"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



Thursday, July 12, 2012

Trader Dan on King World News

Please take a bit of time to check out my recent  written interview with Eric King of KIng World News as we discuss the technical price chart of the US Dollar and some general concepts about price action.

It should be kept in mind that a rallying Dollar tends to bring pressure across most of the commodity complex as a sector. There are exceptions however and we note those.

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/7/12_Crucial_Chart_%26_What_to_Expect_From_US_Dollar,_Euro_%26_Gold.html

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

More Long Term Bearish News for the US Dollar

While the near term chart picture for the US Dollar is decidedly friendly, more and more frequently we are reading reports such as the following out of Dow Jones.

It is not difficult to see where all of this is heading. The US is declining and going the way of all empires and kingdoms throughout history who spent themselves into oblivion and refused to consider the long term implications of their policies.

Esau squandered his birthright for a bowl of stew. The US monetary authorities and inept political leaders have squandered the Dollar's reserve currency status for what??? A pox on the whole pathetic batch of them all.



DJ Australia's Swan: To Discuss With China Possible Direct Conversion of Australian Dollar, Yuan

 HONG KONG--Australia will discuss with China officials the potential for
direct conversion of the Australian dollar and the Chinese yuan for
transactions completed in mainland China, Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan said
Wednesday.

  "This has the potential over time to help reduce the cost of trade between
Australia and China," said Mr. Swan, who spoke at a forum in Hong Kong before
heading to Beijing for discussions with officials on yuan internationalization.

  Mr. Swan said Australia has strongly supported China's move toward a freely
traded currency, and toward "a fully integrated economy that will very soon
lead the world."

Silver Chart - by Request

Taking a look at silver on the weekly chart it is not too difficult to see that it has been in a well-defined downtrend since peaking in the spring of last year. Rallies are being sold  but dips into the region near $27.00 - $26.00 have been bought. The result has been to form a perfect triangle pattern on the chart. This latter or bottom level of support has thus become CRITICAL to the future prospects of the metal.

It is getting very close to this downside line again this week. Bears are going to continue to try to press it to see if they can push enough longs out of the market to break it lower. If the bulls falter or waver in the least, the metal will buckle and then drop very quickly to the 75% Fibonacci Retracement level near $25.47 with the $25 level also within range.

To get anything going to the upside in this market is going to require a push through the $30 level that can maintain a handle of "30" in front of this market.



US Dollar Looks Strong

The rally in the US Dollar continues not out of any particular set of strong fundamentals in the US but rather out of a general aversion to the Euro and by consequence, to the European currencies.

While the Fed seems to be basically standing pat for the immediate moment, the Bank of England has announced another round of its bond buying program while the ECB has lowered rates. Given that backdrop and the lingering fears and uncertainty over the bailout mechanism put in place by the European finance ministers and political leaders, traders continue to bid up the Dollar. This buying is a reflection of the unease among traders over current market conditions. People are confused to say the least and when they are, moves tend to be exaggerated as liquidity is falling off with some either lightening up or simply moving to the sidelines altogether.

That being said, this buying has pushed the Dollar right smack dab to an important technical resistance level on its longer term chart. If you note, it has already bested both the 50% and the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement levels of the entire decline from back in 2010 to 2011. It remains above this latter level this week. If it can push through that overhead resistance line, there does not appear to be a whole lot between it and the 2010 peak. That means it would have the potential to make a run towards the 89 level.

While that seems difficult to envision for some Dollar bears, given the pathetic condition of the US economy and it fiscal woes, one has to keep in mind that compared to the Euro, it looks good! (that is not saying much but the USDX is weighted against the "value" of other major currencies). We will have to wait and see should the Dollar indeed manage to move higher as we could normally expect to see pressure across the commodity sector in general.

I would imagine that conditions in the Eurozone would have to begin deteriorating more rapidly to see the Dollar accomplish this feat. If that were the case, traders would most assuredly work those "slowing global growth" trades once again. That would bring some further pressure on the silver market. It would also however ramp up pressure on the US Fed to move forward with their next round of bond buying, a factor which, if traders are convinced is coming, would see the grey metal shrug off that selling pressure and move higher in anticipation of the next wave of liquidation injections.

Monday, July 9, 2012

MidWest US Drought Fueling Talk of Soaring Food Prices

The fierce drought that has gripped the lower section of the US corn belt and has been ravaging both corn and soybeans in the region has sent corn futures limit up today and soybeans for the front month July contract to a new all time high. That has sent shudders through the minds of some traders who are convinced that it is only a matter of time before all of this feeds through to the supply chain. REsult - higher grain prices meaning higher food prices in general.

This phenomenon has gotten hedge funds back to buying commodities across the board this morning even with the equity markets careening lower. Gold and particularly silver are getting money inflows as a result.

I mentioned a while back that the old time traders used to see a connection between the price of soybeans and the price of silver. That connection seems to be back in full force today.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Trader Dan on King World News Markets and Metals Wrap

Please click on the following link to listen in to my regular weekly radio interview with Eric King on the KWN Markets and Metals wrap where we discuss this week's price action in the markets.

 
 

Friday, July 6, 2012

Payrolls Number Disappoints - Risk Off

If you recall one month ago, when we got that abysmal jobs number, gold initially moved lower, only to then rebound with a ferocity that caught market watchers and traders completely off guard. Risk off trades were being slammed on as longs bailed out and bears began pressing the downside. Literally, on the drop of a dime, the entire complexion of the market reversed with the bears running for their lives as new longs entered the fray. The reason - the number was so crappy that everyone just "knew" that the Fed was going to immediately launch the next round of QE. In other words, the more rotten the economic data, the more the risk trades were being put on.

Today, as is becoming the pattern in these screwed up markets, the exact opposite has occured. The payrolls number in this morning's release was horrific. Down went gold, and silver, and nearly the entirety of the commodity complex, along with the equity markets, and up went the Dollar. This time however we are not as of yet getting any sign whatsoever that traders are expecting the Fed to act on the basis of the weak payrolls number. I see no upside reversal at this hour in any of these markets - just more selling pressure.

I am beginning to suspect that we are seeing more and more traders/investors coming around to the view that no matter what one might want to call it, QE, additional liquidity, monetary easing, bond buying programs, etc., none of it is going to do the least bit of good in the medium to long term. In other words, one has to wonder whether or not the bloom is off the rose of Central Bank powers. It seems to me that the CB's are losing the war against the global economic slowdown in the minds of more and more traders. What is even worse ( in the minds of some), is that they are losing their status as the all-powerful demi gods of the finance world.

Again, at the risk of beating a dead horse, the problem is not one of liquidity - there is plenty of that - the problem is too much debt and not enough velocity of money. You can lower interest rates all day long until the cows come home but if people do not want to borrow or are afraid to borrow, what good does it do?

In other words, money is simply not changing hands fast enough. As a matter of fact, this morning the ECRI reported that their future inflation gauge, or USFIG dropped to 101.2 from 102.3 in May. Their comment: "US inflation pressures are clearly in retreat".

This is where the pressure is coming from on the Continous Commodity Index and why the bond market is moving higher and yields lower once again. Until something occurs that will change this "lack of inflation" psyche, upside trending moves in the commodity sector are going to be few and far between for all but that sector which has the strongest set of fundamental factors going for it. Right now, that is the grain sector, but even they are beginning to show some signs of stress due to the larger macro economic picture.

IN this environment, gold is going to perform better than silver as the latter must have an inflationary environment present if it is going to run higher. The Yellow Metal cannot seem to clear the resistance level noted on the chart which just so happens to be the BOTTOM OF THE FORMER TRADING RANGE in April of this year. Until it does, it is range bound at a lower price with solid buying down below $1580 on down to $1550. Only a strong weekly close through the $1630 - $1635 level gives Ol' Yeller a shot at getting some upside fireworks going.


Take a look at the following chart of the commodity complex via the Continuous Commodity Index or CCI. It has made an almost textbook retracement halfway or 50% of the distance from the peak in late February of this year to the recent low in early June, and has now stalled out. If the inflationary psyche does not return, it will move lower towards the 541 level to see if it can garner some buying there. If not, further back down it goes. For the bulls to get anything going, they must take the sector through the 560 level for starters.






Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy "What is Left of our Independence" Day

To all my American readers - after this week's convoluted reasoning from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, I wonder what really is going to be left of our Independence.

Just be careful not to breath too deep of a sigh - the EPA is liable to come a knocking on your door fining you for emitting excessive amounts of that nasty pollutant, otherwise referred to as Carbon Dioxide.

If you happen to have the misfortune of residing in New York City, no sense in trying to drown your sorrows in a nice big giant cup of Mountain Dew. Nanny Bloomberg has seen to that.

I keep waiting for the Underwear and Sock Police to start passing out tickets for non-compliance with the officially sanctioned color coordinated guidelines.

We are fast becoming slaves in the land of our forefathers.