New Video: The Bear is Back!!

The early market action on Monday, August 16th, triggered a key weekly "Trade Triangle" to the downside. Our weekly "Trade Triangle" turned red, indicating that all trends are negative and now pointing lower.

In this new 90 second video we show you some of the scenarios we can see playing out for the S&P 500. I think you'll find this new video informative and educational. You will also come to understand the power of our "Trade Triangle" technology.

Please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts on this market. As always our videos are free to watch and there is no registration needed.

Watch "The Bear is Back!!"

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Volume by Price Reveals Key Support & Resistance Levels

I find it amazing how many traders do not use volume as a factor in their trading decisions. I believe it’s always important to track the volume no matter which time frame you are trading simply because it tell you how much interest there is for that investment at that given time and price level. If you use volume and understand how to read it when located at the bottom of the chart which is the standard way of reading it then your well ahead of many traders and just may find this little volume indicator helpful.

Price and volume are the two most important aspects of trading in my opinion. While news and geopolitical events cause daily blips and in rare occasions change the overall trend of an investment, more times than not its better to just trade the underlying trend. Most news and events cannot be predicted so focusing on the price action and volume helps tell us if investors are bullish or bearish for any given investment.

Below are a few charts showing the volume by price indicator in use. Reading this indicator is simple, the longer the blue bars the more volume had traded at that point. High volume levels become key support and resistance levels.

SPY – SP500 Exchange Traded Fund
As you can see on the chart below and I have pointed out key support and resistance levels using the volume by price indicator. The thin red resistance levels would be areas which I would be tightening my stops and or pulling some money off the table.

The SP500 is currently trading at the apex of this wedge. The market internals as of Friday were still giving a bullish bias which should bring the index up to resistance once more on Monday or Tuesday. From there we will have to see if we get another wave of heavy selling or a breakout to the upside.

GLD – Gold Exchange Traded Fund
Gold has the opposite volume to price action as the SP500. We are seeing a lot more over head resistance and that’s going to make it tough for gold to make a new high any time soon.

USO – Crude Oil Trading Fund
Crude oil broke out of is rising wedge last week and has started to drift back down as traders take profits. Many times after a breakout we will see prices dip down and test that breakout level before continuing in the trend of the breakout. I should point out that there is a large gap to be filled from last Monday’s pop in price and we all know most gaps tend to get filled.

UUP – US Dollar Exchange Traded Fund
The dollar has been sliding the past 2 months and it’s now trading at the bottom of a major support level. If the dollar starts to bounce it will put some downward pressure on stocks and commodities.

Weekend ETF Trend Conclusion:
In short, I feel the market has a little more life left in it. I’m expecting 1-2 more days of bullish/sideways price action, after that we could see the market roll over hard. It’s very likely the US dollar starts a significant rally which will pull stocks and commodities down.

With the major indices and gold trading at key resistance levels, traders/investors ready to hit the sell button, and the dollar at a key support level I think its only a matter of time before we see a sharp snapback. That being said there is one scenario which is bullish and could still play out. That would be if the US dollar starts to flag and drift sideways for a week or so, and for stocks and commodities to also move sideways before taking another run higher. Watching the intraday price and volume action will help us figure out if buyers are sellers are in control this week. Anyways that’s it for now.

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Mid-Week Gold & Oil Trading Report

From guest analyst Chris Vermeulen....

In my last report I showed some cycles for the price of gold and how they were starting to roll over which would in turn put some selling pressure on both gold and silver this week.

Last Monday we saw gold and silver open higher but both were met with selling for the entire trading session. Since then gold and silver have been drifting higher on light volume with some occasional waves of selling on higher volume. It looks as though gold and silver have started a 5-14 day pause or pullback.

GLD – Gold Exchange Traded Fund

You can see from the chart below that the price of GLD looks to have bottomed after completing several typical price patterns from the breakdown we saw in December. The recent 4 months have provided a solid looking chart which should help gold take another run at the $1500 mark in the coming months.



USO Oil Fund



Crude Oil Futures – 120 minute chart of April 14, 2010

As the saying goes, buy on rumor (expectations) sell on the news. Well the price of oil moved up in the early morning anticipating the news (inventory numbers) at 10:30am ET would be in line with estimates. Then we saw profit taking started 2 hours before the number came out which is normal to see. But traders forecasted 1.4 million barrels as the number but the number came out at -2.2 million which was a big surprise for everyone. This sent oil sharply higher providing traders who caught the breaking news with an easy money trade. This type of action does not happen often so it’s a great little bonus for day traders.



Mid-Week Trading Conclusion:

In short, metals have had a nice run recently and the charts are pointing to a short breather before the next upward thrust.

Oil is holding up strong on the daily chart and with today’s extra boost in price, its looking like it may want to start a new leg higher if the momentum carries over for a few more days.

We saw the major indexes surge higher on rising volume indicating buyers are in a panic to buy in fear of missing more gains. There really is no reason to be buying at these prices other than trading off emotions in fear of missing more upside. The problem for these traders is that money is made by those who buy dips in the bull markets. Buying over extended rallies is a dangerous game, especially with the market as overbought as this one. The trend is our friend and if we do get a 1-2 day pullback in stocks we could take small position to buy on a dip.

Just click here if you would like to receive Chris Vermeulen's ETF Trading Signals.

With his free DAILY newsletter, he gives away commentary and insight that most people pay for.

I’d highly recommend you sign up for his free newsletter right now, and you’ll automatically get the report, “What Your Broker Doesn’t Want You to Know” part of his old broker training. Super fun entertaining read. His daily newsletter has a wealth of information.



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Gold, Silver, Oil and Natural Gas Mid-Week Trading Charts

From guest analyst Chris Vermeulen....

So far this week has been pretty slow. Large cap stocks continue to lag the market which can be observed by looking at the Dow Jones Industrial Average which still has room to move higher before breaking the January high.

One important thing to note is that volume has picked up this week considerably, particularly on the SP500 and OEX. It’s difficult to say if this volume is a good sign or not.

A lot of stocks and sectors are trading near their January high and this gives traders a reason to unload shares. On the flip side, the several sectors and indexes have broken their January high and this triggers a surge in volume as breakout traders try to take advantage of the new high and momentum. So you can see how the surge of volume is not a useful indicator right now.

Here are some charts of what I think we could see in the coming weeks.

US Dollar Index – Daily Trading Chart
I follow the US dollar index very closely simply because it affects the prices of stocks and commodities. I used a line chart below in order to take out the daily candle stick noise which made it very difficult for our eyes to pick up this pattern.

The chart shows a possible head & shoulders pattern and if that is the case then we should see the dollar start to slide lower. In turn, this would boost stocks and commodities. This is the fuel that I think could really move the market sharply higher in the coming weeks.



GLD Gold ETF – Daily Trading Chart
The price of gold looks to be setup for a nice bounce off support and the timing could just work out if the US Dollar starts to drop over the next few days. There could be a low risk setup just around the corner.



SLV Silver ETF – Daily Trading Chart
Silver has held up well but today’s reversal candle to the downside scares me a little. The odds are that silver will carry this strong momentum selling down for another 1-2 days. Again, with any luck, it will test support and the US Dollar will start to slide lower.



Crude Oil – Daily Trading Chart
Oil has had a great run the past month but as you can see it’s currently trading at the top of a large trading range. I would like to see a sideways move before it takes another run at the $84 level, but the 7 day bull flag that formed two weeks ago may have been enough to maintain the upward momentum. Again, if the Dollar drops we will see oil rally.



Natural Gas – Daily Trading Chart
This chart is actually very attractive looking. Even if you do not understand how to read charts I think it’s safe to say this one is a no brainer.

I will be closely watching for a potential low risk setup in the coming days.


Mid-Week Trading Conclusion:
In short, stocks and indexes are trading at resistance levels with many of them making new highs and that is great to see.

A lot of things are trading in limbo waiting to see what the US Dollar is going to do. Several months ago I posted some charts showing that 81 would be a key resistance level for the dollar. If it broke above that then 84 would be the next key level to watch. So we just have to wait and see… the hardest part of trading is the waiting.

Gold, silver, oil and natural gas all look like they could continue higher in the next few days if things unfold that quickly. But the market always finds a way to drag out moves so we could still be a 2-3 weeks away.

I hope this report helps give you an idea of where things are at in the market.

Just click here to receive Chris Vermeulens Free Trading Reports and Analysis.


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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.

Just Click Here if you would like to receive this Free Technical Trading Newsletter.

Chris Vermeulen "The Gold and Oil Guy"



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The Dow, Dollar & Gold – What Goes Down Must Come Up

This year has been a very exiting time for traders and investors. We have seen a steady climb in prices with controlled pullbacks in the broad market and gold.

Using technical analysis we are able to quickly and accurately make informed decisions just from looking at the charts. In the charts below you will see how simple chart patterns along with support & resistance levels can provide excellent low risk entry points. Also you will see how candle stick charts can be an early indicator for prices to reverse direction.

DIA ETF – Daily
The DIA (Dow Jones Index Fund) is trending higher. By applying some basic technical analysis you are able to time your entry points having the odds in your favor.

In this chart I use two simple forms of analysis. The broadening formation (red trend lines), and horizontal support zones shown in blue.

Broadening Formations: This is when the price becomes more volatile making higher highs and lower lows. I think of it as one of those Megaphones for talking to large groups of people. So when a chart has this pattern it’s virtually yelling at me and I start taking profits or tightening my stops.

Horizontal Support Zones: I like to focus on support or resistance zones which are a little different than most traders. I do not use the top and bottoms of previous waves for these levels. Instead I take the average price then expect the support level to be penetrated somewhat as the level is tested. This is how the market keeps you out of the good trades. I cover this in great detail in my Stock Market Trading Education Course available in January.

Analysis: The DIA ETF looks ready for a pullback to the $99- 100 level.



GLD Exchange Traded Fund – Weekly
Gold has been on fire and riding this wave up has been very profitable thus far. Last week a doji candle was formed on the chart and this can signal a change in short term price action.

This chart shows some of the past doji candles and what happened to the price of gold soon after. What this candle is telling us is that the buying and selling pressure is equal. So we know momentum is slowing and we should expect a consolidation or correction.

Because gold has rocketed higher, indeed going almost straight up in the recent weeks, I expect a pullback to be very quick. A drop to the $110 or even the $100 level in the coming weeks is not out of the question, but we all know commodities can go parabolic for several months (straight up). This is why we continue to tighten our stops and keep holding out long positions.



US Dollar – Weekly
The US dollar has been up and down like a yo-yo in the past 15 months. The chart below clearly shows what has been happening with this currency and what I think we could see very soon.

The blue support zone (73-74) is a key pivot point for the dollar. That being said lets take a look at the chart.

During the time when the price is trending higher July 2008 – Feb 2009 we see lower wicks appear more often. This tells me that sellers pushed the price down early in the week but were then overcome by buyers nearer the end of the week. This is bullish price action. Also the broadening patterns during this timeframe’s tops indicate increased volatility and we know that is a sign of weakness.

From March 2009 – Sept 2009 the trend was down and there are longer upper wicks telling us buyers became over powered by sellers each time the price rallied.

In the recent 3 months we observe lower wicks meaning buyers are moving into the US dollar again. Knowing that there is major support below the current price I have to think the dollar could start to bottom around this level.



Trading Conclusion:
The broad market is becoming unstable and looks like it could have more of a pullback this week. I would not be adding to any long positions until we see the market trading near support. Three out of four stocks move with the market so it is crucial to understand the overall market direction when buying and selling stocks and commodities.

Gold is trading at a level which is fuzzy. The weekly chart is neutral and the daily chart is still on fire as it moves up. All we can do is ride our positions and keep raising our stop prices.

The US dollar could start to bottom over the next few weeks. Depending what happens with Dubai this week we could be in for a big bounce in the dollar as investors flock to safety as the US dollar is still the currency of choice if/when other countries start to have a financial melt down again.

Just click here to receive free weekly trading reports from The Gold and Oil Guy.

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Energy ETF Trading Report - USO and UNG

So far this week has been generous with our commodity ETFs moving higher, other than natural gas which is clearly in a bear market. Each of the commodity ETF trading charts below is at a different stage and it will be interesting to see how things unfold in the coming weeks.

Trading ETFs is very rewarding when done properly and using multiple time frames for timing your entry and exit points is crucial. My main focus is on the weekly and daily charts but I use a 30 minute intraday chart when the time comes to actually pick an exact buy or sell point. Below I have provided both the weekly and daily chart so you can see how the same ETF looks completely different on the two time frames.

USO Fund Trading – Weekly & Daily Trading Charts
While gold and silver have been moving higher oil has been flagging sideways taking a breather. Both the weekly and the daily charts are aligned for a nice move higher if the trend and charts follow through on their patterns. We could get some tradable action in the next couple days.


UNG Fund Trading – Weekly & Daily Trading Charts
Natural gas is really starting to slide. Wednesday UNG dipped below the Sept low of $8.94 by a couple cents then moved up into the close. Overall it’s not bullish. This could be the start of a waterfall sell off which is a sharp heavy volume sell off that lasts 3-5 days.


Commodity ETF Trading Conclusion:
To sum everything up the gold and silver ETFs are on fire as they continue to surge higher. Being ready for a sharp reversal is important if you want to lock in gains on a portion of your position.

Crude oil is taking its time but looking ripe for a breakout higher. We continue to watch for some action.

Natural gas continues to get pushed down and it’s not looking good for higher prices anytime soon. We are waiting for a shorting opportunity or an oversold condition to play a 1-5 day bounce.

Quick Trading Tip: If you have a position which has done well and has moved up for an extended period of time be sure to draw some trend lines and tighten your stop, or set a stop, under a tight trend line. Sell some of your position (25-50%) to lock in gains and let the core position continue to mature. If you get a pullback to a support level (previous breakout level) you can buy back your other part of your position at a lower price.

Just click here to receive Free Trading Reports from The Gold and Oil Guy.