The stock market is at a very critical pivot point which I feel will generate opportunities in December and for the first quarter of 2013.
Trading with the trend is not always an easy task. It is human nature to predict and jump to conclusions and usually it’s better to trade with the trend no matter what your emotions are telling you. The current trend is down and I stick with that until we are proven wrong.
If you carefully analyze the charts below you will understand where we are trading in the market and what the risks are at this point. The question is are in the middle of a trend reversal back up, or is this just a bounce within a down trend? Either way, any pullback this week should be aggressively managed to lock in gains and tighten stops because it could go either way and you do not want to be on the wrong side of the table.
The chart below shows the US dollar index 4 hour chart. It looks as though we should start to see a bounce this week and that should put pressure on stocks and commodities.
The SP500 (SPY etf) below that shows my analysis and key price levels. I took a short position on the SPY Friday afternoon as I feel a pullback is imminent. That being said, all I need is one big down day and I will be pulling money off the table to lock in gains and tighten my stop.
My trading charts make reading the market simple, quick and precise so if you want this type of analysis and trade ideas delivered to your inbox every day including my Pre-Market video analysis then join my newsletter here: www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com
Chris Vermeulen
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I know most Apple enthusiasts will be rolling their eyes with my analysis and that’s fine because the rest of us need people to buy our shares as we unload long positions or sell Apple short ?.
All joking aside, the charts below clearly show some very interesting information you cannot afford to overlook. At minimum, take a quick glance at the charts which tell the full story on their own…
The Four Stages of AAPL & RIMM
Markets are cyclical in nature. There is a constant process of expansion and contraction, rally and decline that continues as the market determines the theoretical fair value of a security. The sum of these moves forms an unquestionable cyclical pattern consistent within all time frames.
During a cycle a stock enters different phases of support, from irrational exuberance typically found before its peak, to periods of widespread discontent where its price is continually punished. However there are never distinctly good or bad stocks.
Every “good” stock will eventually become a bad one and vice versa. There are however good trades; trades that reward an investor who has correctly anticipated a move and positioned himself accordingly.
It is important to note that this works with commodities like gold and silver which are trading at a VERY interesting point in their life cycle. Looking at various time frames in GLD and SLV you can see this.
Classic economic theory dissects the economic cycle into four distinct stages: expansion, trough, decline and recovery. A stock is no different, and proceeds through the following cycle:
Stage 1 – After a period of decline a stock consolidates at a contracted price range as buyers step into the market and fight for control over the exhausted sellers. Price action is neutral as sellers exit their positions and buyers begin to accumulate the stock.
Stage 2 – Upon gaining control of price movement, buyers overwhelm sellers and a stock enters a period of higher highs and higher lows. A bull market begins and the path of least resistance is higher. Traders should aggressively trade the long side, taking advantage of any pullback or dips in the stock’s price.
Stage 3 – After a prolonged increase in share price the buyers now become exhausted and the sellers again move in. This period of consolidation and distribution produces neutral price action and precedes a decline in the stock’s price.
Stage 4 – When the lows of Stage 3 are breached a stock enters a decline as sellers overwhelm buyers. A pattern of lower highs and lower lows emerges as a stock enters into a bear market. A well-positioned trader would be aggressively trading the short side and taking advantage of the often quick declines in the stock’s price. More times than not all of stage 2 gains are given back in a short period of time.
While these stages are historically defined over long time periods they actually exists in all time frames, allowing traders to take advantage of a cycle regardless of their trading time frame. Fortunately this phenomenon, known as a “fractal”, exists within all security markets. A fractal is simply a rough geometric shape that can be subdivided into smaller parts that have the same properties; a smaller version of the whole.
This is important to understand because through technical analysis as we are often analyzing multiple time frames. In the short term, the four stage model may repeat itself many times. The combination of these short term cycles form a medium term cycle, and the combination of multiple medium term cycles form a long term cycle. Recognition of these cycles is paramount in trading success.
The Four Stages Profile: This signature profile happens over and over again in the market and all the great leaders eventually become laggards.
REAL LIFE PROFILES:
Variety in Trading
Investment securities (stocks, ETF’s, options, futures) can be described as being similar to different types of athletes, each with their own unique style and personality. Some can be characterized as sprinters, participating in quick bouts of movement but tiring quickly. Others could said to be more similar to a marathoner, enduring prolonged courses in one direction without pause or interruption.
When I look to make a trade I look for sprinters as historically I have had the most success with them. Other investors like pension and mutual funds are more interested in the long term marathoner that provides steady performance. There is no one way to trade; each method can be equally profitable or unprofitable. It ultimately comes down to what style works best for you, and the only way that can be determined is through trial and error.
Different phases, different strategies
As noted above, the market alternates between periods of trending activity and periods of consolidation. In a trend (stages 2 and 4) there will be an expansion of the price range in one direction. An uptrend will have a series of higher highs and higher lows (stage 2), while a down trend will produce lower highs and lower lows (stage 4). In a consolidation there will be a contraction of price range prior to a reversal in trend. This neutral stage is avoided by trend traders.
A stock in stage 1 or 3 is typically correcting itself after having experience a prolonged move in one direction. These corrections are found after periods of extreme movements that often conclude with emotional and undisciplined trading at peaks and troughs. Trading these two stages is quite different than 2 and 4, and this book will teach you how to manage your risk and trade these stages responsibly.
A short term consolidation within a primary trend is one area where we want to study the price action of a security for clues as to whether there will be a resumption in the trend, continued consolidation, or reversal. Sometimes however it is difficult to identify any order or consistency on any given time frame.
If you are a trend trader these periods should be avoided. Trading has enough inherent challenges already and at all times a successful trader will only be searching out those trades that have a high probability of being profitable.
Trading is all about finding an edge or an advantage and exploiting it for maximum profit. If there is no such edge than there is no reason to be involved. I will say this now and again many other times: Sometimes the best trade is no trade!
Naturally, regardless of the stage a stock is in or your conviction of its direction, risk of financial loss is always inherent in trading and this is critical to always keep in mind. The most successful traders are not immune to this and they too will have unprofitable trades. The key is to minimize those loses by only trading those stocks that have the highest probability of being profitable. This is what separates the profitable and professional traders from those that lose money.
Emotions and Lifecycle Analysis
History has an uncanny ability to repeat itself. Whether it’s the rise and fall of an empire or the rise and fall of a stock, there are clear cycles that are prevalent throughout history.
People may change, but human nature, and our ability to act, react and overreact is simply an innate part of our being. This predictability is what forms the basis of technical analysis and provides a trader with an edge with which to trade upon. When we are analyzing cycles we really are analyzing emotions, trying to gain insight as to how market participants are behaving.
Upon conducting such analysis it can at times seem that markets are be behaving “irrationally” and out of order. Undisciplined traders often fall victim to their emotions and lose control of their objectivity. As people behave irrationally, so too does the market, and unfortunately these conditions can persist for long period of times.
John Maynard Keynes is often quoted for suggesting that “The markets can remain irrational longer than you can stay solvent.” This is a harsh reality and puts great emphasis on the importance of discipline, risk management, and a keen eye for price action.
Emotions are what separate the successful traders from those that lose money. They can be regarded as a relentless opponent, often showing up without warnings and striking you at inopportune times. The successful trader is able to recognize their presence and maintain objectivity, constantly assessing their own strengths and weaknesses.
There will ultimately be times where you can’t control your emotions; however you can always control how you respond to them. Any time you recognize that your emotions are influencing your outlook you are already one step ahead of the average market participant. It is at this point that you step back, refocus your perceptions, examine the price action, and then take the appropriate action.
An understanding of herd or mob mentality is important in trading and can provide you with an edge over the average participant who doesn’t contemplate what is happening around them. In a mob or riot, we never know what the feelings and motivations are of all the individual participants.
There are however certain emotions that seem to appear at distinct times and a certain predictability in their development. A stock’s price action is no different. While we never know the underlying feeling and motivations of all participants, there are distinct emotions that are shared by the herd at various stages of a stock’s life. An understanding of these emotions and their implications on the price action of a stock is an advantage that the profitable trader maintains.
The Stock Market Lifecycle could be explained in much more detail, but this report gives you the foundation of stock / index trading cycles. I will be covering this topic in a future video with much more detail.
The Apple Money Tree Is Losing Its Leaves…
The Fruit War – Apples Top While Berries Bottom
It is very interesting that AAPL shares topped the same week rim shares bottomed. Could the BB10 be the turnaround for Research in Motion? Either way the market is somewhat predictable as traders and investors buy the rumor that BB10 will be good, and they sell the news once it arrives no matter the outcome good or bad. Jan 30th is when it’s unveiled so we could see RIM shares continue to claw its way out of the grave.
RIM – Daily Chart Look of Price Pattern
Conclusion:
Knowing this information is crucial to survival as this cycle happens on all time frames (1 minute chart all the way up to yearly charts). Harnessing this information for trade selection and timing greatly reduces the amount of trades you take, while focusing only on new leaders which have massive upside potential. You can see some of my trade ideas which are in Stage 1 Accumulation mode getting ready for takeoff here: http://stockcharts.com/public/1992897
Judging from the recent price action in the broad market (SP500, NASDAQ, DOW, IWM) along with AAPL shares which have a large impact on index price direction. I feel the market is setting up for a strong Santa Clause rally in the coming week.
2013 looks like it will be a VERY exciting year for trading and investing as several sectors, stocks, and foreign country indexes are in Stage 1 Basing patterns about to start a new bull market. These major plays will become part of my trading alert service at www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com from this point forward.
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The equities market technically still has another day of positive momentum behind it and with a short holiday week higher prices are favored.
This morning in the video I mentioned how oil continues to look untradible because of the sharp news related swings and lack of clear chart patterns. Yesterday it rallied over 2% and today is back down 2%… Steer clear of this beast…
SP500 (broad market) continues to grind sideways/higher today. Volume is very light which bodes well for lower prices in the coming days. I would love to see a Pop-N-Drop tomorrow which is when the index gaps higher at the open into a resistance zone at which point we would be looking to get short (buy the SDS).
Research In Motion shares hit our first resistance level after being upgraded this morning…. Buy the rumor sell the news…? If you are long taking some money off the table here is smart play and to move your stop to break even or better.
Coal sector is looking tasty today and we may take a long position in KOL, but I will update if I do so.
Remember you can now view some of my live charts at stockcharts each day. If you are a member of stockcharts.com then PLEASE follow my ChartList and Vote for it each day so I know its worth me updating for you: http://stockcharts.com/public/1992897
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It is that time in the presidential cycle that gets everyone emotional and concerned with the future outlook of the United States. While everyone has their opinion on whom they think is best for America, I promised myself a long time ago to keep my thoughts to myself for two key reasons. ONE: only 50% of Americans will agree with me J, and TWO: I am Canadian so I do not experience what Americans go through on a daily basis.
My thinking is if Obama wins then we will see Quantitative Easing continue. And with the recent positive economic numbers on Friday it should give some confidence to investors that things are SLOWLY stabilizing (Bullish for Stocks). But, if Romney wins then we could see Quantitative Easing be cut or eliminated which is obviously bad for equities.
So, let’s just jump into the charts of what I feel will unfold in the next few days and months.
Using the season chart of the four year election cycle we can see what the Dow Jones Index has done in past election periods. Obviously every market environment is drastically different in each situation but overall we see stronger stock price. This is naturally a very emotional time for investors but once the election is finished most individuals become more confident simply because there is a leader that has four years to make things better and there is nothing they can do about it now and the campaigning and debating is over.
DIA – Dow Jones Industrial Average – Daily Chart:
Looking at the chart of Dow DIA Index fund you can see a 5-6 month cycle in the market which has a positive skew. Just so you understand what a positive skew is I will explain.
Positive Skew is when the market is trending up making a series of higher highs and higher lows. Because there are naturally more buyers during a bull market each cycle upswing lasts longer then when the cycle down downswing. So you get longer rallies which sends your secondary indicators (stochastics, volatility, put/call ratios, advance decline line etc…) in the overbought levels for extended periods of time. Those trying to pick a top continually get their head handed to them. The focus must be on buying the pullbacks. Keep in mind volatility is higher which meaning risk per trade is higher. Overall in the long run you stand a much higher chance of making money trading with the trend than trying counter trend trades (picking a top).
So as you can see below it looks like the stock market will be trying to put in the bottom over the next week or two which falls in line with our election cycle. It is very important to know that during intermediate cycle lows is where some of the biggest drops take place. These sharp drops are what is needed to cleanse the market one last time to shake as many traders with tight stops out of the market before it reverses and starts the next rally. I would like to see a 1-3 day market sell off as that would be the signature bottoming pattern I like to buy.
Bond Prices – Moving Against the Norm…
Bond investors are some of the most conservative people in the market. They do not like to take risks so they dump their money into bonds to make a tiny profit in exchange for low risk (volatility). The nature of these investors put more money into bonds as we enter the election because they are nervous about not knowing who will be in control of the country.
After the election finished some money flows out of bonds and into stocks because there is now a president and direction for the country. Generally come the new year investors move to bonds as the safe haven as they try to figure out what their game plan is for new year.
So looking forward to this week and the next 2 months I would not be surprised to see bond prices rise or trade sideways while stocks move higher. This analysis is based on Obama winning. If Romney wins then I feel bonds will rally much more and stocks could sell off.
TLT Bond Exchange Traded Fund – Daily Chart:
Here is a chart of 20+ year bonds showing a possible reversal to the upside that could trigger as soon as next week. This chart is forward looking 1 – 2 weeks. Overall the trend remains down but if Romney wins I feel bonds breakout above the red resistance levels and trigger a new uptrend. You can follow my stock charts and ETF charts live every day here: http://stockcharts.com/public/1992897
Election Year Trading Cycle Conclusion:
Next week is going to be very interesting to watch unfold. I generally do not like to trade or invest before news of this magnitude so trade smaller sizes if you do as price action could be wild.
Disclaimer: This material should not be considered investment advice. Technical Traders Ltd. and its staff are not a registered investment advisors. Under no circumstances should any content from this website, articles, videos, seminars or emails from Technical Traders Ltd. or its affiliates be used or interpreted as a recommendation to buy or sell any type of security or commodity contract. Our advice is not tailored to the needs of any subscriber so go talk with your investment advisor before making trading decisions This information is for educational purposes only.
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We did see a nice pop this morning breaking some previous pivot highs from last week and volume looks strong. Long story short… stocks are overbought here very similar to the past two highs as seen in the chart below. The big question from here is what to do now? Well, I wanna see some bullish patterns and volume over the next 12-48 hours if we are going to be looking to get long for an intermediate rally that lasts several weeks taking the indexes to new highs.
Take a look at the 10 minute intraday chart of the past fiveOPEN trading sessions (Wed, Thurs, Fri, Wed, Today) as notice how choppy price has been…. It’s shaking traders up who do not know how to adjust their trading strategy during rising volatility and mixed market cycles. This is something I will be teaching in the near future using my own eSignal trading indicators and Signals as it has been CRUCIAL in the past 3 year to profit from and minimize losses.
Daily Chart of my Cycles & Sentiment Indicator of the SPY:
Yesterday we saw utilities rally as fear worked its way into the market. Well today utilities (XLU) is trading lower. Interesting how the market move and why I love them so much…
Last week I mention how RIMM looked ready for a major breakout and rally. This week it has jumped over 12% which is exciting. The next to pop looks like KOL coal ETF.
One of my members sent an email asking for help and he could not have picked a better time to ask because the market is eating traders alive here…
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MEMBERS QUESTION:
Hi Chris,
In the last week, with the chopping around, I’ve had the bad fortune of being short ES, and multiple times being stopped by a little spike, and then I am watching the market go lower without me.
Last Thursday, I put in a buy stop for 1392, and that got triggered during a spike down yesterday. This afternoon (I live in Singapore), my sell stop of 1417 that had been set last Thursday got hit, and I watch in frustration as ES dipped to 1412 without me.
This has been very frustrating and expensive – so I think I really need a tutorial/advice on setting proper stops.
It almost seems like someone can see my stops (set above or below what I measure to be resistance and support) and literally aims for them to take me out.
Some months ago, when this happened a lot, I stopped using stops completely. Then got badly maimed by the Draghi and Bernanke bounces in September.
Hope this is something you can look at as an enhancement to your excellent service (and I would gladly pay for this).
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MY RESPONSE:
Yes, stops are tough to figure out for sure. If you are getting shaken up as you stated then you are not setting your stops properly. Because of the leverage involved with futures most people put too tight of a stop at or just beyond recent pivot highs or lows… These levels are where the market makers TRY to get the price to reach on a regular basis so they end up with a huge position that is very profitable in most cased within hours. Unfortunately these positions should have been in your trading account and not in theirs.
The market moves on emotions and 95% of traders do not have a clearly documented step by step rule book to follow, which removes emotions allowing them to nail down a consistently profitable strategy and stick to it. While I already have rules for each type of trade setup use last week I took a course to help me fine tune what I have even more so I can pass along how I do things to you. If you want to build your own documented system properly, then you really need to take Brian McAboy’s “Trading System Mastery” course. It’s a couple short manuals and 4 hours of VERY important step by step instructions on just how to document/create the perfect strategy for you.
Anyways, be sure to keep in mind that during overnight trading (After 4pm ET until 9:30am ET) is when most of your stops will trigger. That is when the market makers can walk the price up and down to these key levels and take your stops.
I focus on my stops only being active during regular trading hours to avoid most of this BS manipulation. While I am subject to price gaps using regular trading hour stops only, I know my risk and I know that an index is not going move more than 5% against me at the open in a worst case scenario. I manage my risk through position size and use wider stops thank most traders because I do not have all my money in ONE highly leveraged position.
I will put together an educational report on how, when and where you should place your stops along with how you can take advantage of it. It will take me a week or two to create but be on the lookout for it…
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AAPL shares have been in free fall mode all October spooking investors with a $120 drop from the all-time high in September. As well all know, though it’s hard to follow without a proven trading strategy to keep us focused but the key is that you must buy when others are selling and then sell when everyone is buying.
Apple shares really have helped in holding the overall stock market up in the past but recently it has been a big drag on the broad market. Taking a look at the chart below you can see my analysis and thoughts of this giant.
The red horizontal line shows the key level where high volume traded in the past. For the market to reset (flush out investors/traders) it must shake as many longs out before it can start rising again. By the price breaking below that level which also happens to be a Century Number $600, most of the stops were placed down around this level. The volume spike of 40,000,000 shares clearly shows it triggered stops once that $600 level was broken. We want stops run because it give more power to the next rally/bounce.
NASDAQ Index:
The NASDAQ has formed a similar chart pattern and is heavily weighted with AAPL shares. Trading NQ futures, QQQ, QLD or the XLK exchange traded fund as a much more affordable way to play a bounce/rally in the coming weeks.
Russell 2000 Index:
I really like the Russell 2000 index because small cap stocks can rally hard and fast outperforming the large caps like AAPL, SP500, NASDAQ and DOW. This index is looking ripe for a bounce in the coming days which could trigger the next major rally to new highs. You can plan this index through TF futures contract, IWM, TNA, UWM exchange traded funds.
Trading Conclusion:
While this setup looks very promising because the election is almost over and the Santa Clause rally is just around the corner. Know that some of the biggest drops in the market happens during times when the market is running the stops. It is a natural tendency to take big positions which things look great, but that is not how you do it… Take calculated position sizes knowing indexes could fall another 2-3% before putting in a real washout bottom.
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The $1800 per ounce level continues to be a major technical resistance area for gold. After hovering near $1800 recently, gold moved sharply away from that level last week to close at $1735 an ounce.
Despite that, more fund managers and analysts continue to point to a bright long-term future for gold prices. John Hathaway of the Tocqueville Gold Fund says gold will reach new highs within a year. He based his forecast, like many others, on the fact that negative real interest rates look likely to persist as Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve continue to print money.
Believe it or not, some mainstream analysts are also touting gold’s potential. Merrill Lynch analysts point to the correlation (discussed in a previous article) between the price of gold and the expansion of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet since the start of QE1 in early 2009.
Based on the current path of the Fed’s balance sheet expansion, Merrill Lynch came up with two longer-term targets for the price of gold. They project gold to hit $2,000 an ounce next summer and to hit $2,400 an ounce by the end of 2014.
Another way to look at gold and the Fed is the so-called gold coverage ratio. That is the amount of gold on deposit at the Federal Reserve versus the total money supply. According to Guggenheim Partners, the gold coverage ratio is at an all-time low of 17%. The historical average is about 40%, meaning that gold would to more than double to reach the average.
Looking at the Fed’s balance sheet is a new and interesting way to look at and forecast gold prices. In the past, the conventional wisdom was that gold was merely an anti-dollar play: U.S. dollar down, gold up and vice versa. But that seems to be changing…..
Reuters had some interesting data. The value of the U.S. dollar net short position fell to $6.43 billion for the week ended October 9. This is substantially down from the previous week’s net short position of $16.3 billion. At the same time, the “managed money” net long gold position in gold futures rose to its highest level since August 2011. That was the time when gold hit its record high of $1,920 an ounce.
So much for conventional wisdom. Both currency and gold traders are seeing this long-term relationship between gold and the U.S. dollar breaking down into a “new normal” of direct central bank intervention into financial markets. Gold seems increasingly to be turning into more of a safe haven play than an anti-dollar one. It seems that more investors are worried about all fiat currencies that are burdened by huge debt loads.
The Technical Take…
Below is a daily chart of gold futures. Looking at the price levels and analysis you can see that a bounce or bottom could form at any time now. Price of gold has pulled back in a mini five wave correction touching both our first Fibonacci retracement level of 38% and the 50 day simple moving average. This is the type of pullback that longer term investors like to add to their long gold position. While gold does have the potential to fall all the way down to $1625, in the long run it should continue to rise for the long term investor.
From a trader point of view, it may be worth a stab to get long gold with a very tight stop, but until we see a real panic selling day in gold where volume is high I don’t think the final bottom is in yet.
Chris Vermeulen
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The price of gold hit a record high this past week . . . in euro terms (at about 1380 euros). The record came after a number of actions by central banks around the world, trying to stimulate their respective economies. The actions, usually centered around money printing, once again had investors looking for refuge in gold.
Since the beginning of September, investors have bought about 75 tons of gold through exchange traded funds. Reuters says that gold ETFs, such as the largest gold ETF – the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD), are on track for their biggest quarterly inflows in over a year, of 3.285 million ounces. Finally, according to UBS, investors have also raised their bullish bets on gold futures to the highest level in more than a year.
All the world’s major central banks took action recently including the Bank of Japan which launched a fresh round of monetary stimulus. The main action though was centered in Europe and the United States. The European Central Bank has promised to buy an unlimited quantity of eurobonds going forward. And the Federal Reserve announced its third round of monetary stimulus, QE3, that promises to buy $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities monthly on top of its ongoing Operation Twist program of buying long-dated Treasuries.
Speaking about the monetary easing, Barclays precious metals analyst Suki Cooper put it this way to the Financial Times, “Gold finally found the catalyst it had been waiting for all year after the Fed announced open-ended quantitative easing.”
Another reason for gold’s rise in euro terms, it must be noted, is the continuing fiscal turmoil in Europe itself, particularly in Spain. Spain’s largest autonomous region, Catalonia, manages an economy as big as Portugal’s. The problem is that it has debts of 42 billion euros which it is struggling to service. Catalonia has requested a 5 billion euro temporary bailout from Spain’s central government, adding to its debt burden. In a real show of defiance, Catalonia is also refusing to implement austerity measures. Add to that, bank stress tests in Spain showed that the country’s 14 largest lenders will need 60 billion euros in new capital.
No surprise then that physical demand for gold bars and coins in Europe rose 15 percent in the second quarter, according to the World Gold Council!
Another positive fundamental reason in the corner of gold bulls is the recent currency appreciation in the Indian rupee. India is traditionally the world’s largest consumer of gold. Sales have been slow there this year due to the government trying to slow down gold sales there through rises in a gold import tax. However, the recent rise in the rupee has made gold purchases more palatable and gold sales to India have hit their highest level in two months.
So for now, many of the fundamentals look to favor a move higher for gold, although there is technical resistance at its 2012 high of $1791.
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For the first time in over 30 years, talk of a return to the gold standard has become part of mainstream politics in the United States. Part of the official Republican policy adopted it at the recent Republican Convention and called for the commission to look at reestablishing the link between gold and the U.S. dollar. No doubt that plank was added to soothe supporters of Texas Congressman Ron Paul.
However, gold bugs holding gold bullion or even those holding gold ETFs such as the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) shouldn’t hold their breath in anticipation of the gold standard returning. There was a similar commission – the Gold Commission – set up in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan. After a lot of ‘commissioning’, the decision was made to go with the status quo of using fiat Federal Reserve dollars.
Any commission set up under the current president would likely come to the same conclusion. There are simply too many practical obstacles to return to a full-fledged gold standard. Even pro-gold advocates including the World Gold Council and the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATA) don’t see a gold standard returning.
The key problem would be at what price of gold would the United States peg its currency. Great Britain returned to the gold standard in 1925, after going off it in 1914, at the 1914 peg price. This was a mistake made by Winston Churchill (he called it the biggest he ever made) since it basically ignored the vast inflation in the British pound in those intervening years. The result was a vast overvaluation of the pound and deflation and high unemployment soon followed.
What price would a new Gold Commission set as the “correct” price of the U.S. dollar versus gold? $1,000? $2,000? $5,000? The answer is that there is no “correct” price. Whatever price is set will eventually be tested by the financial markets and fail much as the pegged currencies system failed. So there will be no return to the gold standard.
But that does not mean there will not be a ‘back-door’ gold standard. The move to such as a system is already underway as central banks all over the world are rebuilding their stockpiles of gold. After two decades of heavy selling, central banks became net buyers of gold in 2010 and the momentum has built since. Gold will likely end up being used as ‘good’ collateral by global central banks, as opposed to the shaky collateral sovereign bonds are turning into.
Central bank purchases, led by the emerging markets, are on track this year to hit a record high according to the World Gold Council. China alone in 2011 bought around 490 tons of gold. Other countries including Russia, Turkey and South Korea have added gold to their official holdings in recent months. This buying showed up as central bank purchases in the second quarter of 2012 were more than double the level reported a year earlier at 157.5 metric tons. If the buying continues at current levels, central banks gold purchases would total around 500 tons this year, easily surpassing last year’s 458 tons.
The bottom line for investors from the global central banks’ buying of gold? The gold standard is working its way back into the international monetary system through the back door. This should, in the long-term, put a floor under gold and help maintain it on its steady upward path.
Just last week we started to see gold bullion, silver bullion and gold miner share prices start to breakout to the upside of a 12 month consolidation pattern. This could be the start of the next major rally in precious metals as future uncertainty fears continue to rise. The large bullish technical pattern we see on the gold chart points to much higher prices over the coming 24 months. But keep in mind this is a monthly chart and it could still take months to truly breakout to new highs and start another rally.
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Chris Vermeulen
http://www.thegoldandoilguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/tgaoglogo.png00adminhttp://www.thegoldandoilguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/tgaoglogo.pngadmin2012-09-05 20:51:412014-03-06 07:26:29Gold Standard To Be Reinstated Through The Back Door
It is an endless debate for investors interested in gold. Should they buy a direct play on the gold price, either gold bullion itself or even so-called paper gold with an ETF such as the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD)? Or should they invest into gold equities, particularly the larger, higher quality gold mining companies?
Recent history suggests the answer is gold itself. According to Citigroup, physical gold has outperformed global gold equities 120% percent of the time over the past 5 years. Stocks of the bigger gold mining firms seem to react adversely to bad news (which is normal), but the problem is they react with no more than a yawn to good news. These type of stocks are contained in the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDX).
Gold Mining Stocks ETF - GDX
Evidence of this trend can been see in the latest news to hit the industry…the slowdown in expansion as recently signaled by the world’s largest gold producer, Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX). The company’s stock has fallen by more than 30 percent over the last year due to cost overruns at major projects. The latest blowup in costs of up to $3 billion occurred in its estimate for development of its flagship Pascua-Lama project on the border of Chile and Argentina. The project may now cost up to $8 billion.
In addition, Barrick decided to shelve the $6 billion Cerro Casale in Chile and the $6.7 billion Donlin Gold project in Alaska. Barrick is not alone in its thinking among the major gold producers. The CEO of Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE: AEM), Sean Boyd, recently said “The era of gold mega-projects may be fading. The industry is moving into an era of cash flow generation, yields and capital discipline.”
Fair enough. But are gold mining companies’ management walking the walk about yields or just talking the talk? Last year, many of the larger miners made major announcements that they would be focusing on boosting their dividends to shareholders in attempt to attract new stockholders away from exchange traded vehicles such as GLD, which have siphoned demand away from gold equities. Barrick, for example, did boost its dividend payout by a quarter from the previous level. Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM), which has also cut back on expansion plans, has pledged to link its dividend payout to the price of gold bullion.
So in effect, the managements at the bigger gold mining companies (which are having difficulties growing) are trying to move away from attracting growth-only investors to enticing investors that may be interested in high dividend yields. This is a logical move.
But rising costs at mining projects may put a crimp into the plans of gold mining companies’ as they may not have the cash to raise dividends much. And they have done a poor job of raising dividends for their shareholders to date. In 2011 the dividend yields for gold producers globally was less than half the average for the mining sector as a whole at a mere 1.3 percent. Their yields are below that of the base metal mining sector and the energy sector.
It seems like management for these precious metal companies have the similar emotional response shareholders have when they are in a winning position. When the investor’s brain has experienced a winning streak and is happy it automatically goes into preservation/protection mode. What does this mean? It means management is going to tight up their spending to stay cash rich as they do not want to give back the gains during a time of increased uncertainty. Smaller bets/investments are what the investor’s brain is hard wired to do which is not always the right thing to do…
Looks like there is still a lot work to be done by gold mining companies’ to improve returns to their shareholders. But with all that set aside it is important to realize that when physical gold truly starts another major rally. These gold stocks will outperform the price of gold bullion drastically for first few months.
Gold Stock Rally
Gold Miner Trading Conclusion:
In short, last weeks special report on gold about how gold has been forming a major launch pad for higher prices over the past year. Gold bullion has held up well while gold miner stocks have given up over 30% of their gains. If/when gold starts another rally I do feel gold miner stocks will be the main play for quick big gains during the first month or two of a breakout. The increased price in gold could and value of the mining companies reserves could be enough to get management to start paying their investors a decent dividend which in turn would fuel gold miner shares higher.
Both gold and silver bullion prices remain in a down trend on the daily chart but are trying to form a base to rally from which may start any day now. Keep your eye on precious metals going into year end.
If you would like to get my weekly analysis on precious metals and the board market be sure to join my free newsletter at www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com
Chris Vermeulen
http://www.thegoldandoilguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/tgaoglogo.png00adminhttp://www.thegoldandoilguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/tgaoglogo.pngadmin2012-08-13 20:35:502014-03-06 08:05:03Gold Mining Stocks Continue to Disappoint But Not For Long
