GOLD Should be Completing a Cyclical Low in February

David A. Banister of Market Trend Forecast has been our go to trader when it comes to gold. Here's what he says about the bottoming process in gold.....

Over the past 5 calendar years we have seen GOLD either complete an intermediate cyclical top or bottom in each February. My forecast was for February of 2013 to be no different and for Gold and Silver to make trough lows this month. With that said, I did not expect the drop in GOLD to go much below $1,620 per ounce at worst, but in fact it has. Where does that leave us now on the technical patterns and crowd behavioral views?

First let’s examine the last 5 years and you can see how I noted tops and bottoms in the chart below




That brings us forward to todays $1,573 spot pricing and trying to determine where the next move will go. To help with that end, some of our work centers on Elliott Wave Theory, along with fundamentals and traditional technical patterns of course.

In this case, the recent action around Gold has been very difficult to ascertain, and I will be the first to admit as much. With that said, one pattern we can surmise is a rare pattern Elliott termed the “Double Three” pattern. Essentially you have two ABC type moves, and in the middle what is dubbed an “X” wave, which breaks up the ABC’s on each end of the pattern.

That brings us forward to todays $1,573 spot pricing and trying to determine where the next move will go. To help with that end, some of our work centers on Elliott Wave Theory, along with fundamentals and traditional technical patterns of course. In this case, the recent action around Gold has been very difficult to ascertain, and I will be the first to admit as much. With that said, one pattern we can surmise is a rare pattern Elliott termed the “Double Three” pattern.

Essentially you have two ABC type moves, and in the middle what is dubbed an “X” wave, which breaks up the ABC’s on each end of the pattern. For sure, if we add in traditional technical indicators along with sentiment, we can see very oversold levels coupled with the potential Double Three pattern and probably start getting long here for a trade back to the 1650’s as possible....




Obviously this chart shows oversold readings in the lower right corner using the CCI indicator. That said we would like to see 1550 hold on a weekly closing basis to remain optimistic for a strong rebound.

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Gold and Silver Nearing MAJOR Long Term Support

Gold and silver along with their related miners have been under a lot of selling pressure the last few months. Prices have fallen far enough to make most traders and investors start to panic and close out their long term positions which is a bullish signal in my opinion.

My trading tactic for both swing trading and day trading thrive on entering and exiting positions when panic trading hits an investment. General rule of thumb is to buy when others are extremely fearful and cannot hold on to a losing position any longer. When they are selling I am usually slowly accumulating a long position.

Looking at the charts below of gold and silver you can see the strong selling over the past two weeks. When you get drops this sharp investors tend to focus on their account statements watching the value drop at an accelerated rate to the point where they ignore the charts and just liquidate everything they have to preserve their capital.

Gold Bullion Weekly Chart: 

The price and outlook of gold has not really changed much in the past year. It remains in a major bull market and has been taking a breather, nothing more. Stepping back and reviewing the weekly chart it’s clear that gold is nearing long term support. With panic selling hitting the gold market and long term support only $20 - $30 dollars away this investment starts to look really tasty.

But if price breaks below the $1540 level and closed down there on a weekly basis then all bets are off as this would trigger a wave of selling that would make the recent selling look insignificant. And the uptrend in gold would now be over.

Silver Bullion Weekly Chart:

Silver price is in the same boat as its big sister (Yellow Gold). Only difference is that silver has larger price swings of 2-3x more than gold. This is what attracts more traders and investors but unfortunately the masses do not know how to manage leveraged investments like this and end up losing their shirts. A breakdown below the $26.11 price would likely trigger a sharp drop back down to the $17.50 level so be careful.

Gold Mining Stocks – Monthly Chart:

If you wanna see a scary chart then look at what could happen or is happening to gold miner stocks. This very could be happening as we speak and why I have been pounding the table for months no to get long gold, silver or miners until we see complete panic selling or a bullish basing pattern form on the charts. We have not seen either of these things take place although panic selling is slowly ramping up this week.

There will be some very frustrated gold bugs if they take another 33% hair cut in value.

Precious Metals Trend and Trading Conclusion:

In short, the precious metal sector remains in a cyclical bull market. That being said and looking at the daily charts the prices have been consolidating and are in a down trend currently. Until we see some type of bottoming pattern or price action form it is best to sit on the side lines and watch the emotional traders get caught up and do the wrong thing.

The next two weeks will be crucial for gold, silver and miner stocks. If metals cannot find support and close below the key support levels things could get really ugly fast. If you would like to receive my daily analysis and know what I am trading then check out my newsletter at The Gold& Oil Guy.com

Chris Vermeulen


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Gold Mining Stocks Continue to Disappoint ......But Not For Long

 From Chris Vermeulen....The Gold & Oil Guy

It is an endless debate for investors interested in gold. Should they buy a direct play on the gold price, either gold bullion itself or even so called paper gold with an ETF such as the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD)? Or should they invest into gold equities, particularly the larger, higher quality gold mining companies?

Recent history suggests the answer is gold itself. According to Citigroup, physical gold has outperformed global gold equities 120% percent of the time over the past 5 years. Stocks of the bigger gold mining firms seem to react adversely to bad news (which is normal), but the problem is they react with no more than a yawn to good news. These type of stocks are contained in the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX).

Evidence of this trend can been seen in the latest news to hit the industry…the slowdown in expansion as recently signaled by the world’s largest gold producer, Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX). The company’s stock has fallen by more than 30 percent over the last year due to cost overruns at major projects. The latest blowup in costs of up to $3 billion occurred in its estimate for development of its flagship Pascua-Lama project on the border of Chile and Argentina. The project may now cost up to $8 billion.

In addition, Barrick decided to shelve the $6 billion Cerro Casale in Chile and the $6.7 billion Donlin Gold project in Alaska. Barrick is not alone in its thinking among the major gold producers. The CEO of Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE: AEM), Sean Boyd, recently said “The era of gold mega projects may be fading. The industry is moving into an era of cash flow generation, yields and capital discipline.”

Fair enough. But are gold mining companies’ management walking the walk about yields or just talking the talk? Last year, many of the larger miners made major announcements that they would be focusing on boosting their dividends to shareholders in attempt to attract new stockholders away from exchange traded vehicles such as GLD, which have siphoned demand away from gold equities. Barrick, for example, did boost its dividend payout by a quarter from the previous level. Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM), which has also cut back on expansion plans, has pledged to link its dividend payout to the price of gold bullion.

So in effect, the managements at the bigger gold mining companies (which are having difficulties growing) are trying to move away from attracting growth-only investors to enticing investors that may be interested in high dividend yields. This is a logical move.

But rising costs at mining projects may put a crimp into the plans of gold mining companies’ as they may not have the cash to raise dividends much. And they have done a poor job of raising dividends for their shareholders to date. In 2011 the dividend yields for gold producers globally was less than half the average for the mining sector as a whole at a mere 1.3 percent. Their yields are below that of the base metal mining sector and the energy sector.

It seems like management for these precious metal companies have the similar emotional response shareholders have when they are in a winning position. When the investor’s brain has experienced a winning streak and is happy it automatically goes into preservation/protection mode. What does this mean? It means management is going to tight up their spending to stay cash rich as they do not want to give back the gains during a time of increased uncertainty. Smaller bets/investments are what the investor’s brain is hard wired to do which is not always the right thing to do…

Looks like there is still a lot work to be done by gold mining companies’ to improve returns to their shareholders. But with all that set aside it is important to realize that when physical gold truly starts another major rally. These gold stocks will outperform the price of gold bullion drastically for first few months.

Gold Miner Trading Conclusion:

In short, it seems gold has been forming a major launch pad for higher prices over the past year. Gold bullion has held up well while gold miner stocks have given up over 30% of their gains. If/when gold starts another rally I do feel gold miner stocks will be the main play for quick big gains during the first month or two of a breakout. The increased price in gold could and value of the mining companies reserves could be enough to get management to start paying their investors a decent dividend which in turn would fuel gold miner shares higher.

Both gold and silver bullion prices remain in a down trend on the daily chart but are trying to form a base to rally from which may start any day now. Keep your eye on precious metals going into year end.

If you would like to get my weekly analysis on precious metals and the board market be sure to join my free newsletter at The Gold & Oil Guy.com

Chris Vermeulen

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Silver Suffers The Most From Bernanke And What Is Next

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While the exchange traded funds for gold and copper fell today due to investors expressing disappoint at the modest response of the Federal Reserve to declining economic growth, it was silver that was off the most.

SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) fell in trading today by 0.89%. IPath Dow Jones Copper (JJC) dropped 1.89%.  Plunging the deepest was iShares Silver Trust (SLV), off by 2.14%.

Traders were hoping for more aggressive action by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. But that will not come until after the November elections in the United States. Remember that Quantitative Easing 2 did not begin until November 2010, though it was announced at the Jackson Hole economic policy summit in August of 2010.

Silver is in what would seem to be the “sweet spot” between gold and copper.  Almost all of gold is used for investment or decorative purposes.  Almost all of The Red Metal goes for industrial needs.   For silver, it comes almost down right in the middle between commercial and a commodity for investments or jewelry.  The charts below show the trading relationship for each of the exchange traded funds when paired against each other.

Even though silver has a much higher industrial usage, the SLV moves along with the GLD.   As a result, it soared during Quantitative Easing 2.  Obviously, the charts reveal that most of the trading is from speculators as the JJC should move in an inverse relationship with the GLD.  That is due to gold being used almost entirely for non-industrial end uses while copper is used almost industrial for industrial uses.

Up slightly for the week as traders thought more dramatic economic stimulus efforts would result from the Federal Open Market Committee meeting  other than an extension until the end of the year for Operation Twist, the SLV is down for the last month, quarter, six months and 52 weeks of market action.  Year to date, the SLV is off by 1.48%.

For the last year, however, the SLV is down 33.35%.  Volume was up today, with the SLV below its 20 day, 50 day and 200 day moving averages.  In the most obvious trend, it is trading much lower under its 200 day day moving average at 11.67% down than underneath the 20 day moving average, beneath it by only 0.17%.  The only move worth noting in the technical indicators for silver were the long engulfing green bodies last week after Treasury Secretary Geithner’s  gloomy testimony on The Hill and more bad economic news from the US peaked buying as traders thought Quantitative Easing 3 was coming.

If traders long on silver are looking for help from Bernanke, it will not be coming until after the November election, though it could be announced when he speaks later this month at Jackson Hole.

Chris Vermeulen


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Have Gold, Silver and Mining Stocks Bottomed?

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On Friday, the price action in gold caught the attention of most market participants as gold put in a monster move to the upside in light of risk assets such as the S&P 500 selling off sharply. In fact, gold futures rallied nearly $58 per troy ounce on Friday (+3.71%) while the S&P 500 Index sold off over 32 handles (-2.46%).

Monday saw some profit taking in gold and silver futures as Friday’s monster gains had to be digested. Short term traders were locking in profits, but overall the price action remains quite bullish at the moment. The gold miners remained extremely strong into the bell on Monday as buyers bid up prices in the afternoon to push them nearly 1.65% higher for the trading session.

Long time readers understand that I am a gold bull in the longer term and have been for quite some time. Unlike some gold bugs, I will discuss the downside in precious metals from time to time even though it generally fills up my email inbox with some rather rude and hate filled emails.

My view of gold and silver is that they are senior currencies. With that being said, I monitor the value of gold in U.S. Dollars and recognize that a stronger U.S. Dollar in the longer term is not necessarily bullish for gold. Yes both gold and the Dollar can rally together, but mutualistic price action generally does not last for long periods of time. Obviously I monitor the price action of the U.S. Dollar Index futures on a regular basis to help me gauge when the Dollar is at key turning points regarding.....Here is the entire article, charts and video.


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Let's Take a Look at Why Gold and Silver Collapsed

Did our Trade Triangle Technology get it right on these two metals?

With a Score of -60 on gold this market remains in a trading range. We would not rule out a pullback in gold to the $1,650 level. With our long term monthly Trade Triangle still in a negative red mode, we cannot get 100% excited about this market at the moment. We are not super bearish on this metal, we just need further confirmation with the tools we know are successful in trading gold. Long term term traders should be in short positions in gold with appropriate money management stops.

Gold closed sharply lower on Wednesday [April contract] and below the 20 day moving average crossing at 1745.50 confirming that a short term top has been posted. The low range close sets the stage for a steady to lower opening on Thursday. Stochastics and the RSI are diverging and turning bearish signaling that sideways to lower prices are possible near term.

If April renews the rally off December's low, the 75% retracement level of the September-December decline crossing at 1825.20 is the next upside target. First resistance is Tuesday's high crossing at 1792.70. Second resistance is the 75% retracement level of the September-December decline crossing at 1825.20. First support is today's low crossing at 1704.50. Second support is the reaction low crossing at 1652.20.

A possible outside negative engulfing line for silver today, which is surprising given the market action yesterday. We want to be patient and wait to see if this actually happens on Thursday and Friday. Our long term monthly Trade Triangle remains positive on silver. This particular indicator has done extremely well in the past. Long and intermediate term traders should be holding long positions in silver with appropriate money management stops.

Silver posted a key reversal down [May contract for silver] on Wednesday as it consolidates some of the rally off December's low. The low range close set the stage for a steady to lower opening on Thursday. Stochastics and the RSI are overbought and are turning neutral to bearish signaling that sideways to lower prices are possible near term. Closes below the 20 day moving average crossing at 34.306 would confirm that a short term top has been posted.

If May extends the rally off December's low, the 75% retracement level of the August-December decline crossing at 39.521 is the next upside target. First resistance is today's high crossing at 37.580. Second resistance is the 75% retracement level of the August-December decline crossing at 39.521. First support is the 20 day moving average crossing at 34.306. Second support is the reaction low crossing at 32.715.

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Gold And Silver Stuck In A Holding Pattern

From the staff at The Technical Trader......

The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) are both trading slightly lower this morning. These two precious metals will usually trade inverse to the U.S. Dollar, therefore, traders should follow the dollar closely. Short term traders can watch for intra-day support on the GLD around the $167.00, and $166.00 levels. The SLV will have intra-day support around the $32.25, and $31.80 levels.

Some other ways to trade the gold and silver markets are to use the Sprott Physical Gold Trust (PHYS),Sprott Physical Silver Trust ETV (PSLV), and the iShares Gold Trust ETF (IAU). All of these trading vehicles trade in a very similar fashion.





Chinese Internet Stocks Are The Weak Link Today
This morning, all of the leading Chinese internet stocks are declining lower. Baidu Inc (BIDU) is considered the leading Chinese ADR in the market. Today, BIDU stock is trading lower by $2.83 a share. Short term traders should watch for intra day support around the $137.00, and $135.00 levels. The daily chart is holding up fine for BIDU at the moment.

Some other leading Chinese internet stocks that are declining lower this morning include Netease.com Inc (NTES), Sina Corp (SINA), and Sohu Corp (SOHU). All of these stocks have different daily charts, however, these stocks will often follow BIDU closely intra day.

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Market Looks Poised to Reverse Hard to Downside Within Days

The market has been in the process of a near 13 Fibonacci week corrective rally since the October 4th 2011 lows at 1074 on the SP 500. So far the highs reached on the initial rally of 218 points were in October at 1292. That has remained the high water mark as we have consolidated over the last many weeks. I expect the market to complete this counter trend ABC bounce during the Dec 27th-29th window, followed by a good sized correction into Mid-January ahead of the earning season.

The patterns that I am seeing are based on crowd behavioral “Elliott Wave” analysis that I perform at my TMTF and ATP services, and this analysis now favors a 70% probability of a bearish decline beginning very shortly to the 1150’s area on the SP 500 index. To wit, Investment Advisors in recent surveys have over 45% Bulls and only 30% bears with typical tops forming around 47-48% Bulls in surveys. In addition, the rally has been on light volume and recent action seems to be forming a rising “bearish wedge” pattern at the same time.

Reversals in the market often come when few expect it whether they come near bottoms or tops. My most recent forecasts called a bullish turn after Thanksgiving Day when most were bearish in the 1160’s on the SP 500 index. We then rallied 109 points to a 1267 high, which we are retesting now. As we recently pulled back into the low 1200’s, I again said to watch for a major market turn on Dec 20th. We then immediately rallied so far into the 1270 area from the 1203 lows.

Below is a chart I sent to my subscribers on Dec 24th, having projected a continuing rally into the 27th-29th window of trade. If you’d like to benefit from our market turn calls and crowd behavioral based pattern analysis on the SP 500 and Gold and Silver, check us out at Market Trend Forecast to sign up for our free forecast or get 33% holiday discount on our premium gold and silver forcecast.

David A Banister

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Holiday Short Squeeze & Crude Oil Trade Idea

Typically, the week before Christmas, stocks and commodities drift higher due to the lack of participants.  Light volume favours higher prices, which is why stocks want to rise going into the holiday season.

The big money players, like hedge fund managers, are finished for the year. They’re sitting on the sidelines enjoying the holiday season while waiting for their year-end bonus checks.

Let’s take a quick look at how the week finished......

Friday was an interesting session as stocks and oil reached some key resistance levels.  Below are my thoughts, charts, and a possible trade idea for next week.

Gold & Silver Thoughts:

Looking at the long term charts of gold and silver, I feel they could head much lower in the first quarter of 2012.  The inverse relationship between the dollar index and gold makes me think this is a high probability scenario.

The weekly dollar index chart remains strong at this point and could start another very strong rally any day. Once the dollar starts heading higher, expect precious metals to move down along with equities.

SP500, Dollar and Volatility Index

Below are three charts stacked on top of each other.  They are marked with my analysis and thoughts for next week.  Personally, I don’t feel shorting stocks is a safe play.  The last week of the year, we can see the volatility index (VIX), and the dollar, rise without putting pressure on stocks.  So be aware of that.

TRADE IDEA – View Chart:

Crude oil looks like a great low risk opportunity (a real “Christmas” present!) from Mr. Market. SCO would be the ETF for US based traders.  HOD, which is listed on the TSX, is good for Canadians.  I favour this setup because I don’t feel that oil will be as affected from the holiday bulge as will American equities.

Pre-Holiday Trading Conclusion:

I was planning on avoiding the market Friday, but the charts were calling my name......  The session ended with what looked to be a short squeeze. The remaining short positions didn’t get their expected drop in price.  Consequently, when the traders all started to cover their shorts (buy) just before the close, it caused a strong surge higher.

I do not recommend shorting stocks next week because of the light volume.  However, oil looks good to me.

Just thought I would share my end of the week thoughts, and wish you a Merry Christmas!

Cheers!

Chris Vermeulen

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"Murder Cross" in Silver [SLV] is Starting to Get Some Serious Attention

Silver is not looking good here long term, sure we can get a few bounces upwards but an event occurred two days ago that put the nail in this precious metal coffin for at least a few months and possible a 15% decline, that event is the "Murder Cross".   The murder cross is similar to the "Death Cross" of the 50 ma crossing below the 200 ma but the "Murder Cross" is the 70 ema crossing the 200 ema.  This cross eliminates many of the false signals that the "Death Cross" can give.  Here is a link to a post explaining it more.

SLV or  the Silver ETF has been on a steady decline from its high of 50.  The decline has wiped out almost all of the gains from the 10-11 run up with SLV retracing more the 61.8% of its move and it looks like more of a decline can be instore.  The "Murder Cross" on SLV happened 3 times in the last 20 years in 06, 07 and 08.  In 06 SLV dropped 23% before it bounced, in 07 it dropped 10% and in 08 in dropped 25%.  If we use this historical information it is possible for more of a decline in SLV.   In fact a drop of around 18% or 17% would put SLV right at support and its long term trend line a logical support level. ( see second chart below)

Below is a chart of SLV and it highlights the muder cross.  Right now SLV has been able to find support at the low 28's and high 27's.  This was a crucial level for SLV this level of support lead to the breakout to the high 50's.  The more important support is at 26, this was the swing low before the run up and the last support level for a while.  Resistance for SLV is at 30.06 and 32.50, a retrest of 30 is likely but it will be hard to get above that.   The trendline from 2010 should be the final resting spot for SLV as it would be a price target for the murder cross and is a strong established uptrend for SLV.  SLV is not looking health for a long term buy on a technical level and with the occurrence of the "Murder Cross" there is even more bearish sentiment to this metal.

check out more great post from the Pike Trader at  Pikertrader.com

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Surprising New Video: Gold or Silver....Which is the Right Precious Metal for You?

Sure, gold dominates the headlines. But which would you rather buy right now, gold or silver?

Gold has incredible amounts of emotional baggage attached to it, while silver is in a different league, at least for the moment. This video will show you two indicators that can help you capture either market when and if the upward trend decides to resume.

With all of the world's troubles, there are plenty of reasons why one would think that both of these markets should be much higher. The question is, why aren't they? We think that the video you're about to watch will help answer some of those questions.

In today's short educational trading video, we put together comparisons between these two markets and why the obvious choice may not be the best choice.

As always our videos are free to watch and there are no registration requirements. Please feel free to leave a comment and tell us what you think of the video and also what you think of gold and silver.

Watch "Gold or Silver....Which is the Right Precious Metal for You?"

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Apple and Goldman Crash, But is the High Still Coming?

On Wednesday the equities market poured out a sea of red candles. Leaving most traders and investors feeling that most all of their recent gains had disappeared in one short session. And we have warned repeatedly that strong selling volume sessions like this is typically an early warning that distribution selling is starting to enter the market.

Distribution selling is when the big money players start unloading large positions in anticipation of a market top. They do try to hide it by selling into good news or earnings when the average investors are buying into all the hype of better than expected earnings on the news. As average investors jump into the market because of the good news, this extra liquidity helps the big money players (banks, hedge funds, etc..) sell large amounts of their positions to the eager buyers. This is why the “buy on rumor and sell on the news” saying is kicked around wall street.....

To me, panic selling is typically seen as a bullish sign to enter the market simply because if everyone is/has rushed to the door to sell what they own, then really most of the down side risk has been taken out of the market. That being said after an extended multi month rally and higher than selling volume I look at it more like distribution selling and a shift in momentum.

I feel the precious metals sector will be starting something like this in the near futures, and possibly it has already started as seen in the rising volume on the down days.

Let’s take a look at the charts…

AAPL – Apple Stock 10 Minute Chart
Two days ago AAPL shares took big hit because of some medical issues with the CEO, the shares did float back up. But what is important here is the distribution selling which took place after Apple came out with much better than expected earnings. The general public loves to buy good news especially when it’s for a famous company. But large sellers stepped in unloading as much of their position as they could before making it look to obvious.

The average investor listening on the radio or catching snippets on the news do not pick up on these things which is why the big money players can get away with this over and over again.

GS – Goldman Sachs 10 Minute Chart
Goldman came out with average earnings being just above estimates and the share price took a beating with very strong volume.

Distribution selling looks to be entering the market and this is a bearish sign. I would not be surprised if we see the market top out in the next 5-10 trading sessions.

SPY – SP500 10 Minute Chart
Here you can see my green panic selling indicator spiking up much higher than normal dwarfing the past sell off spikes. This makes me think the big money is now starting to unload which will shift the current upward momentum to more of a sideways whipsaw type of price action. Eventually it will roll over and a new down trend will start.

As you can see from this chart the SP500 is trading down at a support level so a bounce is likely going to take place. If in fact today was the first distribution day then the big money should let the price inflate back up to the recent highs and possibly make a new high to help keep investors bullish before the hit their SELL BUTTON again… They like to play these games and understanding them is a key part of trading. Expect choppy price action for a week or two…...

Silver Daily Chart – The Next Wave of Selling?
I look at silver and gold as one… so what I show here is the exact same for gold.

As you can see silver is trading under 3 of its key moving averages and Wednesdays bounce was sold into after testing the 14 and 20 period moving averages.

Take a looking at the bottom of the chart and you can see distribution selling volume as the spikes are all down days. If silver breaks below the $28 level then we could easily and quickly see the $26 and maybe even the $24 level.

The Mid-Week Market & Metals Trading Conclusion:
In short, the financial power players are pulling out all the tricks to shake traders out of their positions. A lot of people shorted the market in the past 2 weeks only to get hung out to dry and most likely stopped out of their short positions for a loss. Fortunately we did the opposite taking another long position in the SP500 ETFS because my market internal indicators, market breadth and simple trading strategy clearly pointed out that the average investor was trying to pick a top by shorting the market. As we all know, the market is designed to hurt the masses which is why I focus on the underlying trends, price action, volume and market sentiment for timing trend changes.

That being said, I still think the market could grind higher and make another new high. But any rally or new high will most likely get stepped on with heavy selling. Expect strong selling days followed by a couple days of light volume sessions where the price drifts back up into resistance levels. This could take a week or two to unfold so don’t jump the gun and short yet. It’s best to see more distribution selling before picking a top.

If you like these trading reports or if you would like to get my daily pre-market trading videos, intraday charts, updates and trade alerts be sure to join my newsletter. Visit The Gold and Oil Guy.Com

Chris Vermeulen


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Surviving and Thriving as the U.S. Dollar and Silver Reverse!

The first week of trading for 2011 has been interesting for traders as precious metals melt down on the new found strength in the U.S. Dollar. Equities on the other hand bucked the trend and moved higher as they get bought into earning season. Once the earnings start to be released we should see the market get sold on the good numbers and retail traders will buy into the good numbers as the smart money selling their shares while there is liquidity in the market.

Speaking of pullbacks, we have been talking about silver and gold forming a top. A couple months ago in November we saw the first warning sign of distribution selling in the precious metals sector. There was a large drop in price with heavy volume which is a warning sign that the BIG MONEY is starting to roll out of that crowded trade (precious metals). The thing with tops is that they take a long time to form and become very choppy.

Since the November highs both silver and gold have more or less traded sideways. They never really went much higher and that’s because the big money is distributing their shares to smaller investors slowly overtime (retail buyers/average Joe’s). They try not to scare investors off so they sell their positions in chunks. What most people do now is that these sellers want higher highs to forming because once a new high has been created everyone become bullish again buying more on the breakout. It’s these waves of bullishness that the big money sells into which is why you see heavy volume after a new high has been formed.

Let’s take a look at some charts….

Silver Daily Chart

The silver chart clearly shows the bull market (markup phase) and also the distribution phase taking place now..... If things go according to plan then choppy/lower prices should take place in the coming 1-4 months.

Gold Daily Chart

Gold is doing the same thing as silver and we don’t think the selling is over yet.

Dollar Daily Chart

The past 12 months it seems like everything has been a dollar based play. Meaning if you were to pull up a 1 minute chart of the dollar and a 1 minute chart of the SP500 or Gold, you would now that when the dollar moves up stocks and commodities go down and vise-versa. That being said the SP500 has started to move up with the dollar in the past month so there is a shift happening but it’s a slow change and is not much of a concern for gold right now.

If the dollar starts another leg higher it will make for good timing as market sentiment is at an extreme and earning season is here. That typically means lower prices in stocks and commodities.

Mid-Week Silver, Gold and Dollar Trading Conclusion:

In short, in the next 1-4 weeks we are bullish on the dollar, and bearish/neutral on stocks and commodities. The reason we are neutral is because we don’t like to short things in a bull market phase as they can keep going up much longer than we think at times. Rather hold our strong positions and wait for a correction to buy/add once we feel the selling momentum has stopped later this year.

We would not be surprised if we get a 4-10% drop in the next few weeks in both stocks and commodities, but until we see a clear roll in price we will not be looking for any trades to the down side. We are not in a rush to pick a top/short the market but if we get a setup we will take a small position to play a falling market.

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Has The Gold & Silver Play Gone To Greed?

The past few months it seems the gold and silver play has been getting a little crowed with everyone wanting to own gold. While I am a firm believer that these precious metals are a great hedge/investment long term, I can’t help but notice the price action and volume for both metals which looks to me like they are getting exhausted.

Silver – Daily Chart
The silver chart below shows an extremely high volume reversal candle in early November which typically leads to lower prices and some times a major change in the trend. That being said silver remains in an uptrend with the possibility of a bullish pennant forming. On the other hand there is a possible head and shoulders pattern forming. I will be looking for light volume sideways chop keeping a close eye for a possible neckline breakdown or a momentum thrust to the upside for a possible trade.

Gold – Daily Chart
Gold is forming a bullish and bearish pattern also giving us a mixed signal. I am currently neutral on gold and not really looking to take part until we get some type of clear price action.

US Dollar – 60 Minute Chart
The dollar has shown some strength recently. The US dollar play has been to take the short side, and a couple weeks ago we saw the dollar breakdown from yet another consolidation. It seems like everyone shorted the dollar yet again. That could have been a key pivot low for the dollar. On the weekly chart that bounce was off a major support trend line helping add some fuel to the rally I would think.

The chart below shows the recent rally and breakout to the upside. Currently the dollar is pulling back to test the breakout level (support). It will be interesting to see how this week unfolds. If the dollar bounces then we just may see metals break below their necklines to make another heavy volume drop.

Weekly Precious Metals Update:
In short, I have mixed feelings for gold and silver. Yes I think they are good long term plays, but after the run they have had it is also very possible a much deeper correction is about to take place and we may not see new highs for another year. That is a long time to have money sitting in an investment when it can be put to work in other investments. I know the herd (general public) is all head over heals in love with gold and silver which is one of the reasons why I think we are nearing a top if we didn’t already see it a couple weeks ago.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying to sell and go short metals....not yet anyways. They are both still in an up trend but some interesting things are unfolding which could cause big action in the coming weeks.

For now please join my trading newsletter and get my ETF trading signals, daily analysis and educational material at The Gold and Oil Guy.com

Chris Vermeulen


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Bob Lang: Markets, the Fed, and Metals

From Bob Lang at Big Trends ETF Tradr.......

Market Noise is Deafening
When we don't know what to do or where to go, we ask someone. The obvious path is not so any longer and we need direction. Well, in the markets we're now at that critical juncture. Much like the 'advice' that was given in fall 2008, bargains of a lifetime, 'you have to be in this market', long term it makes sense, etc, only to have markets fall another 50% into the spring of 2009. Was that advice we needed to follow? Today, the word on the 'street is 'how far this rally can go, and should I stay or get on the sidelines'. Naturally, market sages will tell you to stay the course if you're invested, they want you all in at all times. Yet with all the noise and distractions around can we afford to make the one decision that could lead to a setback? The LESS we listen to media accounts, hurray the Dow hit 11,000 again, let's have a party, the better off we'll be. It'll be all over the place now and louder than ever! This type of 'workplace noise' can be hazardous, a news story the other evening stated that those prone to noise at work are more likely to have a stroke, heart attack or high blood pressure. Let the market tell you WHEN to should exit, remain or re-enter.

What's All this Fed Talk About?
We've heard quite a bit lately about this Fed game called QE2. To be sure, they are playing upon our positive expectations at the end of the game. The hope is that this program will help spur some economic activity, inflation and move people back to work. But, what is QE2, and did what did QE1 accomplish? Simply put, QE is quantitative easing, implemented when the Fed has no more additional room to cut short-term rates to stimulate the economy. Basically, cutting borrowing rates has failed to control the money supply. By definition, QE is upping the supply of money by increasing excess reserves of the banking system, expanding their balance sheet. By purchasing government assets and other bonds in the open market they give banks excess reserves required to create new money. Hopefully the banks will use this extra money to lend out to borrowers, thereby stimulating activity. Many argue this is the wrong approach, creating dollars. To be certain, QE measures have had mixed results and there is not a direct correlation to creating new jobs, which seems to be the big issue of today. Back in early 2009 the Fed implemented the first round of QE and while it improved growth a bit, the desired effect and length lagged badly. In fact, the economy recently fell into a 'soft patch', enough warning for the Fed to jump to the fore with their new easing plan. Is that a pattern we'll see develop over time?

Metals are sure Precious!
New highs again for gold, new multiyear highs for silver. Haven't seen such a blistering move on a commodity since crude oil went parabolic in 2008. Do we know the reasons for this parabolic rise, or do we 'think' we know the reasons. By all accounts it seems everyone is talking about the metals these days. Heck, there are four new gold shops that popped up in my town over the last several months, and on every other street corner is a guy holding a sign that says 'will buy your gold'. The fever pitch is reaching that of the miner 49ers over 160 yrs ago! Can it last? Sure, any bubble move can keep going until every last one gets in and then POP! I'm not calling for this, but certainly the reasons for buying gold are consistent with past bubbles, oil, housing, tech, and biotech. Oh, I've participated, silver has been my choice, but if you fail to acknowledge what is happening around you then you'll get taken in by the hype. We choose to listen to what and whom we want that makes us feel good (read up top again about the noise factor). Being in a bubble and profiting is ok, in fact it's great as an options player, but knowing your exit is most important. Enjoy the ride while it lasts!

Check out Bob Lang's calls and articles at Big Trends.Com


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Silver About To Break Out Big!

Silver is one asset class I do not cover very often, but have been largely bullish on since $6 an ounce many years ago. It can be considered “poor man’s Gold” as they say. I believe Silver is about to stage a pretty large advance based loosely on the Elliott Wave pattern I see unfolding after a 9 odd month consolidation. (Obviously, there are also fundamental fiat currency/debt events worldwide that give it the underlying bull chart pattern). Since the average person can’t run out and buy an ounce of Gold for $1,240 tomorrow, as the unfolding of the fiat crises continues to enter the public psyche, you will see a strong populace movement into buying silver, silver coins, etc. To wit, many silver stocks are moving up strongly of late, signally an imminent breakout of this precious and industrial metal.

The triangle pattern has taken nearly 9 months so far, and a move over $19.50 could start a multi-month run targeting $26-$29 per ounce for starters before a broad pullback. A few silver stocks worth looking at include SLW (Silver Wheaton, which purchases future silver mine production in advance at a discount), a long time favorite of mine and Fortuna Silver, a growing producer and explorer favored by some of the brightest minds in the business. I do not own shares in either, so I have no inherent bias to mention them other than they are worth your time to review sooner than later. TMTF does not offer stock or trading advice, so please do your own research and consult a professional if need be.

I post the Silver chart below and my outline shows my views of a multi month 5 wave bullish triangle pattern on a weekly chart. Silver needs to bust through $19.50 per ounce to confirm, but I suspect we will see this fairly soon.

From The Market Trend Forecast .Com


Great Educational Video "Double Tops and Pivot Points Explained"


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Chris Vermeulen: How To Trade Gold and Silver’s Volatility

Understanding the key differences between both gold and silver’s risk/volatility levels plays a large part in how I choose a low risk trade setup. Those of you who follow me already know the GLD etf is my favorite trading vehicle as it provides me with low risk trading setups along with a very high win rate.

Ok, let’s jump into to comparing gold and silver as trading instruments. I get the same questions from new traders all the time and I think these two questions will help clear them up.

The questions are:

1. Why don’t you give silver (SLV) trading analysis/signals?
2. Why don’t you trade silver?

My answer to the questions are simple and the chart below displays my view.

The gold (GLD) signals I provide work with silver so you can just trade silver when I have gold long or short trade. This is the reason I don’t provide much silver analysis because it’s duplicate info.

The chart below shows how gold and silver trade together when it comes to rallies and sell offs. But notice how volatile silver is while gold had a nice slow and steady trend upwards… Gold’s low volatility trending characteristics is what I love about it. Silver on the other hand is all over the place making it easy to have protective stops triggered before the majority of the trend is over. The silver charts almost always look terrible (tough to read for a direction). I really don’t like getting shaken out of a winning trade…

The pink circles show a quick short trade we did this week catching a quick 1% drop. The short trade was for FuturesTradingSignals where we capture 1-3 day extreme market sentiment shifts.

GLD – Gold ETF Trading Chart
The chart below shows several points as to why gold/silver was screaming BUY ME on Tuesday afternoon. The two things that carry 90% of the strength in my opinion are the candlestick pattern (Bullish Engulfing) and the volume surge. Those two things when seeing on virtually any time frame are a good indication to go long for 1-3 candlesticks minimum.

Gold VS Silver – 5 Minute 3 Day Chart
This chart clearly shows the power of trading a more volatile commodity with silver being the one. This week’s buy signal in gold is dwarfed by the performance of silver. Silver has always shined more in my opinion but when it comes to trading… It tougher than it looks to trade because of the wild whipsaw action it makes on a regular basis.

Gold and Silver Trading Conclusion:
In short, gold is the safe haven when it comes to actively trading. I do trade silver here and there but the size of my position is much smaller because of the difficulty level and volatility associated with it. I will not that I do trade gold and silver futures at times but for this report I focused on ETF’s.

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Trend Trading Gold, Silver, Crude Oil and the SP500

Last week looked and felt like a pivotal week for both stocks and commodities. The past two weeks have had investors and traders in a panic as they try to find safe investments for their money. After watching and reviewing the panic selling in the market it looks as though the majority decided to sell everything and be in cash for the time being. This is bullish for the stock market.

I will admit it has been tougher to trade recently because of increased risk levels due to the large 2-4% sell offs and rallies happening within minutes… While this is amazing for disciplined and experienced traders who are able to pull the trigger getting in and out with quick profit in the matter of minutes, this same price action can blow up trading accounts of those who do not have a trading strategy, money management and the discipline to take profits and cut losses very quickly. The speed of the rallies and sell offs is the matter of being up or down thousand of dollars in the matter of 5-10 minutes… That is one of the reasons I have stepped back from being aggressive and into more of an observation mode playing with small amounts of money and focusing on the larger trends at.

My #1 goal is to make subscribers money with the least amount of risk and watching the market swing 2-4% in minutes makes it extremely difficult to get everyone in and out positions with a profit before the market changes directions. As much as I love trading, some times the best position is to have small ones or be in cash.

GLD – Gold ETF Trading

Here is my weekly updated chart of gold as it works its way through the correction from last year. The daily chart looks to be forming a larger Cup & Handle pattern which is extremely bullish. If this pattern does a text book move then we could see GLD reach $140 and spot gold would reach the $1400 area.

That being said this pattern still has to complete the handle portion which could easily last another 4 weeks, so I am not in a panic to add more to our position.

SLV – Silver ETF Trading

Silver is in much of the same situation. Because of the added volatility in silver the charts do not look quite the same but they are similar in many ways… Silver is used a lot for industrial purposes and because the economy which is very weak still (though it is getting better) we are not seeing silver demand rise much. If silver can break this large resistance level then we could see silver surge to $25 (25%) this year.

USO – Oil Fund Trading

USO (Oil) has held up really well in the past 12 months but the recent sell off has seriously damaged the bullish outlook I had not long ago. While it is oversold and looks to have started a bounce last week the chart is pointing to lower prices over the longer term… This USO fund does have contago which makes this fund under perform the actual price of oil. The current prices of oil are still trading at a key support level and could post nice bounce if not trigger a new rally. The problem with following some ETF’s which have contago is that you do not see the real price action of the commodity. But that is were I come in as I track the underlying commodity and relate it to ETFs for you.

SPY – SP500 ETF Trading

The Stock Market (SP500) sure has been a roller coaster. The chart below shows you what happened in January for the last correction and where we stand currently in comparison. If a setup is obvious in the financial market there is a very high chance it will not work out as planned and by knowing this it allows us to be cautious and take profits at key short term support and resistance levels.

Trend Trading Conclusion:

In short, I feel gold and silver will drift around to digest the recent move up and to form the handle portion. Oil looks to have put in a short term bottom and if we get a small pullback in the coming days to test the intraday chart breakout level and touch the support trend line we could look to take a position.

We tend to see the most price appreciation during the final stages of a trend and we could have seen that on the US Dollar over the past 6 weeks. It looks as though the dollar could have put in a double top. If the dollar rolls over it would help boost precious metals, oil and stocks… But we will not know it’s a top until there is a clear trend reversal which in any case will be weeks before that type of price action can unfold.

As for the SP500, we have seen the same level of selling as we did in Feb-March 2009. High volume panic selling has ruled the market since late April. There are equal arguments for saying the market has bottomed with all the panic selling and that we should start another large rally lasting 8-12 months or one could argue this is capitulation volume signaling massive distribution of shares and now every rally/bounce will be sold… Personally I am torn between the two… but lean more towards higher prices with a multi month grind up at slow rate…

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Precious Metals & Oil ETF Trend Trading

Last week was exciting with broad market and gold forming an intraday reversal pattern after a long overbought rally, then broke down though short term key support levels. While this move lower was tough on the pocket book for those who chased the market up the past few days and/or were not moving their protective stops up, this move is good for the health of the market.

This pullback is actually a good thing for us active traders who wait for low risk setups and don’t chase prices higher, but rather buy on the dips in a bull market when most of the risk has been flushed out already. Trading with low risk setups is not the most exciting type of trading because there are not a ton of setups but if one can be patient and wait for these plays it is a very profitable strategy in the long run.

Those traders who live and breathe the market focusing on trading intraday price action most likely made a small fortune last week with Fridays sell off in stocks and precious metals. You can see how some of us took advantage of this sharp pullback last week with my before and after videos.

Below are the charts showing what I am currently thinking is going to happen for gold, silver, gold stocks and oil. I will be tracking the market with intraday charts to help pin point a low risk entry point for a possible short or long position as the market unfolds this week.

GLD – Gold Trading ETF

The chart below is an updated chart which I have showed several times. It shows how gold corrected, bottomed and is now trending back up. This week I will be watched closely to be sure we take a position which has the highest probability of working in our favor if and when a low risk setup occurs.



SLV – Silver Trading ETF

Silver really took a hit on Friday. It is now trading near support but there is not much we can do until we see what happens on Monday. There could be a bounce or more down side, tough to call right now…. And it’s not something you want to be on the wrong side of.



Gold Stocks – Gold Stock Trading

Gold stocks did not drop as much as I thought they would which indicates the market is still very bullish on gold. There is still potential for more downside… so I am letting the market unfold before doing anything.



USO – Oil Trading Fund

You can see oil moved down sharply on Friday and is now testing both a price support level and trendline support. Although this looks like a perfect setup, the market is designed to shake people out of positions before continuing the move. So it is likely for oil to dip which would break both these support levels triggering stop orders. Then the price should drop to the key support level where support should be found for at least a bounce or a new bottom.



Precious Metal & Oil ETF Trading Conclusion:

In short, the market had a nice correction on Friday and the heavy selling volume indicates that we are getting close to a larger correction which should provide two swing trades, a shorting opportunity and a new buying opportunity in the coming days, weeks or months depending how long the market takes with this pullback/correction.

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