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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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.

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

Over the past year we have had some really interesting things unfold in the market. Investing or even swing trading has been much more difficult because of all the wild economic data and daily headline news from all over the globe causing strong surges or sell offs almost every week.

For a while there you could not hold a position for more than a week without some type of news event moving the market enough to either push you deep in the money or get stopped out for a loss. This has unfortunately caused a lot of individuals to give up on trading which is not a good sign for the financial market as a whole.

The key to navigating stocks which everyone thinks are overbought is to trade small position sizes and focus on the shorter time frames like the 4 hour charts. This chart is my secret weapon and giving you both large price swings which daily chart traders focus on while also showing clear intraday patterns to spot reversals or continuation patterns with precise entry/exit points.

While I could ramble on about why the stock market is primed for major long term growth from this point forward I will keep things short and simple with some 4 hour and daily charts for you to see what I see and what I am thinking should unfold moving forward.

Keep in mind, the most accurate trading opportunities that happen week after week are the quick shifts in sentiment which only last 2-5 days at most which is what most of my charts below are focusing on…

Dollar Index – 4 Hour Chart

This chart shows a mini Head & Shoulders reversal pattern and likely target over the next five sessions. The dollar index has been driving the market for the past couple years so a lower dollar means higher stock and commodity prices.

Dollar Index Trading

Bond Futures – 4 Hour Chart

Money has been flowing into bonds for the past couple weeks with most traders and investors expecting a strong correction in stocks. As you can see the price of bonds hit resistance this week and as of Thursday has now started selling off. Money flowing out of this “Risk Off” asset means money will move to the “Risk On” investments like stocks and commodities.

Bond Futures Trading

Gold Futures – Daily Chart

Gold is stuck in both categories in my opinion. It is a “Risk Off” safe haven when people are scared of falling stock prices, and it is also a “Risk On” speculative investment when people are feeling good about the market. Gold has been trading at key resistance for a couple weeks and looks as though it’s starting its next rally.

Gold Futures Trading

Silver Futures – Daily Chart

Silver is in the same boat as gold though it carries much more volatility than gold. Expect 2-4% swings regularly and sloppy chart patterns in this metal.

Silver Futures Trading

SP500 Futures – Daily Chart

As much as everyone hates to buy stocks up at these lofty prices I hate to say it but I think they are going to keep going up and they could do this for a long time yet. If the dollar index continues to break down then I expect the SP500 to rally another 3% from here (1500) in the next 1-2 weeks.

SP500 Futures Trading

Crude Oil Futures – 4 Hour Chart

Crude oil has not had much attention from me in the past few months. While it has had big price action many of those big days took place on news causing an instant price movement making this extra dangerous to trade. I continue to watch rather than get attached to it.

Crude Oil Futures Trading

Natural Gas Futures – Daily Chart

Natural gas has been a great performer for us in the past 6 months as all the short positions slowly get covered. I just closed out my natural gas ETF trade this week with a 31.9% gain and plan on getting back in once the chart provides another low risk setup.

Natural Gas Futures Trading

Trading Conclusion:

In short, I feel the dollar index along with bonds will correct over the next few weeks. That will trigger buying in stocks and commodities. Keep in mind natural gas dances to its own drum beat. The dollar does not have much affect on its price and most times natural gas is doing the opposite of the broad market. Get My Pre-Market Trading Analysis Video and Intraday Chart Analysis EVERY DAY – www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

Chris Vermeulen

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.

Know when to buy gold, silver, oil and stocks – www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

Chris Verneulen

It has been a year since the price of gold bullion topped out and even longer for silver. Many traders and investors have been patiently waiting for this long term consolidation pattern to breakout and trigger the rally for precious metals and miner stocks. Most of gold bullion is used for investment purposes.  As a result, it rises when there is economic weakness and investors lose confidence in the fiat currency of a country.

With continuing economic weakness in the United States it will almost certainly lead the Federal Reserve to act in way that is more powerful than Operation Twist which is the selling of short term securities to buy those with a longer term.   Based on the most recent data, economic growth in the United States is falling as the unemployment rate rises.  A recent statement by the Federal Reserve was unusually clear in calling for greater action in the future.

 

Gold, Silver and Dollar Weekly Price Chart:

Take a look at the weekly charts below which compare gold and silver to the US Dollar index. You will notice how major resistance for metals lines up with major support for the dollar. As this time metals are still in consolidation mode (down trend) and the dollar is in an uptrend.

Weekly Metals Outlook

 

Gold Miners ETF Weekly Chart:

Gold miners have been under pressure for a long time and while they make money they have refused to boost dividends. That being said I feel the time is coming where gold miner companies breakout and rally then start to raise dividends in shortly after to really get share prices higher.

GDX - Gold Miner Stock ETF

On August 13th I talked about the characteristic’s and how to trade the next precious metals breakout and where your money should be for the first half of the rally and where it should rotate into for the second half. Doing this could double you’re returns. Read Part I: http://www.thegoldandoilguy.com/gold-mining-stocks-continue-to-disappoint-but-not-for-long/

Overall I feel a rally is nearing in metals that will lead to major gains. It may start this week or it still could be a couple months down the road. But when it happens there should be some solid profits to be had. I continue to keep my eye on this sector for when they technically breakout and start an uptrend.

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

Chris Vermeulen – www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

One of the top stories in the financial markets in 2012 has to be the stagnation in the price of gold at around $1600 an ounce, which is down approximately 17% from its peak at $1920.30. Those bullish on the yellow metal have been disappointed in gold’s performance while those bearish on the shiny metal have reveled in its stagnation, saying that gold’s status as a safe haven is over.

What is behind gold’s sluggish performance in 2012? There are several reasons, but one of the key fundamental reasons has been the lack of demand from traditionally the largest buyer of gold on the planet – India (although China will surpass it this year). India bought only 181.3 tons in the second quarter of 2012, a 2-year low, according to the London-based World Gold Council.

There are several factors at play as to why Indian demand for gold has fallen. One reason is the sharp drop in the value of its currency, the rupee, which is down by 25% versus the U.S. dollar this year. This decline has kept gold prices high in relative terms while the actual dollar value of gold was falling. Perhaps even more important has been the ‘war’ declared on gold by its central bank which has blamed all of the country’s economic ills on Indian citizens’ traditional buying of gold. In an attempt to slow down gold and silver imports, the Indian government has imposed new taxes on the purchase of these precious metals.

But even though demand for the precious metal is way down in India, the situation still offers hope for gold bulls. Why? Because we’ve been here before – in 2009 to be exact. In early 2009, the Indian economy and rupee tanked. Gold demand almost completely dried up. According to precious metals consultancy GFMS, Indian demand for gold in the first quarter of 2009 collapsed by 77%. For the full year GFMS said Indian consumption dropped by 19%.

Now with the Indian economy slowing to its weakest growth rate in nearly a decade and the rupee falling, we are seeing a replay of 2009. The monsoon season has been poor, hitting farmers – among the biggest buyers of gold – hard. Gold prices have hit a record high in rupee terms, and India is expected to purchase, as forecast by the World Gold Council, only 750 tons of gold, down 25% from 2011 levels. Meanwhile, the WGC forecasts that China will buy 850 tons of gold this year.

Investors should pay heed to the clues that recent history is giving us. The drop in Indian demand is simply a cyclical phenomenon due to the lousy state of the Indian economy. It will recover eventually. And when it does, look out for the fireworks from renewed Indian demand for gold added to the Chinese demand. In 2010, as pent-up demand for gold was unleashed, Indian gold consumption soared 74% to a record high of 1,006 tons according to GFMS.

Gold bulls surely hope we see something similar in 2013 and that is exactly what I talked about last week based around gold miner stocks and also what Dave Banister’s recent gold forecast was about at TheMarketTrendForecast.com sees in 2013.

Gold Chart Showing 2009 Collapse and Outcome and Current Gold Price Analysis:

Gold Forecast - India Gold demand

Gold Forecast - India Gold demand

Gold Trading & Investing Conclusion:

In short, gold and gold stocks have a lot of work to do before they truly breakout into the next major leg higher. I feel we are nearing that point and they may have bottomed already. Starting a small long position to scale in I think is a safe play. But I would only add more once the trend actually turns up and shows strength in terms of price and volume action.

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

Chris Vermeulen – www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

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

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 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

The past 48 hours the stocks market has been on verge of a major meltdown in my opinion. The people with power who manipulate the markets are trying their hardest to hold prices up.

Yesterday we saw rumors about the Fed I the WSJ that they wanted to do more easing ASAP. That news could not have come at a better time as it saved the day/markets from more heavy selling. That news also helped prop gold bullion prices up.

Take a look at the 4 hour candle stick chart for a visual:

Buy Gold Bullion

Now look at what Mario Draghi’s comments have done with spot gold prices in the daily chart below:

Gold is not nearing key resistance but the recent move up has been on nothing but rumors and comments… nothing set in stone. This makes me think sellers will continue to control gold prices as we near resistance.

Purchase Gold Bullion

 

When gold does breakout of this pattern I expect we see $2300 level reached. A great safe place to buy gold which I own some is through BullionVault and the even give you a FREE GRAM OF GOLD just for taking the 4 minutes to open up an account!

Get my Trade Alerts & Analysis Here: www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

Chris Vermeulen

After making new highs about a year ago we have seen Silver and Gold consolidate for roughly the last twelve months.  Technically, it would typically be a bullish scenario with gold from the stand point that the last 12 months’ price action was a sideways consolidation in a bullish pennant formation.  However over the last year we have witnessed a series of lower highs and increasingly tested supports levels around $150 on GLD which raises caution.

  Click Gold Chart for Full Size

With the fed pulling any extensions on further quantitative easing in the form of QE3 or other programs, the bullish case has lately been criticised.  However I am still a firm believer that gold in most respects is a currency, and the only one that can maintain its value.  There are very serious issues looming in Europe and across the world that are far from resolution.  With few tools left in the toolbox to stimulate world economies, further easing can never be ruled out.

Silver, after breaking through strong resistance around $19- $20 in September 2011 went almost parabolic in spring 2011 prior to giving up most of its gains in the last year.  There seems to be significant support around $26 on SLV, however this level has been tested quite frequently over recent months and this again raises caution.  While silver owes some of its moves to its industrial application, the high correlation between the two metals is not to be ignored.

 Click Silver Chart for Full Size

I think the long-term trade will be long in both metals, but I’m waiting to see a significant breakout out of these consolidations on heavy volume to confirm a direction.  I would like to see both precious metals break out of their respective consolidations and ultimately have further confirmation in the USD.  Any major headlines over the next couple months involving Europe or quantitative easing may provide us with the trigger for the next big move.

Get My FREE gold cycles and trading analysis here: www.GoldAndOilGuy.com

Chris Vermeulen