by the family cat.
"I've just always loved animals," said Skylar Capo. "I couldn't stand to watch it be eaten.
http://wusa9.com/news/article/161065/158/Woodpecker-Saving-Daughter-Costs-Mom-500
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