Gold Holds Support; Constricts Further

There was some news today dealing with gold demand from out of China, now the world's largest gold consumer, and it was not particularly friendly for the yellow metal.

The World Gold Council announced that Q1 gold demand was 18% less than the previous year for the same time period. It was the 55% drop in bar and coin purchases that was primarily behind the fall off.

India was not exempt either as its gold demand fell 26%.

The WGC data showed an overall drop in global demand by 52% compared to a year ago resulting in a four year low.

Combine this with the big drop in GLD holdings, and you can see why gold has thus far been stymied in any attempt to mount a sustained upward move in price. The demand simply is not there.

That could change but until it does, the metal will continue to attract selling on rallies.

By the way, as an aside, this is another of the reasons that I suggest that the readers here ignore the now commonplace, breathless talk about "gold backwardation". If gold demand were that strong as these non-stop gold promoters insist, the WGC would not be reporting falling demand. Then again, some of these charlatans will no doubt inform us that the WGC is in bed with the powers that be and is distorting its own data in order to steer investors away from gold.

Sweeping away all the cobwebs and clearing the fog from their obfuscations, the gold price chart continues to reveal that pattern that is making me nervous about its fortunes. The pattern of LOWER HIGHS is not changing. Rallies are attracting selling at progressively lower points and while support is holding, the persistent inability of the mining shares to get anything going on the upside, is suggesting ( note - this is not conclusive yet ) that the support level is not going to hold.

The events in Ukraine remain a wild card however. The upcoming vote is going to be closely watched but more so, the reaction to that vote. Also, any further weakness in the broader equity markets will bring, as it did in today's session, more safe haven buying into the yellow metal. Some equity players are unsure whether the weakness in the smaller cap stocks is going to spillover into the larger caps. It seems that anytime stocks waver in the least, gold gets a safe haven bid. It is just one more thing for traders to have to decipher when attempting to approach this market for a trade. One thing is for certain - trading gold has become a shortest of time frame trades. One cannot hold a position for any length of time in this completely unpredictable and volatile environment.

Just today, after the Russell 2000 had managed nice back to back recoveries from the recent selling, it fell lower again. Currently it is down 1.96% compared to the 0.84% fall in the S&P 500 index and a 0.99% drop in the Dow. At the same time, the yield on the Ten Year Treasury has moved slightly lower once more. One can see the corresponding linkage when these safe haven/ risk aversion moves are underway. Small Cap stocks underperforming mid to large caps is a sure sign of this risk aversion trade. Both the Yen and the Dollar are also a wee bit higher at the moment. Disappointing sales numbers from retailers seemed to be the culprit that induced the selling in the equities, brought a bid into gold and the other safe havens.

Here is a chart of the GDXJ. As you can see, it is working on putting in the lowest daily closing price since April 17th of this year; in other words, the lowest close in a month. It is sitting right at a key support level so if the juniors are going to manage a bounce, they are going to have to do it almost immediately or risk another leg down. The ADX is rising once more indicating that the potential for a trending move is now more realistic but until that support level gives way, the index is still in a range, albeit at the bottom of the range.

The Daily Chart of the HUI is not any better. It is working on the lowest closing price in three months.

On the grains front - traders are back to chasing soybeans higher once more,  as if we are going to run completely out of beans before turning right around and throwing them all out. This market is about as convoluted as I can ever recall seeing it, especially the old crop as the situation involving those tight carryover stocks is at the forefront of their minds again. Technically based buying is was seen in new crop beans as overhead resistance levels were taken out which brought in momentum-based buying. That buying then evaporated and sellers took over. Right now the beans are lower but whether or not they stay there or go on another wild tear higher is anyone's guess.

The initial catalyst behind the early session buying was news that China  was into the US bean market as USDA this morning announced a purchase of 110,000 mt of optional origin beans. Combine those two words, "China" and "beans" and the result is always buying in the pit.


KC wheat is outperforming the Chicago wheat market as deterioration of that crop was reported yesterday. While recent rains will have helped ameliorate the slide in condition ratings, traders were looking backward at the damage and felt that perhaps some got too optimistic on prospects too quickly. After all, wheat prices had dropped over $0.80/bushel in less than two weeks time. Throw in the fact that the HRS crop is behind schedule for planting and that was enough to convince some shorts to go ahead and book some gains.

Corn is being pressured however by a strong planting pace ( 73% compared to the 5 year average of 76% and last year's 65%) although some of the northern tier states are running behind the norm. It does look like there is going to be an open window up there however this week so traders are looking at substantial progress to be made by the time next Monday rolls around and we get the new and updated planting progress report. Generally speaking, from this point on out, rains will now tend to be viewed as helpful for the crop.

For corn, 34% of the crop has emerged compared to the 5 year average of 42% and last year's 17%. Beans are 9% emerged compared to an 11% five year average and last year's 3%.

The cheaper corn, along with good pasture conditions, and tightness for feeder supplies is driving feeder cattle prices to record high prices. How high can they go is the big question at this point.

Let's see what we get when the trading for today's session ends. Trying to extrapolate from daily market action nowadays is becoming almost an exercise in futility due to the wild price swings and shifting sentiment. Perhaps we need to just take things on an hourly basis. That seems to be the new "long term" horizon.

Spurs up one game on the Thunder. I like KD and believe he is a great role model but I like the Spurs more.

Mining Shares Looking for Friends

Here is the weekly price chart of the HUI. It did not end the week on an encouraging note, with the close being the lowest since the week of January 27 this year. As such, it is in serious danger of falling further and testing the support zone noted on the chart beneath it.

For the bulls to be able to have the least chance at mounting something to the upside, the downsloping trendline will need to be breached. That could form the basis of an actual reverse head and shoulders pattern but the big downside gap that formed last year in April near 300 would have to  be closed for any serious upside fireworks to occur.

The pattern of lower highs since that month is suggesting that a "Sell the Rally" mentality currently exists in the mining sector. Downside support is also suggesting value-based buying is taking place but the question is whether or not these buyers have sufficient clout to ward off opportunistic sellers. The index is range trading with bears having a minor advantage for the time being.

With the ETF, GLD, losing gold, and with this continued weakness in the mining shares, the signals are not promising for the moment. Time will make things a bit clearer but for now, this sector has fallen out of favor with investors.

Go and See "Godzilla" and have some Fun

For an escape last evening I took the kids to see the movie, "Godzilla". As a kid growing up watching the monster both terrorizing and saving Tokyo, I was hoping for a trip down memory lane. I was not disappointed.

The entire movie, which had a decent script and some great cinematography, was actually pretty good. Unlike that disaster  of a film in 1998, this one was true to the original roots. Godzilla both looks and SOUNDS a lot like the original. As a matter of fact, his roar, which he cuts loose with as he makes his grand appearance onto the big screen, sent the entire theater shaking. " I have arrived and am here to kick some serious ass" is the message! And trust me, THIS Godzilla, can kick some ass!

Watching these enormous monsters duking it out and laying waste to Honolulu, Las Vegas and San Francisco in the process was terrific. The battle scene between the US military and Godzilla at the bridge was a classic! Puny humans, you have met your match!

Wait until Godzilla cuts loose with his radiation blast/dragon-fire. Every detail including the way in which his Stegosaurus-like scales begin first glowing, is true to his roots in those early movies.

If you want to relive your lost youth or to merely introduce your kids to some of the things that we had the joys of experiencing in our early days, before there was an Xbox, Playstation or Nintendo Wii, go and see Godzilla.

I left the theater feeling like I was 10 years old once more. Hat's off to the folks who made this movie. It was a lot of fun. Besides, where else can you cheer out loud for Godzilla and get away with acting like an idiot and publicly embarrassing your own children? That is worth the price of the admission alone!

USDA gets with the Trend

Many of you have been reading about the increasing number of government agencies developing their own SWAT teams. USDA seems to be getting with the new fad.

 I have it on good authority that corn earworms and soybean leaf beetles have been coordinating strategy for assaulting USDA inspectors in the field. Never fear, the USDA is fighting back. Why else would they need body armor?

Can you believe this stuff? Unreal...

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/05/15/Dept-of-Agriculture-Orders-Ballistic-Body-Armor

Then again, it could be those hogs at the packing plants that meat inspectors are checking. The porcine victims are apparently not going to go down without a fight. Those hardy inspectors need to be able to level the playing field.

CME Lowers Gold and Silver Margin Requirements

In a move that is sure to raise the ire of the GIAMATT crowd, ( insert sarcasm here ), the CME announced a reduction in margin rates for gold by 7.7% as of the close of trading today ( Friday ). Speculative margins are now being lowered to $6,600 from the previous initial margin of $7,150. Maintenance margin drops to $6,000 from the current $6,500.

Silver margins are now cut 8.3%. Specs must put up $9,075 for an initial margin down from the current $9,900. Maintenance margins have been lowered to $8,250 from $9,000.

The recent range trade in both precious metals has resulted in lower volatility and that is being picked up in the exchange's computer program which measures that and either raises or lowers the margin requirements accordingly.

I am always amused by the reaction to these events by the GIAMATT crowd because inevitably, whenever the precious metals begin to make big trending moves ( in the upward direction ) , the swings in price begin to intensify. That ramp up in volatility, especially when gold is in a strong uptrend, can easily wipe out smaller, underfunded traders. The exchanges then respond in order to safeguard the Clearinghouse and to make sure that the process is protected. The perma gold bull camp then screeches to high heaven that it is all the more proof that the powers that be are manipulating gold by trying to force out the speculators.

Given the current low volatility by recent comparisons, this move by the exchange will actually make it easier for both longs and shorts, to increase the number of positions. If one is bullish, it actually makes it cheaper to increase the number of long positions in either metal. With the current positioning of the speculative community being net long, this benefits the bulls. Don't expect to hear a negative peep out of the GIAMATT crowd about this however. It is only when the exchanges raise the margins that they begin making noise.

One could easily make the equally bogus argument that the exchanges are making it much easier for specs to pad their current net long positions by lowering these margin requirements thus providing solid evidence that the exchange is working overtime to manipulate the price of gold higher, which is evidently a dastardly thing to do to the poor, friendless gold bears.

In overnight trading this evening, traders are expecting a victory in the Indian elections which is viewed as favorable for gold demand in that big consuming nation. Gold has popped up a few dollars as a result. The metal continues to hold above key support near the $1280 region.

Risk Aversion sends Global Equity Markets lower, Bonds higher

One never knows what the markets are going to focus on any given day ( which is the reason this never gets boring) but today seemed to be one of those days in which investors/traders were given to experiencing a sudden case of "risk aversion".

News out of the Eurozone set the mood with Euro-area growth up a mere 0.2% for Q1 when market expectations had been for a 0.4% increase. While hardly the stuff of legend at 0.4%, at least the estimate was up slightly. When the actual number came out and investors realized that the Eurozone was barely avoiding an overall contraction, equity bulls got nervous. Heck, it seemed as the entire world was suddenly itching to get out of stocks and into bonds.

Ever since China news has been less than stellar there have been concerns about a slowdown in global growth.

Even here in the US, players seemed to hone in on the Industrial Production number, which was down as they overlooked a friendly Initial Jobless Claims number.

The lousy Euro-area number increases the pressure on the ECB to "do something" at their next meeting in June. Already talk is ramping up of their own version of QE to stave off deflation. Keep in mind that in the past the ECB has surprised the markets by announcing an interest rate reduction apart from their actual meeting. It could happen again if we get any further unexpectedly weak numbers out of that region.

No matter the reason, most global equity markets were weaker today. Bonds, on the other hand, here in the US, were higher with interest rates falling below the 2.5% level at one point on the Ten Year Treasury. There remain an awful lot of speculative shorts in the bond markets and it appears that they are getting squeezed in a big way right now. When that many bets are all on one side of a market, it does not take much to get the ball rolling in the opposite direction. These things tend to feed on themselves as short covering begets more short covering until all that is left is the strongest of hands.

To illustrate why I believe we currently have a risk off trade occurring in the markets, take a look at a rather simplistic, but helpful, comparison chart I use to gauge investor demand for risk. It is essentially comparing the Russell 2000 index to the S&P 500 index.

The Russell 2000 is comprised of small cap stocks and by its nature, tends to be much more sensitive to sentiment in regards to risk than its bigger cousin, the S&P 500. This can be seen in the chart.

Notice how the two indices can practically be laid directly over the top of the other and the pattern is almost identical. Both tended to rise and fall in harmony beginning at the date shown on this chart all the way up until this month.

Can you see how recently, the Russell 2000 has been underperforming its larger cousin in a very big way? Look at the February low for the Russell 2000 and you can see that the index actually fell to that level today before it rebounded. Compare that to the S&P 500 which remains well off its February low.

If we take the high point of the Russell 2000 back in March of this year which was up near 1212 ( the best close was near 1208) and compare that to its current level, near 1096, the index has fallen some 9.3% from its best CLOSING LEVEL. The S&P 500 on the other hand closed today near 1867, down 25 points from its best CLOSING LEVEL near 1892. That is off a mere 1.3%. Another way of saying this is that the Russell 2000 is very close to achieving an official "correction". That requires a drop of 10% off the best close.

The lesson? Investors appear to be nervous right now and seem to be fearing SLOWDOWN fears at the moment. This is one of the causes of the big rush into bonds. We are apparently back to caution as the name of the game. I think many are wanting to see confirmation of an improving economy here in the US, especially in the employment area, before getting too aggressive on the buy side in stocks again.

Along this line, the VIX or volatility index rose today. It still remains quite tame however.

There is also a bit of chatter out there that holders of European-based bonds are jettisoning them in favor of US Treasuries. That talk has picked up as sentiment increases that the ECB is going to act on the stimulus front next month. If they do, and if the Euro weakens as a result, some of those bond holders would prefer to own US Treasuries as they expect the Dollar to strengthen against the Euro. We'll see about that but it is a plausible theory.

One last thing, I do not currently have the time to do this, but some of you more enterprising readers out there might be able to do some research to see if you can track money flows INTO TREASURY ONLY FUNDS. It would help to confirm that we are seeing a shift out of stocks temporarily into the safety of bonds. Demand for bonds is very strong right now. I continue to marvel how the Fed has been able to reduce their bond buying and not upset the interest rate market. First they get a geopolitical event to induce safe haven buying into bonds and now they get some fears over slowing global growth. Boy howdy are these guys good! Their reduced buying has been more than offset by investor demand.

Keep in mind that the nature of today's markets is that all it will take to completely turn this sentiment around is a piece or two of solid economic news. Again, I want to caution you traders out there, do not overtrade right now and watch your position size closely. You can have your trading career end very quickly if you become foolish right now.

CPI numbers

Yesterday we got a surprise PPI number. Today we got a CPI that came in right on expectations. It showed a seasonally adjusted 0.3% rise over April, which was the biggest increase since June of last year.

Much is being made of the rise in food prices which were up 0.4% compared to last month, and which have increased four straight months now. Meat prices in particular have risen sharply putting in their largest increase since 2003.

However, as I have made clear many times here recently, the CPI is a BACKWARD looking indicator. It measures "that which has been" not "that which shall be".

Just today, corn prices fell to a SIX WEEK LOW. Wheat prices have hit a three week low as widespread rains have put a halt to the drought/heat induced deterioration in the crop.

The spread between old crop beans and new crop beans is nearly $2.60 bushel. Just today Informa raised expected soybean acreage to a stunning 82.1 million acres. Looking FORWARD, barring any severe weather issues this growing season, there will be more than enough soybeans around to meet existing demand.

Incidentally, soybean crush was 132.67 million bushels compared to last month's 153.84. High prices continue to eat away at demand.

By the fourth quarter of this year, meat prices will begin to ease lower with supplies increasing in Q1 2015.

What I am saying is that price pressures in the food component of the CPI should ease later this year.

Energy remains a wild card. Gasoline prices rose 2.4%, which was the first gain since December of last year. If you observe the price chart however, gasoline prices spiked higher during the month of April pushing above December's level but have since fallen back somewhat. We will want to monitor this key commodity as it has such a big impact on both the consumer and on business. I am surprised that crude oil prices have been able to stay above the $100/barrel level but the market is proving to be rather resilient. I personally would love to see it move closer to $92 - $93 as it would push the price of gasoline lower and we consumers love that. Right now that appears to be rather unlikely.

Medical costs are worth noting - They rose 0.3% last month and are up 2.4% compared to a year ago.

In other economic news - the Philly Fed May Business Index came in at 15.4 compared to April's 16.6. New orders were at 10.5 versus 14.8.

US April Industrial Production was down -0.6% compared to the market expectation of a -0.1% decline. The March number was revised upward however to a 0.9% increase from the previous 0.7% increase.  Capacity utilization fell  0.7% to 78.6%. The market was looking for 79.0%.

Jobless claims were the big mover today - the number for initial unemployment claims plunged by 24,000 to a SEVEN YEAR low of 297,000. The market had been looking for a slight increase to 320,000. This number is notorious for its volatility so we will want to see next month's numbers but for right now, traders are interpreting the data as further evidence that the employment situation in the country is slowly improving. The Labor Department did issue a report showing that INFLATION ADJUSTED average weekly earnings actually fell 0.3% in April from March. Without the adjustment, wages were flat.

There still appears to be a great deal of slack in the labor market and that is working to hold down inflationary pressures. This phenomenon seems to be widespread in the Western economies at the moment and is one of the reasons that Central Bankers do not appear particularly concerned about the about of widespread inflation pressures at the moment.

Equity markets were pummeled lower today with the S&P 500 down nearly 1.5% as I type these comments. The HUI is down even harder ( near 1.67%).

The key index is perched precariously above a key chart support zone once again. So far it is holding but it does seem that general equity weakness tends to impact the mining shares more severely than the S&P 500 itself.

Bonds of course are going in the opposite direction and having yet another huge rally with the yield on the Ten Year falling below 2.5% at the moment.

I find it absolutely amazing at how skillful these Central Bankers have become at scaling back bond buying programs all the while without impacting the demand for bonds in the slightest. Remember all the talk coming from the perma gold bull community that as soon as the Fed stopped or scaled back their QE programs, that interest rates were going to soar because no one would be left to buy bonds? Well guess what - that is another prediction that has been proven to be completely and utterly wrong. Demand for bonds is still very strong at the moment. It should be borne in mind that the Fed is still buying bonds - albeit at a reduced level - and that its balance sheet is still growing. For whatever the reason, demand for bonds is currently exceeding the available supply and thus the price of the bonds is rising with interest rates moving correspondingly lower.

Along this same line however, the Bank of Canada's Schembri today was quoted saying that these "low interest rates pose a serious challenge for pension funds". Ain't that the truth and do not forget senior citizens and those living on fixed incomes. Those of you who have senior parents alive are all too sadly aware of this. Many hedge fund managers however are thrilled with these low rates as their fears of slowing global growth have most of them singing from the same hymn book.

Back to gold for a moment - the price chart continues to show the metal range bound but that series of lower highs is also continuing. Rallies are being sold. The giant gold ETF, GLD, now has reported gold holdings at 780.46 tons, that is down from the ending level last week of 782.85 tons. Thus far the ETF has shed 2.4 tons of gold this week. It will be interesting to see what the number comes in at by the end of trading this Friday, especially if gold fails to recapture the psychological "13" handle.

One last comment for now, the Treasury's International Capital Flows data ( TIC ) showed that Russia's US Treasury holdings fell $25.8 billion in March to $100.4 billion. Their holdings as of February had been $126.2 billion.
This can be explained as investors, fearing the impact of Western-backed sanctions, yanked money out of Russia. The exodus of capital caused the ruble to fall and this induced the Russian Central Bank to intervene in the forex markets. To do so, they would have needed to sell US Treasuries to raise the Dollars needed to sell those to keep the ruble from dropping even more sharply than it did.

In looking at the report, China's holdings are essentially unchanged from this same time last year ( 1272.1 billion to 1270.3 billion). Japan's holdings are up from 1114.3 billion to 1200.2 billion, an increase of $85.9 billion.

The chatter going around is that Belgium is taking up the slack in Treasury buying brought about by the Fed's tapering program. Belgium holdings are at $381.4 billion compared to last year's 188.4 billion, an increase of $193 billion. That is a big increase over the last year.

However, in going through the data, I have decided to start with the month of June 2013 and do some examination. Why? Because that is the month during what all adjustments are made in the TIC data. You see, many foreign buyers of US Treasuries, will do their buying through banks IN OTHER COUNTRIES other than their own. That shows up in the country in which the banks are located. However, that data does not show the originating buyer of the Treasuries but only the country in which the transaction was conducted. In June of each year, the Treasury Department will then properly credit the actual ownership of the Treasuries to the host country. Generally at that time, we will then see a big adjustment in the reported holdings of the various countries. That is the data I am interested in seeing. In the past, we have seen big buying out of the United Kingdom which then, during June, has been moved out of the UK and credited to China. In other words, a great deal of Chinese Treasury buying had been done through London banks which when properly credited, ends up in China.

I suspect we might have some of the same thing occurring with this Belgium deal but of course we will have to wait until the report showing the June updates is released. That will be three months from now unfortunately.

But let's go back to June of 2013. It reported Belgium holdings were at $176.2 billion. As of March 2014, those holdings are at $381.4 billion. That is a $205.2 billion increase. That certainly is a big increase.

China lowered their holdings by around $3.7 billion.

Japan's reported Treasury holdings as of June 2013, were at $1083.3 billion. They are currently sitting at $1200.2 billion. That is a 116.9 billion increase, a fairly sizeable jump.

The Caribbean Banking Centers were at $286.3 billion and increased by $26.2 billion to $312.5 billion. Those are often used by hedge funds.

Brazil registered a slight decrease in holdings from June ( about $8 billion). Taiwan dropped about $10 billion and Switzerland lowered their holdings by about $5 billion. Opec dropped by around $19 billion.

Those were mostly offset by increases in the UK of about $13 billion and Hong Kong by some by some $21 billion.

So what does all this mean? Right now, not much because we do not know where the final destination of those holdings are going to end up in June this year when Treasury does its annual adjustments.

But the fact that it is Belgium, the headquarters of the European Union doing the buying is interesting. That is because the various European nations, Germany, France, Italy, etc. that make up the EU are listed separately. We can speculate what is going on with that but one thing that I am wondering is whether or not the ECB might be buying US Treasuries as a way to undermine some of the stubborn strength that has been seen in the Euro.

Back in March of this year, the Euro was quite strong, trading near the 1.39 level for some time that month. I am only guessing as I have no proof whatsoever, but it is no secret that many European based political and monetary leaders do not want a strong Euro. Perhaps, that Treasury buying has been to derail some of the Euro's strength in relation to the US Dollar. I simply do not know but the fact that ECB President Mario Draghi felt compelled to talk down the Euro last week is rather revealing if you ask me.

One last thing - while this TIC data is interesting, the majority of US Treasuries are still owned internally here in the US. By that I mean private investors, pension funds, mutual funds, etc. Those investors, looking to take some of the gains that they have made in equities and put that aside into something more conservative while they try to get a sense of what the next direction in the broader equity markets might be, should not be underestimated.

Perhaps my friend Eric de Groot might be able to shed a bit of light on this as he is very good at studying money flows.

Ten Year Treasury Yield Plunges

I am still trying to make sense out of what is happening in the interest rate markets this morning, given that strong PPI number. The yield on this key Treasury ( and one of my favorite indicators ) has plunged to the lowest level since October of last year!

From a technical analysis standpoint alone ( I am not considering anything fundamental ) the chart has experienced a downside breakout. There is one last level of chart support back at those October lows near 2.46 - 2.47%.

Did the Fed just start a new QE program and I missed it? Some of the Treasury buying in recent weeks has been attributable to safe haven flows related to events in Ukraine but that in and of itself is not sufficient to have produced the steady influx of buying in the Treasury market.

Why this is so noteworthy in my mind is that the Fed has provided forward guidance suggesting that while their tapering plans will proceed, no interest rate hikes are being considered until 2015-2016. Most of the big players split the difference and projected no hikes until mid-2015.

However, if the PPI, which is notoriously more volatile than the CPI, shows a trend towards higher wholesale prices, then that would bring into question any rate hike delay of that length of time. We really do need to see that CPI number tomorrow to get a sense of what is taking place.

As you can see, there are a lot of uncertainties right now. I can tell you one thing, mortgage company risk management departments must be spinning this morning. Imagine trying to initiate a hedging program in this environment. One day we are getting surging payrolls numbers and chatter of higher rates. The next day rates are plunging lower. No wonder we are getting the types of wild swings in prices in so many markets. Commercial hedging interests are also getting whipsawed and ripped to shreds let along hedge funds who are experiencing some sizeable losses.

Traders - be careful - watch the size of those positions you put on. Keep them manageable or you are going to end up with some big losses if you are not glued to your computer screen.