Surviving and Thriving During an Economic Collapse

By Nick Giambruno 

In just over a century, the international monetary system has collapsed three times: in 1914, in 1939, and in 1971, when Nixon severed the dollar’s last ties to gold. We are due for another major breakdown soon.

This time, the US dollar will lose its status as the world’s premier reserve currency. And the ramifications of that happening are hard to overstate. It will likely be the tipping point at which the US government becomes desperate enough to officially restrict the movement of people and their money… desperate enough to nationalize retirement savings… and desperate enough to make other forms of overt wealth confiscation routine.

For decades, countries around the world have conducted most of their international trade in US dollars. If they want to play in the international sandbox, most have to buy US dollars on the currency market first. This creates a (frequently artificial) demand for dollars, which makes those dollars more valuable.

Imagine the overall boost this arrangement gives to the dollar’s value. It’s enormous.

This system allows the US government and US citizens to live way beyond their means. It also gives the US government immense geopolitical leverage. It can pick and choose which countries can participate in the US-dollar-based financial system—and, by extension, the vast majority of international trade.

All of these unique benefits will disappear when the dollar loses its premier status. No one knows exactly when that will happen, but we’re quickly moving in that direction. Russia, China, Brazil, and India are all making serious moves to dump the dollar and trade in their own currencies. The momentum is quickly gaining critical mass.

I believe it won’t be long before the US government will be desperate enough to enact the restrictive measures we all fear. It’s important to prepare for the economic and financial consequences now. However, you also need to prepare for the sociopolitical consequences of the next economic collapse. It’s probably not going to happen tomorrow, but the direction the bankrupt US government is headed is clear.

Once the dollar loses its status as the world’s premier currency, your options for protecting your savings will have likely narrowed significantly, if not disappeared altogether. It’s important to act before that happens.

P.S. New York Times best-selling author Doug Casey and I think that a crisis for the record books is coming soon. We think your savings are highly vulnerable. There’s a good chance you could be wiped out.

That’s why we released an urgent new video on surviving and thriving during the next financial crisis. 

Click here to watch it now.

The article Surviving and Thriving During an Economic Collapse was originally published at caseyresearch.com.

Can You Spot the Pattern That Sent Facebook Soaring?

In the final months of 2016 Facebook stock was all over the place. It traded up, down and sideways. Beneath the surface two primal market forces were at work, fighting to control the stock’s direction. On December 30th these forces collided. What happened next was shocking, Facebook popped 8.32% by January 10th.

Facebook call options were up 235.06% in just 11 days. A $1,000 investment would have paid you $2,350 in less than two weeks. And the crazy thing? These events happen all the time, you just need to know where to find them.

Get The Facts Here

Very few traders know about this phenomenon. Even fewer can spot it at work in a stock before an explosive 196%, 228% or 339% move happens. Now you can find out how it works BEFORE the next event strikes.

Watch Right Now

Ray @ the Crude Oil Trader

Mike Seery's Weekly Futures Recap - Gold, Coffee, Sugar, Copper and More

Trading for the week of March 27th through March 31st ended with the SP500 and Dow indexes closing slightly lower as markets consolidated this week's rally. This leaves markets neutral to bullish signaling that sideways to higher prices are possible near term and the same goes for the NASDAQ 100.

So no better time than right now to get the a heads up from our trading partner Michael Seery. We've asked him to give our readers a recap of the this weeks futures markets and give us some insight on where he sees these markets headed. Mike has been a senior analyst for close to 15 years and has extensive knowledge of all of the commodity and option markets.

Gold futures in the June contract settled last Friday at 1,251 an ounce while currently trading at 1,247 in a very nonvolatile trading week right near major resistance as prices are still trading above their 20 and 100 day moving average telling you the short term trend is higher. At present, I am not, involved in the precious metals as the U.S dollar continues to flip flop which had made the commodity markets basically go sideways over the last several months. For the gold rally to continue in my opinion prices, have to break major resistance around 1,268 which is still about $20 away as the U.S stock market continues to hover near all time highs which generally is a negative towards gold prices. Gold prices bottomed out last month around the 1,200 level as that's when the Federal Reserve stated that they might slow down on raising interest rates sending prices back up towards the upper end of the trading range, however prices still remain choppy over the last several months so wait for a true trend to develop as there are very few markets that have strong trends at the current time.
Trend: Mixed - Higher
Chart Structure: Improving

Get Chris Vermeulen's Short & Long Term Gold Projections

Coffee futures in the May contract settled last Friday in New York at 137.60 a pound while currently trading at 138.50 in a very nonvolatile trading week as I am not involved in coffee at present as I'm waiting for a breakout to occur as the chart structure has improved tremendously due to the fact that prices continue to go nowhere. Coffee prices continue to trade under their 20 day moving average as the 100 day stands at 147 as I'm very surprised at how low the volatility is as historically speaking coffee is one of the most explosive commodities in the world with huge price swings and huge risk as I don't see this continuing for much longer. Ideal weather conditions in the country of Brazil continue to keep a lid on prices as Brazil is the largest producer in the world and also the largest producer of many commodities in the world as we are starting to enter the frost season which is about 5 weeks away & certainly will send volatility back into this market, but at the present time look at other markets. In my opinion, I do believe prices are limited to the downside as eventually I do think higher prices are ahead, but there is very little fundamental news to push prices in either direction.
Trend: Mixed - Lower
Chart Structure: Improving

Sugar futures in the May contract settled last Friday in New York at 17.71 a pound while currently trading at 16.78 down nearly 100 points for the trading week continuing its bearish momentum as I am not involved in this commodity at present, but do have clients who are short a futures position and if that is the case place your stop above the 10 day high which now stands at 18.17. Sugar prices are trading well below their 20 and 100 day moving average telling you that the short term trend is lower as prices are retesting the May 2016 lows and I do think there's a possibility that we could even go as low as 12.50 which was hit in February 2016 as this market remains bearish in my opinion so stay short. The chart structure will not improve for another week so you're going to have to accept the monetary risk as overproduction and lack of demand continue to put pressure on sugar prices here in the short term as I still do believe lower prices are ahead, however, if you have missed the trade like I did move on and look at other markets that are beginning to trend as the risk/reward is not in your favor.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Poor

Copper futures in the May contract settled last Friday in New York at 2.63 a pound while currently trading at 2.65 as I was recommending a bearish position from around 2.61 getting stopped out in Thursday's trade around the 2.70 level taking the loss and moving on as this market remains choppy. Copper prices are trading right at their 20 day but still above their 100 day moving average telling you that the trend is mixed as prices hit a 3 week high following the stock market which is hovering right near at all time highs as the NASDAQ 100 did hit all time highs as I was also stopped out of that trade as I have no precious metal recommendations at the current time. The chart structure in copper is relatively solid as we could be involved once again in the next couple of weeks so keep a close eye on this market as it still looks expensive.
Trend: Mixed
Chart Structure: Solid

For more calls on this week's commodity trades like Soybean, Cocoa, Lean Hogs, Corn and more....Just Click Here!

The First Ever ‘Codeword’ Leak

By Porter Stansberry 

Today, an emerging story about the secret civil war being waged right now in Washington D.C. It is about to have a HUGE impact on our country. Two warnings before we begin. First, what I know so far is deeply troubling. We're approaching what will be the most dangerous period in our country's political history since the Great Depression. What could happen next scares me. But I continue to be optimistic that what will unfold will be great for our country.

Also, I'm certain that you simply won't believe much of what you'll read in today's essay. In fact, until I did my own follow-up research to verify what I could from my sources, I disregarded this story as "political nonsense" or just another D.C. conspiracy theory. Besides… it was all too horrible to believe. But then… almost everything my sources told me would happen started happening.…

Let's begin here.…
Did you know the U.S. government has a secrecy designation so restricted that virtually nobody – not even lifetime members of the intelligence community – even knows what it's called? It's not "TOP SECRET." It's way beyond that level. In late 2009, President Obama created this new level of secrecy inside our government with an executive order (No. 13526) – so Congress never approved it. Administered by the CIA, this new level of secrecy has created a covert government within the government that almost nobody knows and absolutely nobody is monitoring.

If you've ever heard the term the "Deep State" – the secret government within the government that actually holds power – then you know why a level of secrecy beyond "top secret" is so important. This new, more restricted level of secrecy was created so that the most powerful leaders of our government could communicate in total isolation. This level of secrecy is such a closely guarded secret that the name of the program itself is classified – and divulging the name is a crime, punishable by at least 10 years in a secret prison. So this level of security clearance is known only as "codeword."

At the highest levels of our D.C. government, only two dozen or so people have codeword clearances.…
I learned about this earlier this month. I was invited to lunch with someone who has held that level of security clearance. He told me about the existence of the codeword-level program. This isn't a rumor. It's a fact. For the last 30-plus years, my source has worked for and around the highest levels of our government. He is currently regarded as the president's most likely choice to become our next Federal Reserve chairman. Today, however, his clients include the world's top hedge fund managers and the leaders of America's biggest corporations. He is, in short, America's corporate representative of the Deep State.

We call him the "Metropolitan Man."

We met about a year ago. He reached out to me through a mutual friend – one of the best, young hedge fund managers in New York. He asked me to join him for dinner at the Metropolitan Club in New York, one of the most elite clubs in the United States. (Legendary banker J.P. Morgan founded the club. It's where billionaire investor Warren Buffett held his 50th birthday party. And it sits at the southeast corner of Central Park, across from The Plaza Hotel, with a great vista of Columbus Circle.) At the time, the Metropolitan Man was forecasting correctly that the world's central bankers and their negative interest rate policy were failing and that they would soon trigger a global run out of paper money and into gold. Over the next several months, gold and gold stocks soared (as you may remember).

A few days ago, the Metropolitan Man asked to see me again.…
He wanted to talk about something he had never seen before in all his years working in the government. For the first time ever, a codeword-level secret was leaked to the press. Nothing this sensitive has ever been leaked before – ever. Among senior leaders in D.C., it is widely believed that the director of the CIA himself was responsible for the codeword leak. And the rumor is that this information was then passed to the press through New York Senator Chuck Schumer's office. What was leaked?

A codeword secret briefing the CIA produced about a meeting in Trump Tower last December between a Russian ambassador and two senior Trump administration officials – Jared Kushner and Michael Flynn.
When Flynn lied about the meeting to the White House staff, he was fired. But the deeper question is: How did the CIA know about the meeting? How did it know how long the meeting lasted? How did it know exactly what was discussed? And how did that information end up in the hands of a New York Times reporter?

This backstory explains how Trump knows the CIA was spying on Trump Tower. And the counternarratives – Trump's claim that Obama was spying on him and the Democrats' claim that Trump is in league with Russia – are the beginning of a serious war. A civil war inside the Deep State itself.

Reading the newspapers won't explain how this war is being fought.…
They will never publish a clear explanation of the battle lines – or even who is fighting or why. But the outcome of these battles is likely to determine the fate of our economy for the next several decades. Let me explain why and tell you what this fight is really about. For the last 40 or so years, the U.S. economy has been built around a model that created vast power in D.C. The model has a few important components.

First, we have a highly "progressive" income tax. That ensures that anyone who makes high wages will pay for the lion's share of the government's expenses. Without extremely progressive income tax rates – where about half the country pays nothing and the top 10% pay for roughly 80% – the electorate would never continue to vote for more and more government. But it does, mostly because it doesn't have to pay for it.

Second, the government has an incredibly powerful regulatory regime in place. This allows D.C. to essentially control vast segments of our economy. Take Wall Street, for example. Who gets to sell a bond or a stock to the public? Nobody the Securities and Exchange Commission doesn't like (i.e. yours truly). This power results in tremendous amounts of "tribute" – legal fees, fines, and hidden lobbying that flows into D.C. and feeds its economic ecosystem.

And finally there's the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and "free" trade. Our country has the ability to export all of the inflation generated by our central bank. This has led to decades of lower and lower interest rates and the government's ability to borrow essentially endless amounts of money without any serious inflationary consequences. These three components form the foundations of Washington's power.

Attack any of them and you risk a huge fight with the Deep State. What Trump is doing right now via his border adjustment tax, additional tax reform, and regulatory rollback is targeting all three of them at the same time. If he wins, all of the power that has been consolidated in D.C. over the past 40 years will evaporate.

Trump has put a metaphorical gun to the head of the Deep State…
And now, the Deep State is fighting back, tooth and nail, to protect the system it has built. Look at what has happened to the middle class in America over the last 40 years. Did NAFTA prevent price inflation by allowing America's consumer economy the luxury of accessing the world's cheapest labor? Yes, it did. But the flip side was devastating to the entire manufacturing industry in the U.S. And where did the resulting wealth flow? To D.C. and to the top 1% of America's wealthiest people who were able to access foreign markets and shield the resulting income from America's tax system.

Meanwhile, America remains the only industrial country in the world with global income taxation (you have to pay federal income tax, no matter where you live) and without a value-added tax. In short, we've chosen a system that punishes wage earners, while rewarding individuals and corporations who use overseas labor. The result has been a decline in real, after-tax wages over the last 40 years. That's a recipe to destroy the middle class – and that's what has happened.

Trump's plan to effectively lower income taxes to 25% and implement a value added tax to discourage foreign production of U.S. products will turn this entire economic structure on its ear and disenfranchise the Deep State that controls it. The winners will be the middle class, small business owners, wage earners, and America's manufacturing base. The losers? Those who have invested heavily in the current Deep State regime.

Why is this scary?
Well, unlike the health reform issue, the Metropolitan Man assured me that Trump's tax reform agenda would certainly pass. "It's a done deal," he said. He told me that his job lately "has been to help major corporations understand what will be in the new laws and how they will impact various markets." That means the Deep State has been pushed into a corner. What it might do next, no one knows. "That it would leak a codeword secret. Well, I would have told you that couldn't happen. I've never seen it before, not in more than 30 years in D.C. It's scary because if it'll do that, it'll do anything. Stage a terrorist attack? Start a war with China? Nothing is impossible anymore."

That's the downside. The next several months could see our government erupt into open civil war. The FBI accusing the president of treason… The president accusing a director of the CIA of breaking the law and having him arrested. Who knows where this will lead? On the other hand, assuming the government doesn't collapse into a civil war, Trump's new economic model will become a reality before the end of the year. For some industries (and for most Americans) these changes will bring massive prosperity. And for others – especially for companies and individuals who have been living at the government trough, tough times are looming.

Here's the best part.…
I believe these coming changes are so important and could lead to so much wealth creation that I've convinced the Metropolitan Man to come forward.

We will hold a meeting with him, at our offices in Baltimore, on April 5, 2017.
The meeting with start at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. It will last approximately two hours. Security will be very tight, so plan to arrive early. Everyone will be searched. At this meeting, the Metropolitan Man will "take off his mask" and tell you about his role in the Deep State. He'll explain the importance of the codeword-secret leak. And he'll discuss what the new Trump economic model will mean for various industries and parts of our country. He'll also explain how he knows the tax reform/border adjustment laws are certain to pass Congress and what those policies will mean for our country. If you'd like to attend the meeting via a live conference call, you can listen for only $19.95. Yes, that's right. $19.95.

This is easily the most important and valuable meeting I've ever arranged. 
It has taken more than a decade of work to gain access to information like this… And I want you to benefit from the incredible access we've gained. For successful investors and wealthy business leaders, meeting the Metropolitan Man in person and having the opportunity to ask him questions is invaluable. His normal consulting fee is $250,000. So I believe there's tremendous value at both price points. But no matter how you plan to attend, please do whatever you must to be at this meeting. There isn't a more important event you could attend this year.

Sign Up Here

Regards,
Porter Stansberry

The article The First-Ever ‘Codeword’ Leak was originally published at caseyresearch.com

The Dancing Bears

By Jeff Thomas

In the early 2000s, I recommended to associates that we were in for a major gold boom. Most thought that this was a ridiculous suggestion and didn’t buy a single ounce. I continued to recommend the purchase of gold regularly over the ensuing years, and the price continued to rise. Only in 2011 did they start to buy, at a time when gold was peaking. We were due for a correction and in late 2011, it arrived. For several years, the price has remained in the neighbourhood of $1,200—roughly the price it needs to be to bother removing it from the ground.

During that time, gold has periodically risen a bit, then gotten knocked down again. It’s understandable that this should happen. Central banks have a stake in holding down the gold price, since a rising gold price makes it appear more attractive than storing cash in banks. We’ve reached the point that the central banks have run out of tricks to float the economy and we’re already past due for a crash.

But crashes don’t always occur as soon as they become logical. As long as the public can be fooled into remaining confident in the system, a doomed economy can limp along for a bit before toppling. Statistics on unemployment and inflation can be fudged (and they have been). The stock market can be falsely pumped up (and it has been) in order to create the illusion that all is well. These factors, taken together with knocking down the price of gold periodically, helps to convince people that they should keep their money in cash and their cash in the bank, not in gold.

Just as in 2000, the number of people who understand that gold is not the equivalent of a stock but a store of wealth during dramatically changing times is quite small—certainly less than 1% and more likely less than 1/10th of 1%. Those that possess this understanding tend to hold gold long-term and are relatively unconcerned about fluctuations—even if they’re over $100 in a given month. They’re in it for the long haul and believe that, eventually, gold will rise dramatically and may well be the only safe haven after a crash.

But let’s go back to those speculators that waited until gold had risen dramatically before jumping on board the gold train. During the last four-year period, whenever gold rose as a result of economic and political developments, many of them would buy in once more, after it had risen significantly. Then, when it had been knocked down again, they tended to sell—often at the new bottom.

Of course, this behaviour is not limited just to the purchase of gold. In fact, a very high percentage of investors “play” the stock market in this way. They wait until everyone and his dog is buying in and the price is peaking, often buying on margin in order to maximize their positions. Then, when the bubble pops, they tend to ride the market down, hoping in vain that the price will return at least to what it was when they bought in. In essence, they tend to buy high and sell low almost every time.

The gold bears—those investors who don’t truly understand that gold is a very different animal from stocks—typically dislike gold but buy high when it becomes trendy to do so and sell low after it’s been knocked down. This dance is guaranteed to cause the gold bears to lose money time after time.

The dance is sometimes described as “chasing the market,” or “following the trends.” Brokers keep the dance going by advising their clients of established trends, telling them that they’re “missing out if they don’t get in now.” They serve as the market’s equivalent of a caller in a square dance: “Swing your client to and fro—watch his investment dollars go.”

Just as few investors understand the economic nature of gold, they also tend to overlook the fact that the broker doesn’t benefit from the success of the client—he makes his money when the client buys and sells frequently. So, of course his advice is going to be for the client to keep dancing.

So, will this dance go on as it is, ad infinitum? Well, no. There will be a dramatic change following a crash in the markets. Following any major crash, a panic occurs and whatever money is left on the table scrambles to find a new (hopefully safe) home. Following the coming crash, a portion of that money will head into gold. The price will rise dramatically, very possibly to such a degree that it can no longer be easily knocked down by the central banks.

At first the gold bears will assume that it’s an anomaly. Then, as gold passes $1,500, some will dip their toes in. As it passes $1,800, some will wade in. Beyond $2,000, this trend will strengthen quite a bit. As the crash deepens, stocks will tumble further. The bond bubble may also pop, increasing gold’s shine. At some point, bankers may begin to freeze accounts, create bank holidays, and/or confiscate deposits. At that point, gold will head into its long-predicted mania phase and the bears will be falling over each other, chasing the buying trend.

Gold will rise to a logical price in keeping with its value as a hedge against a collapsing economy. At that point, it would make sense for it to stop, but that’s not what will happen. Those who understand gold will cease their purchases and sit on what they have. But then a new dance will begin. The bears will become decidedly bullish. It’s important to note that, at this point, they will not fully understand why gold is rising so dramatically; they’ll just know that it is. They’ll want to get in on the gold rush and will do whatever they have to in order to keep buying.

They’ll find that physical gold is in short supply, as traditional holders are unwilling to sell, seemingly at any price. Potential buyers will offer $50 above spot, then $100 above spot, then more. They’ll additionally buy on margin in order to increase their position. It will be at this point that the mania will take hold. Irrationally high prices will become the new norm. How high will it go? $10,000? $20,000? Impossible to say. It will rise as high as desperation makes it rise, and we cannot now determine what that level of desperation will be.

A new bubble will be created, but this time, it won’t be in stocks or bonds. It’ll be in gold and, like all bubbles, it will eventually pop. This will occur when those who understand the nature of gold recognize that the price has far exceeded what’s logical and, as much as they value gold, they’ll sell a portion of their holdings and use the proceeds to invest in whatever assets have already bottomed and have nowhere to go but up.

They’re likely to retain a portion of their gold holdings for the same reason they always have, but will be happy to release a portion when it becomes significantly overvalued. This will cause the gold bubble to pop and the gold bears, who have recently become bulls, will wonder where it all went wrong. At this point, they still won’t understand gold; they’ll simply have chased yet another trend and lost.

So, is there a moral here? Well, if so, it’s simply that an investor should not become involved in a market that he doesn’t understand. Nor should he trust his broker to understand it for him. Ironically, as long as there have been markets, there have been those who go out on the dance floor without first learning the dance. A great deal of profit will be made by some gold investors, but the majority are likely to leave the floor with empty dance cards.

Regards,
Jeff Thomas

Editor’s Note: Gold is crisis insurance. Without it, you’re highly vulnerable. And there’s a good chance the next financial crisis could wipe you out.

New York Times best selling author Doug Casey thinks that crisis is coming soon. He shares all the details in this urgent video. Click here to watch it now.

The article The Dancing Bears was originally published at caseyresearch.com

Mike Seery's Weekly Futures Recap - Crude Oil, Gold, Silver, 10 Year Notes, Sugar and More

Trading for the week of March 13th through March 17th ended with the market indexes closing slightly lower on Friday. The Dow and SP500 Stochastics and RSI are turning neutral to bullish signaling that sideways to higher prices are possible near term. If these indexes resume the rally off November's low into uncharted territory, upside targets will be very difficult to project.

So no better time than right now to get the a heads up from our trading partner Michael Seery. We've asked him to give our readers a recap of the this weeks futures markets and give us some insight on where he sees these markets headed. Mike has been a senior analyst for close to 15 years and has extensive knowledge of all of the commodity and option markets.

Crude oil futures in the April contract settled last Friday New York at 48.49 a barrel while currently trading at 48.75 up slightly for the trading week as I've been sitting on the sidelines, but I do have a bearish bias to the downside as I think lower prices are ahead. The chart structure is relatively poor at present as the 10 day high stands at 53.80 which is way too much risk in my opinion, however I'm certainly not recommending any type of bullish position as I do think prices could retest the contract lows which was hit on November 14th, 2016 around the 45.18 level as the commodity markets look weak at present despite the fact that the U.S dollar ended the week on a negative note. Oil prices are trading right near a 14 week low trading under their 20 & 100 day average telling you that the short term trend is lower as oversupply situations continue to hamper this market and I am looking at a short position if prices rally and the chart structure improves, therefore, lowering monetary risk as we could be short in next week's trade. Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Poor

John Carter's Next Free Webinar "Rapid Account Growth Strategies for 2017"....Sign Up Here

Gold futures in the April contract settled last Friday in New York at 1,201 an ounce while currently trading at 1,229 up about $28 for the trading week all based off of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates. However, stating that they will take precaution down the road sending many commodities higher while sending the U.S dollar sharply lower. At present I'm now recommending a short position from the 1,229 level and if you take that trade place your stop loss above the 10 day high which stands at 1,237 risking around $250 per mini contract or $800 on the large contract plus slippage and commission as the risk/reward are highly in your favor as the chart structure is outstanding. Gold prices hit a 6 week low earlier this week telling you that the short term trend is lower as prices are trading right at their 20 & 100 day moving average with major support around the 1,200 level & if that is broken the bearish trend should continue in my opinion so take a shot at the short side as the monetary risk is low.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Excellent

Silver futures in the May contract settled last Friday in New York at 16.92 an ounce while currently trading at 17.37 up about $0.45 for the trading week all due to the fact that the Federal Reserve said they might slow down on interest rates hikes later in the year pushing the precious metals sharply higher. At present, I'm not involved in silver as I do have a short position in gold as I will wait for better chart structure to develop in this market as the chart structure is poor and the trend is mixed. Silver prices are trading right at their 20 & 100 day moving average telling you that the trend is sideways with the next major level of support around the 17 level and if that is broken you have to think that we could test the contract lows around the 16 area, but look at other markets that are beginning to trend with a better risk/reward scenario. The U.S dollar fell sharply this week as that's what helped propel the precious metals as I still think interest rates are on the rise as this look like a massive short covering rally in my opinion, however, avoid this market at the current time.
Trend: Lower - Mixed
Chart Structure: Poor

The 10-year notes in the June contract settled last Friday in Chicago at 123-00 while now trading at 123-26 as this market reacted positively to the Federal Reserve announcement which said they will be patient at raising rates sending many sectors higher. I am currently short a position from around the 123-17 level while placing my stop loss above 123.28 on a closing basis only risking around $330 per contract plus slippage and commission as volatility in all of the commodity sectors will certainly be heightened in the coming weeks. The 10 year note is currently yielding about 2.52% hovering right at a 4 month low as the trend is lower as the only interest is in the stock market to the upside as higher interest rates are coming in my opinion so let's keep a close eye on this report.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Excellent

Sugar futures in the May contract settled last Friday in New York at 18.22 a pound while currently trading at 17.62 down about 60 points for the trading week ending on a sour note down over 60 points in today's trading session as I've been sitting on the sidelines as I missed this trade to the downside, however as I've written about in previous blogs I think prices are headed lower. Sugar prices hit lows that we have not seen since June 2016 with the next major level support all the way down at the 16.00 level as there is more room to run to the downside in my opinion as the soft commodities still look weak as I'm certainly not recommending any type of bullish position as this trend is getting stronger to the downside on a weekly basis. The chart structure at present is very poor because prices have dropped rather dramatically over the last several weeks topping out around the 21 level if you are short a futures contract stay short in my opinion & place the stop loss above the 10 day high which now stands at 19.84. However, the chart structure will improve every day in next week's trade, therefore, lowering the monetary risk.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Improving

For more calls on this week's commodity trades like Wheat, Soybean, Cocoa and more....Just Click Here!

John Carter's Next Free Webinar "Rapid Account Growth Strategies for 2017"

Our trading partner John Carter of Simpler Options is back with another one of his wildly popular free webinars. John is absolutely killing it again in 2017 and he has put together a 90 day trading plan to share with us.

He is calling this free webinar "How I Almost Doubled My Account in Less than 60 Days".

Claim Your Spot Here 

Limited seats are available and as always this one will fill up fast so get your reserved spot now. This is free training on the rapid account growth strategies that are working right now, not in 2015 or 2016....right now!

So please join us Tuesday, March 21st @ 7:00 pm central time

Here's just some of what he will cover:

  *  John F. Carter will reveal his new 90 day trading plan that will take us into the 2nd quarter of 2017

  *  With the market at all time highs John shows us how to adapt to conditions most traders haven’t seen in years

  *   John will show us how he grew his account by 82% between January and February, 2017.

  *  We'll find out what’s working now because outdated strategies could be dead wrong in current conditions.

 Just Click Here to get your seat now and we'll see you Tuesday March 21st

See you there!

Ray @ The Crude Oil Trader

Mike Seery's Weekly Futures Recap - Crude Oil, Silver, Sugar, Wheat Futures and More

Trading for the week of March 6th through March 10th ended with the market indexes closing higher on Friday following the latest jobs report, which showed that 235,000 jobs were created in February while January number was revised to show 238,000, pushing the unemployment rate to 4.7%. Hourly pay increased 2.8% from February 2016 to February 2017, up from 2.6% in the prior month.

Time to get the a heads up from our trading partner Michael Seery. We've asked him to give our readers a recap of the this weeks futures markets and give us some insight on where he sees these markets headed. Mike has been a senior analyst for close to 15 years and has extensive knowledge of all of the commodity and option markets.

Crude oil futures in the April contract are currently trading at 49.50 a barrel after settling last Friday in New York at 53.33 down nearly $4 for the trading week near a 14 week low as the true breakout was below 51.86. However, I am not involved in this market as I'm waiting for some type of price rally to enter into a short position, therefore, lowering the monetary risk. If you are short this market I would place my stop loss above the 10 day high which stands at 54.44 as the chart structure is very poor because prices absolutely collapsed over the last several days having its worst one day performance in over 11 months. Prices are now trading below their 20 and 100 day moving average telling you that the short term trend is lower as massive supplies continue to put a lid on this market coupled with the fact of a strong U.S dollar as the commodities, in general, look weak across the board, but wait for some type of price rally before entering, but I'm certainly not recommending any type of bullish position as I think lower prices are ahead.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Poor

John Carter's Next Free Webinar "Rapid Account Growth Strategies for 2017"....Sign Up Here

Gold futures in the April contract settled last Friday in New York at 1,226 an ounce while currently trading at 1,204 continuing its bearish momentum right near a 6 week low as the precious metals continue to move lower on a daily basis due to a strong U.S dollar. At the current time I have no trade recommendations in the precious metal sector as it looks to me that gold might even possibly retest the contract low around 1,150, but avoid this market at present & look at other trades that are beginning to trend with a better risk/reward scenario. Gold prices are now trading under their 20 and 100 day moving average telling you that the short term trend is lower as crude oil prices have also broken out of a tight consolidation which is another negative towards all commodity prices in my opinion. The U.S stock market is higher across the board today as the monthly unemployment number came in as the United States added around 235,000 new jobs as all the interest lies in the S&P 500 & not in gold at the current time.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Poor

Silver futures in the May contract settled last Friday in New York at 17.74 an ounce while currently trading at 17.02 down over $0.70 for the trading week as prices have hit a 6 week low trading lower for the 4th straight day. I was recommending a bullish position in silver for around two months getting stopped out in last week's trade which I considered very disappointing. However, prices have dropped much further as that is why you must have an exit strategy because you don't know how high or low prices can go as the precious metals, in general, have fallen out of bed. Silver prices are now trading under their 20 & 100 day moving average telling you the short term trend is lower as the contract low is around the $16 mark which was hit in December 2016 and it looks to me that prices might head down to that level, however, avoid this market at present as the chart structure is terrible therefore the monetary risk is too high. At present, I do not have any trade recommendations in the precious metals as my main focus is in the grain market to the downside as the commodities look weak in my opinion due to a strong U.S dollar.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Poor

Sugar futures in the May contract settled last Friday in New York at 19.52 a pound while currently trading at 18.13 looking to retest the contract low which was hit in December 2016 and if that is broken you could head all the way down to the February 2016 low around 12.50 as this market remains very bearish. At present I am not involved as the chart structure did not meet my criteria when the original breakout occurred, however I do think lower prices are ahead and if you do have a short position place your stop loss above the 10 day high which now stands at 19.80 and will not improve for another 5 trading sessions, so you will have to accept the monetary risk. The commodity markets, in general, look very weak as the U.S dollar despite selling off this Friday afternoon continues to hamper commodity prices and especially the agricultural markets as I'm certainly not recommending any type of bullish position in sugar as the momentum is getting stronger on a daily basis. Sugar prices are trading below their 20 and 100 day moving average is telling you that the short term trend is lower and expect to see stop some stops below that level as the large funds will add to their short positions in my opinion.
Trend: Lower
Chart Structure: Poor

Wheat futures in the May contract settled last Friday in Chicago at 4.53 a bushel while currently trading at 4.45 down about 8 cents for the trading week reacting pretty neutral to yesterday's USDA crop report lowering carryover levels by about 10 million bushels as the grain market still looks weak in my opinion. At present, I'm not involved in wheat as I am short oats, corn, and soybeans as I do think the whole complex is headed lower. However, wheat prices are still near a 4 week low with poor chart structure, so I probably will not be involved in this market for some time. The next major level of support is 4.38, and if that is broken, I think we will join the rest of the grains to the downside as we are now trading under the 20 and 100 day moving average telling you that short-term trend is lower. The U.S dollar is still hovering right near a 7 week high around the 102 level as that has finally put some pressure on many of the commodity sectors which have been rallying until the last week or so, but wheat has remained choppy for months so avoid this market & look at other trades with better potential.
Trend: Mixed - Lower
Chart Structure: Poor

For more calls on this week's commodity trades like Lean Hogs, Soybean, Cocoa and more....Just Click Here!

The Truth About Your Future: The Money Guide You Need Now, Later, and Much Later

New York Times bestselling author and legendary investment guru Ric Edelman reveals his forward thinking guide on how technology and science will reshape the way we save, invest, and plan for the future. Technology and science are evolving at a blistering, almost incomprehensible pace.

Get your copy of The Truth About Your Future Right Here

The Human Genome Project took eleven years and $2.7 billion dollars to complete. Today, it would take two days to finish, and cost less than getting a pizza delivered. It’s estimated that forty percent of the current Fortune 500 companies will no longer exist by 2025. In 2005, half a billion devices were connected to the Internet. By 2030, that number will reach one trillion.

The traditional paradigms of how we live, learn, and invest are shifting under our feet. Ric Edelman has seen the future, and he explains how smart investors can adapt and thrive in today’s changing marketplace. Using the same prophetic insight that has made him an iconic financial adviser, Edelman offers sound, practical investment advice through the lens of recent scientific and technological advancements.

He illustrates how discoveries in robotics, nanotechnology, 3D printing, solar energy, biotechnology, and medicine will redefine our life expectancies, careers, and retirements. As we live and work longer, Edelman provides clear advice on how to recalibrate the way we save for college, invest during our careers, and plan for retirement.

The Truth About Your Future, featuring Edelman’s proven advice and trademark humor, is a timely, must-have guide for anyone serious about successfully adapting to the ever-evolving financial landscape.

Get your copy of Ric's new book Here > On Amazon.com

Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia, and the Petrodollar

By Nick Giambruno

Obama pulled out his veto pen 12 times during his presidency. Congress only overrode him once. In late 2016, Obama vetoed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA). The bill would allow 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia in US courts. With only months left in office, Obama wasn’t worried about the political price of opposing the bill. It was worth protecting Saudi Arabia and the petrodollar system, which underpins the US dollar’s role as the world’s premier currency.

Congress didn’t see it that way though. Those up for reelection couldn’t afford to side with Saudi Arabia over US victims. So Congress voted to override Obama’s veto, and JASTA became the law of the land. The Saudis, quite correctly, see this as a huge threat. If they can be sued in US courts, their vast holdings of US assets are at risk of being frozen or seized.

The Saudi foreign minister promptly threatened to sell all of the country’s US assets. Basically, Saudi Arabia was threatening to rip up the petrodollar arrangement, which underpins the US dollar’s role as the world’s premier currency.

Donald Trump and the Saudis

Unlike every president since the petrodollar’s birth, Donald Trump is openly hostile to Saudi Arabia.
Recently he put this out on Twitter:

Dopey Prince @Alwaleed_Talal wants to control our U.S. politicians with daddy’s money. Can’t do it when I get elected.

The dopey prince that Trump is referring to is Al-Waleed bin Talal, a prominent member of the Saudi royal family. He’s also one of the largest foreign investors in the US economy, particularly in media and financial companies. The Saudis openly backed Hillary during the election. In fact, they “donated” an estimated $10 million–$25 million to the Clinton Foundation, making them the most generous foreign donors. Besides Hillary Clinton, the single biggest loser from the US presidential election was Saudi Arabia. The Saudis did not want Donald Trump in the White House. And not because of some bad blood on Twitter. There are real geopolitical issues at stake. At the moment, Trump seems determined to walk back on US support for the so called “moderate” rebels in Syria.

The Saudis are furious with the US for not holding up its part of the petrodollar deal. They think the US should have already attacked Syria as part of its commitment to keep the region safe for the monarchy.
Toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a longstanding Saudi goal. But a President Trump makes that unlikely. That’s not good for Saudi Arabia’s position in the Middle East, nor its relationship with the US.
This is just one of the ways President Trump will hasten the death of the petrodollar.

Saudi Arabia, Islam, and Wahhabism

I loathe quoting a neoconservative historian like Bernard Lewis, but even a broken clock is right twice a day:

Imagine if the Ku Klux Klan or Aryan Nation obtained total control of Texas and had at its disposal all the oil revenues, and used this money to establish a network of well endowed schools and colleges all over Christendom peddling their particular brand of Christianity. This is what the Saudis have done with Wahhabism. The oil money has enabled them to spread this fanatical, destructive form of Islam all over the Muslim world and among Muslims in the West. Without oil and the creation of the Saudi kingdom, Wahhabism would have remained a lunatic fringe in a marginal country.

This is actually an apt description of Wahhabism, a particularly virulent and intolerant strain of Sunni Islam most Saudis follow. ISIS, Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and a slew of other extremists also follow this puritanical brand of Islam. That’s why Saudi Arabia and ISIS use the same brutal punishments, like beheadings.
Many Wahhabis consider Muslims of any other flavor—like the Shia in Iran, the Alawites in Syria, or non-Wahhabi Sunnis—apostates worthy of death.

In many ways, Saudi Arabia is an institutionalized version of ISIS. There’s even a grim joke that Saudi Arabia is simply “an ISIS that made it.” After living in the Middle East for three years, it’s clear to me that many people in the region despise everything about Wahhabism. Yet it flourishes in certain Sunni communities, among people who feel they have nowhere else to turn.

It’s also widely believed in the Middle East that Western powers deliberately fostered Wahhabism, to a degree, to keep the region weak and divided—and as a weapon against Shia Iran and its allies. That includes Syria and post-Saddam Iraq, which has shifted its allegiance towards Iran. Thanks to WikiLeaks we know the Saudi and Qatari governments, which are also the two largest foreign donors to the Clinton Foundation, willfully financed ISIS to help topple Bashar al-Assad of Syria. Julian Assange says the email revealing this is the most significant among the Clinton related emails his group has released.

Here’s an excerpt of the relevant interview with Assange:

Interviewer: Of course, the consequence of that is that this notorious jihadist group, called ISIL or ISIS, is created largely with money from people who are giving money to the Clinton Foundation?

Julian Assange: Yes.

Interviewer: That’s extraordinary….

With all this in mind, Vladimir Putin opened an unusual conference of Sunni Muslim clerics recently. It took place in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, a Sunni Muslim region within Russia’s southwestern border.
The conference, which included 200 of the top non-Wahhabi Sunni Muslim clerics, issued an extraordinary statement labeling Wahhabism “a dangerous deformation” of Sunni Islam. These clerics carry serious weight in the Sunni world. The imam of Egypt’s al-Azhar mosque, one of the most important Islamic theological centers, was among them. (Egypt is the Arab world’s most populous Sunni country.)

Basically, Putin gathered the world’s most important non Wahhabi clerics to “excommunicate” the Saudis from Sunni Islam. In other words, Putin is going for the jugular of the petrodollar system. Russia and Saudi Arabia have been enemies for decades. The Russians have never forgiven Saudi Arabia (or the US) for supporting the Afghan mujahedeen that drove the Soviet Army out of Afghanistan. And they haven’t forgiven the Saudis for supporting multiple Chechen rebellions. As far as I know, the British writer Robert Fisk was the only Western journalist to cover this extraordinary conference.

Here’s Fisk:

Who are the real representatives of Sunni Muslims if the Saudis are to be shoved aside? And what is the future of Saudi Arabia? Of such questions are revolutions made.

If the Saudis are shoved aside, it could strike a fatal blow to the petrodollar system. The truth is, the petrodollar system is in its death throes. It doesn’t matter if the Saudis willfully abandon it, or if it crumbles because the kingdom implodes. The end result will be the same. Right now, the stars are aligning against the Saudi kingdom. This is its most vulnerable moment since its 1932 founding.

That’s why I think the death of the petrodollar system is the No. 1 black swan event for 2017

I expect the dollar price of gold to soar when the petrodollar system crumbles in the not-so-distant future. You don’t want to find yourself on the wrong side of history when that happens. But that brings up another crucial point.

There’s also likely to be severe inflation
The petrodollar system has allowed the US government and many Americans to live way beyond their means for decades. The US takes this unique position for granted. But it will disappear once the dollar loses its premier status.

This will likely be the tipping point….

Afterward, the US government will be desperate enough to implement capital controls, people controls, nationalization of retirement savings, and other forms of wealth confiscation. I urge you to prepare for the economic and sociopolitical fallout while you still can. Expect bigger government, less freedom, shrinking prosperity and possibly worse. It’s probably not going to happen tomorrow. But it’s clear where the trend is headed. It is very possible that one day soon, Americans will wake up to a new reality.

Once the petrodollar system kicks the bucket and the dollar loses its status as the world’s premier reserve currency, you will have few, if any, options. The sad truth is, most people have no idea how bad things could get, let alone how to prepare. Yet there are straightforward steps you can start taking today to protect your savings and yourself from the financial and sociopolitical effects of the collapse of the petrodollar.

This recently released video will show you where to begin. Click here to watch it now.

The article Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia, and the Petrodollar was originally published at caseyresearch.com