Thursday, December 30, 2010

2010 Recap and Trading Look Ahead

No one can argue that 2010 was a fantastic year for traders. Yes there were some downs, with the economy and all, but trading wise it was outstanding!

I'm sure you've read an article or two that I've posted from Chris Vermeulen, but I have a little more unknown insight into his trading service and it's records...

This is his 2010 members only trading performance......its audited and 100% verified:

But there's something missing......

The last 5 closed trades and their results!
SPY 0.9%, Nov 12 - Nov 15
GLD 1.2%, Nov 4 - Nov 12
SPY 3.5%, Oct 27 - Nov 5
TBT 2.4%, Oct 21 - Nov 2
GLD (1.1%), Oct 19 - Oct 21

Second: He and his members currently have three open positions with the following gains.....

Open Position..........65%
Open Position..........28%,
Open Position............9%

Chris let me work a special set-up just for my members for 75% savings.....Just Click Here to check it out!


Share

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Why Gold is About To Power Higher to Complete a Big Rally

The gold bull has been moving in very reliable Elliott Wave and Fibonacci patterns for many years now, but once in awhile the waters get a little murky for sure. Recently we have seen a fair amount of volatility near year end as position squaring and year end machinations take hold. With that said, it does appear that Gold should be poised to power higher near term, and I’m looking for a completion to a 5 wave rally that began from about $1,040 per ounce in February of this year.

Over the past several weeks, I see a clear Fibonacci trading day relationship on Gold’s swings from pivot highs to pivot lows. 8 days of correction, 13 days of rally, 8 days of correction is the recent pattern over the past 5 weeks or so. Below is a chart outlining these crowd behavioral based patterns that I rely on for both my trading service and market forecasting services. You can see the clear relationships, confirmed by the stochastics indicators at the tops and bottoms as well:


Based on the recent patterns, I believe we completed a minor wave 3 from the February bottom at $1424 a little over 5 weeks ago, and had a shallow period of 8 days to complete a wave 4 to $1,330. Now, we are in the final 5th wave up pattern to complete an entire 5 wave move from February of 2010. In the near term then, I’m expecting a pretty strong rally from this recent $1365 area to at least $1,480 per ounce, and eventually a good shot at completing the structure at $1525 ranges. Short term, we should begin a wave 3 up here, followed by a 4th wave correction, and then a final and terminal 5th wave. Below is a multi- month weekly chart view of where I see us heading and where we’ve been.


Just Click Here if you’d like to stay updated on a more frequent basis, you can subscribe to David Banister's weekly reports at Market Trend Forecast.Com


Share

Monday, December 20, 2010

The Holiday Grind Is Here For 10 Days Only – Are You Ready?

It’s that time again when volume dries up and prices rise into the new year. A lot of individuals are scrambling to prepare for the holidays, even though we had a year to prepare. The big money has already done most of their year end shuffling and will be taking it easy until January.

The market is overbought and sentiment readings are at extreme levels which in the past have been the start of large sell offs and even bear markets. While I am keeping a close eye for a top, there is not much we can do but stay long stocks and commodities until the market tips its hand and distribution selling is in control. The U.S. federal government is the only wild card going into year end that should be on traders’ radars. They have been doing a great job boosting prices in the equities and commodities market, but can they continue to hold things up when the big money and the proverbial herd start unloading positions in 2011?

SP500 Holiday Grind – Daily Chart
This chart shows the slow and steady grind higher that we have seen in the S&P 500. I expect this to continue into 2011 The market in my opinion is on the verge of some serious selling so long positions should be small going forward.


US Dollar On Pause For A Couple of Weeks
This 4 hour candle stick chart of the dollar shows price testing resistance (a previous high). I am expecting to see the U.S. Dollar trade sideways or possibly move closer to the previous high as we enter the new year. A sideways dollar will allow the equity and commodity markets to rise.


Conclusion:
In short, I think we could see an intraday pullback early this week and then a grind higher. The pullback would shake out some weak positions before the holiday march higher takes place. I typically don’t trade much going into the holiday season and new year. I may put on a small long position if I like what I see forming on the charts, but that would likely be about it. Light volume can be very dangerous to trade because sharp price spikes up or down can occur in a blink of an eye catching traders off guard.

If you would like to learn more about trading while getting trade alerts for ETFs just click here to join Chris Vermeulen newsletter at The Gold and Oil Guy.com



Share

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The Inverse Dollar Relationship, SPX and Fear

So far this week we have been seeing fear creep in the equities market. This Wednesday we started to see fear (green indicator) reach a level which tells me to start looking for the market to bottoming. I do follow a few other charts and indicators which warn me of a possible trend reversal (high probability setup) before it takes place but the US Dollar and selling volume are key.

As we all know, when the market is trying to top and roll over it tends to be more of a process than a couple day event. It’s this lengthy topping process which has a lot of choppy price action sucking traders into a position much to early or shakes you out of the position before the market does what you anticipated. Knowing that tops tend to drag out for an extended period of time is critical for an options trader simple because of Theta (time decay)

On the flip side, bottoming is more of an event because it tends to happen after a strong wave of panic selling. Fear is the most powerful force in the market (other than the Fed/Manipulators.. but that’s another topic). That being said, when you know what to look for in bottoms you can generally see the market starting to bottom and prepare for it.

The charts below of the US Dollar Index and the SPY clearly show the inverse relationship they have. Right now it seems everything is directly connected with the dollar… it has been like that for most if the year… I will note that its not normally this clear. Anyways, the dollar is currently trading at resistance which means there is a good chance it will turn back down. So if the dollar drops, then it should boost the SPY (equities market) and put in a bottom for stocks.


Looking at the lower chart of the SPY etf you can see that recent prices have dropped down to a support zone. The important thing to note here is how selling volume is ramping up. This to me means more traders are getting worried and are cutting their losses or locking in gains before it gets worse. We typically see panic selling enter the market near the end of pullbacks. Just like in a bull market where the retail trader (John Doe) is the last to buy into a stock before it falls, it’s the same but flipped in a down trend. The retail trader is the last to panic and sell out of their position before the market bounces/rallies.

Currently the equities market looks to be showing signs that a bottom is nearing. Over the next session or two the rest of this equation should come to light as a tradable bottom or to start playing the down side of the market, only time will tell.....

Posted courtesy of Chris Vermeulan at The Gold and Oil Guy.Com

If you would like to learn more and get Chris' trading alerts along with his pre-market morning videos so you know what to look for in the coming session I recommend taking a minute to subscribe to his ETF trading newsletter. Just visit The Gold and Oil Guy.Com




Share

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Gold...Bull or Bear this week?

The past week has been interesting to say the least. Gold is trying to find support while the SP500 grinds its way higher. Let’s jump into the charts and analysis to get better feel for what I feel is happening here.

Gold 4 Hour Chart
As you can see from the chart below gold has formed a possible double top. The fact that it made a higher high is actually a bearish sign for the intermediate term 1-3 weeks. When we see a higher high getting sold into with big volume it typically means the big money is unloading large positions into the surge of breakout traders and short covering that occurs when a new high is reached. Following the big money is very important to keep an eye on as it can warn us of possible trend changes before it occurs.

The current selling volume is not exactly a healthy sign if you are looking for higher prices in the near term. If this pattern breaks down I would expect $1340 to be reached very quickly.

Keep in mind gold it in a strong up trend still. Shorting is not the best play in my opinion. I prefer to see pullback which washes the market of weak positions then jump on the long side for another bounce/rally.


SP500 Market Internal Strength – 10min, 3 days chart
I watch these charts to get a feel for the overall market strength on a short term basis. The top chart shows the SPY etf breaking above a resistance trend line on Friday afternoon. This occurred on light volume meaning it is mostly likely a false breakout and Monday we could see a gap lower at the open or a pop & drop. The two other indicators are reaching an extreme level which normally tells us a pullback is due in the next 24-48 hours of trading. The question is, will us just be a bull market pause or will we get a decent pullback.

The red indicator in the top chart and the red indicator levels on the charts below that help us time the market as to when profits should be taken or to tighten our stops if we have any long positions.

The broad market is still in a very strong uptrend so moving stops up and buying on oversold dips is the way to play it.


Weekend Market Analysis Conclusion:
In short, both gold and the stock market are in a bull market (uptrend). Trying to pick a top to short the market is not a good idea. Instead I am looking for an extreme oversold condition to help reduce downside risk before taking a long position.

The overall strength of the market (SP500 and Gold) I think are starting to weaken but in no way am I going to short them. We continue to buy dips until proven wrong because indicators can stay in the extreme overbought levels for a long period of time. Generally the biggest moves happen in the last 10-20% of the trend.

Posted courtesy of Chris Vermeulen at The Gold and Oil Guy.Com

Just Click Here if you would like to get Chris Vermeulen weekly reports and his free trading tips book.




Share

Thursday, December 9, 2010

New Video - What's Ahead for Crude Oil?

There's no question about it, 2010 has been pretty difficult for most traders in the crude oil market. This year has produced no discernible, lasting trends in this market. The trends it has produced have lasted little more than just 3 or 4 weeks at best.

So what's next for crude oil traders in 2010 and into 2011?

In today's short video we examine the fact that crude oil briefly traded over $90 a barrel before falling back. So what made the crude oil market reverse course and fall back? Was it selling, was it profit taking, a technical point, or something else? We are examining crude oil in detail using a tool that we think is very appropriate for this type of market at the moment.

We have not discussed this technical indicator in any of our previous videos and I think when you see how it works and how you can use it your own trading, you will be pretty impressed.

We still look at our "Trade Triangles" of course, but "Trade Triangles" tend to work best with markets that eventually get into big trends and that's really where you make your money.

If you have a few minutes and you'd like to learn about this new/old technical indicator that has generally been overlooked by many traders, you will find this video very interesting. This 30 year old indicator has proven to be very effective in this year's crude oil market so you don't want to miss this video.

As always our videos are free to watch and there are no registration requirements. Please take a moment to leave a comment and tell us what you think of the video and the direction of crude oil.

Watch "After a Tough 2010, What's Next for Crude Oil Traders?"


Share

Monday, December 6, 2010

Is This a Broad Market Reversal....Better Hold On To Your Hat!

From Chris Vermeulen at The Gold and Oil Guy.com......

Last week was an exiting week for traders as the equities market were on a verge of a major sell off. Fortunately, we were watching the market very closely and saw the sentiment and market internals shift shortly after a new low was set last week. That was an early warning for us that a trend reversal to the upside could happen at any hour or day this week.

Wednesday and Thursday’s rallies were on solid volume and the market internal indicators along with market breadth were strong also. There has been a large surge of new highs across the board on the NYSE, NASDAQ and AMEX. These numbers tell me that it’s not just one sector moving the market; instead it’s a broad market advance (institutional buying).

While I don’t typically try to pick major tops or bottoms because of the added risks and lower probability of winning trades, I do tend to spot them forming a few days in advance allowing me to tighten stops and take some profits on positions.

Trend reversals typically have large violent moves near the beginning and end of their life cycle making things not only tougher to trade but potentially more costly. Once I see a trend confirmed with moving averages, volume, and sentiment along with market breadth that’s when I start looking to take positions on pauses or pullbacks to support zones. This greatly increases the odds of winning/making money from the market. There are some really great Options Trading Strategies for taking advantage of these volatility changes in the market which you can get at Options Trading Signals.Com.

SPY Daily Chart:
As you can see the market has clearly broken to the upside above key moving averages after finding support at the 50 day moving average. This rally has some solid volume behind it which I like to see also.

The first 3-4 days of a trend reversal generally post some give moves but after that initial thrust expect a pause or pullback to happen.




SPY 60 Minute Intraday Chart:
We were lucky enough to take profits on our inverse SP500 trade as the market started to give us mixed signals of a possible rally. A couple days later on Nov 26th we saw a major shift within the market sentiment preventing us from shorting the market again.

Two days later the broad market gapped higher triggering protective stops/short covering sparking a fierce two day rally which took the market up to a major resistance level. I do feel as though the market is going higher, but right now, everything is WAY over bought and trading at resistance. Even if the market moves higher for another 2-3 days and breaks this resistance level, it will most likely have a pause, or pullback as it regains energy for another thrust higher.


Mid-Week Trading Conclusion:
In short, it looks as though the trend is now up and the Christmas rally could be gearing up for a good one!

Be sure to get Chris Vermeulen's Free Trading Analysis Book and Analysis or visit The Gold and Oil Guy.Com to get his Pre-Market Trading Videos, intraday updates and trade alerts



Share

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Could it be True....Is Gold Headed For a Major Correction?

David Banister of Market Trends.Com has been hitting gold spot on. And we are lucky enough to get another guest post from him. Let's see what David is thinking about the possibility that gold will head to 1480-1525 before a major correction......

Gold has been consolidating other than a spike to an intermediate wave 3 top of $1424, for about 7 weeks or so now. It’s typical to see Fibonacci periods of time as part of consolidations whether it be an individual stock or a precious metal in this case. Gold was overbought at the $1425 pivot highs a few weeks ago, and that terminated what I label a “wave 3″ pattern. This led us into a 4th wave corrective pattern which we remain in now. My worst case pivot low is expected at $1,321 and so far we have seen $1,331 an ounce and then an ensuing bounce to $1370 ranges.

In the intermediate term then, I’m looking for further consolidation likely for another week or so followed by a breakout over $1425 leading to my objectives of $1480-$1525 to complete the entire rally from the $1040 lows in February of this year. Many are starting to get bearish on Gold and Silver up here, and to me that is bullish and indicative of “4th wave mentality”. In a 4th wave, there is growing bearish sentiment, but not so much as to topple the bull structure.

To wit, last week in my ATP service I recommended a brand new Core Position in a Gold,Silver stock and it rallied as much as 40% intra-week at it’s highs. We are in a super bull market for Gold stocks as I outlined in August of 2009, and we have another four years left to go. I’m seeing alot of amazing chart patterns in the Junior space that are in relentless climbs. Owning the the explorers that are finding the Gold is how best to take advantage of the remaining four years. At ATP, we are exposed to Rare Earths, Silver, Gold, and Oil and Gas related plays in our Core Positions. Make sure you own hard assets and precious metals resources one way or another. My silver forecast in late August was basically predicated on the small investor swarming into the Silver market to buy up coins, look for that to continue and Silver to be over $30 in the not too distant future.

Below is my updated Gold forecast using a weekly chart, remember to Keep it Simple!


You can follow our weekly updates or consider subscribing by going to Market Trend Forecast.com


Share