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Precious Metals & Miners Making Waves and New Trends

The precious metals sector has been dormant since both gold and silver topped in 2011. But the long term bull market remains intact. As long as we do not have the price of gold close below the lower yellow box on the monthly chart then technical speaking precious metals should continue much higher.

Large consolidation periods (yellow boxes) provide investors with great insight for investments looking forward 6-18 months upon a breakout in either direction (up or down). The issue with investing during these times is the passage of time. One can hold a position for months and sometimes years having their investments fluctuate adding extra stress to their life when they really do not need to.

Once a breakout takes place a powerful rally or decline will start putting an investors’ money to work within days of committing to that particular investment compared to money invested waiting months for the breakout and new capital gains to occur.

Gold Price Chart – Monthly

Gold Monthly Price Chart

 

Gold Price Chart – Daily

The chart of gold continues to form a large bull flag pattern with a potential 3 or 5 wave correction. If price reverses this week and breaks above the upper resistance trend line then it will be a 3 (ABC) wave correction which is very bullish. But there is potential for a full 5 wave correction which is still bullish, but it just means we have another month or two before metals bottom.

Gold Futures Trading Daily Chart

 

Gold Miner Stocks – GDX ETF Chart – Daily

Gold miners do not have the sexiest looking chart. It was formed a strong looking bull flag but has continues to correct and is not nearing a key support level. This level could act as a triple bottom (bullish) or if price breaks below then it would be breaking then neckline of a massive head and shoulders pattern which points to 50% decline. I remain bullish with the longer term gold trend until proven wrong.

GDX - Gold Miner ETF Trading

 

Silver Price Chart – Daily

Silver remains in a long term bull market much like the monthly chart of gold shown earlier in this report. Silver continues to work its way through a large bull flag pattern with a positive outlook at this time.

Silver Price Chart Daily

 

Silver Miner Stocks – SIL ETF – Daily Chart

Reviewing the precious metals sector it seems that silver miners have the sexiest looking chart. All price patterns are showing strength and are in proportion to one other. If this chart plays out to what technical analysis is pointing to then we could see the precious metals sector put in a bottom and rally within the next week or two. And if this is the case then silver miner stocks should provide the most opportunity going forward. Keep in mind you can view my actual watchlist of stock and ETFs I trade in real-time with my analysis free: https://stockcharts.com/public/1992897

SIL - Silver Miner ETF Trading

 

Precious Metals Trading Conclusion:

In short, what you need to focus on is the yellow consolidation box on the monthly gold chart. A breaking in either direction will trigger a massive move that should last 6-18 months. Until then long term investors can simply sit back and watch the sector while they put their money to work in other active sectors.

From a short term traders point of view, that f mine. I am looking for a signs of a bottom on the daily chart to get my money working earlier to play the bounce/rally that takes place and actively managing the position until a breakout occurs. The charts overall are not that clear as to when a breakout will take place. Metals could start to rally next week or in a few months and all we can do is wait for a reversal to the upside before we get active.

Knowing the big picture trends and patterns at play along with major support and resistance levels (breakout levels) is crucial for success and piece of mind.

Get my analysis, daily updates and trade alerts each day at www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

Chris Vermeulen

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Weekly Metals, Oil, Dollar and Index Price Analysis

US stock market is closed today for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I do not expect much price action to take place on the Canadian or futures market today.

Pre-Market Analysis Points:
– Dollar index is giving mixed signals this week. Short term chart looks bullish for another couple of days but overall it is trading within a large bear flag and near resistance.

– Crude oil is trading lower by -0.50% but remains in a strong uptrend and bull flag. $97-$98 looks like the next upward thrust target.

– Natural gas is trading higher 0.87% touching our upside target of $3.60 this morning. It could keep climbing to $3.70 which is the next target but it looks as though its ready for a pause.

– Gold and Silver are trading flat. Last week they held up at resistance but have yet to breakout. They could do it this week but until we the trend shifts with volume to support the move and miners to also show strength I will remain on the sideline.

– Bonds are trading flat and giving off mixed signals much. The 60 minute chart is bullish with a bull flag, while the daily chart is bearish.

– SP500 index remains in a bull market grinding its way higher each week without a decent pausepullback to get long. Technically we could see a 3-4% pullback any day and the market would remain in an uptrend.

Chris Vermeulen – www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

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The Weekly Technical Take

Dollar index 4 hour chart is forming a bear flag. Until the lower blue support line is broken the flag will continue higher.

Jan18DX

Crude oil has a big pop yesterday as it continues up its support trend line. It looks as though it may take a run at the $100 per barrel level over the next 1-2 weeks.

Jan18CL

Natural gas had bullish inventory numbers yesterday sending the price sharply higher. It tagged our $4.50 resistance price but could not close above it. This morning it is trading above that level and may confirm a breakout.

Jan18NG

Gold continues in a clear down trend with high volume resistance, down trend line and a moving average holding it down. It seems everyone is turning bullish here on gold, but in my contrarian view that is signaling another short term top. Stick with the trend until proven wrong.

Jan18GC

Silver is trading similar to gold. Still in a down trend but is much more volatile.

Jan18SI

Bonds have been pullback since the December and have formed a falling channel. Price remains bearish which is actually bullish for the stock market.

Jan18ZB

SP500 index continues its uptrend but is trading at a 2% premium above my key support/trend moving average. The SP500 has the potential to drop 2-4% at any time and if so we will be looking to get long with the overall trend.

Jan18SPY

 

Morning Market Conclusion:

Each month on average the broad market provides a pullback that signals a broad market entry point. During an entry point you can get long the index, sectors or stocks, and trade options which have formed bullish chart/volume patterns. Unfortunately the last batch of signals that took place was just before the fiscal cliff which we passed on taking because price could have gone either way based on the outcome and the move was going to be big. When Risk is higher I tend to steer clear of entry points.

So now we just have to wait for the next broad market pullback to start building long positions in various ETFs.

Chris Vermeulen – www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

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The Technical Traders Morning Charts

Good Morning,
Yesterday’s trading session played out exactly as posted in the morning chart update. Today will be a different story from the looks of it as the dollar index looks to be putting in a bottom and that has the SP500 down 0.40% this morning. It may trigger our first entry point to let long stocks today.

Dollar Index:

SP500 Futures:

Natural gas has been holding up well the past two sessions and looks as though it is forming a cup and handle pattern at the $3.40 level. The first upside target would be $3.50 then $3.60.

Crude oil has been trading sideways/higher the past week but the on balance volume clearly shows sellers are unloading contracts at the $94 level. Yesterday I talked about how crude oil was walking a fine line up its support trend line and once that breaks look out! Price is holding up but be aware it could drop fast and hard any day here.

Gold and silver traded higher yesterday while the miners lagged. This is not a bullish sign for the metals. The trend remains down and we need a clean break before getting long.

Bonds continue to their march higher as expected and this type of price action points to lower stock prices. This morning stocks are set to gap sharply lower confirming money is rolling back into the safe haven (bonds) for protection from falling share prices.

Be sure to follow my trades at www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com and my free watchlist: https://stockcharts.com/public/1992897

Chris Vermeulen

Gold, Miners and SP500 Trends & Trading Signals

Gold and gold miner stocks have underperformed in 2012 disappointing most traders. That being said it has traded in a large sideways range since September 2011 and remains stuck in this range as of this week. Investments trading sideways are not my preferred investment of choice because some commodities and stocks for that matter can trade sideways for years before making another bull market rally.

That being said in the last six months gold has started to show life that a new bull market may be starting. 2013 is starting to look as though gold, silver and precious metals miners could lead the market higher if they can break out of their basing patterns. Until we get more bullish price action I am not planning to get long.

Take a look at the gold ETF and Gold Miner charts:

These daily charts show the trend (up/down) along with short term extreme overbought/oversold trading days. The key to long term success is to trade with the trend 90% of the time. Only years of experience will you know when it’s ok to break the rules and even then the odds are stacked against you.

Gold Weekly Chart:

Jan13GoldWeekly

Gold Daily Chart:

GoldTrend

Gold Miners Daily Chart:

GDXTrends

 

SP500 Stock Market Analysis:

The last five years I have been fine tuning my SP500 index trading with the use of cycles, sentiment, volume, momentum and the volatility index. Until just recently some of the data I use for generating these extreme overbought/oversold conditions were only available after the market closed. This made the high volatile trading sessions difficult to truly know if an extreme level was reached during the trading session. The exciting news is that a new data feed and a top notch programmer is allowing me to turning this once manual calculation of 17 data points taking me an average of 25 minutes to figure out into a system that generates signals in real time complete with profit taking signals, tend direction and a protective stop which self-adjusts depending on the market volatility and cycle stages.

Two other benefits are that during extremely high volatility levels and mixed cycles the system does not generate any signals. This allows us to avoid the large daily swings in price that typically shake even the most seasoned traders out of the market for repeated losing trades. Also during potential trend changes when cycles and volatility become choppy trading signals are not generated helping to avoid the volatility that takes place during reversals points when the bulls and bears are pushing each other around.

Below is a very basic version of the trend and signals for the SP500 index as it does not show profit taking, trend reversal stops or protective stops for individual swing trades yet, but it’s coming soon.

Jan13SPY

 

Crude Oil Weekly Chart:

Crude oil has been making a move higher in the past four weeks but it’s now testing resistance and the chart shows a high volume doji candle. This is pointing to a pause or pullback in price should take place.

Jan13Oil

 

Natural Gas Weekly Chart:

Natural gas futures have been under pressure the past couple months but it may have put in a bottom last week. The daily and 60 minute charts show strong buyers stepping in here.

Jan13NG

 

Weekend Trading Conclusion:

In short, gold and silver remain in a sideways/down trend on the daily chart. The weekly long term outlook is very bullish and once I start to see real buyers enter the market in terms of volume and price patterns I will start to accumulate a long position.

The stock market overall remains in an uptrend. We are waiting for a pause ro pullback before getting long the index. But that being said there are other sectors and commodities starting to look ripe for big moves. They are not there yet but getting closer each day.

Keep in mind that stocks, commodities and trading in general go in waves. There are times when you are busy with trades popping up left right and center and there are times when setups just do not happen. On my free stock charts watch list in November and December I posted 16 stocks and ETF setups and only one stock went south which happened to be a short trade (count trend trade). You can view my watch list here for more info: https://stockcharts.com/public/1992897

Crude oil is giving mixed signals and I am avoiding it until the daily chart gives us a bullish setup.

Natural gas weekly chart looks bullish but the current price is now trading at resistance. It must break this level before a full reversal can be confirmed.

If you would like to keep up to date on market trends and trade ideas be sure to join my newsletter at www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

Chris Vermeulen

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Copper ETFs and Copper Stocks About To Move Big

With 2012 now behind us it’s time to start looking for some new long term investments which have big potential gains in the new year. Copper is one metal that has caught my eye.

The long term monthly chart of the copper ETF JJC shows a potential cup and handle pattern accompanied with bullish volume characteristics. Last year copper traded sideways in a narrowing range. This type of price action tends to bore traders and investors forcing them to look elsewhere for new to trades. The saying is “If the market doesn’t shake you out, it will wait you out”

You can see on the monthly chart that the interest in this commodity diminished. You can tell because of the sideways movement and declining volume. I like to focus on investments which are out of favor but are showing signs of another big trend starting. getting on the train before it leaves the station can make for a fun ride. I do post some of my trading ideas with my charts updating live each day here: https://stockcharts.com/public/1992897

Take a look at the charts, analysis and my best copper stock setup below:

JJC – Copper Total Return ETN Profile

Description: The index includes the contract in the Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index Total Return that relates to a single commodity, copper (currently the Copper High Grade futures contract traded on the COMEX).

CopperMonthly

 

Copper Miner Stocks ETF COPX – Weekly Chart

This ETF holds a basket of copper mining stocks which is showing signs of a new trend starting. Take a look at the top holdings stocks and fund breakdown to get a feel for the exposure it provides.

COPX Top Ten Holdings

  1. Inmet Mining Corporation (IEMMF): 6.62%
  2. KGHM Polska Miedz SA (KGH): 5.24%
  3. Xstrata PLC (XTA): 5.04%
  4. Grupo Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V. (GMEXICO B): 4.89%
  5. Jiangxi Copper Company Limited H Shares (00358): 4.83%
  6. HudBay Minerals, Inc. (HBM): 4.82%
  7. Antofagasta PLC (ANTO): 4.78%
  8. Southern Copper Corporation (SCCO): 4.75%
  9. Lundin Mining Corp (LUNMF): 4.55%
  10. Kazakhmys PLC (KAZ): 4.55%

CopxInfo

DEc28Copx

 

Best Copper Stock Setup – LUNMF

After reviewing the main holdings in this fund I noticed one stock that looks ready to start a new bull market. Lundin Mining. shares look to be building a Stage 1 base and could break out and start to rally any week. Keep in mind 3/4 stocks move with the broad market so we do want the major indexes to find a bottom or at least trade sideways if we want copper stocks to start their run.

CopperMiner

 

Copper Futures, ETF and Stock Trading Conclusion:

Copper has lost its shine over the past 12 months but could start to make headline news in the near future. I like both COPX and LUNMF if we see further strength. If you would like to get more of these trading and investing ideas and alerts be sure to join my newsletter at: http://www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

Chris Vermeulen

Disclaimer:
I currently do not own a position in these investment but plan on buying them in the near future. This material should not be considered investment advice. Chris Vermeulen is not a registered investment advisor. Under no circumstances should any content from this website, article, video, seminar or email from Chris Vermeulen (TheGoldAndOilGuy.com) be used or interpreted as a recommendation to buy or sell any type of security or commodity contract. This material is not a solicitation for a trading approach to financial markets. Any investment decisions must in all cases be made by the reader or by his or her registered investment advisor. This information is for educational purposes only.

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Gold, Silver and Miners in Stage 1 Accumulation Mode

We don’t hear much about gold and silver anymore on the news. This time last year you could not go 5 minutes without a TV or radio station talking about them. Why is this? Simple really, precious metals have been building a Stage 1 Basing Pattern for the last 12 months. This boring sideways trading range is how the market gets most of those long holders out of an investment before it starts another move up. The saying is “If the market doesn’t shake you out, it will wait you out”.

We all know time is money so the above statement makes a lot of sense doesn’t it? Instead of having your money sitting in an investment that has clearly displayed a large sideways range with month and possibly years before any significant breakout will occur, why would you want their money in it doing nothing? There are other opportunities which you could be putting your money into that could generate more gains until the precious metals sector sets up with a high probability trading pattern.

The good news is that gold, silver and precious metal miner stocks are forming a very large Stage 1 Accumulation pattern on the weekly chart. This points to a multi month rally in prices if they breakout above our resistance levels.

 

Gold & Gold Miner Stocks Weekly Analysis:

The chart below shows a lot of analysis and to the untrained eye this may look messy and confusing, so take your time to review it. In short, what I am showing are sideways price patterns using the previous highs and lows for support and resistance levels. The analysis shows the shift in prices from bearish (down), to Neutral (sideways). The exciting part about this pattern is that a new bull market should emerge if my analysis is correct. Now, I’m not talking about 5 -10% move here, I’m talking about a multi month and possibly a yearlong rally in precious metals that could allow some individuals to retire early if played properly…

A break above our red dotted resistance lines should trigger aggressive buying in gold miners along with physical gold bullion.

Gold Miners ETFs

In the past month I have been giving out some of my Stage 1 trading ideas which have generated some decent gains for those who follow along. All but one have generated gains with FSLR 12.5%, FB 12%, RIMM 54%, AAPL 5%, TLT 2.5%, XLU 1.5%, and KOL down -5.2%. Keep in mind that you can follow my trading charts live for free and get some of my stock and ETF trading ideas here: https://stockcharts.com/public/1992897

 

Silver & Silver Miner Stocks Weekly Analysis:

This chart of silver and silver miner stocks (SIL), shows a very similar pattern to that of its big shiny sister (Yellow Gold). Silver carries a lot more risk because of its industrial usage. Also this commodity is thinly traded and can move very quickly on a daily basis compared to gold. Because of these quick price movements it has attracted a lot of speculative money which also has increased the volatility. More often than not silver will move 2-3 times more on a percentage bases than that of yellow gold.

Silver Miners ETFs

 

Battle of the Miner ETFs Weekly Performance:

This chart compares three precious metals miner ETFS (GDX – Gold Miners, SIL – Silver Miners, NUGT 3x Leveraged Gold Miners).

Silver miners have held up the best because the herd saw how big the move was a year ago and are front running the next potential rally. But, depending on how you read the charts and sentiment it may be pointing to the dormant gold miners for a bigger than expected rally. But debating which one will breakout and run the most is a conversation/debate of its own and even I can argue both sides. The safe play is that even if gold miners (GDX & GDXJ) underperform the silver miners (SIL), the NUGT which is 3x leveraged gold miners should be the same if not outperform silver miners.

Precious Metals Mining Stocks

 

Precious Metals & Miners Trading Conclusion:

In short, I favor trading the miners over physical bullion simply because the charts show much more profit potential than if one was to buy the bullion exchange traded funds GLD and SLV.

The market seems to be setting up for some very large moves in 2013 and members of my trading newsletter should do very well. Be sure to join and follow along at www.GoldAndOilGuy.com

Chris Vermeulen

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Post-Election Trading Made Simple

Over the past two months shares of gold (NYSE:GLD) and Apple (NASD:AAPL) have had a sizable bite taken out of their share price. Active traders along with the longer term investors have had a wild ride this fall watching these investments slide to multi month lows. The big question is when will gold and apple shares bounce?

Here we are again with another election behind us and Barack Obama in the White House again. Many think this means four years of the same thing… Printing, Inflation and higher stock prices.

Is this good or bad for Americans or the world for that matter? I doubt it, but who really knows and who cares because there is nothing anyone can do about it now. So buckle up your seat belt and focus on trading and investing with major trend both within the United States and abroad using exchange traded funds.

Currently the broad stock market and commodities are in a full blown bull market so the focus should be to buy the dips until proven wrong. Below are some charts showing the important breakout levels for Apple, metals, oil and key indexes like the Russell 2000.

Be aware that during pullbacks which last more than a month which is the market has done, some of the biggest drops in price happen just before prices bottom… Scaling into positions is the key to minimal draw downs.

 

Apple Inc. – AAPL Stock Chart:

Shares of Apple clearly show the down channel which must be broken before investors start buying again. This stock seems to have big potential for $650 to be reached quickly. If Apple shares rise so will the overall stock market… Follow my live charts free here: http://stockcharts.com/public/1992897

AAPL - Apple Shares

 

Gold Spot – GLD Exchange Traded Fund:

During August and September investors flooded the gold market in anticipation of QE3. Since then gold has been drifting lower with profit taking and because of some slowly strengthening economic numbers in the USA. Gold looks ready for a run to the $1800 but may stabilize here for a few weeks first.

Gold Breakout

 

Silver Spot – SLV Exchange Traded Fund:

The price of silver moves similar to that of its big yellow sister (Gold). While the charts look the same silver is highly volatile and can super charge your portfolio when metals rally.

 

Crude Oil Spot – USO Fund:

Crude oil has been correcting for a couple months also and still has a lot of work to do before a new uptrend to be triggered. Currently oil is trading in the middle of is trading range but once the price breaks above $93 per barrel a good investment fund would be USO.

Oil Breakout

 

Russell 2000 Small Cap Index – IWM

Small cap stocks typically lead the broad market in both directions. They are the first to rally and the first to rollover and sell off. The major indexes like the DOW, SP500 and NYSE have not formed clean chart patterns which is why my focus is on the Russell 2000. Small cap stocks are now showing a rising relative strength compared to the SP500 large cap stocks and this is very bullish for stocks in general. The best way to trade this index is through the exchange traded funds IWM and TNA.

Rut Breakout

 

Post-Election Trading Breakout Summary:

In short, history shows that equities tend to rally after an election. For a detailed outlook of how to trade stocks and indexes during the election cycles be sure to read my report “The Election Cycle – What to Expect in Stocks & Bond Prices”

Chris Vermeulen
www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com
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Is Santa Coming Early for Gold & Gold Mining Stocks?

By: Chris Vermeulen – www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

If you own physical gold, gold mining stocks or plan on buying anything related to precious metals before year end, you are likely going to get excited because of what my analysis and outlook shows.

Since gold topped abruptly a year ago (Sept 2011) with a massive wave of selling which sent the price of gold from $1920 down to $1535, technical analysts knew that type of damage which had be done to the chart pattern could take a year or more to stabilize before gold would be able to continue higher.

Fast forwarding twelve months to today (Oct 2012). You can see that gold looks to have stabilized and is building a basing pattern (launch pad) for another major rally. The charts illustrated below show my big picture analysis, thoughts and investment idea.

Weekly Spot Gold Chart:

The weekly chart can be a very powerful tool for understanding the overall trend. This chart clearly shows the last major correction and basing pattern in gold back in 2008 – 2009. Right now gold looks to be forming a very similar pattern.

Keep in mind this is a weekly chart and if you compare the 2009 basing pattern to where we are today I still feel it could take 3 – 6 months before gold truly breaks out to the upside and kicks into high gear. The point of this chart is to provide a rough guide for what to expect in the coming weeks and months.

Gold Stock Investing

Weekly Chart of Junior Gold Miner Stocks:

If you follow gold closely then you likely already know junior gold mining stocks can lead the price of gold up to two weeks. Meaning gold mining stocks which you can track by looking at GDX and GDXJ exchange traded funds will form strong bullish chart patterns and generally start moving up in price before physical gold.

The chart below shows the junior gold miner ETF with a VERY BULLISH chart and volume pattern. Remember that gold stocks are a leveraged play on gold in most cases. For example, if gold moves up 1% we typically see GDX and GDXJ move 2-4%. Because they act as a leveraged play on physical gold smart money and big institutions start accumulating these investments in anticipation of gold rising.

GDXJ has formed a tight bull flag and the volume levels confirm there is big money moving into these investments. The first price target on GDXJ using technical analysis for a measured move points to the $32 area. Looking forward twelve months with gold trading above $2000 we could see this fund more than double in value.

Bonus: while most traders focus on GDX gold miner fund, I prefer the GDXJ fund because its almost identical in price performance BUT it pays you a 5% dividend…

Junior Gold Mining Stocks

Gold’s Seasonality:

It’s that time of year again where gold tends to move higher. Below you can see where we are and what the price of gold typically does in November.

Gold Seasonality Trading

Gold Investing & Trading Conclusion:

Looking forward one month (November) and factoring in the recent pullback in gold to known support levels along with strong buying of junior gold mining stocks, I feel gold will take another run at the $1800 level and for GDXJ to test its previous higher of $25.50 at minimum. If both those levels get taken out then a massive bull market for precious metals could be triggered. Only time will tell…

Get my Daily Trading Analysis & Trade Setups at: www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

 

Chris Vermeulen

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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Gold-US Dollar Link in Question & Technical Setup

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.

Spot Gold Bullion Investing

Chris Vermeulen