Market Meltdowns, Inflation, Protecting Capital & Trading Commodities

The purpose in owning commodities like gold, silver and oil is to protect oneself from the effect of inflation that I believe will begin to assert itself in the coming months.

Unfortunately, the United States has taken a monetary policy of printing massive amounts of money to attempt an escape of deflation. In just the past 16 months, the monetary base has ballooned from $908 billion to $2.0 trillion. Bailout funds in the past 2 years total $8.1 trillion….. That is 78 times more than what they spent to bail out WorldCom…… and 123 times more than they spent on Enron. U.S. debt has risen sharply, from $6.2 trillion in 2002 to $12.1 trillion today. These are scary numbers!

The illusion of economic recovery in the U.S. is simply the function of the FED making billions and trillions of newly printed money available at literally ZERO percent interest to the largest financial institutions. The idea that you really can get something for nothing is fantasy. But that’s what’s happening – Money created out of thin air, instead of created by PRODUCTION.

A painful reality check will appear when these quantitative easing policies create inflation without employment or productivity gains. Commodities – hard assets – will outperform everything in this type of environment. To some people commodity investments may sound like a no brainer investment, however without a sound money and risk management system in place there really is no such investment.

This is why I focus on technical analysis as it provides price points for investments when we should be putting our money to work on a weekly or monthly basis. When volatility is rising I put less money to work to protect my portfolio from sharp price movements (risk). And during low volatility I push more money into the market catching trends with lowered risks.

What really blows my mind is how almost everyone I know who employed a broker or financial advisor lost between 30-70% of their portfolios during the market crash. What the heck was everyone paying for?

What I am trying to say is everyone can make money in a bull market. The question is, do either you or your financial advisor know when to take some profits to lower overall risk? How much money will you give back when the market corrects, starts another bear market or is affected by a terrorist attack? Do you have protective stops in place?


Ok, that’s enough of that, Just click here and we'll get to the chart!






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Gold, Silver, Oil & Natural Gas Going Wild!

Precious Metals ETF have gone wild the past 2 weeks. Last week we saw gold and silver prices drop sharply as it shook out short term trader’s stop orders before breaking out and moving higher. Also there is a disconnect between the gold and the dollar. Energy commodities like natural gas and crude oil are moving in opposite directions and look to be picking up speed. Natural gas is losing pressure and oil is on fire.

GLD ETF Trading – Pivot Trading Low
Last week we had our pivot trading low generate another buy signal for gold. Trading pivot lows is a simple trading strategy. I call them low risk setups and take advantage of buying a stock, commodity or currency after a pullback to support and when a reversal candle is formed. This chart clearly shows when you are trading with the trend buying on the dips is generally a low risk play with great up side potential.


Precious Metals ETF Trading – Gold Bullion Takes Control
This is a chart which shows the performance of gold stocks (red), silver bullion (blue) and gold bullion (green). As you can see the past 2 weeks while the market has been selling down precious metals stocks have been hit harder than silver and gold.

Because of the heavy selling in stocks recently the smart money had been going into commodities especially gold bullion. Gold stocks are a great play but this is telling us investors feel safer in physical bullion than stocks.

Gold is the most known precious metal and safe haven which is why it’s holding value better than silver and stocks. This week we are seeing gold become more valuable in several major currencies which means gold is actually making a real move higher.


USO ETF Trading – Breakout & Bull Flag
Crude oil has had some great breakouts this year and it looks like we are about to get another buy signal shortly. We had a breakout in Oct from the large pennant and are now flagging which is very bullish. We could see USO reach $50 in the next month or two.


UNG ETF Trading – Pivot Low or Waterfall Sell Off?
Natural gas is at a crucial level for a higher low bounce or another massive panic sell off. Trading right now with UNG is a 50/50 shot so we will just have to wait and let things unfold more before taking any action.


The Stock Markets, Precious Metals & Energy Trading Conclusion:
The market is starting to feel a little squirmy as it tries to find support. Small cap stocks continue to get crushed while blue chip (large cap) stocks are holding more of their value. Gold has broken higher this week while silver and precious metal stocks under perform their big sister Yellow Gold.

Crude oil is holding up nicely forming a 3 week bull flag and showing signs of life while natural gas continues to get hammered.

The market has been jumpy the past 2 weeks because market participants are very uneasy about the future direction of the US dollar.

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Mid Week Oil and Natural Gas Trading Report

Commodities so far this week have not changed much. But I can point out a few things for us to watch Thursday and Friday.

Energy – Oil USO Fund – Energy Stocks XLE Fund
We are seeing a similar pattern in the energy sector. Oil had a nice move higher today while energy stocks sold off. Stocks are starting to fall out of favor.



Natural Gas – UNG Fund
Natural gas is still in a bear market and trading under a major resistance trend line. This commodity could go either way so I am going to wait for the odds to be more on my side before jumping on board with a long or a short trade.



Mid-Week Oil and Nat Gas Conclusion:
The market is starting to look and feel top heavy with many indicators and price action patterns giving cross signals. While the market could continue to rocket higher with new money getting dumped in from average investors because of solid 3rd quarter earnings, we must be cautious by tightening our stops and take some profits off the table. Until we get a short term oversold market condition I am trading very conservatively.

Waiting for a good trade is crucial in trading. If you always want to trade and force positions when the market is choppy you end up with lower probability trades.

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