COMEX Drops Nepalm Bomb on Silver, What Next for the Precious Metals?

What was David Banister thinking......


What was I thinking trying to forecast a normal “wave 4” correction in Silver without the required insider information that the COMEX was going to raise margin/equity requirements four times in a week? My pullback silver low target of $40.10 was obliterated after two consecutive days of equity requirement increases early last week, knocking silver into the low 33’s before it got off the mat and staggered around a bit. Gold followed right behind as margin calls and stop losses required over- zealous traders on the long end to liquidate everything they could find to avoid complete meltdown of their trading accounts.

That is all well and good, but now all of my subscribers want to know just one thing…what now? For starters, Silver had completed an A B C rally pattern from around $18.50 in late August to $49.90 about eight Fibonacci months later. I had written about that coming rally late last August with Silver at $18.73, so we were prepared for the opportunity. I even looked for long term targets as high as $45. That rally was pure crowd behavior in motion, and when you reach the extremes of a “C Wave” in optimism, the next leg down (Which I call the “D wave”) is extremely difficult to predict. I trade A-B-C patterns all the time, looking for that imminent “C wave breakout”, and last August I forecasted a huge move in Silver mostly because a very long B wave triangle had just about completed, and the powerful C wave rally was nigh.

Now that we ended that rally by touching the all time highs near $50 from 1980, it was clear we would have a corrective pattern, and the problem was trying to come up with a reasonable “Crowd Behavioral” bottom pivot forecast amidst the COMEX interfering. This D wave ended in catastrophe for those who were over exposed, or shall I say… “Greedy”. You know what they say on Wall Street, Hogs get fat and pigs get slaughtered. Well, for those who want to dip their toe back in the water, here is the likely path going forward.

1. I expect Silver to recover over several months and re-attack the $50 zone again.
2. Silver will get past $50 by year end and probably reach $60 before the next strong correction.
3. With three years left in the Gold and Silver bull cycle from 2001, there is a very good chance silver will be well north of $100 an ounce by 2014, but one week at a time.

I do not trade Silver or Gold futures, and never have… I just forecast direction and price as best as I can for my subscribers. Probably one of the reasons I’ve been lucky and accurate for many years is I have no bias, as I am not forecasting my own book… just what I see. Near term look for Silver to try to rally back to about $38 to $41.50 ranges, with another pullback to follow.



Gold should have bottomed at $1462 in what I call an “A wave” down, with the “B wave” currently bouncing to about $1520 if I’m right. Once this bounce is completed, I look for a soft pullback to $1489 or so, followed by a strong rally to re-test the $1577 highs. Gold should reach a minimal target of $1627 on this final 5th wave up from the January 1310 lows, with potential to spill higher than that.

Silver has tripped on itself for now, and Gold will probably move a tad smoother over the near term, but look for Silver to regain it’s sprinting abilities this summer-fall and re-take the baton from Gold and continue it’s out-performance. If you would like to have frequent updates during the week, lots of good charts, and avoid scratching your head while the action unfolds, take a look at Market Trend Forecast.Com for a special coupon offer today, or sign up for our occasional free reports!

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J.W. Jones: What's Next For The S&P 500, Gold, & Crude Oil

Brokers have made it easier then ever for the average investor to get started trading options. Don't even consider trading options without subscribing to J.W. Jones newsletter. Here's his weekend post that will prepare you for trading the amazing moves we are having in commodities this week......

The price action in precious metals and oil this past week has been breathtaking. The last time we have seen this much volatility in commodity prices was amidst the financial crisis in 2008 and the early part of 2009. Does this mean we are at the brink and risk assets are going to decline precipitously? Obviously that question cannot be answered with any certainty, but the underlying price action in the S&P 500 has been relatively strong compared to gold, silver, and oil.

Talking heads everywhere are predicting the commodity bubble has burst and pointing fingers at excessive speculation in silver and oil. Margin requirement changes in silver futures have been fingered as the primary catalyst for the nasty sell off. Silver had gotten way ahead of itself in terms of price and parabolic moves higher are usually followed by parabolic moves lower. For silver buyers on Friday, April 29 a painful lesson has been learned as their investment has declined more than 30% in 5 days.

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that we are going to bounce higher at some point. With a sell off of this magnitude it would not be shocking to see at least a 50% retracement of the entire move in coming weeks. 

It is also possible that this is a buying opportunity for precious metals and oil. It is too early to be certain, but a bounce next week is likely as silver went from being severely overbought to severely oversold on the daily chart in one week. The chart below illustrates the 50% retracement and the RSI reading for silver futures:

In the month of April OptionsTrading Signals members were able to capitalize on rising silver prices to close a trade that produced an 18% return in less than 5 days using a double calendar spread in order to produce outsized profits based on maximum risk. Members regularly receive trade alerts focusing on gold and silver using ETF’s GLD & SLV which have extremely liquid options.

While silver prices have been absolutely crushed, gold prices have held up a bit better. In fact, in this selloff gold has been less volatile in terms of intraday percentage price movement and has not suffered from near the losses that we have witnessed in silver. The gold futures chart below illustrates key price levels:

Members of the OTS service received a trade alert on April 6th for a calendar spread that was converted to a vertical spread. When the vertical spread was closed on April 26th the members realized a gain close to 56% based on the maximum risk of the trade.

Recently we have received some poor economic data which has put a drag on equities the past few weeks. This morning we are seeing a strong bounce in the S&P 500 futures and if we have another light volume Friday prices tend to drift higher throughout the trading day. The S&P 500 futures spiked to around 1,370 on the news of Osama Bin Laden’s death and then sold off from that point. The chart below illustrates the S&P 500 futures rally and subsequent sell off highlighting current key price levels:

Members of Options Trading Signals received a trade alert on April 12th to put on a call vertical spread to capitalize on rising prices. On April 21st partial profits were taken and eventually stop orders closed out the position on May 4th locking in a total gain of around 32% for the trade based on maximum risk.

Oil prices have sold off sharply, albeit not as sharp as the downside move in silver recently from a percentage standpoint, but a significant amount of the risk premium has come out of oil prices. I continue to believe that oil prices over the long term have only one direction to go based on tightening supply / demand going forward and lower production levels in the future. Similar to silver, a .500 retracement of the entire recent move is rather likely in coming weeks. The daily chart below illustrates key price levels in oil futures:

I continue to believe that oil prices are going to work higher over the longer term for a variety of reasons, but a drop in gasoline prices would not hurt U.S. Consumers and the domestic economy. Higher oil and gasoline prices weigh on the U.S. Economy heavily so this sudden decline in price is beneficial to most Americans which could juice consumption if prices stay lower for a longer period of time.

Overall, price action in the commodity space has been extremely volatile the past week with silver and oil really getting hammered lower. Gold and the S&P 500 held up a bit better and it would not be shocking to see the S&P 500 put on a rally from here if oil prices stabilize. However, if the U.S. Dollar continues its recent rally it will force the commodity space as well as equities lower. The daily chart of the U.S. Dollar Index futures is shown below:

In closing, I am expecting a bounce in coming days and a .382 or .500 retracement of the entire move in gold, silver, and oil would make sense so I would not be too aggressive shorting. However, I would not necessarily be an aggressive buyer either. It is going to take time for market participants to digest the recent moves. In weeks ahead it will be more apparent what price action is likely to do and I would be shocked if we did not see a few low risk, high probability trades setting up.

Speaking of low risk, high probability trades, the month of April was the best performance for the Options Trading Signals service so far year to date. Seven total trades were opened and six trades have been closed with sizable profits. Recent returns included an 18% return in SLV, a 56% return on a GLD trade, 32% return on an SPY call vertical spread, a 12% return on a RUT Calendar spread, and a 37% return on an AMZN calendar spread. The total cumulative return in April was 155%.

Assuming a trader had a $10,000 account and risked a maximum of $1,000 per trade, the gross gains would have been well over $1,400 in April alone. The overall service is up over 15% year to date handily beating the S&P 500 return while assuming less risk. Take advantage of the special offer going on now where new members get 3 months for the price of one!

To Get J.W.'s Free Trade Setups visit Options Trading Signals.Com

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Parabolic Moves are Only Temporary for Silver and Gold

The past few weeks we have been seeing the US Dollar slide to new lows at an increasing rate. The strong devaluation of the dollar has sent precious metals like silver and gold rocketing higher out of control sending them parabolic!

During the past 6 weeks both silver and gold have been rising in a parabolic formation. Meaning the price is going straight up with strong volume as everyone gets greedy and buys into the commodities at the same time. Most of you who follow my work already know that if the general public is piling into an investment rocketing prices higher, you better start focusing on tightening your protective stops and or taking some profits off the table before the price collapses.

Take a look at the weekly chart of Silver below:
Silver was grinding its way higher from July into March of this year. Only in the past 6-7 weeks did we start to see silver open up and run with expanding candles growing at an accelerated rate. This virtually straight up rally is a signature pattern and tells me that price action is now VERY unpredictable and anyone getting involved should be tightening their stops and or taking partial profits on price surges.

Parabolic moves can provide some big gains but most traders end of giving it all back and then some because the price can drop very abruptly as seen on this chart.

The weekly chart of gold below shows much of the same thing but without the extreme volatility that silver has.

Now, if you take a look at the US Dollar chart it’s starting to look very bullish in my opinion. The chart shows a falling wedge which typically means the selling pressure should be coming to an end soon. I’m not sure how large the bounce/rally will be. I do think a quick move to the 75 level is very likely in the near future though.

I find that metals tend to turn just before the dollar does. So I’m very cautious here on buying any stocks or commodities at the moment. The past 2 years we have seen stocks and commodities have an inverse relationship with the dollar so a rising dollar means a market pullback will take place. Sell in May and Go Away…?

Mid-Week Trading Conclusion:
In short, we exited our SP500 position this week for a nice 6% gain in a couple weeks making that our third profitable back to back index play. At this time I’m not ready to buy or short the market until all the charts line up for another low risk entry point. Things are 50/50 odds here and that’s not good enough for me.

You can sign up for our free trading reports each week at The Gold and Oil Guy.Com

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The SP 500 Just Might Hold Some Clues to the Peak in Gold and Silver

J.W Jones....."The warning signs were all Dismissed or shouted down So it goes".......

The single biggest news event this week besides the Royal Wedding (who actually cares) was Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s televised press conference. The Federal Reserve is attempting to appear more transparent after coming under pressure from the United States Congress because of their obscure and potentially nefarious operation. For most Americans, Ben Bernanke is someone they likely have never even heard of, but on Wednesday Mr. Bernanke got to bask in the sunlight that is generally only reserved for public elites such as celebrities, pro athletes, and the President of the United States.

While Chairman Bernanke had his brief moment of publicity, his answers to seemingly pre-screened questions were vague, misleading, and rather contrived. He answered questions using very long responses which generally obfuscated rather than clarified the situation. In my estimation, Mr. Bernanke solidified what many market participants already believed; he is nothing more than an academic.

Mr. Bernanke and the Federal Reserve have based every decision they seemingly make on antiquated models and algorithms which work in a classroom and fail in real time. To the average man (myself included), he blathered on speaking about things that most people do not even understand. It is almost as if he did this to prove his intelligence and ability.

For long time readers, my disdain for the Federal Reserve is relatively easy to recognize. While the U.S. Congress is nothing more than charlatans, the Federal Reserve is the greatest thief in American history. Through the debasement of the U.S. Dollar and a long time track record of reacting too late or not at all to economic events, the Federal Reserve has stolen purchasing power from the American people. 

The inflation that has been unleashed over the past 10 years has been tremendous and the long term impact on the standard of living in the United States has been negatively altered. In essence, the Federal Reserve took from everyone and “we the people” got nothing tangible in return.

Mr. Bernanke made comments about the U.S. Dollar including “that it fluctuates.” The only direction it has fluctuated since he has been in charge at the Federal Reserve is lower. If lower and fluctuation are synonyms, I wish my weight would fluctuate!

Where were the hard questions from reporters? Where were questions about gold and silver rallying to new highs nearly every day? Where was the question about the Fed’s credibility when it totally missed the sub-prime crisis and referred to it as a contained event? What has the Federal Reserve done a good job at besides causing inflation based bubbles immediately followed by nasty busts. However, the real question still remains, what does the future hold for financial markets?

What I’m about to say may surprise readers, but history supports my thought process. If the Federal Reserve continues on the same path it is possible that the U.S. Dollar could go through a real currency crisis. The potential for such an event is intensified by the fact that Asia and Europe are raising interest rates due to inflationary pressures. Time will tell, but gold and silver remain strong, however I would not fall in love with either commodity, or any commodity for that matter. Whether we have a currency crisis or not, there is going to be one nasty sell off in commodities in the future, specifically in silver.

I agree with many market prognosticators in that we are in a commodity bubble. The weekly chart of silver futures below illustrates just how parabolic the move has been:

At some point the U.S. Dollar will bottom, and when it does a significant rally will take shape. When the U.S. Dollar rallies it has the potential to be sharp and fast. Silver would be hit hardest as the chart above shows the parabolic move higher that has transpired over the past few months. The timing of the U.S. Dollar’s bottom is difficult to quantify, and picking bottoms is a fool’s game. Nevertheless, the commodity charts will tell us when it’s time for the rally to unfold, but for right now prices will likely continue higher for commodities and equities.

While I think longer term precious metals investors might be able to withstand the impending selloff, the other side of that selloff will likely see gold and silver work higher still. Longer term gold and silver will likely perform well, but traders must be aware that a sharp pullback is not only likely, but would be considered healthy by many market participants. The Dollar Index weekly chart illustrates the sharp selloff in the U.S. Dollar the past few months.

While several articles have been proffered by authors I respect deeply, they have not offered a means to determine when the Dollar has bottomed. While nothing is full proof, the longer term SPX chart may be a guide as to when the U.S. Dollar will begin to bottom. The SPX weekly chart shown below illustrates the long term ascending channel that the S&P 500 has been trading in for some time.

My “educated guess” as to when the Dollar will begin to bottom will likely coincide with a test of the ascending trend line. In previous articles, I opined that I thought we would see the S&P 500 rally and we are in that process now. My guess is that about the time the S&P 500 tests the rising channel, we will see the U.S. Dollar begin to bottom. The short opportunities that will be presented from a risk / reward perspective could be outstanding. Cycles typically line up, particularly when one particular asset, in this case the U.S. Dollar, are driving markets in one particular direction for a long period of time.

Typically business cycles end when commodities and commodity based stocks such Exxon or Barrick Gold rally. We are in that stage of the business cycle right now, and typically when that stage has been reached it is indicative that the economy is starting to overheat. Cyclicality in financial markets has been discussed for years, but often times technical analysis will align with the business cycle. While I may not be exactly right as to the timing, it certainly gives a solid framework for risk-based decisions going forward.

Conclusion
I believe that the actions taken by the Federal Reserve for the past 2-3 years are going to result in additional selling pressure in the future for the U.S. Dollar which will propel commodity prices and equity futures prices higher than what many will expect. While the selloff may occur within the confines of a short to intermediate term time frame, the U.S. Dollar will eventually bottom and a nasty selloff in commodities and stocks will transpire and the next leg of the secular bear market will begin. The business cycle and the technicals are aligned at this point, the question is really how long it is going to take to get there.

The end game will likely result in the Federal Reserve looking foolish while the American people and the global economy will suffer from the Fed’s ineptitude. The possibility that the Federal Reserve is forced to raise interest rates to slow down inflation at the same time the U.S. Dollar bottoms is a recipe for a potential economic disaster.

Slowing economic conditions based on higher oil prices and inflationary pressures paired with higher interest rates will result in another recession fueled by the Federal Reserve’s Keynes based economic models and decision making. Ben Bernanke was right about one thing, the Federal Reserve uses educated guesses based on their models when setting monetary policy. I posit to readers, what happens if the Federal Reserve Chairman and Governors’ price models and educated guesses are completely false?

To get J.W.'s Free Trade Setups visit Options Trading Signals.Com

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Understanding Where we are in the Silver Bull Market

Last August David Banister told his subscribers to prepare for a monster rally in Silver. What else does Banister have to say?

From guest analyst David Banister........

At the time of my forecast silver was $18.73 per ounce. I drew up a chart and predicted a huge rally to $29 an ounce, and we ended up at $31 or so just a few months later. This was entirely a crowd behavioral move that I foresaw in advance, based on patterns that R.N. Elliott developed in the 1920’s and 1930’s. My theory was besides the crowd pattern (a 20 month odd Triangle consolidation), that investor’s would begin to view Silver as “Poor man’s Gold” and buy it. Literally, the idea is as simple as investors will simply think that “Gold is too expensive, but silver is cheap”. That is the explosion power that is behind this move from $19 to $50 an ounce since late August 2010.

Below is the original chart I sent to my subscribers outlining this triangle pattern and the likely move:

After Silver ran hard and fast, it left a lot of talking heads on CNBC and everywhere else scratching their heads and wondering what just happened. If you learn and understand the basics of Elliott Wave Theory, you can begin to foresee what is about to happen and stop scratching your head all the time. Watching the analysts on CNBC is like watching the Monday morning quarterbacks following an NFL Sunday. After that massive silver run from $18 to $31, it was time for a correction and I called for $25 to $26.50 as likely in a normal pessimistic crowd wave 2 pattern down. Once that completed, I sent my subscribers the chart below outlining another Bull wave to $39-$45 per ounce:

Silver then eventually ran to $45 per ounce in April of 2011 and had a brief spike to near $50 to test the all time highs just in the past week or so. The action has been wild since then, because after a wave pattern from $18 to $31, then back to $26, then up to $47… the crowd will begin to turn mildly pessimistic in a current “wave 4 “ correction pattern. This is when you will begin to hear excuses for Silver dropping, including believe it or not blamed on the death of Osama Bin Laden. In truth, whatever happens near term to explain the current correction in Silver is simply Monday morning quarterbacking. Using the current days headlines to explain the action that I already know is coming. Other excuses are the change in margin requirements on silver contracts and the squaring of positions at end of month etc.

I expect Silver to correct to the 40 to $42.75 areas based on my Fibonacci work and Elliott Wave views, and after this 4th wave consolidation we will see a surge to as high as $60 per ounce. Any pullbacks in Silver should be bought here and same with the Silver stocks post haste. Below is my latest chart forecast on Silver:

If you would like to stop scratching your head, get more comfortable where the markets are heading in both Gold , Silver, SP 500 etc in advance, then take a look at Market Trend Forecast.Com , and take advantage of a 24 hour coupon special to subscribe, or just sign up for the occasional but not always timely free updates. Our subscribers learn and earn!

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U.S. Dollar, Gold and SP500 Trend Report

Chris Vermeulen's Mid Week Trend Report......

The dollar continues to control the equities and commodities market with its inverse relationship to them. The past couple years it seems that the dollar does what it wants and the all other investments move according to their relationship with rising or falling dollar prices.

Most of you know that I follow the dollar very closely. And each morning I provide my analysis with what I feel will take place throughout the session or next 48 hours.

In Today’s (Wednesday’s) pre-market trading analysis I talked about the strength of the equities market in the past few sessions and that it looks as though it still has more power behind it.

Dollar Index 60 Minute Chart
Taking a look at the US Dollar I noticed this morning that it was pointing to even lower prices and that it would likely happen today. It was only a few hours later that the dollar went into a free fall blowing through my downside price target of $73.30. It was this sharp drop in the Dollar which sent stocks, silver and gold soaring higher yet again in our favor.

Equities Market – SPY 60 Minute Chart
Stepping back a couple hours before the US dollar dropped in value sending stocks higher I did see fear creep into the market as traders started selling their shares and buying put options expecting the stock market to fall. When I saw this I got exciting because higher stock prices are usually just around the corner which they were! That’s when I sent an update out subscribers noting we should see some fireworks very soon.

While I am bullish on the stocks and metals at the moment and are long in several positions I am starting to see signs that a pullback is becoming more likely each trading session. This is when money management is important. I do not want to give back to much profit, but I must make sure we lock in some gains during times when the market is overbought like this.

Mid-Week Trading Conclusion:
In short, we continue to ride the trend of higher stock and precious metal prices as the US Dollar spirals down out of control. Our SP500 positions are deep in the money and we continue to ride it for all it’s worth raising our stops as we go.

The big question is if the Sell In May, and Go Away will take shape or not… I'm thinking it will as when the time is right I will be looking to short the market.

If you are not getting Chris Vermeulens pre-market chart analysis be sure to join by visiting  The Gold and Oil Guy.Com

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EIA Examines Alternate Scenarios for the Future of U.S. Energy

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) today released the complete version of Annual Energy Outlook 2011 (AEO2011), which includes 57 sensitivity cases that show how different assumptions regarding market, policy, and technology drivers affect the previously released Reference case projections of energy production, consumption, technology, and market trends and the direction they may take in the future.

"EIA's projections indicate strong growth in shale gas production, growing use of natural gas and renewables in electric power generation, declining reliance on imported liquid fuels, and projected slow growth in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in the absence of new policies designed to reduce them," said EIA Administrator Richard Newell. "But variations in key assumptions can have a significant impact on the projected outcomes."

In addition to considering alternative scenarios for oil prices, economic growth, and the uptake of more energy efficient technologies, the AEO2011 sensitivity cases explore important areas of uncertainty for markets, technologies, and policies in the U.S. energy economy.

Key results highlighted in AEO2011 include:
U.S. reliance on imported liquid fuels falls due to increased domestic production ¿ including biofuels ¿ and greater fuel efficiency. Although U.S. consumption of liquid fuels continues to grow through 2035 in the Reference case, reliance on petroleum imports as a share of total liquids consumption decreases. Total U.S. consumption of liquid fuels, including both fossil fuels and biofuels, rises from about 18.8 million barrels per day in 2009 to 21.9 million barrels per day in 2035 in the Reference case. The import share, which reached 60 percent in 2005 and 2006 before falling to 51 percent in 2009, falls to 42 percent in 2035. Sensitivity cases illustrate opportunities for further reductions in U.S. reliance on imported liquid fuels through additional increases in fuel efficiency or domestic liquid fuels production.

Domestic shale gas resources support increased natural gas production with moderate prices, but assumptions about resources and recoverability are key uncertain factors. Shale gas production continues to increase strongly through 2035 in the AEO2011 Reference case, growing almost fourfold from 2009 to 2035 when it makes up 47 percent of total U.S. production¿up considerably from the 16 percent share in 2009.

Although more information on shale resources has become available as a result of increased drilling activity in developing shale gas plays, estimates of technically recoverable resources and well productivity remain highly uncertain. Over the past decade, as more shale formations have gone into commercial production, the estimate of technically and economically recoverable shale gas resources has skyrocketed.

However, the increases in recoverable shale gas resources embody many assumptions that might prove to be incorrect over the long term. Alternative cases in AEO2011 examine the potential impacts of variation in the estimated ultimate recovery per shale gas well and the assumed recoverability factor used to estimate how much of the play acreage contains recoverable shale gas.

Proposed environmental regulations could alter the power generation fuel mix. The EPA is expected to enact several key regulations in the coming decade that will have an impact on the U.S. power sector, particularly the fleet of coal fired power plants. Because the rules have not yet been finalized, their impacts cannot be fully analyzed, and they are not included in the Reference case.

However, AEO2011 does include several alternative cases that examine the sensitivity of power generation markets to various assumed requirements for environmental retrofits. The range of coal plant retirements varies considerably across the cases, with a low of 9 gigawatts (3 percent of the coal fleet) in the Reference case and a high of 73 gigawatts (over 20 percent of the coal fleet) in the most extreme case.

Electricity generation from natural gas is higher in 2035 in all the environmental regulation sensitivity cases than in the Reference case. The faster growth in electricity generation with natural gas is supported by low natural gas prices and relatively low capital costs for new natural gas plants, which improve the relative economics of gas when regulatory pressure is placed on the existing coal fleet. In the alternative cases, natural gas generation in 2035 varies from 1,323 billion kilowatthours to 1,797 billion kilowatthours, compared with 1,288 billion kilowatthours in the Reference case.

Assuming no changes in policy related to greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide emissions grow slowly. Energy related CO2 emissions grow slowly in the AEO2011 Reference case due to a combination of modest economic growth, growing use of renewable technologies and fuels, efficiency improvements, slow growth in electricity demand, and more use of natural gas, which is less carbon intensive than other fossil fuels.

In the Reference case, which assumes no explicit regulations to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions beyond vehicle GHG standards, energy related CO2 emissions do not return to 2005 levels (5,996 million metric tons) until 2027, growing by an average of 0.6 percent per year from 2009 to 2027, or a total of 10.6 percent. CO2 emissions then rise by an additional 5 percent from 2027 to 2035, to 6,311 million metric tons in 2035. The projections for CO2 emissions are sensitive to many factors, including economic growth, policies aimed at stimulating renewable fuel use or low carbon power sources, and any policies that may be enacted to reduce GHG emissions, all of which are explained in sensitivity cases.

The projections from the complete AEO2011, including the Reference case, all of the alternative cases, supplemental tables showing the regional projections, as well as a report on the major assumptions underlying the projections, can be accessed on EIA's Internet site at: www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo


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Gold and Stocks Rally But is it Time for a Little Pullback

It has been a very interesting week thus far. Monday kick started traders with a heart pounding equities sell off which sent money into the US Dollar, precious metals and bonds as the safe havens of choice.

A lot has happened this week on a technical analysis basis which I can’t really show in a written report like this. But can do so in detail within my video newsletter. There are just to many charts required and layers of analysis to cover… But I can cover some of the points and my thoughts using the charts below:

SPY 30 Minute Intraday Chart

This chart shows the volume traded at various price levels for the SP500 index. These high volume levels act as support or resistance depending if you are above or below them. On Wednesday we had large gap higher into a resistance level which the market could not break through. So I am expecting to see the market take a pause and fade back down to fill part or all of Wednesday’s gap window.

While most gaps tend to get filled. Gaps that occur right at the beginning of a new trend when momentum is strong. They generally do not fill all the way down to the bottom. I expect a couple days of sideways to lower price action. Buyers should step back in and send the market higher next week if this trend is to continue.

GDX – Gold Miner Stocks – Daily Chart
Gold stocks have been underperforming the price of gold bullion for several months. This typically is not a strong sign for physical gold prices. That being said I do feel the majority of investors are seeking true safety and want to own real gold and not some highly leveraged gold stock. This to me is more of a risk off trade for global investors and it explains the performance.

From the recent price action shown on the GDX chart I am expecting to see prices trade sideways or lower in the coming days. A sideways move would actually be bullish and would signal a possible breakout to upside. So that is what I am hoping will unfold in the coming days/weeks.

US Dollar Daily Chart
The dollar continues to get sold at a tremendous rate and the Fed is devaluing the currency as quickly as they can trying and save the world one dollar at a time…
The trend is strongly down but it’s starting to near a point where we should start to keep a closer eye on it for signs of a reversal to the upside. When the dollar makes a move higher and starts a rally it will put downward pressure on stocks and commodities. We must be prepared to move our protective stops ups and possibly take advantage of falling prices in the near future. Until then remain long equities and commodities.

Mid-Week Trend Conclusion:
In short, it looks as though stocks and commodities are in favor again. Monday’s panic sell off looks to have shaken the masses out of the market and the big money players were buying up all the shares they could. Members and myself are sitting nicely in our long positions and this could be the start of something exciting.

You can get Chris Vermeulens Pre-Market Trading Analysis Videos, Intraday Chart Updates and Trade Alerts with his Premium Newsletter The Gold and Oil Guy.Com

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Monday Mayhem – Panic Selling Has Set In!

In overnight and pre-market trading the US Dollar posted a strong rally which in turn caused a sharp selloff in the equities market. The market is currently down 1.6 – 2.3% depending on the index traders are following.

Here is what I see on the charts going forward a few days.

Dollar Index – 4 Hour Chart
The Dollar is trading at a resistance level which has in the past triggered strong moves lower. If we get a move lower on the dollar from here then I expect a strong recovery in the equities market and likely higher commodity prices also. If the US Dollar breaks out and rallies above this point then we could see a much further collapse in stocks and commodities.

The falling dollar has also helped to boost crude oil prices the past couple months. One of my trading buddies J.W. Jones at OptionsTradingSignals.com pocketed a nice 86% gain on a USO cash secured put based on the credit sold. Also the weak dollar has his GLD options trade up over 50% already and it has just begun. Jones is an options expert and always seems to find a way to pull money out of the market month after month…

SPY Daily Chart
The daily chart shows a large gap down putting the market in a short term oversold condition. Typically we see the market bounce back up or gap higher the following day. In some cases similar to today the market actually bottoms. So those long the SP500 I feel have a good change of recouping some of today’s decline by waiting for the kneejerk reaction bounce in the next 24-48 hours.

Market Sentiment – Panic Selling At Extremes
Today we are seeing panic selling at levels not seen since the market bottom in March. The green indicator spikes on the chart show very high levels of traders/investors dumping stocks in fear of a collapse. Today’s negative headline news has sparked mass fear and when levels like this are reached you should think of holding long positions for another 1-2 session to see if we get that bounce or market bottom.

Monday Mass Selling Conclusion:
Today’s sharp drop in equities could be an excellent low risk opportunity to add or take a long position here because most of the downside fear for the short term has been eliminated today.

That being said the trend appears to be down on the SP500 now so at this time I am looking to sell into a rally if we get one today, tomorrow or Wednesday.

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Equities Don’t Follow the Dollar Index So Hold On!

So far in 2011 the equities market has made some sizable whip saw type moves that even veteran traders have had difficulty being on the right side of the price action. The year started out with equities being very overbought and extended making is virtually impossible for a low risk trader to buy on pullbacks. This was primarily due to the fact that there were no real pullbacks other than for a day or two which was immediately followed by prices continuing to grind higher.

In March, we finally had the pullback everyone was waiting for which we caught 4% of the sell off using an inverse ETF. Then we saw the bottom a few days later and caught a 3% gain from near the lows during a rally higher. So as you can see there have been three trends in the SP500 so far this year and we are about to see another sizable move unfold in the coming week.

In the past 8 sessions we have seen the market pullback slightly and the big question everyone is asking is do we get long or do we short here? Below are my thoughts and analysis….

US Dollar Index – Daily Chart
The dollar is still in a very strong down trend. As long as it continues to fall we should see higher stock and commodity prices. I do feel as though there is more downside for the dollar but its nearing an end. Stepping back and looking at the longer term chart of the dollar is very clear that it is getting oversold and sizable bounce should take place. If we see the dollar breakout of this falling wedge and start to rally you will want to be short stocks and commodities.

SPY ETF (SP500 Index Fund) Daily Chart
When comparing the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Russell 2K indexes it is rather obvious that both have performed well this year and have broken above the February highs. The DOW was strong because it has it is exposed to energy stocks and with oil rocketing higher, it has helped those energy based stocks lift the index higher. The Russell 2K consists of small cap stocks and with the general public still being so bullish on the equity markets and investors are buying volatile, high risk small cap stocks to help boost their gains.

Now, looking at the SP500 it has yet to break the February high and this is because it holds several large tech stocks and financial stocks which have been lagging the overall market so far this year. Tech stocks and financials tend to lead the market and the fact that they are not is of great concern to me.
So going back to the US Dollar, I feel as though it has a little more downward motion left which will help get the SP500 to a new yearly high. Once the dollar rally starts, it will crush stock and commodity prices for several months.

Weekend Trend Conclusion:
In short, I favor the long side for both stocks and commodities, but that can change on a dime once the dollar starts to rally. There are many negative factors coming together that give me a negative outlook on stocks and commodities for the next 2-4 months and they are:

1. Quantitative Easing is now done = rising dollar
2. Investor sentiment is at an extreme bullish level = typically a bearish sign for stocks
3. The Sell In May and Go Away is almost here…
4. Earning season is here and that is typically a time when stocks get sold into = lower stock prices
My final thought is to keep positions small and be ready to flip positions from long to short and vise versa depending on what you trade…

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