Showing posts with label gold futures trading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gold futures trading. Show all posts

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Safe Havens are Shining but are Equities about to Rocket Higher?

It was another extremely volatile week sharp rallies followed by sharp sell offs. Fear is in no doubt controlling the market. The bulls and bears continue to battle it out. The charts below cover some important trends and market internals I pay attention to on a daily basis.

US Dollar Index – Daily Chart
The past two months the dollar as been in rally mode. The last 14 days we have seen a large bullish pennant form and this pattern typically marks the half way point for the current tend. The measured move for the USD is pointing to 93 over the next few months.


Gold Futures Prices – Daily Chart
Gold as we all know is seen as the major safe haven and the price per ounce has been steadily climbing. Friday we saw the major indexes sell down very hard but both the dollar and gold posted some solid gains. Gold does looks as though it needs some time to digest the recent move higher and this could take a week or two before anything exciting happens but I am on the lookout for low risk setups.


VIX – Volatility Index – 60 Minute Chart
This index measures the fear in the market. When fear is high and everyone is selling their positions we see the VIX jump in price. Over the past month we can see a possible Head & Shoulders pattern forming. If this pattern unfolds like it should then we will see the price of equities bottom in the coming week with the VIX dropping below the blue neckline. The old saying is “When the VIX is High is time to Buy, when the VIX is low its time to Go”.


Put Call Ration – 60 Minute Chart
In short, when the put/call ration is over 1.00 then there are more traders/investors buying Put Options than Call Options. Put options are when people are buying leverage to take advantage of lower prices. My thought/opinion about this is when more people are trading with leverage anticipating lower prices, I figure they have sold all their long positions and are now using leverage to profit from lower prices. Well if the majority of individuals have sold everything then in reality there should not be much left to be sold… So I feel this correction which started in April is almost finished.


NYSE Advance/Decline Line – 60 Minute Chart
This is one of my favorite charts to look at. While there are several indicators, market internals and technical analysis needed to clearly determine if the market is currently overbought or oversold, this chart is one that can help give you a good idea if you should be looking to buy, short or just stay in cash for the time being.


SP500 Futures Prices - 2 Hour Chart
The SP500 has been up and down like a yo-yo with some very dramatic moves. Up 2+% day down 2+% the next… very sharp and powerful moves can be both every profitable or costly if not traded correctly. Last week we caught a nice 2% gain in less than 24 hours which was an exciting trade. It looked at though the market was about to breakout to the upside and possibly reach the 1150 level but early Friday morning there were rumors about some Euro bank having serious problems and that was just enough to cause a domino effect sending the market lower throughout the entire session closing on a very strong negative note for the day/week.

That being said the market internals are indicating that equities are oversold at these current prices and a bounce is due any time. With the panic selling on the NYSE Friday reaching 119 sell orders for every 1 buy order I think we will see some follow through next week with lower prices, then a rebound once investors finish selling everything they own at which point we will be looking to get involved again.


Weekly Trading Conclusion:
In short, money continues to flow into the safe havens (Gold & US Dollar). The major indices are showing extreme panic selling and look ready to in the next few days. There is a possibility that the market could break down and start another major leg lower which is a big concern to me. I will be glued to the market internals and support levels for the major commodities and equity sectors in hopes to catch the bottom or to avoid another melt down.

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Thursday, May 27, 2010

The Gold & Silver Precious Metals Correction

It’s been an exciting week for traders as volatility levels are through the roof and the broad market is moving up and down like a yoyo. You cannot take your eyes off the screen if you have a large amount of money invested as you can quickly find yourself with a large profit or loss in the matter of minutes....

Although we have seen stocks jump around the past few days precious metals have held strong with very little volatility. This is because of the economic fears looming for the US and other countries of possible financial collapse. This fear is helping to boost gold and silver prices because they are seen as the safe haven. Also we are seeing money move in the US dollar because the country is still seen as a leader in many ways helping to boost the US dollar.

Below are a couple charts on Gold and Silver ETF’s showing the end of last years rally and the correction in prices which are now looking to setting up for another leg higher.


Gold Futures Price – 60 Minute Day Trading Chart

Gold has been showing some very bullish price action the past week forming several mini bull flags with confirming volume levels. I think we should see gold pop another $5-10 bucks in the very near future if not continue higher for several days.


SLV – Silver ETF Trading Vehicle – Daily Chart

Silver formed much of the same patterns as gold but with much more volatility. Also silver has yet to break the 2009 high which is surprising but with a large part of silver being use for industrial purposes it does make sense as the economy is not as strong as it was thought to be in 2009. Silver carries much more risk when trading because it has more random moves and increased volatility.


Mid-Week Precious Metals Trading Conclusion:

In short, gold and silver are in an uptrend and looking strong. Both are currently trading at short term resistance levels on the daily chart which has caused them to stop moving up today (Wednesday May 26th) but on an intraday basis they look solid and could break though these resistance levels.

That being said buying way up here adds a lot more risk because a good chunk of the move has already been made and if prices do roll over and start heading back down the next support level is several percentage points away for placing a protective stop with the proper amount of wiggle room.

If Trading Gold, Silver and Index Futures and ETFs interest you, check out Chris Vermeulen's trading services at The Gold and Oil Guy.com



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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Choppy SP500, Gold Stock Meltdown and Dollar Strengthens

From guest blogger Chris Vermeulen....

For the past few weeks I have been expecting the market to correct. By looking at the price action on the weekly and daily charts we can see that there has not been any real pullback since November and that is important to note. Without regular market corrections stocks start to become over bought meaning everyone has/is buying them and no real sellers have jumped off the trend. So when the price in an over bought market starts to slide lower we generally see everyone rush to hit their sell buttons. This is what causes the high volume breakdowns similar to the GLD (Gold) breakdown last December.

Another way of getting a feel for the market to know if it is over bought is to look at market sentiment for bulls vs. bears (buyers vs. sellers). Currently almost everyone is bullish and with this high of a reading we must start protecting our positions by tightening stops and/or get ready to play the coming correction with a short term trading strategy.

We can add another level of analysis to assist our understanding of the market if we look at the 60 minute charts of the SPY & IBM.

The chart below of the SPY (SP500) clearly shows we are in choppy times. With the majority of investors buying up stocks left, right and center because they are bullish on both the economy and individual companies, we have continued to see the index crawl higher. This has been going on for almost 3 months now but the more recent price action in the SPY chart clearly shows there are some BIG sellers unloading positions into this buying pressure. When the big sellers slow their selling we see the price drift back up until selling kicks back in. This is a warning signal for lower prices in the coming days.

The IBM chart shows a perfect example of the ‘Buy on the Rumor – Sell on the News’ saying we all know. The share price of IBM ran up into their earning news as traders know IBM is great for beating estimates. Once the great news came out which actually beat the estimates, the price sold off. This is happening everywhere with stocks.

In short, the market looks top heavy and has also rallied into earning season. These two points really have me on edge for taking a long trade at the moment.



Gold Stocks and the Dollar

The HUI (Gold Stock Index) has been on fire the past 10 months. Both gold and gold stocks have been leading the market higher. But the past month we have seen gold stocks under perform the SP500 and as of today are testing a key support level. Only time will tell if it bounces or breaks, so keep a close eye on your positions.

I use the UUP etf of the US Dollar to show the price action of today’s price move. The US Dollar is now above a key resistance level and has started to move higher. If the Dollar continues higher commodities across the board will have downward pressure. This could trigger a large sell off in the gold and gold stocks which I think are still over bought using a short term time frame.



Gold & Oil Futures Trends

The trend of gold and oil has been down the past few days. Gold broke down in the past 24 hours in overnight trading which triggered a wave of selling when the US market opened.

Gold and oil are currently trading between key support and resistance levels. I am looking for gold to drift back up to the $1130 level where I will look for a short setup as the current price action is not bearish on the intraday charts.

Oil is still bullish so I am not really looking to short it at this time. I will wait for another low risk buy signal.



Commodity Trading Conclusion

I feel the broad market could be ready for a large correction ranging from 5-10%. I am calling it a correction as I want to stay positive thinking. But it could be the start of a major market top. Market tops tend to be a process and take several months to roll over. So let’s focus on protecting our money and wait for a pullback that will allow us to load up with some great positions in the coming weeks.

Patience is how money is made in the market. Waiting for the market to come to you is vital for success. Also having the patience to let winners run by scaling out (selling a portion) of a position when the price reaches a support or resistance level makes it easier to let them run. Each time you sell some of a position you are locking in a profit and lowering your risk for the balance of that trade.

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Monday, January 18, 2010

How to Trade Crude Oil and other Commodity ETF’s

Whether you are trading stocks, ETFs or futures, technical analysis is the preferred choice for short term traders. Technical analysis in short is the study of price and volume movements on charts. It can be used for studying charts in any time frame whether you are a 1 minute chartist or a long term investor using monthly charts.

Using technical analysis in my opinion really opens the door for a trader to lower his/her overall risk when investing money. I always like to know if the investments I am watching are trading near a critical price level (support or resistance). During these times you can take positions that have very clear entry and exit points for trading. Also it puts the odds in your favor when a position is entered in the same direction of the underlying trend.

Price action is how we make money in the market, so I strictly follow price and volume when trading as they are the least lagging indicator on what the market it doing.

I have put together a few charts using commodity ETFs to show you what I am seeing in the market and what we should expect to see in the coming days.

USO Crude Oil Fund – Daily Trend Chart
Oil has slid lower the past 5 sessions and is now nearing a support level. This has me looking for an oversold bounce with the potential to rally much higher. I am keeping an eye on this for any possible low risk setup.



UNG Natural Gas Fund – Daily Trading Chart
While UNG is not a great intermediate and long term fund to invest in, I do find it trades very nicely for intraday and short swing trades. I am neutral on natural gas for the time being. It could go either way from here and I’m not willing to take on a 50/50 probability trade. Let’s wait for something exciting to form.



Commodity Trading Conclusion
In short, gold and silver have been underperforming the market recently which is not what we want to see. They have led the market higher all year but are now taking a breather.

The way I see gold, silver, oil and natural gas is that they are trading below their recent highs and still have more room to fall before landing on a solid support level.

The stock market is now over extended and looks ready for a sharp correction. If this happens we will see commodities drop and test lower prices also.

There is not much we can do right now other than protect our current long positions by tightening our stops. Depending on the strength of the breakdown, there could be a great opportunity for short term traders (60 minute chart traders) to make some quick money. I expect a sell off which will last 3-5 days at the least.

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Chris Vermeulen "The Gold and Oil Guy"







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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Year End Commodity & ETF Trend Trading Signals

Well, here we are with only hours left before the year is over. Virtually every investment is up other than the US dollar. Not much has changed since my last gold market trends report. But I have provided some interesting charts that show us what is possible in the coming weeks for the dollar, gold and natural gas.

US Dollar Trend Analysis – Resistance Levels
The dollar has shown some strength in the past month. It was a no brainer trade for 2009. You were either long gold or short the dollar. The chart below shows the key resistance levels for the $USD. I have a feeling we are going to see the dollar test the 80 -81 levels before rolling over and heading south again.

If this happens then gold and silver will continue to pull back. I am actually hoping the dollar moves higher and gold drops back to test the $1000-1060 level. This would clear the way for gold and the dollar to continue with their longer term trends with increased momentum (dollar collapses, gold goes parabolic).



GLD Gold ETF – Daily Chart
The daily gold swing trading chart is really starting to look attractive for a buy signal. Depending on what the US dollar does in the coming days will set the tone for gold.

We could see gold start to rally starting tomorrow or it will become volatile and start to sell off sharply in the coming days. Right now we have very light volume so any moves/breakouts cannot be taken seriously or with a large position.

If the dollar starts to rally we could see the GLD ETF drop to the $97.50 – $103 level.



Spot Gold Trend Analysis – 18 Day, 1hr Bar Chart
Starting in 2010 I will be providing futures trading analysis and signals so I thought I would provide a chart of the spot gold trend I have been day trading over the holidays.

This may seem like I am going against my #1 trading Rule – Never Trade Against the Trend, but the trend changes depending on time frame and trading style you are using. In short, gold reversed very strong 18 days ago just as we anticipated it would. The selling momentum was so strong it made for excellent gold futures day trading setups which I took advantage of over the past 10 trading days.

The chart below is of the 100 ounce gold GC Feb 10 futures contract which I traded. The chart is shrunk down and does not show my setups, nor does the chart look very sexy, but it clearly shows the direction of the trend and the BIG SELLING VOLUME.

The table shows my recent trades and if you take a close look all of the trades I did were Short Trades. Because the momentum and trend is down on this time frame I only traded perfect short setups (profiting from gold as it loses value).



UNG Natural Gas Trading Fund
UNG appears to be trading at resistance and starting to look like its rolling over. It did move above last weeks high which voids the reversal candle we had Tuesday and Thursday, or else it would have been a short setup for us. I don’t chase a trade, that’s my #2 rule, so I am waiting for a possible bounce here, test of resistance then another reversal back down.



Commodity & ETF Year End Trends
In short, we continue the waiting game for more setups in the coming weeks as volatility and volume creep back into the market. The dollar and gold are currently trading at pivot points and no one knows which way to play them.

Trading futures run virtually 24 hours a day and have provided some excellent trading opportunities that I will be providing in the coming weeks for traders.

Natural Gas is trading at pivot point and looking ready for another move down.

Crude oil and the board market I feel will top out in the next 2-5 days but nothing worth putting any money on at this time.

I would like to thank everyone for their kind words and support over the past 12 months. I wish you all a happy and safe New Years!

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