The Federal Reserve, Gold, Crude Oil and the Dollar’s Demise

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The Federal Reserve through its various monetary mechanisms has a major impact on the value of the U.S. Dollar and over time has destroyed the purchasing power of the fiat base currency used in the United States.

Interestingly enough, the following quote comes directly from the Federal Reserve’s website regarding one of its primary mandates, “In setting monetary policy, the Committee seeks to mitigate deviations of inflation from its longer-run goal and deviations of employment from the Committee’s assessment of its maximum level.”

The chart below illustrates the horrific job the Federal Reserve has done of protecting the purchasing power of the U.S. Dollar since its creation.

In light of the longer-term malaise seen above, the Dollar Index futures have recently rallied sharply higher as Europe continues to flail in a slow and agonizing decline which will ultimately lead to a complete fiscal disaster.

Sovereign debt concerns continue to mount regardless of what the European technocrats spew publicly and the U.S. Dollar has been the primary beneficiary of these seemingly growing concerns.

This brings me to the purpose of this article. Most of the articles I write are focused on option based trades, but I decided it was time to put forth a more comprehensive scenario that could unfold over the next few years as a result of excessive monetary stimulus through various quantitative easing mechanisms developed by the Federal Reserve Bank.  “A mild change” to say the least . . .

As discussed above, the U.S. Dollar Index futures have moved higher throughout most of 2012. Any significant increase in the U.S. Dollar is a growing concern among central bankers as it correlates toward deflation. Deflation is the Fed’s biggest enemy, besides themselves of course.

Next week the Federal Reserve will release statements relating to the economic condition of the United States. Furthermore, the Fed also will discuss if it will initiate another dose of monetary crack for a capital market place that is addicted to cheap money and zero interest rates. At this point, the so-called marketplace is the antithesis of free by all standard measures.

Consider the long-term monthly chart of the U.S. Dollar Index futures illustrated below:

The U.S. Dollar Index futures are in an uptrend that dates back to mid 2011. The orange line illustrates the uptrend and represents a key price level for the U.S. Dollar Index. For those unfamiliar with basic technical analysis, the rising orange trendline will act as buying support until the Dollar eventually breaks down through it signaling the bullish move higher has ended.

This brings us to a rather interesting potential observation. Today Mario Draghi, Chairman of the European Central Bank (ECB), made public comments regarding the readiness of the ECB to act if need be to safeguard the European Union. The Dollar Index Futures plummeted on the statement and remained under selling pressure most of the trading session on Thursday.

If a mere comment from the ECB can have such a damaging impact on the valuation of the Dollar, what would happen to the Dollar if the Fed initiated a new easing mechanism?

The answer is simple, the U.S. Dollar would immediately be under selling pressure. Selling pressure in the U.S. Dollar Index generally leads to a rally in risk assets such as equities and oil futures. Over the longer-term, a weak Dollar is also positive for precious metals and other hard assets.

As an example to illustrate the power of Quantitative Easing as it relates to the price of both gold and oil, consider the following chart:

Obviously the price action is pretty clear that Quantitative Easing has a positively correlated impact on the price performance of hard assets, specifically gold and oil. Now consider a price chart of the Dollar Index shown below courtesy of the Federal Reserve Bank, the annotations are mine.

The chart above tells an interesting story about the impact that Quantitative Easing has on the Dollar. How can the Federal Reserve claim to be protecting the purchasing power of the U.S. Dollar when its actions have a direct negative correlation to the greenback’s price?

Furthermore, based on the chart above I am of the opinion that Quantitative Easing III is a foregone conclusion. The current price of the Dollar Index is clearly above the previous high where QE2 was launched. So far, the rally in the Dollar Index has not pushed equity prices considerably lower. However, should the Federal Reserve refrain from initiating additional easing measures it is likely based on the chart above that the U.S. Dollar Index will rally.

Upon the conclusion of both QE and QE2, the Dollar Index rallied sharply higher. With the Fed announcement coming closer by the hour, financial pundits will attempt to predict the future action of the Fed.

I have no interest in making predictions about what the Fed will do. It is a certainty that QE3 will take place at some point in the future whether it be sooner or later. The Federal Reserve simply has no choice, otherwise the Dollar would continue to rally and we would begin to go through a deflationary period which the Federal Reserve simply cannot tolerate.

The scenario that I would urge inquiring minds to consider would be as follows. If the Fed does nothing we can likely assume that the U.S. Dollar Index will continue to rally to the upside. Based on the price chart of the U.S. Dollar Index shown above, we can expect that sellers would certainly step in around the 86 – 88 price range based on previous resistance.

If the U.S. Dollar makes it anywhere near the 86 – 88 price range without the Federal Reserve initiating QE3 it would be expected that risk assets would be under considerable selling pressure somewhere along the way. Should the Fed act to break the Dollar’s rally either through more easing or “other” mechanisms, the result would be a potentially monster rally for risk assets, at least initially.

Equities, oil, and precious metals would rally on a falling Dollar as shown above. The question then becomes what if this is the last gasp rally before a monster selloff ensues in the Dollar Index?

If the Fed breaks the rally early or initiates a monster-sized easing program, the initial reaction will be quite positive, especially for equities. As the selloff in the Dollar Index worsens, equities would eventually begin to underperform as oil prices would surge putting pressure on the economy.

In addition to oil rallying on the weaker Dollar, we could also see sellers start to show up in droves dumping U.S. Treasury’s to any buyer left standing. International debt holders would especially have incentive to sell Treasury’s as the real purchasing power of the bonds’ interest payments would decline as the Dollar fell in value.

The way I see it, whether the Fed launches QE3 now or later, the outcome will not change. An extremely weak Dollar could wreak havoc across a variety of assets and the broader economy. Imagine where gasoline prices would be if oil prices hit $125 / barrel. The average price in the U.S. would be well above $5 / gallon based on current prices and possibly higher.

What happens to the economy if interest rates start to react violently to the price action in the Dollar? What if Treasury’s start to sell off viciously and interest rates start to rise wildly and volatility among bond holdings runs rampant? Are we to believe that the very entity that has created boom and bust cycles through easy monetary policies and has been oblivious to the bubbles that it has created is capable of solving the issues that would potentially arise from a currency crash in the U.S. Dollar?

The track record of the Federal Reserve is quite clear. They are generally late to the party and rarely are able to forecast events in the future with any clarity. Do you really think they will know what to do? The free market wants to destroy debt through deflationary pressure and price discovery and the Federal Reserve continues to get in the way.

The free market will win as it always does, but the American people will lose. This process may take months, years, or even decades to play out. Eventually the game will end. There is only one certainty should any portion of the scenario discussed above come to fruition, when the Dollar is inevitably broken the only safe place to hide during the potential currency crash will be in physical gold and silver. Paper money and paper assets will come under extreme selling pressure and in some cases will simply........disappear.

Here’s to hoping I am totally wrong!

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Chris Vermeulen & J.W. Jones

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Phil Flynn: Twisted

Oil prices are trying to rebound in the aftermath of Greek default fears and despite the fact that S&P decided to downgrade Italy. Is it possible the Fed is getting ready to do the twist?

Lets twist again like we did last summer, ok back in the sixties when the Federal Reserve, in an attempt to stimulate long term investment, would buy paper at the long end of the yield curve thereby driving down yields in the hopes that individual investors and business would start making some long term commitment with their money.

Looking at the yield curve and the falling rates on the long end there seems to be a large sector of the trading population that thinks this is a done deal. Today it is the first day of the Federal Open Market Committee and it appears that instead of QE-3d, baby let's do the twist.

Of course the reason that the Fed is twisted is the fact that QE2 did not seem to have the desired effect. The fall out of rising oil and commodity prices and the fact that the money seemed to stay in bank vaults as opposed to getting into the real economy, is making it more difficult for the Fed to justify its 3D version. Now the question is, will it work and is it bullish or bearish for oil?......Read the entire PFGs Best article.

Phil Flynn: A Study In Contradictions

It's no wonder that oil is on track to have one of its flattest trading years since 2003. The last minute late November sell off was another sign that the bulls and bears lack true conviction as they to make sense of some obvious and some obscure fundamentals that are driving the price in this somewhat wide swinging emotional oil market. In fact the trading swan song for November and the first of December snap back really symbolizes omneity of the entire year in the oil market. In a normal time, better than expected readings on U.S. Manufacturing and consumer confidence might inspire an oil rally. You might think that oil would celebrate the fact that business expanded at a faster pace than thought for as the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc. rose to 62.5 the highest since April from 60.6 in October increasing hopes that manufacturers would hire and invest in new equipment as their business booms.

Or perhaps the market might take heart from the fact that consumer confidence soared to a reading of 54.1, the highest level since June in the heart of the Christmas shopping season. Yet with the dark clouds emanating out of Europe and commodity funds getting frustrated with their $100 barrel oil bets, prices drove lower as funds wanted to take what profit incentive fees they could before they go flat for the holiday and start shopping for that GI Joe with the Kung-Fu grip for their kids. That was the case even as the dollar rallied, capping off a month where the dollar rallied off its QE2 lows hitting the highest levels since the Fed hinted that they would print more money as investors seek shelter from economic storm clouds in Europe. The oil bulls lost their moxie as risk in the......Read the entire article.

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Phil Flynn: Happy Thanksgiving!

Well I guess we have one thing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, oil prices are coming back down. All right it’s something and it was hard to find that silver lining especially after the week that we have had. It seems the world has gone crazy and there are new risks around every corner and these risks have conspired to bring oil prices back down.

Now can you enjoy your turkey? It was only weeks ago that oil bulls were basking in the intoxication of the Fed’s Quantitative Easing the sequel. The oil market topped $88.00 a barrel, it was a suckers rally as the market felt confident that all was well as the Fed had the markets' back. What was there to worry about? Tell after the Fed minutes we find out there is plenty to be worried about. The Fed’s grim economic outlook and a sense that perhaps some members of the Fed are questioning fed policy, have helped reduce some oil trader’s optimism about QE2 inspired oil demand.

The Fed lowered its forecast for 2010 GDP down to 2.4 to 2.5% from their previous estimate of 3 to 3.5%. For 2011 they expect GDP between 3% and 3.6%, down from 3.5% to 4.2% previously. As far as 2012 when the market expects rates will finally increse GDP projection is little changed while the new 2013 projection is put at 3.5-to-4.6%. The Fed also downgraded expectations for the unemployment rate which were raised for 2011 to a rate, 8.9% to 9.1% is expected. In 2013, the jobless rate is still seen between 6.9% and 7.4%.

What’s even more of a concern is the members of the Fed may not be on board with all of the printing of money. The Fed Minutes said that participants......Read the entire article.


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Phil Flynn: QE2 Or Not To QE2 That Is The Question

While the Fed printing presses continue to roll interest rate worries are seemingly dominating the direction of the oil market. While the Federal Reserves prints more money rates continue to raise giving surprising strength to the dollar and putting downward pressure on oil. The Chinese stock market got hammered overnight after The Bank of Korea worried about inflation raided their base interest rate by a quarter points to 2.50%. The move means that more than likely China will not be too far behind as countries across Asia are reacting to a major onslaught of inflationary pressures.

In the mean time the markets are focused on the problems in Europe. EU members want Ireland to take their money as they fear that Irelands debt problems could spread to other countries. Ireland ion the other hand says that they are fine and is telling the EU that they do not need their help. Yet the EU feels that the fallout from Ireland’s debt could drive up borrowing costs in other PIIG countries especially Portugal, Italy and Spain. The EU is saying please take the money. Of course all of this global intrigue is impacting the......Read the entire article.

Watch > What a Difference a Week Makes....Is It All Over For Gold?

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Phil Flynn: Is QE2 A Sin?

The Fed may be trying to save the economy with the printing of more money but the poor battered US consumers are so far bearing the brunt of this economic policy and let’s face it, it is a SIN. At the last Fed meeting the Fed famously said that it was, “prepared to provide additional accommodation if needed to support the economic recovery and to return inflation, over time”. What they didn’t want to tell you was that time was now. It was President Gerald Ford that wore Famous “Win” button which stood for “Whip Inflation Now”. The Fed now should wear a “SIN” button which stands for “Start Inflation Now” and the way the commodities markets have responded, it’s probably time that the Fed start doing penance and a few Hail Mary’s. Because let’s face it, this QE2 is basically a Hail Mary pass.

You see if the Fed policy does not shock and awe the economy out of its stupor, then we may have printed 2.1 trillion dollars for nothing and the only thing that we may have to show for it is higher prices of commodities. With an economy that is still struggling, those higher prices that may kill the consumer. You see it seems that not only is gold and silver rising but those esoteric inflation items that like to be swept under the rug and ignored by some economists are rising as well, like food and energy. Not to mention the proverbial and actual shirt off your back. Have you checked out cotton prices lately? Cotton prices are up 100 percent this year, gold up 29%, soybeans up 27%. QE2 hopes to create economic activity but the consumers may have to pull back as their wallets get squeezed. Take a look for example at the stats on gasoline. Gas prices soared, rising from a national average.......Read the entire article.



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Why 2011 May Be the Year of the Oil Comeback

From David Sterman at Street Authority.....

Like every investor, I try to read voraciously to get an edge. I'm always on the lookout for investment angles that haven't gotten much press but could eventually turn into a market moving event. So my ears perked up last week when I saw that hedge fund traders have recently been aggressively buying energy futures, betting that we'll soon see oil move up to $100 a barrel. In subsequent days, it's become easier to see the signs of $100 oil popping up on people's radars.

For example, on Monday, Saudi oil minister Ali Naimi suggested that oil prices could move up to $90 without hurting global economic growth, up from a previous perceived ceiling of $80. That's led some to speculate that OPEC will try to maintain production at current levels, even as signs are emerging that oil demand has begun to pick up.

Economic growth in emerging markets like Brazil and China remains robust, which led to a 1.4 million barrel jump in the third quarter, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and a 980,000 barrel uptick in Western Europe and the United States. Any further uptick in global demand could push oil demand back up to, or above, supply levels.

Analysts at Merrill Lynch see $100 oil by early 2011 for a more prosaic reason: They believe that the U.S. Federal Reserve's plan for quantitative easing (QE2) will weaken the dollar and raise the price of commodities, particularly gold, silver and oil. [Read: "How The Fed Will Affect Your Portfolio This Week"] The recent move in the dollar is a possible harbinger of things to come, according to Merrill: "We believe that oil is only starting to reflect a weak U.S. dollar against G10, leaving room for oil price rises as emerging market currencies strengthen against the U.S. dollar."

Read the entire article > "Why 2011 May Be the Year of the Oil Comeback"



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