Friday, July 29, 2011

Just Four More Days To The Debt Deadline and What is Warren Buffetts Solution?

Just four more days to the debt deadline. I’m guessing that it is an artificial deadline made up for political reasons. I am positive that this is just an arbitrary date that some policy wonk came up with to get everyone up in arms about doing something with the debt.

I believe Warren Buffett had the best idea on how to end our debt problems. Here is what Warren had to say: “I could end the deficit in five minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.” Way to go Warren!!!

Well, we have made it to the last day of the trading week and the last day of the trading month. The equity markets are, as of this writing, sharply lower for the week and also the month. Gold and Silver on the other hand, are sharply higher for the week and the month.

As we have been indicating, we felt the equity markets were rolling over to the downside. Technically we are getting closer to pulling the trigger on our major monthly Trade Triangle which sets the trend for the equity markets.

Now let’s take a look at what the markets are telling us and the direction they’re taking on this last trading day of the month.

S&P 500

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Negative
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Negative
Combined Strength of Trend Score = – 70
Looking at the monthly S&P 500 index chart, a close around current levels would be the lowest close we’ve seen in this index for the past 6 months. The monthly PSAR comes in at 1256. As we have stated many times before, this is a line in the sand level that if broken would indicate further downside action.

SILVER (SPOT)

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Negative
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 85
Silver is closing out the month with a gain of over 15%. The action continues to be positive and we expect this market to trade to the $43 level basis the spot market.

GOLD (SPOT)

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 100
In July, gold moved up over 8% and in doing so hit new all-time highs against the US dollar. The trend remains positive with all of our Trade Triangles positive and we have an intermediate target zone between $1640 and $1650.

CRUDE OIL (SEPTEMBER)

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Negative
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Negative
Combined Strength of Trend Score = – 75
For the month of July, crude oil closed essentially unchanged. We still feel that this market is building an energy field to move higher. We want to closely watch this market in the coming days and weeks and look for a turn to the upside.

DOLLAR INDEX

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Negative
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = – 55
The dollar index was essentially flat during the month of July with a loss of 0.62%. For the last four months, this index has been moving sideways unable to break out of its trading range. Eventually you will see this change and a stronger trend developing.

REUTERS/JEFFERIES CRB COMMODITY INDEX

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Negative
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Negative
Combined Strength of Trend Score = – 75

One of the reasons we eye this particular index so carefully and closely is because it is the indicator of inflation and deflation. In the month of July, this index closed up over 1%. The 350 level is the key level down to watch on the upside.


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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Equities Are Hit With Panic Selling, What Does It Mean?

From Stock Market Club contributor Chris Vermeulen......

It was an exciting trading session Wednesday to say the least…..With all the uncertainty floating around it is causing the stock market to be more volatile than normal. It seems like every other day there is some big headline news causing either strong buying of stocks or strong selling to take place. It’s this type of price action which spooks the average investor causing them to panic out of positions at key support areas just before a continued move higher.

I like to focus on the market when I see extreme buying or selling taking place. During times of extreme buying or selling in equities, investors are reacting on emotions rather than logic and that’s when I benefit from everyone rushing to the door trying to get rid of their positions at any price they can get.
Let’s take a look at what the market is telling us right now…...

SPY – SP500 Index Exchange Traded Fund – Daily Chart
In this chart you can see my custom green indicator at the bottom. I use this to measure fear in the market. When this indicator is trading above 5 I know the masses are unloading stocks as quick as they can in pure fear that a market collapse is about to take place. But the biggest thing I learned trading over the past 12 years is that when everyone is doing something its best to skip the trade or start looking for technical setups which will get you in against the masses because the move is generally almost over.

What I get from this chart below is:
1. The trend is still up
2. We have not broken the previous pivot low from last week
3. The market is showing extreme panic selling and I anticipate some type of bounce or bottom shortly.


VIX – Volatility Index – Daily Chart
The volatility index measures fear in the market. So with the vix spiking up into a key resistance level, I would not be surprised to see it go a little higher then sharply reverse back down.

Trading off fear and greed can be very profitable but you must understand the two. Greed is a slow driving force in the financial market. As prices rise day after day the greedy continue to buy more and if they see any sharp dip they just look at it as an opportunity to buy even more (even though its a sign of smart money distribution selling) until eventually there is a huge collapse from the big money players unloading their positions and the greedy are left holding the back with a higher cost average price. This is the reason market tops tend to take 3-7 times longer to form than market bottoms.

Fear on the other hand is very quick. Think of it as if you were walking through your house at night down a dark hallway. When all of a sudden your friend jumps out and screams catching you completely off guard. What do you do? You jump, most likely yell and drop everything you were doing, then 30 seconds later you are back to normal. Well this is what happens in the stocks market also…...

Traders hold their positions until a piece of news hits the wires or there is a strong selling day and their investments start falling quickly. This sudden news or price movement which they were not anticipating causes traders to panic and sell everything before the investment collapses. Typically a couple days later the price rebounds and after a strong bounce these traders decide to buy back their position and ride the price to new highs. So what if you were to get in near the bottom then let all the traders bought back after you? It generally means big money for you. This is what I look for and what I consider panic selling to be.


Stocks Showing Signs of Being Oversold
This chart below shows the percentage of stocks trading above the 20 day moving average. Over time I have found that when 75% or more of stocks are trading above their 20MA then the market is getting overbought and one should be looking to tighten stops, take partial profits and or look for short setups.
On the flip side when only 25% stocks are trading above the 20 day moving average I find the market usually puts in a bounce or rally which lasts several weeks.

As you can see in this chart after Wednesday’s sharp move lower we are now entering into an oversold market condition. I expect volatile prices for a few days as the market stabilizes then a move to the upside.


Mid-Week Trend Conclusion:
In short, I feel we are in for some choppy price action over the next 2-10 sessions. With the current market trends I do feel that the odds are pointing to higher prices for both stocks and commodities.

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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

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Monday, July 25, 2011

The SP 500 and Gold Play a Crazy Little Game of Poker


Recently I have had several members of my service requesting my thoughts on the macroeconomic backdrop which is shaping financial markets. I decided I would proffer an article about why I find such practice to be a total waste of time. Don’t get me wrong, acknowledging what is going on in the world around us as a trader is important because economic data and geopolitical events shape social mood. Social mood is just one catalyst that directly impacts financial markets and it is important for traders to monitor the world around them.

However, building trading plans based on events with outcomes that are unknown and unknowable is foolish. If an event’s outcome is unknown, one would surmise that the market’s reaction to the news is unknown as well. If a trading plan is built on multiple unknowns it can lead to a disastrous outcome for trades built around such premises. I pay attention to the headlines, but I don’t base trading decisions solely on the news cycle. Spending time building detailed thoughts about the future of events and then trading based on those events also cause traders to become biased with regard to price action.

Let me be clear, I do read analysis from experts on global events, but I don’t build trading plans around what I read. I try to look at the news and decipher what impact events will have on social mood. Once I have what I feel to be a grasp of social mood, then I look at fundamentals which could be earnings reports or economic data points searching for more clues about social mood and the strength of specific economies. From there, I use basic tape reading and technical analysis to help identify trades that have sound risk / reward. Trading is not a guessing game, nor is it gambling. The best traders take a variety of forms of data, interpret them, and then build trades that make sense based on probability.

Trading is very similar to playing poker. Everyone sits down with the same amount of money essentially and the money on the table does not really change. All that happens is money moves from one perception of the game to another. Those who understand and accept risk at appropriate times are rewarded more often than those who ignore risk. As time goes on, the players who understand the game and risk the most make the most money as their probability of success is higher than those who play every hand ignoring potential hazards. Trading is identical in thought and practice. Understanding risk and leveraging probability is what separates great traders from speculators.

As is customary, I will provide readers with a little bit of insight about what I believe could play out in the S&P 500 and gold. Before I get into the chart work, I would like to remind readers that this market is treacherous. Risk has not been this high for quite some time and ignoring it is foolhardy. I am trading smaller position sizes, taking profits quickly, and ultimately I’m sitting in cash waiting for price to breakout and offer solid setups where risk is defined. Currently the S&P 500 and gold are stuck between major overhead resistance and underlying support. Breakouts are going to transpire, but the question is which direction price will ultimately go. I’m going to let others do the heavy lifting and wait patiently for a solid setup to trade.

It seems to me that social mood is pretty poor at this point, economic data has not been great, earnings have been solid except for Caterpillar, and headline risks are plentiful. With that said, I am starting to lean slightly in the bullish camp. My reasoning is built around the fact that the majority of retail investors and novice traders are all setting up for a nasty selloff.

The only selloff I see possible is in the Treasury bond market and possibly the U.S. Dollar. In either case, equities could rally and it would be a surprise to most investors and traders. Mr. Market will punish as many traders and investors as possible and the majority are leaning bearish, so my contrarian instinct says to watch for bullish setups, but be patient enough to see them breakout before jumping aboard.
I intend to trade the S&P 500, but I am waiting on a confirmed breakout in either direction. I really don’t care which direction it is, I just want to be patient and let Mr. Market talk. Once I know the expected directional bias, I will have a solid risk / reward entry because I will be able to define risk at the breakout level regardless of which direction price ultimately arrives at. The key levels I’m watching on the S&P 500 Index are shown on the daily chart below:


If the S&P 500 extends to the upside above the S&P 1,350 price level a test of the 2011 highs will take place. I believe that if tested a second time we could see the 2011 highs taken out and a trip to the S&P 1,420 – 1,450 price levels before year end. Consequently, if price breaks down on the S&P 500 below the S&P 1,295 level I expect price to work down to the March pivot lows. If they breakdown, a trip to the S&P 1,150 – 1,180 area is likely.

Thus the conundrum described above is now in focus. The S&P 500 remains range bound and until a confirmed breakout takes place, I will likely remain neutral with a slight bias to the upside for good measure. However, I would point out I am simply going to be patient and let Mr. Market dictate the terms of price. I am just going to wait Mr. Market out instead of having some kind of trading plan built on assumptions about the outcome of multiple independent variables which at this point are unknown.

My most recent article discussed the likelihood for a small correction in gold and silver. We pulled back quite a bit, but news coming out of Europe and the flight to safety has bounced gold prices back near recent highs. I will likely establish new long positions in gold and silver on a breakout over recent highs that has strong momentum and volume. I continue to believe that in the longer term gold and silver will remain in a bull market due to the continuing devaluation of various currencies by deficit laden, overextended federal governments around the world. The daily chart of gold is shown below:


Gold similarly to the S&P 500 is trading in a range between the recent all-time highs and the breakout level which was offering resistance and now stands as support. If price breaks above the recent highs I will expect a move higher that could close in on $1,700 – $1,750/ounce by the end of the year. If price breaks below the recent breakout level (1,580) a thrust as low as $1,410 – $1,480/ounce could play out in a short period of time. I continue to believe higher prices are far more likely, but I will respect the price action. The weekly chart below of gold prices illustrates the key price levels:


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Sunday, July 24, 2011

Weekend Wrap Video....Calendar Count Down to Debt Ceiling Decision

Adams weekend trading update for the week ending on 7/22/11......

The percentage winner for the week was crude oil which moved up 2.32% and is on the verge of breaking out on the upside. The markets continue to wait and wonder as to what is going to happen with the debt ceiling talks.

It would seem like neither the democrats or the republicans give a hoot about the country, all they seem to be interested in is political gamesmanship and preserving their own power. We are as of today’s taping no closer to getting a debt ceiling deal in place than we were a week ago. UGH!!!

Europe is still in a quandary even though the politicians are trying to save face and save the no win situation in Greece. Imagine the first bailout to Greece didn’t work, so now we are going to loan Greece even more money to pay back. Does that make any sense to anyone?

Its like Greece belongs to this exclusive country club and can’t afford to pay it’s monthly tab or membership fees. Well, guess what, in the real world, i.e. the private sector, Greece would be kicked out of the club, end of story. However, in the world of political make believe and Kabuki theater, we’ll just loan you more of the tax payers money to pay for your dues. Sorry, I forgot it’s Europe’s turn to “Kick The Can Down The Road”.

Let’s take a look at the charts, because unlike politicians, they tell you what is really going on in the world.

So here’s what happened last week in the major markets.....

S&P500 move for the week: +2.19%
Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 90

Silver move for the week: +2.00%
Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 100

Gold move for the week: +.47%
Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 90

Oil move for the week: +2.32%
Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Negative
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 60

Dollar Index move for the week: -1.19%
Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Negative
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Negative
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 75

CRB Index move for the week: +.43%
Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Negative
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Negative
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 60


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Thursday, July 21, 2011

Crowd Behavior Moves Gold, Silver and SP 500…Not The News!


How many times have you scratched your trading head wondering why gold or silver were either rallying hard or dropping hard on seemingly bearish or bullish news? How about the general stock market represented by the SP500 Index? Has it ever rallied when the headlines were horrible or tanked when the news seemed good? Well, welcome to crowd behavioral dynamics and investing!

At my TMTF service, I use Elliott Wave Theory combined with a few other indicators like sentiment gauges and Fibonacci relationships to forecast the coming bottom and top pivots in Gold, Silver, and the SP 500 indexes in advance. In doing so, I often ignore the day’s headlines completely and rarely if ever use them to forecast the next movements in the precious metals or broad stock markets.

Let me give some examples of why you should learn to ignore economic indicators, headlines, and talking heads on CNBC and elsewhere and focus on crowd behavioral patterns. Learning to scale in long when everyone is getting bearish and taking profits when everyone is universally bullish is much easier if you follow Elliott Wave Theory, and apply that theory correctly. If the matter between your ears is unabashedly biased, it will not work… 

One must be objective and open minded to change to survive these volatile markets.
Recently with Gold, we had a major drop from $1557 to $1482 over brief window of time. When I last wrote about Gold several weeks ago publicly, I presented a bullish and a bearish case. I had said Gold must close over $1551, otherwise it may have a truncated top and correct hard. Sure enough, a few days later Gold hit $1557 intra-day and could not get over $1551 on that close. Within days it collapsed and dropped below $1500. How did I know this in advance? Crowd Behavioral Patterns are repeated throughout the markets over and over again and again. Here is the original chart I sent out many weeks ago showing the possible drop:

Gold did end up dropping to the 20 week Exponential moving average at $1480 range, and as it did I noticed a clear “ABC” weekly pattern. Now this is an Elliott Wave pattern that can warn you of an imminent bottom in Gold in this case. In late June, after this major correction I wrote up another chart and showed a potential bottom coming in Gold around 1480, and then on July 5th I confirmed the Bull views on Gold were coming back into play, which you can see with the June 29th chart I did below for my TMTF subscribers:


We were able to adjust our views from short term bearish to moving back to bullish and still catch the big swing in Gold. The precious metal rallied from $1480 ranges to $1610 recently, and now is likely to go through a minor correction to $1568 or so. All of this is the crowd’s action together pushing positions into overbought stages of hysteria, and back to oversold stages of pessimism…I simply track those patterns and try to forecast the next move ahead of the crowd running in or out.

Another sample is Silver as it collapsed from $49 down to $32-$33 per ounce not long ago. After the dust settled I sent out a chart and told my TMTF subs we would likely seeSilver trade in the $34-$41 range for quite a while, before mounting another attack back towards $50. Right now I see Silver soon running to $45-$47 per ounce once it takes a breath. Below is the original early June silver chart I sent to my TMTF subscribers: We had an ABC strong rally which we forecast at TMTF in late August 2010 ahead of time, and once those rallies are over it takes quite a while to work off the sentiment.


Silver has indeed consolidated as forecast for about 7 weeks now between 34-41, having recently hit $40.80 and backed off. I expect Silver to break out over this range soon and attack $60 by year end as possible, but certainly $46-$50 by the fall. Last Wednesday I finally went bullish again based on crowd patterns and told my subs to go long at $37 as you can see below in the chart sent out then with a target of $46 likely coming. The herd of investors had formed yet another ABC weekly pattern, and it was time to go long.


Finally we look at the SP 500 which I forecast on a regular basis as well using Elliott Wave Theory and other indicators. This past week or so we saw a huge drop in the SP 500 and broader markets supposedly on Italy concerns and Eurozone issues. Although I am well aware of these issues, they are used to explain what just happened in the stock market, but not forecast it. Late last week I sent out the chart below to my subscribers and said as long as 1294/95 pivot holds, I remain very bullish on the markets. The SP 500 hit 1295 and has since rallied 31 points in a few days catching everyone off guard. That is Crowd Behavior 101 if I ever saw it!


The bottom line is understanding that the precious metals and broader markets tend to move based on major swings in sentiment from optimistic to pessimistic. The collective psyche of the herd is the most important because we can have periods of very bad news where the market will continue to rally, and also periods of seemingly great news when the market is dropping. The perception of the news of the day and how the crowd decides to react is more important than the news itself! If you’d like to try the TMTF service and take advantage of a coupon as well, go to Market Trend Forecast and check us out. You can also sign up for an occasional but somewhat infrequent free reports.



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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Bulls Battled Back Today!

The Bulls battled back today and forced many of the Bears to cover their short positions in the equity markets. However, nothing has changed, nothing has been resolved, and we still have the same unresolved debt problems.

Gold and silver continue to hold well and look to be purchased on pullbacks from current levels. Crude oil popped to the upside today and remains in a broad trading range with no clear cut direction.

All in all it’s been a pretty boring session so far on a Tuesday. What I really want to see is how these markets close today, and more importantly, how they close for the week. If we have a lower close for the week in the equity markets we would consider that to be an early sign of a potential bear market.

Now, let’s go to the markets and see how we can protect and make your money grow in 2011.

S&P 500

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long-Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short-Term Trends = Negative
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 85
The 1300 level on the S&P index was enough support to give this market a little bounce today. Look for resistance to come in starting at 1320 and extending up to 1326. The 200 day moving average, which is perhaps the most important average to follow on this index, comes in at 1278 today. It will be important to see how this market closes for the week.

SILVER

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 90

Traders should be long this market as all of our Trade Triangles are in a positive mode indicating higher prices ahead. As we have been indicating, we are expecting this market to reach highs towards the latter part of Q3 and early Q4. Look for support for this market at 38.00. The upside target for silver based on the Fibonacci count of 61.8% is $42.98.

GOLD

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 90

Gold continues to hover over the 1600 level and there appears to be little enthusiasm as of this writing to be aggressively selling this market short. All of our Trade Triangles are positive and we are looking for this market to move higher. Traders who took advantage of the 52 week rule on Friday should have taken profits on this position today. This would have produced a gain of nine dollars an ounce. We are looking for gold to move higher until the end of Q3 and possibly into Q4. Intermediate targets for gold are $1,640 and $1,650.

CRUDE OIL

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Negative
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Negative
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = – 55

The crude oil market continues to move in a sideways pattern and this is reflected in our -55 Chart Analysis Score which indicates a trading range is at hand. Resistance comes in as we have stated previously over $99.00 and must be taken out if this market is to move higher. Support is now moved to the center of the Donchian trading channel which comes in around $94.50 today. We see nothing to do in this market until it breaks out of the current stalemate that it is in.

DOLLAR INDEX

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Negative
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 55
For the past two months, the Dollar Index has been trapped in a broad trading range. The Dollar Index remains below its 200 day moving average. The longer term trend for the Dollar Index is positive based on our Trade Triangle technology. Resistance remains between 75.50 and 76.50. Support comes in today at 74.00.

REUTERS/JEFFERIES CRB COMMODITY INDEX

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Negative
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Negative
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 55

The upward pop in crude oil today was enough to push the CRB Index to the upside. The +55 score indicates that this market remains in a trading range in the near term. At the present time, our Trade Triangle technology is mixed. Resistance is now at 350 and support looks to be at 340.


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Monday, July 18, 2011

The U.S. Dollar, Gold and SP 500 Trend Analysis

The dollar is and has been in a strong down trend for many years and I feel as though it’s getting close to another major land slide. It could take place any time in the next month or so according to my weekly chart analysis.

The general rule is if the dollar falls in value then we tend to see both stocks and commodities rise. The inverse relationship at times can be tick for tick meaning if the dollar ticks down one increment then we see the broad market or specific commodities move in the opposite direction at the same time.

Since 2009 the relationship between the dollar and investments has been so close that if you were to just focus on what the dollar was doing then you could almost trade equities and commodities without reading their charts. The dollar index chart is one of those trading tools everyone should be analyzing. At $80 a month for getting the dollar index data feed it’s not a cheap trading tool…

Dollar Index 4 Hour Candle Stick Chart:
This chart clearly shows this month’s price action for the dollar which is pointing to lower prices if things play out according to the charts. This short term chart shows that in the next day or so we should see the US dollar start to sell back down.


SP500 Daily Chart (Stock Market):
The SP500 index is a great barometer of what the overall stock market is doing. The chart below shows the 5 and 14 day simple moving averages and their recent crossovers.

Last Friday we had a bearish crossover and if the market does not rally early in the week then I am anticipating further weakness in stocks. While I am still bullish on stocks as of this moment the coming week will quickly tell us what stocks are going to do. If we get a bounce which turns into a strong follow through rally then we should see a sizable rally around the corner and also a falling dollar.


Gold Weekly Chart:
Back in May when gold was hit with strong distribution selling I posted my thoughts on how gold could be forming a 6-12 month topping pattern and how price could get choppy. Well, we are now entering that period which could prove to be interesting…

Keep in mind this is a weekly chart and from the looks of things this top could play out for another 5-6 months from here. Silver is in much of the same predicament but trading way below its May high. I’m thinking more of a double top in silver over the next few months.


Weekend Trend Trading Conclusion:
In short, I am bearish on the dollar for a week or so which should help boost stocks and commodities. After that we could see all investments make some big trend changes if buyers don’t step up to the plate to buy. If we any major headline news about the sky is falling then it could trigger a sharp correction. Unfortunately, at this time head line news is running wild spooking investors from buying much of anything other than gold. Any resolution to foreign economic issues will put pressure on both gold and silver and likely help boost stocks.

The past month I have been very cautious because the market is wound up and ready to explode in either direction. During times like this I prefer to stay mostly in cash until I get low risk setups and a clear trend.



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Sunday, July 17, 2011

Prepare Yourself For Increased Volatility Ahead Next Week

The precious metals markets continue to be on fire with silver jumping another 7% on top of a 8.35% gain the previous week. Gold closed the week on an all time high on Friday. Both gold and silver are reflecting the general fear that is prevalent in the markets. For the week gold put in a solid + 3.19% performance. You should be long one trading unit of gold based on our 52 week, weekend trading rule. We’re expecting this market to open higher on Sunday in the Far East, and also on Monday when the markets open here in the States.

The S&P 500 was not blessed with gains for the past week and dropped just over 2% for the week. We now have very clear battle lines drawn between the Bulls and the Bears. The 1276 level on the S&P 500 is where the 200 day moving average comes in this week. In addition to the 200 day moving average, we also have a long term trend line going all the way back to March of 2009. These are two key levels to watch this coming week.

In other markets the CRB and dollar index showed very little movement as they continue to be range bound. Crude oil appears to be treading water at the moment and has significant resistance overhead at $99.50 basis the August contract.
Watch video here

So here’s what happened last week in the major markets....

S&P500 move for the week: -2.05%

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long-Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short-Term Trends = Negative
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 85

Silver move for the week: +7.06%

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long-Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short-Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 100

Gold move for the week: +3.19%

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long-Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short-Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 100

Crude Oil move for the week: +.78%

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Negative
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Negative
Daily Trade Triangles for Short Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = – 55

Dollar Index move for the week: +.06%

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long-Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short-Term Trends = Negative
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 75

CRB Index move for the week: +.84%

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long Term Trends = Negative
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short-Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 60

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Friday, July 15, 2011

The Beat Goes On And On And On…

The beat goes on and on and on. I am of course talking about the debt ceiling talks which are absolutely imperative to the U.S. I think that most Americans are just getting disgusted with both parties and I think come election time we will see some major changes.

This should be a very interesting Friday with Gold at or close to its highs and Silver higher for the day so far. The equity markets just seem to be hanging on by their fingernails now and I expect we will see further pressure on the markets as the day wears on. Unless there’s some major news that comes out I can’t imagine these markets rallying from their current levels.

The opportunities to make money right now are huge. We’ve outlined clearly in our past reports the line in the sand for the S&P 500 and of course we remain positive on the precious metals. One trade you might want to consider this weekend is Gold. If Gold closes at or close to its highs for the day we want to go home with an additional trading unit. If this happens it will qualify as a 52 week high trade rule which means you go home long Gold and take profits on Monday or Tuesday. Use tight money management stops on this position.

Now, let’s go to the markets and see how we can protect and make your money grow.

S&P 500

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long-Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short-Term Trends = Negative
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 75
It looks like this market is just teetering on the edge of a precipice. The symmetry of the S&P500 is striking and should not be ignored as we could be making a right shoulder of a much larger head and shoulders formation. The Trade Triangles remain in a positive mode and we are expecting resistance around the 1333 to 1338 levels. Look for support to come into this market around the 1300 level. The 200-day moving average comes in at 1276, as does a long-term trend line from the lows set in March of 2009.

SILVER

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long-Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short-Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 90
A close today over 39.50 will be viewed as extremely bullish for this market. Traders should be long this market as all of our Trade Triangles are in a positive mode indicating higher prices ahead. As we have been indicating, we are expecting this market to reach highs towards the latter part of Q3 and early Q4. Look for support for this market at 36.00.

GOLD

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long-Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short-Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 100
The current market action in gold is very positive and this market is more than likely going to qualify for a 52 week high rule. Any market that is making all time highs must be considered bullish. All of our Trade Triangles are green indicating that a strong trend is in place. We expect to see this market move over $1,600 an ounce in the near future. Longer term, we are looking for a move higher until the end of Q3 and possibly into Q4.

CRUDE OIL

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long-Term Trends = Negative
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Negative
Daily Trade Triangles for Short-Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = – 55
The -55 score indicates that this market remains in a trading range. At the present time, the crude oil market continues to have problems just over the $99 a barrel price point. Both are indicators long-term and intermediate term remain negative for this market. Support comes in around $94 a barrel and resistance coming in just over $99.

DOLLAR INDEX

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long-Term Trends = Positive
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short-Term Trends = Negative
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 75
For the past two months, this index has been trapped in a broad trading range. The Dollar index remains below its 200 day moving average. The longer term trend for the Dollar index is positive based on our Trade Triangle technology. Resistance remains between 76.00 and 77.00. Support comes in today at 74.00.

REUTERS/JEFFERIES CRB COMMODITY INDEX

Monthly Trade Triangles for Long-Term Trends = Negative
Weekly Trade Triangles for Intermediate Term Trends = Positive
Daily Trade Triangles for Short-Term Trends = Positive
Combined Strength of Trend Score = + 60
Since May of this year this index has moved in a broad trading range. Our Trade Triangle technology is mixed on this market at the present time. Resistance is now at 350 and support looks to be at 340.


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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Learning How To Trade The GDX Fibonacci Butterfly

One of the many useful characteristics of options is that the astute trader can design strategies to capture profit from predicted price action forecasts from a wide variety of technical indicators. I think it is helpful to have knowledge of several approaches to technical analysis in order to recognize patterns that other traders may not see.

Today I would like to introduce the topic of a technical pattern that is not commonly discussed and demonstrate its ability to give a high probability trade in a liquid underlying, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF, symbol $GDX.

The basis of the trade I would like to discuss is that of a Fibonacci butterfly, in this case, a bearish Fibonacci butterfly. This pattern is derived from price relationships and the proclivity of these relationships to form predictable zones of price resistance and reversals.

The subject of the Fibonacci sequence, its origin, and potential applications is well beyond the scope of this posting. Suffice it to say that the numerical relationships found within the Fibonacci series have wide distributions across a host of natural relationships. For those interested in learning more about these relationships and their derivations, any internet search engine will point to a huge trove of supplementary information.

The Fibonacci butterfly was best described initially by legendary trader Larry Pesavento. It represents one of two well defined Fibonacci reversal patterns that include both the Gartley and the butterfly. For those traders just beginning to wrap their heads around option terminology, I should point out that this butterfly is completely unrelated to the family of butterflies an option trader may elect to use as a trade structure choice. Don’t let your butterflies get confused!

These are reversal patterns and identify high probability areas of change in price direction. The pattern is stereotypical and consists of: an impulsive initial move in price, either up or down, often including gap movement (the X:A thrust) ; retracement of that initial move (A:B counterthrust) to the 0.618 to around the 0.786 Fibonacci level; retracement of that retracement (the B:C secondary thrust); and the final retracement (the C:D counterthrust) which results in completion of the pattern.

The final C:D leg for a butterfly pattern completes when price reaches the zone between 1.272 and 1.618 Fibonacci extension of the initial price movement. Once this final C:D leg has completed within this defined Fibonacci zone, the predicted price movement is in the direction of the initial X:A movement.
It is important to await confirmatory triggers prior to initiating trades from these patterns because these patterns may fail and failed patterns very often lead to explosive moves in the direction of the failure.
Now, if your head has not yet exploded, and you are still reading, it is much easier to understand with a picture.


The horizontal lines with numbers represent the various Fibonacci retracement levels that are important. For this pattern, focus on the B point a bit above the 0.786 retracement of the initial thrust, and the D point of pattern completion between the 1.272 and 1.618 levels. These Fibonacci tools are present in all modern charting packages and make calculation of critical levels instantaneous.

Triggers usually are taken from the next lower time frame. In this case, dropping from the illustrated 60 minute time frame in which the pattern completed, a bearish engulfing candlestick completed on the next 30 minute candle. The bearish trade was triggered.

The next decision was the option structure that would be most efficient to capture the expected move. A major factor to consider in this decision was that the July options cycle was only 9 days from expiration. The worst performing trade was to buy out-of-the-money puts because of the rapid time decay the position would suffer.

I also considered a put butterfly structure, but knew that adverse price action this close to expiration could be difficult to withstand. Remember that butterflies react strongly to price change close to expiration because gamma becomes quite large. Another structure I considered was that of a calendar trade, selling the weekly option and buying the monthly.

In the end, I decided to use the structure of a put vertical illustrated below. In this case I used a conservative structure, buying an in-the-money put, the 58 strike, and selling an at-the-money 56 strike. The chart below illustrates the profit and loss of a spread constructed in a 10×10 (10 Long July GDX 58 Puts / 10 Short July GDX 56 Puts) setup.


The trade did not last long; I closed it approximately 24 hours later on stronger than expected price action and failure to get rapid follow through on the completed bearish butterfly pattern. The result of the trade was a return of 16.5% on invested capital.

Recognition of patterns not routinely followed by the investing herds can often lead to solid risk / reward trades. Using options in a knowledgeable fashion to structure these trades can further increase your probability of success.

Take a look at J.W. Jones website Options Trading Signals.Com  today for a 24 hour 66% off coupon and get J.W.'s call in your inbox and so much more!


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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

It's Still a "Kick The Can Down The Road" Trading Environment

Last week, the standout story was the disastrous jobs report. As this week unfolds, we are faced with more problems such as the debt ceiling and the total lack of cooperation between the Democrats and the Republicans. It seems as though both parties are firmly entrenched in their own party lines and are failing to see just what it’s doing to the country.

We have talked about this before, and the fact that the politicians both in Europe and here in the United States really don’t want to face the truth has created the current mess over the last 20-30 years. It is always same old story of “kick the can down the road” and let somebody else take care of it.

Well, it’s showtime or should I say it’s a showdown now! We need to get serious about getting this right in this country. I believe that we got into this together and now we should get out of it together.

Now let’s see how we can protect and make your money grow.

S&P 500: +75. The resistance level we discussed all last week was enough to turn this market back down. The symmetry of the S&P is striking and should not be ignored as we could be making a right shoulder of a much larger head and shoulders formation. However, it should not be ignored that the Trade Triangles remain in a positive mode. Look for support to come into this market around the 1300 level.

Silver: +90. Silver reversed course and hit the top of the Donchian trading channel and also moved out of an overbought territory. Our Trade Triangle technology is longer-term trend positive. Intermediate term traders should now be long this market. We still believe that silver is building in major energy base to go higher.

Gold: +65. Like silver, gold is at the top of its Donchian trading channel and this was enough to bring pressure on this market. We continue to believe that gold is building a long term energy field to go much higher later in the year. Long-term trends with the Trade Triangles are positive, while intermediate term trends are neutral.

Crude Oil: -80. Profit-taking and liquidation in the crude oil market is making this market pullback into what could be a very interesting area. A 61.8% Fibonacci retracement brings crude oil to $93.30 for the August contract. We expect that this level should offer sufficient support for this market. Overall the Trade Triangles continue to reflect a negative trend.

The Dollar Index: +70. This index rallied just enough to trigger our intermediate term Trade Triangles, which in turn put us in the neutral camp for this market. The longer term trend for the dollar index is still negative based on our Trade Triangle technology. Resistance remains between 76.35 and support at 74.00.



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Monday, July 11, 2011

U.S. Dollar Could Send Stocks and Commodities Higher

It’s been an exciting couple months as stocks and commodities have moved like they are a roller coaster at a theme park. We all know every good roller coaster has a few monster hills which make their clients scream in fear/excitement that’s what it’s all about!

But if we step back into the financial world where fear/excitement cost people month it is not so fun. Look at the US Dollar index you will see three monster hills which investors/traders have just finished riding. These quick price movements were enough to make most traders hit the sell button in fear of wilder price action. This is the type of price action which can whip-saw traders in and out of positions for several back to back losses.

Having multiple losing trades back to back triggers a series of events causing most traders to lose large percentages of their trading capital.

First the trader starts to become frustrated and starts second guessing themselves. This causes revenge trading meaning they start to trade more frequently without proper setups and risk reward levels. Which lowers their confidence, while increasing the rate of their trading. This generally makes for a blowout trading session or week. Meaning they lose 20-50+% of their trading capital in a very short period of time all because they are trading off pure emotions and not clear trading rules.

Avoiding roller coaster rides with your trading capital/emotions is one of the things I do well. I do this by focusing on the US Dollar index because it plays a very large roll in what both stocks and commodities do. I analyze the dollar trends and use its price action to help gauge how big and long its next trend is. If the dollar index looks as though it may top, then I will be looking to buy/ accumulate some stocks and commodities simply because a falling dollar helps boost the value of stocks and commodities.

Take a look at the dollar index below. Just a quick glance and you get a gut feeling that it’s trying to top and could have another sharp sell off in the next 1-3 days.


Now if we take a look at the SP500 daily chart and use the dollar index analysis above, I would expect to see stock prices pause or pullback for a few days while the dollar tops and then look for a reversal pattern on the shorter time frame charts to add more to our position before stocks continues higher.


Looking at the price of gold we can see that it has been trading in a large sideways range since May and also near a resistance trend line (red line). We could easily see a 1-3 day pause/pullback in gold while it builds energy for another surge higher. Which could take it through the resistance level.


Pre-Week Market Trend Analysis:
In short, we feel the dollar is trying to put in a top which could take a few days to play out. If that unfolds then we should start seeing stocks pullback to support levels and then bounce with rising volume.
That’s all for now, but if you would like to get our pre-market video analysis each morning and intraday updates along with trade alerts be sure to join my premium service at The Gold and Oil Guy.Com



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