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AUDUSD longs at good support at 7475/55 worked again on Monday with a low for the day at 7456 & a bounce to our target of 7490/7500, as we establish a sideways trend after Thursday's bearish engulfing candle remains a sell signal for this week. NZDUSD longs at 7140/30 worked on Friday & again on Monday as we look for a target of 7180/90 for profit taking. AUDJPY saw a high for the rally at Thursday's high of 8624 as predicted leaving a bearish engulfing candle for a sell signal. The pair was expected to test first support at 8460/40 ut missed it by only 12 pips. Today's Analysis. AUDUSD longs at good support at 7475/55 work again on the bounce to 7500/05 for profit taking. Gains are likely to be limited but a break above 7515 allows a recovery to 7530/35. Strong resistance at 7555/65 should be a big challenge. It is unlikely we will reach this far but if we do, try shorts with stops above 7580. Longs at 7475/55 again today stop below 7445 (so the risk is very small). A break lower is a sell signal targeting 7410/7390, perhaps as far as 7360/50. NZDUSD longs at first support at 7140/30 could work again targeting 7180/90 for profit taking. Gains are likely to be limited now. If we retest 7200/7220, try shorts with stops above 7240. BUT be ready to sell again at very strong resistance at 7255/75. Stop above 7300. Longs at first support at 7140/30 must stops below 7120 so the risk is very small. A break lower is a sell signal targeting 7090/80 probably as far as 7040/30. AUDJPY meets first support at 8460/40. A bounce targets 8500 perhaps as far as 8540/50. I would sell at 8620/40 with stops above 8660. A break below 8420 is the next sell signal targeting 8370 & 8345/35. USDJPY found support at 113.40/30. EURJPY meets a selling opportunity at 132.20/30 with stops above 132.40. CADJPY formed bearish engulfing candle for a sell signal on Thursday with a high for the day at first resistance at 9240/60 on Friday. Update daily at 06:30 GMT Today's Analysis. USDJPY first resistance at 113.80/95. Shorts need stops above 114.05. A break higher can retest last week's high at 114.50/70. Shorts need stops above 114.80. First support at 113.40/30. Longs need stops below 113.20. A break lower target 113.00/112.90 & 112.60/50. EURJPY sell at 132.20/30 with stops above 132.40. An unexpected break higher meets resistance at 132.70/80. Shorts at 132.20/30 target 131.90 then minor support at 131.60/50 which could see a low for the day. Further losses however target 131.00. CADJPY shorts at first resistance at 9240/60 worked perfectly as we broke 9200 for a sell signal targeting 9175 (hit on Friday for a potential 70 pip profit). We are expected to hit our buying opportunity at 9120/00 eventually with stops below 9090. Gains are likely to be limited with first resistance at 9240/60. Sell at 9280/9300 with stops above 9320. EURUSD retests support at 1.1620/00 but it is difficult to trade the pair as the daily ranges are small & we are mostly trading sideways. USDCAD trying a break above minor resistance at 1.2370/80 but we are mostly trading sideways for the last few days. GBPCAD shorts at first resistance at 1.7050/70 worked all last week for scalping opportunities so we keep trying this trade until we are stopped. A break higher is a good buy signal. Update daily at 06:30  GMT Today's Analysis. EURUSD longs at the buying opportunity at 1.1620/00 target first resistance at 1.1665/75.  Next we look for a test of minor resistance at 1.1690/99. Exit longs & try shorts with stops above 1.1720. Be ready to sell a break below 1.1580 targeting 1.1540/30. A break below 1.1520 is an important medium term sell signal. USDCAD starting to build a recovery as hoped, but it is a slow process as we look for a test of first resistance at 1.2420/40. If you try shorts here stop above 1.2450 but look for a target of 1.2370 for profit taking. Be ready to buy a break above 1.2450 targeting 1.2510/30. Support at 1.2300/1.2280. Longs need stops below 1.2270 for a sell signal. GBPCAD shorts at first resistance at 1.7050/70 must stop above 1.7090. A break higher is an important buy signal targeting 1.7155/75 & 1.7195, perhaps as far as 1.7240/50. Minor support at 1.6950/40. Further losses are likely eventually to 1.6910/1.6890. Ultimately we are looking for the target of 1.6870/60, perhaps as far as support at 1.6800/1.6780. GBPUSD high for the week exactly at resistance at 1.3835/55 with longs at first support at 1.3740/30 working so we trade this range & wait for a breakout. EURGBP remains very much in a sideways trend ranging from 8420 up to 8460/70. GBPNZD bounces around from important support at 1.9180/70 to resistance at 1.9295/1.9305 for a 100 pip scalping profit. A high for the day in fact so shorts also worked perfectly on the slide to 1.9180/70. An easy 200 pips on 2 trades. Update daily at 07:00 GMT Today's Analysis. GBPUSD held support at 1.3740/30 on Thursday & Friday & again on Monday. Be ready to sell a break below 1.3720 targeting minor support at 1.3670/60, perhaps as far as strong support at 1.3600/1.3580. Any longs at support at 1.3740/30 targets 1.3790. Strong resistance at 1.3835/55 remains key to direction in severely overbought conditions. Try shorts with stops above 1.3875. A break above here is a medium term buy signal. EURGBP meets strong resistance at 8475/85, stop above 8495. On the downside we have the 2 week low at 8420 holding then important 200 week moving average support at 8405/8395 in severely oversold conditions. Longs need stops below 8380. GBPNZD longs at important support at 1.9180/70 certainly worked last week as we retest this level again this morning. First target for longs here again today is 1.9240/60 then resistance at 1.9295/05 for profit taking on any remaining longs. Shorts here today need stops above 1.9315. A break higher meets a selling opportunity at 1.9370/90 with stops above 1.9410. A break below support at 1.9180/70 is more likely on the next test, targeting 1.9110/00. Bitcoin trying a recovery but failure to beat 64000 keeps the outlook negative & risks the formation of a head & shoulders sell signal. A break below the neckline at 60000 will confirm. Ripple remains in a sideways trend holding support at 10700/750 & longs working on the bounce to 11250. Ethereum made a high for the day exactly at the all time high at 4355/85. The resistance was clearly rejected with prices unchanged on the day as we collapsed to 4010. THIS LEAVES IMPORTANT DOUBLE TOP RISK. Some video analysis: https://youtu.be/ZGDSbDzQEtc Update daily at 07:00 GMT Today's Analysis Bitcoin shorts at  62500/63000 must stop above 64000. Only above here do I see bulls back in the game. Prices are likely then to push higher towards 65000/500 & then retest the all time high at 66500/67000. A break higher is a buy signal initially targeting 69500/70000. First support at 60700/500. Longs need stops below 60000. A break below here is a very important sell signal initially targeting 58000. I do not see this as a strong support. A break below here over the weekend is a longer term sell signal initially targeting 57000/56500. I am talking crash conditions because we will be building a huge bull trap. A break below 54000 is the next sell signal. Ripple longs at first support at 10700/750 re-target 11000, 11400 & 11600. Expect strong resistance at 12020/12100. A break higher can target 11300/11400. First support at 10700/750. Most important support of the week at 10250/10200. Holding here keeps bulls in control. A break below here is an important sell signal initially targeting less important 9700/9600. On a break below I would expected significant losses. Initially we should target 8600. This may hold on the first test & we could even see a decent bounce. However I would be a seller at resistance on this bounce, expecting the support to break eventually for another significant sell signal. Ethereum we have a double top sell signal. However we have unexpectedly recovered back above 4000/3980 & can perhaps retest the all time high at 4355/85. A break above here is required to eliminate the double top sell signal risk now & will initially target 4500. First support at 4000/3980 but longs need stops below 3900. A break lower meets better support at 3770/30. A decent bounce from here is expected, perhaps as far as 3950. Longs need stops below 3670. A break lower is a sell signal targeting 3570/50 the strong support at 3380/40. Longs need stops below 3300. Emini S&P December beat the all important all time high at 4545/50 for a buy signal triggering further slow gains this week. Nasdaq December bounced from just 3 ticks above first support at 15300/280 & made a high for the day exactly at the next target of 15470/490 at the end of the week. This level was beaten yesterday as we target the very important all time high at 15650/700. Emini Dow Jones December making a clear break above the all time high at 35540/550 for a buy signal. Update daily at 07:00 GMT. Today's Analysis. Emini S&P beats the all important all time high at 4545/50 to kill the double top sell signal & trigger a buy signal. We are looking for 4580/85 today. Above 4590 targets 4625/35 but a high for the week is likely here. First support at 4550/40. Longs need stops below 4530. Nasdaq December now targets the very important all time high at 15650/700. Rejection here forms a potential double top sell signal. First support at 15490/460. Longs need stops below 15400. Emini Dow Jones December breaking higher for a buy signal targeting 35800/850 & 36000/100, eventually as far as 36250/280. First support at 35550/500. Longs need stops below 35450.

EURUSD cuts through resistanceThe euro surges as the market prices in inflation pressure despite the ECB’s dovish message.Bullish candles have pushed the single currency above the triple top (1.1665) which sits on the 30-day moving average, paving the way for a reversal. Strong momentum is a sign of short-covering from those caught on the wrong side of the market.An overbought RSI could temporarily limit the range of the rally. However, renewed optimism may send the pair to the daily resistance at 1.1750. 1.1620 is the support in case of a pullback.USDJPY tests demand zoneThe Japanese yen recouped losses after the BOJ sees a weak yen as positive for Japan’s economy. And the US dollar has come under pressure near a four-year high.An overbought RSI on the daily chart points to an overextension. On the hourly level, the pair has found bids around 113.30 near a previous consolidation range.A bearish breakout would test the round number at 113.00, which lies on the 20-day moving average and is critical in safeguarding the uptrend. The bulls need to lift 114.30 before they may resume the rally.US 30 pulls backs for supportThe Dow Jones consolidates as investors digest earnings near the all-time high.A breakout above the August peak at 35600 and a bullish MA cross from the daily timeframe indicate an acceleration on the upside as the rally continues.Pullbacks could be an opportunity to buy low. An overbought RSI has triggered a minor sell-off below 35600, shaking out weaker hands in the process. A drop below 35450 would lead to the psychological level of 35000. 35830 is now a fresh resistance.

Three main forces are shaping the business and investment climate:  Surging energy prices, a dramatic backing up of short-term interest rates in Anglo-American countries, and the persistence of supply chain disruptions.  The US and Europe have likely passed peak growth.  Fiscal policy will be less accommodative, and financial conditions have tightened. Japan appears to be getting a handle on Covid and after a slow start.  Its vaccination rate has surpassed the US.  The lifting of the formal state of emergency and a hefty dose of fiscal stimulus is expected to be delivered in the coming months. Many developing economies have already lifted rates, some like Brazil and Russia, aggressively so.  They will likely finish earlier too.      US light sweet crude oil rose nearly 12% last month, even though US inventories rose last month for the first time since April.   The price of WTI rose almost 10% in September.  Statistically, the rise in oil prices is strongly correlated with the increase in inflation expectations.  OPEC+ will boost supplies by another 400k barrels a day at the start of November and is committed to the same monthly increase well into 2022.   At the same time, new Covid infections in several Asia-Pacific countries, including China, Singapore, and Australia, warn of the risk of continued supply-chain disruptions.  In Europe, Germany and the UK recently reported the most cases since the spring. Belgium is tightening curbs.  Bulgaria is seeing a rise in infections, and Romania was at full capacity in its intensive care facilities.  The fact that Latvia lags the EU in vaccination at about 50% leaves it vulnerable.  The US may be lagging behind Europe, and the next four-six weeks will be critical.  Roughly 40% of Americans are not fully vaccinated.   The rise in price pressures and the gradual acknowledgment by many central bankers that inflation may be more persistent have helped spur a significant backing up of short-term rates in the Anglo-American economies. The ultimately deflationary implications of the surge in energy prices through demand destruction and the implications for less monetary and fiscal support still seem under-appreciated. Yet, the market has priced in aggressive tightening of monetary policy over the next 12 months.   The focus of the foreign exchange market seems squarely on monetary policy.  From a high level, the central banks perceived to be ahead in the monetary cycle have seen stronger currencies. The likely laggards, like the Bank of Japan, the Swiss National Bank, and the ECB, have currencies that underperformed.  Norway and New Zealand have already raised rates and are expected to do so again in November.    Of course, as you drill down, discrepancies appear.  In October, the Australian dollar was the top performer among the major currencies with a 4% gain.  It edged out the New Zealand dollar and the Norwegian krone, whose central banks are ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia.  The RBA has pushed against market speculation that has 90 bp of tightening priced into 12-month swaps.  The Australian dollar outperformed sterling by about 2.5% in October even though the Bank of England has been so hawkish with its comments that the market had little choice but to price in a high probability of a hike as early as the November meeting.  In fact, the market has the UK's base rate above 50 bp by the end of Q1 22.  This is important because in its forward guidance that BOE has identified that as the threshold for it to begin unwinding QE by stopping reinvesting maturing issues.  Interestingly enough, when the BOE meets on March 17 next year, it will have a sizeable GBP28 bln maturity in its portfolio.   In an unusual quirk of the calendar, the Federal Reserve meets before the release of the October jobs report.  All indications point to the start of the tapering process.  It is currently buying $120 bln a month of Treasuries ($80 bln) and Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities.  The pace of the reduction of purchases is a function of the duration, and the Fed has clearly indicated the tapering will be complete around mid-year. That suggests reducing the purchases by about $15 bln a month.  Chair Powell indicated that unlike the Bank of England, the Fed will stop its bond purchases before raising rates. A faster pace of tapering would be a hawkish signal as it would allow for an earlier rate hike.  The gap between when the tapering ends and the first rate hike does not appear predetermined. Powell has talked about the economic prerequisites, which emphasize a full and inclusive labor market in the current context. The Fed funds futures entirely discount a 25 hike in July, with the risk of a move in June.  Comments by several officials hint that the Fed may drop its characterization of inflation as transitory, which would also be understood as a hawkish development.   Partly owing to the extended emergency in Japan, it is marching to the beat of a different drummer than the other high-income countries. Inflation is not a problem.  In September, the headline rate rose to 0.2% year-over-year, the highest since August 2020.  However, this is a function of fresh food and energy prices, without which the consumer inflation stuck below zero (-0.5%).  In December 2019, it stood at 0.9%.  In addition, while fiscal policy will be less accommodative in Europe and the US, a sizeable supplemental budget (~JPY30 trillion) is expected to be unveiled later this year.   After expanding by 1.3% quarter-over-quarter in Q2, the Chinese economy slowed to a crawl of 0.2% in Q3, which was half the pace expected by economists. Some of the decline in economic activity resulted from the virus and natural disasters (floods). Still, some of it stemmed from an effort to cut emissions in steel and other sectors.  The problems in China's property development space, accounting for a large part of its high-yield bond market,  unsettled global markets briefly.  Talk of a Lehman-like event seems a gross exaggeration. Still, given the sector's importance to China's economy (30% broadly measured) and the use of real estate as an investment vehicle, it may precipitate a structural shift in the economy.   The Communist Party and the state are reasserting control over the economy's private sector and the internet and social network.  It has also weighed in on family decisions, like the number of children one has, how long a minor should play video games, the length of men's hair, what kind of attributes entertainers should have, and appropriate songs to be played with karaoke.   It seems to be reminiscent of part of the Cultural Revolution and a broader economic reform agenda like Deng Xiaoping did in the late 1970s and Zhu Rongji in the 1990s.  At the same time, Beijing is wrestling with reducing emissions and soaring energy prices, which also dampen growth. Even though consumer inflation is not a problem in China (0.7% year-over-year in September), Chinese officials still seem reluctant to launch new stimulative fiscal or monetary initiatives. Moreover, new outbreaks of the virus could exacerbate the supply chain disruptions and delays fuel inflation in many countries.  The aggressiveness in which investors are pricing G10 tightening weighed on emerging market currencies in October.  The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index fell by almost 0.8% last month after falling 2.9% in September, the largest decline since March 2020.  The continued politicization of Turkey's monetary policy and the aggressive easing saw the lira tumble nearly 7.5% last month, which brings the year-to-date depreciation to 22.5%.   On the other hand, Brazil's central bank has aggressively hiked rates, and the 150 bp increase in late October brought this year's tightening to 575 bp and lifting the Selic to 7.75%.  Yet, it is still below the inflation rate (10.34% October), and the government has lost the confidence of domestic and international business.  The Brazilian real fell nearly 3.5% last month to bring the year-to-date loss to almost 7.8%.   Our GDP-weighted currency basket, the Bannockburn World Currency Index, snapped a two-month decline and rose by 0.35%.  The rise in the index reflects the outperformance of the currencies against the dollar.  The currencies from the G10 countries, including the dollar, account for about two-thirds of the index, and emerging markets, including China, the other third.  The yen was the weakest of the majors, falling 2.3%.  It has a weighting of 7.5% in the BWCI.   Among the emerging market currencies in our GDP-weighted currency index, the Brazilian real's 3.4% decline was the largest, but its 2.1% weighting minimizes the drag.  It was nearly offset by the Russian rouble's 2.5% advance.  It has a 2.2% weighting in our basket.  The Chinese yuan, which has a 21.8% share, rose by 0.6%.      Dollar:   The market is pricing in very aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve.  As recently as late September, only half of the Fed officials anticipated a hike in 2022.  The December 2022 Fed funds futures are pricing in a little more than two hikes next year. More than that, the market is discounting the first hike in June next year, implying a transition from completing the bond-buying to raising rates with no time gap.  The disappointing 2% Q3 GDP exaggerated the slowing of the world's largest economy.  We note that the supply-side challenges in vehicle production halved the growth rate.  Growth is likely to re-accelerate in Q4, but we continue to believe that the peak has passed.  While inflation is elevated, the pace of increase slowed in Q3.  Consider that the PCE deflator that the Fed targets rose at an annualized rate of 4.0% in Q3 after a 5.6% pace in Q2.  The core rate slowed to an annualized pace of 3.3% last quarter, half of the speed in the previous three months.  The infrastructure spending plans have been reduced, and some of the proposed tax hikes, including on corporations, appear to be dropped as part of the compromise among the Democratic Party.   Euro:  For most of Q3, the euro has been in a $1.17-$1.19 trading range.  It broke down in late September, and was unable to recapture it in October.  Instead, it recorded a new low for the year near $1.1525.  A convincing break of the $1.1500 area could signal a move toward $1.1300. The single currency drew little support because growth differentials swung in its favor in Q3:  the Eurozone expanded by 2.2% quarter-over-quarter while the US grew 2% at an annualized pace.  The ECB is sticking to its analysis that the rise in inflation is due to transitory factors while recognizing that energy prices may prove more sticky.  That said, news that Gazprom may boost gas sales to Europe after it finishes replenishing Russian inventories after the first week in November, natural gas prices fall at the end of October.  After the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program ends next March, decisions about the asset purchases next year will be announced at the December ECB meeting along with updated forecasts.   (October indicative closing prices, previous in parentheses)   Spot: $1.1560 ($1.1580) Median Bloomberg One-month Forecast $1.1579 ($1.1660)  One-month forward  $1.1568 ($1.1585)    One-month implied vol  5.1%  (5.1%)         Japanese Yen:  The dollar rose 2.3% against the yen in October to bring the year-to-date gain to nearly 9.5%.  The Bank of Japan will lag behind most high-income countries in the tightening cycle, and the higher US yields are a crucial driver of the greenback's gains against the yen.  Japan's headline inflation and core measure, which only excludes fresh food, may be rising, but they are barely above zero and, in any event, are due to the surge in energy prices. In response to the weakening yen, Japanese investors appear to have boosted their investment in foreign bonds, while foreign investors increased their holdings of Japanese stocks.  The LDP and Komeito maintained a majority in the lower chamber of the Diet. A sizeable stimulus supplemental budget is expected to help strengthen the economic recovery now that the formal emergencies have been lifted.  In Q3, the dollar traded mainly between JPY109 and JPY111.  It traded higher in the second half of September rising to nearly JPY112.00.  The dollar-yen exchange rate often seems to be rangebound, and when it looks like it is trending, it is frequently moving to a new range.  We have suggested the upper end of the new range may initially be the JPY114.50-JPY115.00.  The four-year high set last month was about JPY114.70.  A move above JPY115.60 could target the JPY118.50 area.     Spot: JPY113.95 (JPY111.30)       Median Bloomberg One-month Forecast JPY112.98 (JPY111.00)      One-month forward JPY113.90 (JPY111.25)    One-month implied vol  6.4% (5.6%)   British Pound:  Sterling rallied around 4 1/3 cents from the late September low near $1.34.  The momentum stalled in front of the 200-day moving average (~$1.3850).  After several attempts, the market appeared to give up.  We anticipate a move into the $1.3575-$1.3625 initially, and possibly a return toward the September low. The implied yield of the December 2021 short-sterling interest rate futures rose from 22 bp at the end of September to 47 bp at the end of October as the market.  It was encouraged by Bank of England officials to prepare for a hike at the meeting on November 4, ostensibly while it is still providing support via Gilt purchases.  If there is a surprise here, it could be that, given the unexpected softening of September CPI and the fifth consecutive monthly decline in retail sales, rising Covid cases, that the BOE chooses to take the more orthodox route.  This would entail ending its bond purchases, as two MPC members argued (dissented) at the previous meeting and holding off lifting rates a little longer.        Spot: $1.3682 ($1.3475)    Median Bloomberg One-month Forecast $1.3691 ($1.3630)  One-month forward $1.3680 ($1.3480)   One-month implied vol 6.8% (7.1%)      Canadian Dollar:  The three drivers for the exchange rate moved in the Canadian dollar's favor in October and helped it snap a four-month slide against the US dollar.  First, the general appetite for risk was strong, as illustrated by the strength of global stocks and the record highs in the US.  Second, the premium Canada pays on two-year money more than doubled last month to almost 60 bp from 25 bp at the end of September.  Third, commodity prices in general and oil, in particular, extended their recent gains.  The CRB Index rose 3.8% last month, the 11th monthly increase in the past 12, to reach seven-year highs.  The Bank of Canada unexpectedly stopped its new bond purchases and appeared to signal it would likely raise rates earlier than it had previously indicated.  The swaps market is pricing 125 bp of rate hikes over the next 12 months, with the first move next March or April.  Still, the US dollar's downside momentum stalled near CAD1.2300.  There is scope for a corrective phase that could carry the greenback into the CAD1.2475-CAD1.2500 area.     Spot: CAD1.2388 (CAD 1.2680)  Median Bloomberg One-month Forecast CAD1.2395 (CAD1.2580) One-month forward CAD1.2389 (CAD1.2685)    One-month implied vol 6.2% (6.9%)      Australian Dollar:  The Aussie's 4% gain last month snapped a four-month, roughly 6.5% downdraft.  Despite RBA Governor Lowe's guidance that the central bank does not anticipate that the condition to hike rates will exist before 2024 is being challenged by the market.  Underlying inflation rose above 2% in Q3. The central bank's failure to continue defending the 10 bp target of the April 2024 bond spurred speculation that it would be formally abandoned at the November 2 policy meeting.  The RBA's inaction unsettled the debt market.  The two-year yield soared almost 70 bp last month, and the 10-year yield rose nearly 60 bp.  Although the RBA could have handled the situation better, New Zealand rates jumped even more.  Its two-year yield jumped 80 bp while the 10-year yield surged by 58 bp.  Last month, the Australian dollar's rally took it from around $0.7200 to slightly more than $0.7550, where it seemed to stall, just in front of the 200-day moving average.  We suspect the October rally has run its course and see the Aussie vulnerable to a corrective phase that could push it back toward $0.7370-$0.7400.  The New Zealand dollar has also stalled ($0.7220), and we see potential toward $0.7050.       Spot:  $0.7518 ($0.7230)        Median Bloomberg One-Month Forecast $0.7409 ($0.7290)      One-month forward  $0.7525 ($0.7235)     One-month implied vol 9.1  (9.0%)        Mexican Peso:  The peso eked out a minor gain against the dollar last month.  However, the nearly 0.4% gain understated the swings in the exchange rate last month.  The dollar's recovery seen in the second half of September from almost MXN19.85 to nearly MXN20.40 at the end of the month was extended to a seven-month high around MXN20.90 on October 12.  It then proceeded to fall to almost MXN20.12 before the greenback was bought again.  A move above the MXN20.60 area now would likely signal a test on last month's high and possibly higher. Recall that the dollar peaked this year's peak set in March was near MXN21.6350. The economy unexpectedly contracted in Q3  by 0.2% (quarter-over-quarter).  Nevertheless, with the year-over-year CPI at 6% in September, Banxico will see little choice but to hike rates at the November 11 meeting. The market expects a 25 bp increase.  A 50 bp hike is more likely than standing pat.       Spot: MXN20.56 (MXN20.64)   Median Bloomberg One-Month Forecast  MXN20.42 (MXN20.41)   One-month forward  MXN20.65 (MXN20.74)     One-month implied vol 9.6% (11.0%)      Chinese Yuan: Our starting point is the yuan's exchange rate is closely managed.  The fact that the yuan rose to four-month highs against the dollar and a five-year high against the currency basket (CFETS) that the PBOC tracks imply a tacit acceptance.  While it is tempting for observers to link the appreciation to securing an advantage as it secures energy supplies and other commodities, we note that the yuan's gains are too small (0.6% last month and less than 2% year-to-date) to be impactful.  We suspect that the dollar's recent weakness against the yuan will be unwound shortly.  The US government continues to press its concerns about the risk for investors in Chinese companies listed in the US and American companies operating in China. At the same time, the FTSE Russell flagship benchmark began including mainland bonds for the first time.  China's 10-year government bond is the only one among the large bond markets where the yield has declined so far this year (~16 bp).  On the other hand, Chinese stocks have underperformed.  That said, some investors see this underperformance as a new buying opportunity.  The NASDAQ Golden Dragon Index that tracks Chinese companies listed in the US fell by 30% in Q3 and gained 5% in October, its best month since February.  Lastly, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party meets November 8-11 this year, a prelude to the important National Party Congress in 2022 that is expected to formally signal the third term for President Xi.     Spot: CNY6.4055 (CNY6.4450) Median Bloomberg One-month Forecast  CNY6.4430 (CNY6.4470)  One-month forward CNY6.4230 (CNY6.4725)    One-month implied vol  3.5% (3.4%)    Disclaimer

Ethereum reaches new all time high Moods in cryptocurrency markets have improved after positive news emerged from Asia and following the solid performance of Bitcoin, which closed October with the highest monthly gain in 2021, further boosting investor confidence. The second biggest cryptocurrency by market cap has now also managed to reach a new all time high with Ethereum breaking above the previous high and reaching a new one after gaining over 3% as the majority of coins appear to be rising. While it is unclear whether this move will continue, today's achievement could further boost confidence in the current market as it comes after an updated prediction of Ethereum by Goldman Sachs which projected the coin reaching $8000 before the end of the year. Furthermore, prospects for a potential Ethereum ETF after the approval and launch of Bitcoin ETFs appears to be a possibility in the near future, which in turn continues to point towards increased adoption of the new blockchain technologies along with a wider appeal of this type of asset as more investors shift towards the space.   BP announce positive quarter and boost share buyback BP announced another quarter of positive results, indicating rising commodity prices and improving conditions as main drivers for the company's continued growth. The company also announced an expansion of its ongoing share buyback program by adding a further $1.25billion which will be adding to the $1.4billion already executed in the first half of the year. While net debt remains a key area of concern, totalling around $32billion, investors may look favourably on today's report as it highlights the companies resilience and adaptability along with it's prioritization of cash flow to strengthen its financial position as future prospects of rising oil prices driven by increased demand and limited supply could also potentially improve the outlook, particularly for the next quarter. Download our Mobile Trading App:   Google Play   App Store

US tech stocks under pressure ahead of FED speeches While US stock markets continued to reach new all time highs and after the FED announced it would be starting its QE tapering in last week's meeting, we are seeing some increased selling pressure at the start of the week with US futures slightly down. This comes after Elon Musk announced over the weekend that he would be selling 10% of his Tesla shares (worth around $21 billion) depending on the results of a poll he held on Twitter, this in turn worried some investors who noted that selling such a significant stake could create significant downward pressure on the share price. On the other hand, it is worth noting that due to the elevated trading volume that Tesla shares experience, any potential impact could be significantly mitigated if the CEO were to spread that sale across several weeks. Finally, today's FED speeches could shed some light on the central bank's outlook heading into the final part of the year and could further elaborate on last week's decision to begin tapering and how that may impact stocks in the near future as the central bank attempts to not worry investors.  Bitcoin approaches all time high as cryptos climb higher After some time spent consolidating in the $60,000 range, Bitcoin has managed to break through the upper limit of the trading range and resume the upward move with the main crypto currency approaching it's recently reached all time high as it trades around $66,000. This positive sentiment is echoed across the majority of other coins with the total market cap once again nearing the $3 trillion mark and with Ethereum once again reaching a new high. While we have seen Bitcoin impact other crypto currencies in the past, a break past the previous all time high could lead to a significant increase in volatility and a potential domino effect as more investors enter the market or reallocate their funds. Download our Mobile Trading App:   Google Play   App Store  

Bitcoin reaches new all time high as Crypto market cap surpasses $3Trillion The main cryptocurrency has managed to break through its previous all time high and is currently hovering around $67,500 as the entire market appears to be gaining momentum today with other majors like Cardano and Litecoin up over 10%. After a brief period of consolidation, the rally was supported by some upbeat fundamental news like Mastercard launching crypto-linked payments cards in Asia which after recent news of a Bitcoin ETF approval in the US, continues to further the narrative that cryptocurrencies are becoming more widely accepted which in turn furthers mass adoption. While the price of BTC has pulled back slightly, it still remains unclear if it will be able to extend the upward move as it could be increasingly susceptible to news and the general sentiment. Either way, as we have seen in the past, any signiant move by the main cryptocurrency could lead to a domino effect across the market as traders and investors attempt to capitalize.

USDJPY hits temporary resistance The Japanese yen pulled back after a larger-than-expected GDP contraction in Q3. The US dollar is looking to hold onto its gains after a rally above 114.00. Sentiment has recovered and a surge above 114.45 around the October peak would resume the uptrend. However, the current rebound may lack the strength to clear the supply zone right away. An overbought RSI has held the bullish fever back. A breach below 113.70 would lead to a deeper correction towards 112.80, which is a key level to keep the rebound relevant. EURCHF struggles for support The euro bounced higher after the bloc’s industrial production beat expectations in September. The RSI’s oversold situation on the daily chart has attracted bargain hunters’ attention around 1.0530, a demand area from May 2020. Price action had three failed attempts to lift offers at 1.0600, a sign of strong selling pressure to keep the downtrend going. A bullish breakout may trigger a runaway rally as sellers seek to exit a crowded short bet. A bearish one would send the single currency to 1.0490. UK 100 tests support The FTSE 100 edged lower after active job postings in the UK hit a record high. The index came under pressure at the psychological level of 7400. A combination of an overbought RSI and its bearish divergence suggests that the rally was losing momentum. Sentiment remains upbeat and a pullback could be an opportunity to get filled at a better price. Trend followers may be waiting to buy the dip near the first support at 7315. A deeper correction would send the price to 7255 along the 30-day moving average.

Luckily, it is not necessary to time market entry and exit precisely. What is essential is calculating risk itself and that risk to expected returns. In addition, strict management of the trade itself is required. Gold versus Silver in US-Dollar, monthly chart, risk versus reward: Gold versus Silver in US-Dollar, monthly chart as of November 12th, 2021. That being said, instead of getting distracted by a narrative of policymakers who might prolong the inevitable even for years possibly, we focus on the technical aspects that cannot be “rationalized” away and will be unaffected by market influencers. One such fact is the market relationship between silver’s more giant brother gold. The chart above tries to illustrate that gold is trading 10% below its all-time high. On the other hand, silver is trading 50% below its all-time high. This discrepancy makes silver the more desirable play (better risk/reward-ratio). The difference will work like a loaded spring, and once released, silver will outperform gold by a multiple. Gold in US-Dollar, monthly chart, gold leading strongly: Gold in US-Dollar, monthly chart as of November 13th, 2021. Now that we have found the right vehicle for a wealth preservation insurance play, we are looking for additional factors. Physical acquisition is a clear prosperous choice. It protects against inflation and the risk possibilities inherent to fiat currency, with much historical evidence. That leaves us the question of entry timing. Especially since the physical purchase has a broader spread and a reactionary lag over spot price trading, which is pretty much instant. The chart above clarifies why we see there to be leeway regarding being “right.” It is less critical to pinpoint the absolute lows versus overall participation. Especially since a lack of physical silver availability, which is a possibility, would erase the whole play. The monthly gold chart above is a strong indication that precious metals might be breaking to the upside. With this month’s strength, price pushing against the upper resistance line (white line) of a bullish triangle, silver prices mutually trailing higher is likely. Silver in US-Dollar, monthly chart, closely following gold: Silver in US-Dollar, monthly chart as of November 13th, 2021. With these necessary positive edges in play, we can now look at silver itself and look for possible low-risk entry points.The monthly chart shows mutual strength over the previous gold chart. Silver has pushed successfully through the problematic distribution zone around the US$24 price level. It still faces POC (point of control), the highest volume node of our fractal analysis, looming above US$26.03. With this many edges in our favor, we find this an excellent spot to add to physical silver holdings from a long-term holding perspective. Silver in US-Dollar, weekly chart, spot price play: Silver in US-Dollar, weekly chart as of November 13th, 2021. For a spot price play in the midterm time horizon, we are instead waiting for a possible price bounce of POC. A low-risk entry would be granted once the price retraces back into the US$24 to US$24.50 zone. Reyna Silver encounters multiple high-grade sulphide zones within 54.9 metres of near-source style skarn at Guigui: Silver, the waiting game: In market movement, we see expansion and compression, much like an oscillator. At certain times though, may it be a natural or man-made disaster, we can find ourselves in a stretched or amplified move. These times of abnormality from a time perspective require being well-prepared. Swift, disciplined actions following a clear planned roadmap are advised. An anticipated roadmap strictly followed. It is first a waiting game followed by quick action, both psychologically challenging environments. With physical acquisitions of metals, perfectionism in timing is paralysis. Not necessary to come out ahead. We find silver accumulation at this time to be a prudent measure to protect your wealth. Like buying insurance against an anticipated market turn. Feel free to join us in our free Telegram channel for daily real time data and a great community. If you like to get regular updates on our gold model, precious metals and cryptocurrencies you can also subscribe to our free newsletter. This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone. They do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Midas Touch Consulting.

The Gold Update by Mark Mead Baillie --- 626th Edition --- Monte-Carlo --- 13 November 2021 (published each Saturday) --- www.deMeadville.com  Let's start with October's Consumer Price Index (CPI) as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: its excitedly-disseminated reading was +0.9% (which annualized is a whopping +10.8%). "Oh, 'tis the worst in 30 years!", they say. "Oh, 'tis the worst in 40 years!", some say. We say: "C'est très exagéré." Why? Because Labor has established this level -- or higher -- three times prior during the 24 years of our maintaining the Economic Barometer: for September 2005 'twas +1.2%; for June 2008 'twas +1.1%; and recently for this past June 'twas (as is now) a like +0.9%. Here's that history: Such exaggerative reporting of this October's +0.9% CPI growth arguably does have merit, for 'tis a very concerning rate of inflation. However as Grandpa Hugh would encourage today's news desks : "Get it first, but FIRST, get it RIGHT!" as opposed to the current-day media mantra of "Fake it FIRST, but fake it as FACT!" 'Course there are other sources that find far greater inflation; however in sticking with Labor's "official" measure, glaringly missing from the subsequent reportage is that -- following those three prior inflationary pops -- came cooling over at least the few ensuing months. 'Tis per the rightmost column of "next" three-month CPI average growth in the below table: Again, ours is not to belittle the seriousness of October's +0.9% CPI rise; rather 'tis to simply show it in the context of historical fact. Please notify a media outlet near you. Seriousness, indeed. For of further practical import (on the assumption that neither do you eat, nor use petroleum-based products), October's Core-CPI growth of +0.6% has already been realized four times just in the prior 15 months. Critical concern there, and justifiably so given the price of Oil has risen from 39.82 at mid-year 2020 to 83.22 at October 2021's settle (+109%). For from the "That's Scary Dept." the cumulative rise in the full CPI across that same 16-month-to-date stint is only +7.3% ... solely by that metric, folks have been gettin' off easy despite higher petrol prices! Fortunately, Gold and Silver may be FINALLY gettin' off their respective butts via their inflation mitigative role. Which obviously points to their having so much farther up to go. Per our opening Gold Scoreboard, price settled out the week yesterday (Friday) at 1868, its second-best single-week performance thus far this year on both a points (+47.7) and percentage (+2.6%) basis. Thus comparatively, 'tis a fine leap forward for Gold. However as you ad nausea already know, even in accounting for its supply increase, Gold by StateSide M2 currency debasement "ought" today be 3986. As well is the ever-annoying fact of Gold first hitting the present 1868 level a decade ago on 19 August 2011 when the money supply was just 44% of what 'tis today, ($9.457 trillion vs. $21.343 trillion). "Got Gold?" And as for Sweet Sister Silver, 'twas her third best weekly performance year-to-date, albeit settling yesterday at 25.41 is a price first achieved 11 years ago on 04 November 2010. "Got Silver?" (Oh and from the "Gold Plays No Currency Favourites Dept." the Dollar recorded its fifth best up week of the year. "Got Bucks?" We'd rather Swiss Francs). Moreover, from our always revered "The Trend is Your Friend Dept." as we saw a week ago, Gold's weekly parabolic trend -- after an intolerably lengthy stint as Short with little net price decline -- did flip to Long. And as is the rule rather than the exception, price this past week continued higher. Which begs your question: "How much does price rise when this happens, mmb?" Bang on cue there, Squire. And the answer is: across the 43 prior Long weekly parabolic trends since 2001, the median increase in the price of Gold is +8.3%. Thus by that number, from Gold's trend flip price back at 1820, an +8.3% increase this time 'round would bring us to 1971. Modest perhaps by valuation expectations, but a start. Too, some of you may recall this sentence from our 02 October missive wherein we nixed our year's forecast high of 2401: "...The more likely scenario shall well be Gold just sloshing around into year-end, trading during Q4 between 1668-1849..." Fab to already be wrong there! For here are the weekly bars and parabolic trends from this time a year ago-to-date: Now in the midst of all this inflation trepidation came Dow Jones Newswires this past week with "The Economic Rebound From Covid-19 Was Easy. Now Comes the Hard Part." Makes sense given everything having been shutdown last year. But: how bona fide actually is "Rebound"? Let's look at corporate earnings, (now yer not gonna get this anywhere else, so pay attention): with but a week to run in Q3 Earnings Season, most of the S&P 500 constituents that report within this calendar timeframe have so done, and with fairly admirable results: 80% bettered their bottom lines, (or as we said a week ago "better have bettered" given the economic shutdown of last year). Yet here's the dirty little secret: many mid-tier and smaller companies have also reported, by our count 1,368 of 'em. And of that bunch, we found just 56% of them did better. That is a Big Red Flag given mid-to-small businesses drive the American economy. We doubt your money manager knows that number. In addition to the past week's inflation reports, lost in the shuffle were the Econ Baro metrics showing September's Wholesale Inventories as backing up, whilst November's University of Michigan Sentiment Survey fell to a 10-year low, the 66.8 level not seen since November 2011. 'Course the S&P loving bad news, its Index roared upward to finish the week at 4683, a mere 36 points below its all-time high. Together with the Baro, here's the year-over year picture: Now to some impressive precious metals' technicals via our two-panel graphic of Gold's daily bars from three months ago-to-date on the left and those for Silver on the right. "Impressive" as when the falling baby blue dots of trend consistency reverse course back up without having dropped to mid-chart, the buyers are clearly in charge: As for the 10-day Market Profiles for Gold (below left) and Silver (below right), life is good at the top: Good as well is Gold's buoyant positioning within its stack: The Gold StackGold's Value per Dollar Debasement, (from our opening "Scoreboard"): 3986Gold’s All-Time Intra-Day High: 2089 (07 August 2020)Gold’s All-Time Closing High: 2075 (06 August 2020)2021's High: 1963 (06 January)The Gateway to 2000: 1900+10-Session directional range: up to 1871 (from 1759) = +112 points or +6.4%Trading Resistance: none per the ProfileGold Currently: 1868, (expected daily trading range ["EDTR"]: 25 points)Trading Support: Profile notables are 1864 / 1827 / 1793The 300-Day Moving Average: 1822 and falling10-Session “volume-weighted” average price magnet: 1816The Final Frontier: 1800-1900The Northern Front: 1800-1750On Maneuvers: 1750-1579The Weekly Parabolic Price to flip Short: 16862021's Low: 1673 (08 March) The Floor: 1579-1466Le Sous-sol: Sub-1466The Support Shelf: 1454-1434Base Camp: 1377The 1360s Double-Top: 1369 in Apr '18 preceded by 1362 in Sep '17Neverland: The Whiny 1290sThe Box: 1280-1240 Next week brings 14 metrics into the Econ Baro; consensus expectations look for it to turn higher. To be sure, turning higher have been Gold and Silver as inflation their prices stir; and yet their levels now 10 years on are the same as they were; thus their doubling from here can well be a blur! Cheers! ...m... www.deMeadville.com www.TheGoldUpdate.com

The jump in US headline CPI above 6% crossed some Rubicon and injected dynamic into the process.  The dollar rallied, and new highs for the year were recorded against the euro and sterling.  The dovish tapering announcement by the Fed on November 3 was completely unwound as the December 2022 Fed funds futures returned to the high-yield mark of 66 bp ahead of the weekend.   The two-year yield rose from about 39 bp at the start of the last week to almost 55 bp.  The volatility of the bond market (the equivalent of the VIX for the S&P 500) surged back to the year's high (above 78%).   Ultimately, the idea that R-star, the real short-term interest rate when the US economy is at full capacity and inflation stable, has continued to trend lower will likely cap nominal rates.  Equities wobbled, and the S&P 500 snapped an eight-day advance, and the NASDAQ's 11-day rally stalled.  US equities stabilized and posted modest gains in the past two sessions.   The rise in price pressures requires the Federal Reserve to be more flexible to address a range of possible outcomes.  The pace of the tapering is the main constraint on policy.  The FOMC statement committed the Fed to reduce the bond-buying by $15 bln in November and December.  While it anticipated that the pace would continue, it reserved the right to adjust the rate.  This is likely to be the focus in the run-up to the mid-December meeting.  To finish QE in March, as St. Louis Fed's Bullard, a noted hawk, has argued, the Fed would need to double its pace of tapering to $30 bln a month starting in January.  What is at stake is when the Fed's rate hike cycle can begin, not the terminal rate, which is expected to be below 2%.   Dollar Index:  The CPI saw the Dollar Index surge to convincingly surpass the (38.2%) retracement target of the decline from the March 2020 high (~103) to the January 6 low (~89.20).  That retracement (~94.55) had been penetrated briefly before, but it did not stick.  This time, the Dollar Index rose to new highs for the year, slightly above 95.25.  The next retracement (50%) is found a little above 96.00, and the (61.8%) objective is almost 97.75.   The momentum indicators suggest a high is not yet in place, but the move since the mid-week CPI shocker, above the upper Bollinger Band (~95.00) warns against chasing it.  That said, initial support is likely in the 94.60-94.75 area.   Euro:  The euro was driven below $1.15 after the US CPI report and failed to resurface above this previous floor, which now acts as resistance.  A low near $1.1435 was recorded ahead of the weekend.  Neither the MACD nor Slow Stochastic is over-extended, but, as we saw with the Dollar Index, the exchange rate is outside the Bollinger Band (slightly below $1.1465) and settled below it for the third consecutive session ahead of the weekend. There is little chart support until the $1.1290-$1.1300 area is approached.  Moreover, if the euro has carved out some kind of topping pattern, the risk may extend toward $1.10.   Japanese Yen:  From around mid-September through mid-October, the dollar broke out of the old JPY109-JPY111 range to reach JPY114.70 on October 20.  It consolidated at lower levels and approached JPY112.70 on November 9.  The jump in the US CPI reported the following day lifted the greenback to JPY114.00, and it reached JPY114.30 before the weekend.  We often experience the dollar-yen exchange rate as a pair often rangebound.  We had anticipated a JPY113-JPY115 range and would allow about a half a yen range or so violation. The MACD has flatlined, while the Slow Stochastic has turned higher.  Although the fit is not perfect, we still look at US yields for directional cues.   British Pound:  Sterling had been turned lower on November 4 from $1.37 by the BOE, who caught the market leaning too far over its skis, arguably encouraged to do so by official rhetoric.  Its attempt to recover was stalled near $1.36, and the US inflation jump set it to new lows for the year.  The low ahead of the weekend was slightly below $1.3355.  The MACD is entering oversold territory, while the Slow Stochastic, which leveled off, seems to be slipping into over-extended territory as well.  After closing for two sessions below the lower Bollinger Band, it finished the week back above it (~$1.3355).  A close above $1.3400 would suggest a consolidative phase lies ahead.  Last December, sterling recorded lows $1.3135-$1.3185, and the risk is for this area to be tested.   Canadian Dollar:  Since the US CPI surprise, the Canadian dollar has been the weakest of the major currencies, falling around 0.75% against the greenback.  It was the third consecutive weekly decline for the Loonie, which was preceded by a five-week advance.  The US dollar posted an outside up day in the middle of last week on the back of the CPI news.  It rallied from slightly below CAD1.2390 to a little above CAD1.25.  On Thursday, when US and Canadian banks were closed for holidays, the dollar rose to almost CAD1.2600 and made a marginal new high ahead of the weekend.  This met the (50%) retracement of the US dollar's decline since the CAD1.29 level was approached a couple of days before the September 22 FOMC meeting.  The Slow Stochastic is over-extended, though the MACD has more scope to run.  Here too, the market moved quickly, and the greenback settled the past two sessions above the Bollinger Band (~CAD1.2555). The CAD1.2480 area may offer initial support.   Australian Dollar:  The Australian dollar recorded the low for the year on August 20, near $0.7100.  It recovered into early September (~$0.7480) before being turned back to $0.7170 by the end of the month. The Aussie launched another advance last month that carried to around $0.7555 and the 200-day moving average.  It has come under new pressure this month and fell to nearly $0.7275 ahead of the weekend, meeting the (61.8%) retracement target of the overall rally since August 20.  It closed on a firm note above $0.7300.  The Slow Stochastic is over-extended and could turn up next week.  The MACD is still pointing lower.  After settling out the Bollinger Band on Wednesday and Thursday, the Aussie moved back into it (~$0.7300) ahead of the weekend.  Initial resistance is seen in the $0.7335-$0.7355 band.   Mexican Peso:  The US CPI boosted the dollar by nearly 1.6% against the peso, the most in five months.  It was the only advance of the week, but it was sufficient for the greenback to close around 0.6% stronger.  The high for the week (~MXN20.7225) was recorded in the hours after the central bank delivered its fourth quarter-point rate hike.  Banxico showed no appetite to increase the pace, unlike other regional central banks, even though CPI is still accelerating.  Still, the greenback slightly exceeded the (61.8%) retracement target (~MXN20.70) of its decline from the November 3 high (~MXN20.98) to the November 9 low (~MXN20.2515) before retreating ahead of the weekend.  Support is seen around the 20-day moving average (~MXN20.42).  Among emerging market currencies, the Brazilian real (~2.3%) and the Chilean peso (1.6%) fared best.  The Hungarian forint (~-2.9%) and the Turkish lira (-2.75) saw the largest losses.  The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index fell by about 0.40% last week, the eighth weekly decline in the past ten.   Chinese Yuan:  One would not know it by reading much of the free financial press, but the Chinese yuan is the strongest currency in the world this year.  Its 2.3% advance eclipses the Canadian dollar, the only major currency stronger against the US dollar on the year (~1.3%).  The tensions in Europe and the pullback in oil prices saw the Russian rouble tumble almost 2.3% last week.  It was knocked from its perch as the top performer, allowing the yuan to pull ahead.  The dollar settled last week, slightly under CNY6.38, its lowest close since May 31, when it recorded a three-year low (~CNY6.3570).  The trend line connecting the 2014 dollar-low and 2018 low is frayed in May and June but essentially held.  It is now being violated more convincingly.   Sentiment toward investment in China has become in fashion again.  The NASDAQ Golden Dragon Index that tracks Chinese companies that trade in the US rallied nearly 7% last week.  China's 10-year yield of 2.80% may not sound particularly exciting, but it is the only benchmark that has not sold off this year.  The yield has fallen 20 bp.    Disclaimer

Overview:  While the Belarus-Poland border remains an intense standoff, there have been a couple other diplomatic developments that may be exciting risk appetites today.  First, Biden and Xi will talk by phone later today.  Second, reports suggest the UK has toned down its rhetoric making progress on talks on the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.  Equities in the Asia Pacific region were mostly firmer, with China a notable exception among the large markets, even though the October data was generally stronger than expected.  Europe's Stoxx 600, which has fallen only once this month, is edging higher to new records, while US futures are enjoying a firmer bias.  Benchmark 10-year yields are 1-2 bp lower, which puts the Treasury yield near 1.55%.  The European periphery is outperforming the core.  The dollar is soft.  The Scandis and Antipodeans lead the move, while the euro, yen, and British pound are little changed.  Emerging market currencies are also mostly stronger.  Here the Philippine peso is notable as it falls the most in seven weeks as corporates bought dollars.  After falling by 0.65% last week, the JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index is edging higher today.  Gold is snapping a seven-day rally, stalling near $1868.  Support is seen in the $1842-$1845 area.  January WTI  was sold again as it poked above $80.  It is pinned near last week's lows (~$78.65) as the US response is awaited.  European natural gas futures are firm as the capacity auction results are awaited, and Europe faces its first cold snap of the season.  Iron ore and copper prices are posting small losses.   Asia Pacific Japan's Q3 GDP disappointed, but it is old news and will likely spur Prime Minister Kishida to support a large supplemental budget, which could be unveiled by the end of the week.  Economic growth in the world's third-largest economy contracted for the fifth quarter in the past eight.  The 0.8% loss of output in Q3 was more than the 0.2% expected by the median forecast in Bloomberg's survey.  Consumption (-1.1%), business spending (-3.8%), and public investment (-1.5%) did the most damage.  The GDP deflator was unchanged from Q2 at -1.1%.  The Japanese economy is recovering here in Q4.  Talk of the size of the supplemental budget has increased to around JPY40 trillion (~$350 bln) from JPY30 trillion.  It is expected to include a cash payment for 18-year olds and younger, a tax break for companies that boost wages, a new subsidy for domestic travel, snd pay hikes for caregivers. China's October data was stronger than expected but does not shake off concern that the world's second-largest economy is struggling.  The year-over-year pace of retail sales rose for the second consecutive month in the face of expectations for a decline.  The 4.9% increase follows the 4.4% gain in September and 2.5% in August. In October 2020, it rose 4.3% year-over-year.  Industrial output rose 3.5% from a year ago. It was the first increase since March. Last October, it had increased by 6.9%. The surveyed joblessness was steady at 4.9%.  Fixed asset investment and property investment slowed.  Chinese officials have not addressed the economic slowdown with large-scale fiscal or monetary initiatives.   We have suggested that the dollar-yen exchange rate has entered a new range after trending higher from mid-September through mid-October.  That new range is likely JPY113-JPY115, and to find the floor, the dollar briefly traded below JPY112.80 last week. After spiking back to JPY114.00 on the US CPI surprise, the greenback continues to hover around there, the middle of the range.  Tomorrow's expiring options ($830 mln at JPY113.40 and $1.6 bln at JPY114.30) may mark the near-term range.  The Australian dollar is building on its pre-weekend recovery.  It saw a low slightly above $0.7275 on Friday and settled on its highs (a little above $0.7330).  It has risen to $0.7365, and the intraday momentum is getting stretched.  Look for resistance near $0.7375.  The greenback edged slightly lower against the Chinese yuan to record a new six-month low (~CNY6.3785) before recovering within a narrow range.  It is trading slightly above CNY6.3830 in late dealings. The PBOC set the dollar's reference rate at CNY6.3896, a little below the median forecast of CNY6.3896 (Bloomberg survey).  The PBOC rolled over in full the policy loans (CNY1 trillion) coming due this month, and the overnight repo rate fell by seven basis points to 1.78%, the lowest in three weeks.   Europe Tensions between the UK and EU appear to have taken a step away from the brink.  A deal on medicine supplies from other parts of Great Britain to Northern Ireland may have been the critical catalyst.  Reports suggest a de-escalation of UK rhetoric threatening to invoke Article 16, which allows for unilateral over-riding of the Northern Ireland Protocol under certain circumstances of serious economic, environmental, or societal risks.  Separately, two polls have begun showing Labour is edging ahead of the Tories. The Opinium poll (published in the Guardian) gave Labour a one percentage point lead, the first since January.  The Savanta Com Res poll (for the Daily Mail) put Labour ahead by six percentage points at 40%.  The main issue appears to be Prime Minister Johnson's handling of several ethics issues.  His personal support has also waned.    The US was warning at the end of last week that Russian may be preparing to invade Ukraine. Moscow seems to be acting out of fear, fear of the US and Europe creeping presence in Ukraine.  If Ukraine is going to remain independent, Russia insists it can only be a (weak) buffer state.  US rhetoric seemed aggressive in Moscow.  Last month US Defense Secretary Austin argued that no third country [i.e., Russia] has a veto over NATO membership decision[i.e., Ukraine].    Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia are considering formally requesting NATO consultations, while the EU is expected to announce new sanctions on Belarus later today.  Separately, we note reports that India has begun taking delivery of the S-400 air defense missile system from Russia (part of a $5.5 bln deal), which is the same that earned Turkey American sanctions.   The euro edged above the pre-weekend high, but the tone remains fragile, and for the third consecutive session has been unable to resurface above old support at $1.1500.  Since the US CPI report in the middle of last week, it has fallen, and the sideways movement could alleviate the overextended technical condition.  Sterling extended its pre-weekend recovery to reach $1.3440 before sellers reemerged to knock it to the session low of almost $1.3400.  We suspect it can move higher in North America today and target the $1.3480 area.   America The US seems more eager for the Biden-Xi call than Beijing  Expectations should be low, and with no actionable outcome likely (not even a statement), there appears to be little reason to spin it as a virtual summit. The top officials and the senior staff of the two largest economies should talk.  Previously, there were high-level meetings regularly.  Since their last call, a new US-UK-Australian alliance was announced that will result in Australia acquiring nuclear-powered submarines, and it was confirmed that the US has had military personnel in Taiwan since last November.  China continues with its intimidation campaign of repeatedly entering Taiwan's air-identification zone. China's assessment of the US is unlikely to have changed.  Beijing sees the same thing many others do.  Biden's approval rating has fallen to near 41%, and less than that has a favorable view of his handling of the economy.  At the end of last week, the Univerity of Michigan's consumer sentiment measure (preliminary November) fell to its lowest in a decade.  Surveys continue to point to the likelihood that the Democratic Party will lose both houses of Congress in next year's mid-term.  And to underscore the pressure on Biden, the US Court of Appeals (5th Circuit) sustained a block on OSHA's ordered vaccine mandate (or weekly test).  With the sixth plenum over,  Xi has, by all accounts, confirmed his ascendancy and domination of Chinese politics for years to come.   The week's economic calendar for the US begins off slowly.  The November Empire State manufacturing survey is on tap.  It has been in a sawtooth pattern, alternating between gains and losses for the past five months.  It fell sharply (19.8 from 34.3) in October and is expected to have turned up in November.  The US reports October retail sales and industrial production figures tomorrow. Fed officials begin taking to the public stage starting tomorrow.  Over the course of the week, around 11 officials are scheduled to speak.  In addition to US bills, the Treasury Dept sells 20-year bonds, whose auctions have been among the most challenging for coupons, and 10-year TIPS at the end of the week.   Canada reports September manufacturing and wholesale sales today, but the October existing home sales may be more important.  Tomorrow Canada reports housing starts, but the highlight of the week is Wednesday's October CPI.  Price pressures are accelerating in Canada, and the headline CPI is likely to move toward 5% (4.4% in September).  The swaps market is pricing in about 65 bp of tightening in six months.  This week, Mexico has a light economic diary after last week's higher than expected CPI (6.24%) and Banxcio's 25 bp rate hike (to 5%).  Brazil also has a light economic calendar this week.  Last week featured a further rise in (IPCA) CPI (10.67% vs. 10.25%) and weak September retail sales (-1.3% vs. -0.6% median forecast in Bloomberg's survey after a revised -4.3% fall in August). Last week's US CPI shocker saw the greenback jump from around CAD1.24 to slightly above CAD1.26, roughly the 50% retracement of the slump from CAD1.2900 on September 20.  It settled last week on a soft note, and some follow-through selling has seen the US dollar eased to about CAD1.2525.  A break here sees CAD1.2500 and then possibly CAD1.2470.  Since last September, the greenback has moved into a new and higher range against the Mexican peso.  It has not traded much below MN20.12.  Nor has it spent much time above MXN20.90.  It is in the pre-weekend range (~MXN20.45-MXN20.72).  Look for the consolidative day to continue through the local session.  The Brazil real was the strongest emerging market currency last week, rising almost 1.6% against the US dollar.  The US dollar found support around BRK5.40. Trendline support (from June, August, and September lows) and the 200-day moving average are near BRL5.36.   Disclaimer

UK Unemployment figures improve ahead of BoE decision Today's positive unemployment figures continue the recent trend which has seen unemployment fall for several months in a row and reach the lowest level in 2021. This paints a slightly brighter picture for the economy as many businesses contend with rising prices, labour shortages and supply chain issues and could be used by the Bank of England to justify adjusting monetary policy after unexpectedly leaving it unchanged in its most recent meeting.  Crypto market in the red after US infrastructure bill passes  After several days of gains, which saw Bitcoin hover near it's all time high as many other altcoins managed to reach new highs, we are seeing a significant pullback in the crypto market today with most tokens down over 10% and BTC trading around $60,000. This comes after news that China will be intensifying the repression of crypto currency mining by imposing punitive electricity prices on households that mine crypto. Furthermore, US president Biden signed the $550 Billion infrastructure deal which includes some major tax implications for most retail crypto investors as it would require them to report their holdings. While these factors may frighten some investors and newcomers to the market, some experienced traders will have seen similar sized corrections in the past and could potentially be eyeing opportunities as mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies and NFT's continues to move further. On the other hand, the extreme volatility that the market is prone to could lead to a potential domino effect if more negative news were to emerge and take prices to new lows. Download our Mobile Trading App:   Google Play   App Store  

The recent EURUSD move could be considered a classic case study for traders, across strategies, and notably for those who cut their craft on timeframes larger than 30 minutes. On one hand, the attraction to own USDs is almost too obvious and that worries me as a USD bull – we have inflation far higher than where the Fed has been forecasting only back in September and unemployment is also trending towards what the Fed considers ‘full employment’. We get the November CPI print on 11 December and that promises to be even hotter than the October print of 6.2% YoY. The Fed meet on 16 December, and in response we should get some punchy upward revisions to their forecasts on labour and inflation. Given the potential revisions on economic projections, it feels incredibly likely that the pace of QE tapering should subsequently accelerate - this sets up an earlier finish for asset purchases and ultimately opens the door to potentially start hiking from as early as May 2022. The Fed’s median projection for the fed funds rate (the dots) in 2022 is for one hike – it’s feasible to believe this lifts to two hikes next year. So, it's straightforward to take a constructive view on the USD, especially when you hear from former Fed officials Bill Dudley and Jeffery Lacker that they think the fed funds rate may need to move to 3% to control inflation. That would get the USD bulls excited, although 3% would probably be seen as a potential policy mistake by many. Year-to-date moves vs the USD Preview (Source: TradingView - Past performance is not indicative of future performance.) The market has some key event risks in its sight and are clearly running a progressively greater short EURUSD position into the Nov CPI print and FOMC meeting – and that has started now. We also have an important ECB meeting (also on the 16 December) and that too could be a volatility event – it promises to be a huge 24 hours for EURUSD and the EUR crosses! We can talk up the USD but looking across the FX universe this appears to be a EUR move, with our EUR spot basket (EURX on MT4/5) at the lowest levels since May 2020. Aside from the JPY, the EUR is the weakest G10 currency in 2021 – and is at the bottom of the pack on a 1-, 3- or 6- month basis – a true momentum play. EURUSD has been at the heart of the falls in our EUR basket and has been predictably well traded by clients. Maybe this is as simple as a central bank divergence play – with the ECB aggressively pushing back on expected rate hikes in 2022, hell-bent on the view that inflation is in fact ‘transitory’. While the Fed, on the other hand, are open-minded to hiking, if it's required, and the market certainly is adamant it will be in 2022 - and could soon be pricing 3 hikes in 2022. Trading diverging monetary policy paths is perhaps the most simplistic form of tactical trading, in essence, it's FX trading 101, and it's working and we’re all witnessing the trend lower. We’re seeing a similar theme play out in EURCAD and EURNZD, and EURCAD is especially interesting as the cross has broken its consolidation range and if we see a hot Canadian CPI print (Thursday 00:00 AEDT) then the market will expect a rate hike in January by the BoC. Diverging monetary policy expectation’s part explains the move in EURCHF, but it clearly doesn’t explain the one-way move in EURJPY from 133.50 to sub-130. As we explain here EURCHF should be on all FX traders’ radars. So the market is clearly happy to sell EURs and the order books at banks would have become quite one-sided. Trend-followers and momentum-based funds, many of them systematic, would have been all over this move lower adding to shorts as price broke level after level. And, while EURUSD implied or realised volatility hasn’t picked up markedly, the rallies from 1.2260 (in May) have been corrective in nature and short-lived Preview (Source: TradingView - Past performance is not indicative of future performance.) The question I'm asking now and noting that US non-farm payrolls, CPI and FOMC meetings are still some way off, is how to best trade the EURUSD in the near term. That's of course determined by strategy – in this case, mean reversion or momentum. To buy EURUSD as a mean reversion play – personally, I feel the counter rallies should be limited so would change to an ultra-short-term moving average (such as the 5-day EMA) over a traditional 20-day MA Leave limit orders to sell into the former downtrend at 1.1415, or take the timeframe in and see the reaction, price action and behaviour into the former trend before initiating shorts Or, just to stay short as a pure momentum trade and have a stop above 1.1464. One way moves and mature trends eventually come to an end, notably when positioning becomes too extreme – over loved consensus trades rarely end well if you’re the last one in. However, while the street is clearly short of EURs, the fundamentals justify this and if heat come out of the move, then it should offer a renewed chance to short as we head into a huge December for FX traders.  That’s how I see it as we head towards a wild December of major event risk.

We find ourselves ensued in various battles. Environmentally, economically, and from a human perspective. As much as it is questionable if coal and oil, centralized money, and wars (attacks on ourselves) hold a prosperous future, change is typically avoided. There have been moments in history where rapid change happened. Most often introduced by a charismatic human being with a compelling principle at a defining moment when a change was needed. S&P 500 Index versus BTC in US-Dollar, Monthly Chart, bitcoin an answer to crisis? S&P 500 Index versus Bitcoin in US-Dollar, Monthly chart as of November 16th, 2021. The bitcoin idea was born as a response to the crash of 2008. In its principles, diametrical to fiat currencies. Bitcoin is decentralized, limited, deflationary and digital. There is no historical event where increased money printing has resolved economic turmoil. And yet, we have not come up with a better solution, or at least we have not implemented it yet. The chart above shows how shortly after the crash of 2008, the first transaction ever sent on the bitcoin blockchain was completed in January 2009.Coincidence? It took some time until the cryptocurrency’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto found traction with his idea reflected in bitcoin’s price rise. Still, it has not just caught up but outperformed the market by a stunning margin. BTC in US-Dollar, Monthly Chart, don’t underestimate powerful ideas: Bitcoin versus gold and silver in US-Dollar, Monthly chart as of November 16th, 2021. Covid provided like a steroid a means to illustrate many shortcomings in a magnified way. The chart above shows that bitcoin speculation was an answer to where many find a more prosperous future compared to precious metals. In addition to fundamentals and technical, the underlying idea and hope for a transitory future got traction when people were most afraid.   BTC in US-Dollar, Monthly Chart, sitting through turmoil with ease: Bitcoin in US-Dollar, Monthly chart as of November 16th, 2021. Dissecting markets like this in all their shades and facets is necessary for discovering underlying currents, motivation, and sustainability of trends. In bitcoins case, the found strength of application, beliefs, and principles inherent in bitcoin itself and its traders allows for sitting more easily through its volatility swings. Once the mind grasps reason, it tolerates easier, otherwise hardships to trade a volatile vehicle like bitcoin. With a battle ensured on this magnitude and for an expected long duration, one can accept deep retracements in a more tranquil fashion. The monthly chart above shows that bitcoin might face one of those quick dips that hodlers accept, knowing that the battle isn’t over yet. Bitcoin, a battle for freedom: Mills are grinding slowly. Change typically takes time, and those holding the reign over financial power will certainly not surrender such summoned energies lightly. While this world certainly needs a more adaptive behavior of humanity both for its wellbeing and the planet itself, it is unlikely that a shift, if at all, will be swift. This means that bitcoin is a continued struggle to establish itself. And this will result in continued high volatility for the years to come. As such, it will remain an excellent opportunity for the individual investor. Feel free to join us in our free Telegram channel for daily real time data and a great community. If you like to get regular updates on our gold model, precious metals and cryptocurrencies you can subscribe to our free newsletter. This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone. They do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Midas Touch Consulting.

EURUSD lacks support The US dollar inched higher after October’s retail sales beat expectations. There has been a lack of interest in the single currency following its fall below the daily support at 1.1530. The divergence between the 20 and 30-hour moving averages indicates an acceleration in the sell-off. The bears are targeting the demand zone around 1.1200 from last July. The RSI’s oversold situation may prompt momentum traders to cover. Though a rebound is likely to be capped by 1.1370 and sellers would be eager to sell into strength. GBPJPY attempts to rebound The sterling recouped losses after Britain’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3%. On the daily chart, the pair saw support near the 61.8% (152.60) Fibonacci retracement of the October rally. A bullish RSI divergence was a sign that the bearish pressure was fading. A break above 153.60 could be an attempt to turn the mood around. The initial surge may need more support after the RSI shot into the overbought area. Should the pound stay above 152.35-152.60, a rebound would lift it towards 155.20. NAS 100 tests peak The Nasdaq 100 bounces back supported by robust tech earnings. The index showed exhaustion after a four-week-long bull run. A combination of an overbought RSI and its bearish divergence made traders cautious in buying into high valuations. A break below the psychological level of 16000 has triggered a wave of profit-taking. A deeper retreat below 16020 would send the index to the previous peak at 15700 which coincides with the 30-day moving average. On the upside, A rally above 16400 would resume the uptrend.

Nearly everyone familiar with the world of cryptocurrency knows about the successful platform called ChainLink. Also called LINK, ChainLink is the fifth global cryptocurrency platform in terms of market capitalization.  The mission of this decentralized union is to enhance real-world data in connecting smart contacts. This platform has grown its worth by 100% since January 2020. If you are wondering what cryptocurrency platform to invest in gain as much as 100% returns, this article holds the answer. In this article, we will introduce you to Covesting, provide vital information about the platform, and guide you as to whether or not you should get involved in Covesting. What you need to know about Covesting Covesting is a financial technology (fintech company) operating globally and registered in Gibraltar.  The company handles a vast range of software needs and offers solutions to individual customers and institutions globally. Covesting is one of the international firms that received the Distributed Ledger Technology License by the Gibraltar regulatory authorities, which gives it a boost and assurance of great achievements in 2020. Traders and new users can connect on Covesting through the Copy trading or social trading feature. The copy trading or social trading feature allows users to identify expert traders on the platform. After selecting experienced traders, they can automatically copy their trading patterns. Copy-trading or social trading is a smart tactic for both traders and their followers to earn a profit. In practice, when a trade is profitable, the expert trader receives a share of the profit from their followers. Likewise, the followers can trade with fewer fees and greater ease even if they are a novice in trading crypto. Covesting also has a unique token called COV that traders on the platform can use for their activities. Read on to learn more about COV and other features in Covesting. PrimeXBT's partnership with Covesting Covesting is in partnership with a renowned and award-winning trading platform PrimeXBT. The firm won the 2020 ADVFN International Financial Awards as the Best Bitcoin Margin Trading Platform.  PrimeXBT offers Bitcoin trade, forex, indices, stocks, commodities, etc. on a global scale and has over 1 billion USD trading volumes. Other features on PrimeXBT 1: 100 cryptocurrency leverage Accumulated assets from different asset providers. A safe and secure platform for trade. Vast range of trading tools. How to use Covesting through PrimeXBT Users and traders can assess Covesting through PrimeXBT and create strategies for funding and trading in a transparent environment. Tracking records will be made visible to potential traders who can monitor the trade records of expert traders. The followers will see their capital investment and returns, and then decide whether or not to copy the trade. You can search traders through the Covesting area. From the search results, you can decide on a successful trader to follow and copy. Following a trade and copying the trading pattern helps you to earn passive income with little or no knowledge. The traders-followers pattern is also an avenue for the traders to build their reputation. It will earn them more profit if they know what to do. Is COV Likely to Skyrocket? Investors can use the Covesting token (COV) to invest in the platform. Investing with the token is very profitable when the value appreciates.  Those interested in serious investment and profits can avail themselves of the supply of token available on the platform. 18,000,000 tokens are in circulation out of a total of 20,000,000 tokens. Top investors referred to as 'strong hands' control 50% of the total token in circulation. Covesting differentiates its utilities into core and secondary token utilities. With an ambitious business goal and direction, Covesting is out to expand its frontiers in business and fintech. The firm aspires to obtain more partnership deals with other third-party trading platforms asides from PrimeXBT through the white-label licensing agreements. With its current partnership with PrimeXBT, the two companies want to integrate the COV token into PrimeXBT. The purpose of this integration is to reduce the trading fee, expand the success fee, and increase followers' limits. Reduced Trading Fee A reduced trading fee is achievable for strategy managers who hold COV. The deduction in trading fees will cover about 10%-100% of the COV token, although, the particular COV discount level has not been ascertained. Higher Success Fee Percentage Followers can earn a higher percentage of profits on their success fee when they stake with COV tokens. Presently, profits from closed trades on Covesting are shared between the platform, traders, and followers. The percentage distribution of profit is calculated depending on the current rates and market conditions, of which traders and followers will receive a greater percentage profit than the platform. Limits on Follower Numbers Covesting plans to enforce a limit on followers to keep their utility high. However, a trader can increase follower numbers when they start staking COV tokens. Token Burns Covesting will calculate and burn a specific amount from its monthly or quarterly generated fees. The token burn will exclude affiliate earnings, fee discounts, and other costs.  Covesting has an admirable customer base, and the COV has a strong medium-term potential. Traders can also trade COV on other platforms, including onKuCoin. Benefits of Covesting and its COV-token In summary, these are what you can benefit from trading on Covesting and using the COV token. Team of trustworthy holders. Higher token value. Reliable partnerships with other renowned platforms. Possibilities of utility and token burns. Recommended by analysts on TradingView. A community of dedicated followers. Legitimate, registered, and regulated platform Token is still under the radar Our Verdict Our review has shown that investing and trading on Covesting has many benefits. However, this should not be your final research before investing your funds in this platform.  Find out more about Covesting and COV before you invest and trade. To learn more about the COV token and trading, you can visit their website. Also, follow traders to learn about their trading strategy.  In all, our verdict is that Covesting is a very promising platform for investment and trading, but make sure you do not invest until you are convinced that it is the best platform for you.

The decentralised oracle network ChainLink works by connecting contracts with data from around the world. Now one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, it can make you wonder where the next big cryptocurrency will be coming from and, more importantly, how to get on board before it explodes in popularity. It is time to introduce you to Coversting. What Is Covesting? Covesting is an international fintech corporation which offers an array of software solutions for customers across the world. Recognising the importance of being based in a country where the government fully supports what the company is about, Covesting is based in Gibraltar. Quickly becoming one of the first companies in the world to receive a Distributed Ledger Technology License, also referred to as DLT, from the authorities in the British Overseas Territory, Covesting has its own token; COV. Developing their own platform, Covesting connects traders with a variety of followers, a little similar to social media, allowing for both the follower and the trader to make profitable gains. Traders earn a small fee from the equity of their followers, while the followers benefit from hassle free trading by following the trader’s most successful strategies. This process is known as ‘copy trading’. Partnership with PrimeXBT Now available to everyone via PrimeXBT, the Covesting platform allows traders to make profit from each other as well as their own followers. To make capital, transparency is key. Traders create funds with their best strategies which users can then easily verify, along with the track record of the trader and how much money has been invested into each fund. If traders are able to build and maintain a good reputation, they will be able to generate a second income by attracting new followers. Users can view traders objectively, looking at their results and only invest when they are comfortable they have selected the right trader for them. This way, capital can be generated passively without knowledge of the market or any trading skills. PrimeXBT Offering services such as foreign exchange and stock indices, PrimeXBT is a Bitcoin based trading platform. With trading volumes over $1 billion (USD), in 2020 the company won ‘Best Bitcoin Margin Trading Platform’ at the International Financial Awards. As a platform, PrimeXBT can provide up to one hundred times leverage for cryptocurrencies, a wide range of technical analysis tools and extra security for efficient and safe trading. Why Will COV Be Popular? With a limited supply of tokens, only 18 million COV tokens are in circulation and half of these are held in ‘strong hands’. Holders of the tokens gain access to benefits and COV utilities will be divided up between Secondary and Core token utilities. Moving forward, Covesting plans to partner with other third parties to increase the utilities offered to token holders. So what will a COV token be used for? Well, it will be integrated into PrimeXBT and will be used for a number of functions. These include: Trading Fee Reduction Fee reduction tiers will range from between 10% and 100%, and the level of reduction permitted will depend on the amount of COV tokens held. The number of tokens required for each level reduction will be announced at a later date though there are a variety of options and benefits available. Improving Success Fee Percentage Followers can favourably increase the percentage of success fees by staking tokens and taking advantage of its utility. At the moment, Covesting takes a percentage of success fees on closed profitable trades. Determined by the corresponding offer, Covesting then distributes the remaining percentage between the follower, the strategy manager and the platform. Offers are subject to change depending on the current market conditions. By staking a certain amount of COV tokens, Covesting has a smaller percentage, with a larger share going to the follower on profits made by the strategy manager. Increasing Following Limits In order to keep token utility levels high, Covesting implements limitations on the maximum number of unique followers permitted, in addition to imposing limitations on capital. Staking COV tokens unlocks followers and raises capital limits. Token Burns Covesting will burn a portion of fees generated at regular intervals throughout the year. Calculated fees will exclude affiliate earnings, fee discounts and various other revenue impacts. COV tokens have a lot of potential in a relatively short time frame, being traded on KuCoin and Inter Alia. Covesting is surrounded by a very supportive community with the price reaction to Covesting’s module launch on PrimeXBT being extremely positive. In Summary The best piece of advice you can get is to visit the Covesting website and carry out your own research about the token before deciding whether or not to invest. You may also wish to try your hand at trading cryptocurrency on PrimeXBT. If you follow this link, you will receive a welcome bonus of $50 when you sign up. When you start to follow traders, it is important to remember that their past results are not a guarantee of any future results. You should also look at how long a certain strategy has been live on the platform. For example, the newer the strategy the more risk it involves and following some strategies can result in financial losses. This said, if you cannot afford to lose capital, do not invest until you are prepared to accept the risk of loss. Reasons for Holding COV Main reasons for holding COV tokens include: Trusted, licensed company Limited token supply Under the radar at the moment Future utility plans Top TradingView analyst recommendations Token burns Strong sense of community

PrimeXBT, your award-winning trading platform, has been upgraded to deliver even more value to the trading community. This upgrade includes several improvements to the platform's appearance and interface. But the biggest reason for the upgrade is the addition of Ethereum and stablecoin based margin accounts. In this guide, you will find all you need to know about the introduction of ETH, USDT, and USDC margin accounts, as well as other features of PrimeXBT's upgrade to version 2.0. Welcome To Version 2.0 When you first log into your account (since the upgrade), you’ll be greeted with a message introducing the updates. There are a few slides that also inform you of all the new features that have been added. You’ll notice that the dashboard has been reorganized and now includes a Main account section. This section provides you with the information you need regarding your margin accounts, wallet, followings or Covesting accounts, and more. The New Main Page Shows You All You Need In One Glance You can execute several operations from the Main page because it provides you everything you need at a glance. Some of these tasks include initiating withdrawals, making deposits, viewing your balances, creating margin accounts, and more. No matter the cryptocurrency (BTC, ETH, USDC, and USDT), you can create a separate margin account for each. You can also deposit COV tokens, but these are not for your margin accounts. Their use will be explained further in this guide. To fund any account from your PrimeXBT’s Main page, you have to deposit funds into the secure cryptocurrency address for that account. You can find the address within your PrimeXBT account dashboard. Once funded, you will need to move the crypto into the margin account from your wallet. New Accounts In ETH, USDC, and USDT With the Bitcoin-based margin trading, PrimeXBT earned many awards. Now there’s more! PrimeXBT has added Ethereum, Tether, and USD Coin. This is one of the Version 2.0 upgrade's most significant features and has been merged into the same account system and internal trading engine. You can use these currencies beyond Bitcoin-based margin trading. Get a free account with PrimeXBT and start trading with a small minimum deposit. You can sign up in less than 59 seconds, so do so now if you haven't registered with PrimeXBT. There are more than 50 CFDs for you to trade on PrimeXBT, and they cut across stock indices, commodities, crypto, Forex, and more. You can trade all of these within each individual currency type. You will find isolated account details within each dedicated margin account. Your All-New Reports Section PrimeXBT has also added a Reports section which contains detailed vital account information. You can find information such as a log of all your transactions in this section. This makes tax reporting and bookkeeping very easy. The Updated Referral Section As a result of the inclusion of these new currencies, the referral section has also been upgraded. This section of the website now lists commissions in whichever currencies new users trade in. In order words, if a user trades in Ethereum, commissions are generated and paid out in Ethereum. So, when you refer anyone to PrimeXBT, you will get your commissions in the currencies the user trades in. The referral system includes simple referral links you can use on different media, including forums and social media. You can share it with friends and loved ones too. Depending on where you are on PrimeXBT’s four-level referral system, you can get as much as 20% commissions per referral. Enhancements To The Covesting Copy Trading The Covesting Trading Module has been an innovative copy trading system connecting followers to strategy managers. The system makes it possible for both parties to earn and profit. With the addition of ETH, USDC, and USDT, this module has also been upgraded to support these cryptos and given a facelift. How Covesting Copy Trading Works Strategy managers post their trades for followers to copy. When they close their positions, both parties earn. These more skilled traders earn a commission (success fees) off of followers’ capital commissions. These commissions can add up quickly, and the top Covesting traders have already earned millions in commissions, as well as generated millions for their followers. Traders are reviewed by a five-star system that spurs everyone to be at their best. They are then ranked accordingly and displayed on global leaderboards, with different success factors, including their wins, total profits, and even losses, highlighted. With the inclusion of other currencies in version 2.0 of PrimeXBT, followers can only follow strategy managers in like-currencies, thus encouraging a diversified Covesting community. Followers with ETH-based margin accounts can now only follow strategy managers with the same currency accounts. We mentioned the COV utility token earlier. It is at the heart of the Covesting copy trading module and can be used to unlock many other benefits within the module. More PrimeXBT Features PrimeXBT has so many incredible features for traders. Some of these include responsive customer service, Turbo, an official blog containing lots of trading tips, educational guides, and more. Turbo With Turbo, you (all traders) have access to unique ways to position yourself in the market. It also includes an analysis section that that seamlessly integrates with TradingView for an incredible technical analysis and risk management experience, and more. Blog & News The company's blog and news tabs keep you updated with news and market information and content to help you become your better version of the trader you are and make the most of your trades. Security PrimeXBT prioritizes security. The platform is highly secure and built on bank-grade security infrastructure. With the help of a distinctive wallet structure that involves cold storage, the platform has never been hack. Each account is secured with address white-listing and two-factor authentication. PrimeXBT also boasts a 99.9% uptime. 24/7 Responsive Customer Support Besides all the fantastic features of PrimeXBT, one of its best is its 24/7 live customer support staff. They are trained and ever-ready to assist you with whatever issues you might have. There’s also a help center containing tutorials to help you with anything. Advanced Trading Tools PrimeXBT’s upgrade to version 2.0 offers traders an all-in-one platform for the complete trading experience. It contains all the advanced trading tools necessary to become the successful trader you always dreamed of while also minimizing risks. It has the best slippage in the industry with stop-loss orders to ensure capital preservation. It also offers you excellent opportunities with its leverages and diverse ways to access the markets. Stable Coins For Added Risk Protection Bitcoin and Ethereum are known to be subject to base currency account volatility. This type of volatility spurred many users to request the addition of stablecoins. With the inclusion of USDT and USDC, traders can now eliminate all risks associated with such volatility. This is one of the fundamental reasons for the upgrade to version 2.0. Today Is Your Best Time To Trade CFDs On An Award-Winning Platform With PrimeXBT's upgrade to version 2.0, you can now use BTC, ETH, USDT, and USDC for margin accounts. You can trade any combination of the most popular markets, including the S&P 500, Bitcoin, Forex, oil, and gold. And you can do this anywhere you are, digitally. All you need is our award-winning platform that has all the basic and advanced tools to help you reach your trading and financial dreams. Use PrimeXBT’s V2.0 Today!

  If the dollar goes through a corrective downswing, it’s more bullish for gold? Not if a decline in the euro caused gold to rise in the first place. Another day, another new yearly high for the USD Index. The U.S. currency soars just like it has since the beginning of the year, in tune with what I said at that time, (and against what almost everyone else said about its outlook). The rally accelerated recently, with the USD Index soaring by 0.78 this week – and it’s only Wednesday today. So, surely that’s bullish for the USD Index? - one might ask. No. “Bullish” or “bearish” relates to the future, not to the past. In fact, the rally in the USD Index might need a breather as all markets – no matter how bullish or bearish the situation is in them – can’t rally or decline in a straight line, without periodic corrections. The USD Index, gold, silver, mining stocks, and practically all the other markets are no exception from this rule. Even the real estate prices don’t increase over the long run without periodic downturns. As you can see on the above chart, the U.S currency index soared to almost 96 yesterday and it’s after an almost straight-up rally. This rally caused the RSI indicator to move above 70, and this has been a quite precise short-term sell signal this year. In fact, in all cases when we saw it, some kind of short-term correction followed. Based on the size of the current rally, it seems that the current situation is most similar to what we saw in early March and in late June. That’s when we saw short-term declines that took the USDX approximately a full index point lower. In the current case, it could mean a decline back to 95. This would be a perfectly natural thing for the USD Index to do right now, given that the previous resistance (which now serves as support) is located slightly below 95. The support is provided by the late-2020 high and the March 2020 low (not visible on the above chart). So, surely this corrective downswing in the USD Index would cause an even bigger rally in the precious metals sector, right? That’s where things get complicated. You see, the biggest (over 50%) part of the USD Index (which is a weighted average) is the EUR/USD currency pair. Let’s take a look at it. The Euro Index moved sharply lower last week and just like the RSI based on the USD Index flashed a sell signal, the RSI based on the Euro Index flashed a buy signal. Also, the Euro Index just moved to the lower border of its declining trade channel, which is likely to indicate some kind of rebound. Why am I discussing the euro here? Because that’s what’s complicated about the current USD-gold link. The euro recently declined and the prices of silver and gold recently rallied shortly after dovish comments from the eurozone. Namely, while the expansionary nature of fiscal and monetary decisions in the U.S. might be after its peak (with the infrastructure bill signed even despite high inflation numbers), the eurozone is far from limiting its expansionary (i.e., inflationary) policies, and it was just made clear recently. That was bearish for the euro and bullish for the gold price – as more money (euros in this case) would be chasing the same amount of physical gold bars. The point here is that it might have been the decline in the value of the European currency that caused gold to rally, and it had little to do with what happened in the USD Index. Don’t get me wrong, most of the time, the gold-USD link is stable and negative. In some cases, gold shows strength or weakness by refusing to move in tune (and precisely: again) with the U.S. dollar’s movement. But in this case, it seems that it’s not about the U.S. dollar at all (or mostly), but rather about what happened in the Eurozone and euro recently. I marked the recent decline in the euro and the rally in gold with a golden rectangle. The usual link between gold-USD would have one assume that lower USD Index values (due to higher EUR/USD values) would trigger a rally in gold. However, given how things worked and the fact that we saw/heard the news coming from the Eurozone, it seems like this “temporary” and “bearish for the PMs” interpretation would actually prevail. It could also be the case that we see some kind of mixed reply from the precious metals sector when the USD Index and the Euro Index correct. The PMs could for example fall only after the situation regarding the gold-USD link gets back to normal – that is perhaps after both currencies correct. Thank you for reading our free analysis today. Please note that the above is just a small fraction of today’s all-encompassing Gold & Silver Trading Alert. The latter includes multiple premium details such as the targets for gold and mining stocks that could be reached in the next few weeks. If you’d like to read those premium details, we have good news for you. As soon as you sign up for our free gold newsletter, you’ll get a free 7-day no-obligation trial access to our premium Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. It’s really free – sign up today. Przemyslaw Radomski, CFAFounder, Editor-in-chiefSunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care * * * * * All essays, research and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses are based on data available to authors of respective essays at the time of writing. Although the information provided above is based on careful research and sources that are deemed to be accurate, Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA and his associates do not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the data or information reported. The opinions published above are neither an offer nor a recommendation to purchase or sell any securities. Mr. Radomski is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Przemyslaw Radomski's, CFA reports you fully agree that he will not be held responsible or liable for any decisions you make regarding any information provided in these reports. Investing, trading and speculation in any financial markets may involve high risk of loss. Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA, Sunshine Profits' employees and affiliates as well as members of their families may have a short or long position in any securities, including those mentioned in any of the reports or essays, and may make additional purchases and/or sales of those securities without notice.

Overview: The prospects that the 6.2% CPI will prompt the Fed to move quicker continue to underpin the dollar.  The euro fell to about $1.1265, its lowest level since last September, and the Japanese yen slumped to a fresh four-year low.  The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index tumbled 1% yesterday, the largest decline since February.  A more stable tone is evident in Europe, as the euro has recovered above $1.13, and the JP Morgan Index is paring yesterday's losses.  The dollar is holding just below JPY115.00.  Asia Pacific equities did not fare well.  Only China and Taiwan markets, among the large regional markets, managed to rise.  Europe's Stoxx 600 is edging higher for the sixth consecutive session.  Recall it has fallen only once since October 27.  US futures are narrowly mixed. The bond market is quiet, with the US 10-year hovering around 1.62%.  European yields are a little softer.  Gold slid below $1850 yesterday but has snapped back today to test the $1860 area.  Crude oil is heavy, with the January WTI contract around $78.80, unable to resurface above $80 amid talk that the US and China may coordinate the release of strategic holdings.  Gas prices are up another 7% in Europe today after surging 16% yesterday and 9% on Monday. Due to "unplanned maintenance," a Belarus pipeline to Poland has been shut down, which may last three days.  Iron ore prices are giving back around half of yesterday's 1.2% gain, for the third loss in four sessions.  Copper is off for a third session, losing after dropping 2.2% in the past two sessions.   Asia Pacific Japan's October trade data disappointed.  Exports and imports were weaker than expected, and this resulted in a smaller deficit. Exports slowed to 9.4% year-over-year, down from 13% in September, defying expectations for a small double-digit increase.  Imports were up 26.7% from a year ago, off the heady 38.2% pace seen in September and below the 31.8% projected.  The resulting trade deficit of JPY67.4 bln was about a fifth of what economists anticipated (Bloomberg survey).  It is the third consecutive monthly deficit.  In the first seven months of the year, Japan recorded two deficits.  A year ago, Japan recorded a JPY840 bln surplus.   Reports suggesting that the possibility that the US and China coordinate the drawdown of strategic oil reserves are light on details, but the suggestion itself is enough to weigh on prices.  Still, the International Energy Agency yesterday echoed the broad assessment of America's EIA in anticipating that the tightness of the oil market could ease shortly.   Increased output in the US, Saudi Arabia, and Russia may account for half of the 1.5 mln barrel a day anticipated increase in supply. Nevertheless, the acting head of the EIA warned tapping the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve would have a short-term impact, for which other dynamics would quickly overshadow it.  Separately, note that the API estimated a slight build of 655k barrels in US stocks this past week, while gasoline inventories fell.   In other regional developments, Australia's wage price index rose a modest 0.6% in Q3 for a year-over-year pace of 2.2%.  This was in line with expectations.  It would seem to support the RBA's argument that it need not be in a hurry to raise rates.  The June 2022 T-bill yield settled last month at 69 bp and is now near 40 bp.  Separately, China appears to be allowing "high quality" property developments to return to the asset-backed securities market to raise capital after a three-month hiatus. Lastly, reports suggest Beijing is moving ahead with its import substitution plans to reduce dependency on foreign technology.    The dollar approached JPY115.00, where an option for almost $610 mln expires today.  The dollar has not traded above there since March 2017.  Since the dollar broke above JPY112.00, we have suggested that JPY114.50-JPY115.00 may mark the top of the new range.  While this has worked for the past month, the risk is on the upside.  A convincing break of around JPY115.50 would target the JPY118.00 area.  Initial support is now seen near JPY114.70.  Note that the upper Bollinger Band is slightly below JPY114.80.  The Australian dollar is trading near its lowest level since October 6, near $0.7265.  It is holding above a trendline connecting the August and September lows, which is found near $0.7250 today, but little stands in the way of a test on the $0.7200 in the coming days.  An option for a little more than A$800 mln at $0.7300 is set to expire today.  After posting a key upside reversal yesterday, the US dollar consolidated against the Chinese yuan today, and no follow-through buying materialized.  Instead, it seemed that the local market took advantage of the pop above CNY6.39 to sell the greenback, which is straddling CNY6.38 in late dealings.  The reference rate was set at CNY6.3935, just below the bank projections (CNY6.3936, according to the median in the Bloomberg survey).  We note that the yuan is also at its best level since 2015 against the trade-weighted CFETS basket the PBOC uses.   Europe On the heels of a strong employment report, the UK reported a larger than expected increase in the October CPI.  The preferred measure, which includes owner-equivalent housing costs, jumped to 3.8% from 2.9%.  The older measure rose to 4.2% from 3.1%.  On the month, consumer prices rose 1.1% rather than the 0.8% economists forecast (Bloomberg median). Flattered by increasing gas and electricity prices.  Core prices rose 3.4% year-over-year, accelerating from 2.9% in September and defying forecasts for a 3.1% pace.  Separately, producer prices, both input and output, also rose more than expected.  Lastly, UK house prices rose 11.8% year-over-year in September, up from a revised 10.2% in August.  The recent peak was 12.6% in June, which was the highest since 2004.    European gas prices are at one-month highs.  Belarus has stopped its pipeline to Poland, claiming unplanned maintenance issues, while the border tensions and earlier threats raise suspicions of a political move.  Separately, the German regulator suspended the certification process of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline as corporate assets are rearranged.  Separately, a German court yesterday dismissed an environmental challenge to the pipeline.  Lastly, we note that the virus flare-up continues in Europe, and Germany and the Czech Republic reported a record number of cases. The euro surpassed our $1.1290 Fibonacci target and did not find bids until the $1.1265 area in Asian turnover.  The single currency has been in a tight range in Europe, holding above $1.1300.  Initial resistance is seen around $1.1330 now.  A move above yesterday's high, near $1.1385, is needed to lift the tone. We suspect the near big target is closer to $1.10.  Sterling slipped to a three-day low, slightly below $1.34, but shot up to the session high near $1.3375 on the inflation news. However, the momentum was not sustained, and sterling is little changed in late morning European turnover near $1.3430. The euro briefly traded below GBP0.8400 for the first time since March 2020 but snapped back.  An 840 mln euro option at GBP0.8445 expires today and another for about 620 mln euros at GBP0.8450 expires tomorrow.   America US retail sales surged last month, and the 1.7% rise was the best since March.  After slowing in Q3, consumption is off to a strong start in Q4.  Industrial production was also much stronger than expected, rising 1.6% compared with the 0.9% gain anticipated by economists (median, Bloomberg survey).  The US reports October housing starts today, and they are expected to have recovered from the 1.6% decline seen in September. Housing starts fell in Q3 but are seen rising in Q4, encouraged by an easing of some supply chain issues.   In fact, on several fronts, there are preliminary signs that the disruptions are dissipating.  Some reports suggest that the shortage of semiconductor chips may be passed, and US auto sales rose in October for the first time in six months.  Both the EIA and IEA have forecast a more balanced oil market, and some measures of shipping costs have moderated. The Los Angeles port has reportedly reduced the number of empty containers by around a quarter this month as six new sweeper ships have been brought into operation.  In addition, we note that the re-opening of US borders means immigrant workers may begin returning.  There is still much debate, of course, on the extent that the elevated price pressures are the result of supply chain disruptions.  A report by the Bank for International Settlements estimates that without the supply problems, US inflation would be closer to 2.5% and eurozone inflation near 1.5%. President Biden is expected to make his Fed announcements in the next few days, according to reports, but it could slip into early next week.  Powell is still the favorite, and he has Treasury Secretary Yellen's in support.  Yellen warns that action is needed soon on the debt ceiling.  Her efforts may be exhausted early next month.  Lastly, San Francisco Fed President Daly opined she was more bullish on the economy than a year ago.  This seems backward to us.  A year ago, the vaccine was announced, and fiscal stimulus was anticipated after the US election. Going forward, there will be less monetary and fiscal stimulus.  The pent-up demand ("excess savings") is projected to be exhausted by early next year, and, as we have noted, the doubling of the price of oil has preceded the last three recessions in the US. We suspect that there is sufficient stimulus and need to rebuild inventories to sustain reasonably strong growth for the next few quarters, but by the second half of next year, sub-3% growth will return as the norm.  Canada reports October CPI figures today.  The headline is likely to rise to 4.7% from 4.4% in September (Bloomberg median).  However, the base effect points to a further rise this month and December, when in 2020, the CPI rose 0.1% and fell 0.2%, respectively.   The underlying core rates are also increasing.  The Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada cautioned about the high degree of uncertainty around potential structural shifts in the labor market that make it challenging to gauge full employment with any degree of confidence.  He pointed to economic areas that still show slack.  The market is expecting the first hike next March/April.  Note that tomorrow, the "Three Amigos" (Biden, Trudeau, and AMLO) meet in the US amid concern that the US "Build Back Better" has strong nationalistic elements, including for electric vehicles.     The US dollar posted an outside up day against the Canadian dollar yesterday, and follow-through buying has lifted it to around CAD1.2585.  At the end of last week, the high set was slightly above CAD1.2600, which close approximates the (50%) retracement of the greenback's decline since the September 20 high near CAD1.29.  The next retracement (61.8%) is found by CAD1.2665.  Still, we expect that a firm CPI report will lend the Loonie some support.  The session low, set in late Asia, near CAD1.2540, may be protected a CAD1.2545 option for $600 mln that expires today.  The greenback is consolidating against the Mexican peso today after rallying yesterday from about MXN20.56 to nearly MXN20.85.  The high from earlier this month was near MXN20.98.  It has not been above MXN21.00 since March.  Initial support is seen around MXN20.60.   Disclaimer

Cryptocurrency traders are always seeking to top the trading list despite the competition. Most of these crypto traders have features that place them above others. One of such is PrimeXBT. The goal of the cryptocurrency marketers is to maximize sales, assets, and profits. Some exclusive features make PrimeXBT outstanding among other cryptocurrency platforms. These features also set the trading platform as an unequaled competition. The purpose of this article is to clarify, review, and educate readers on some of the significant characteristics of PrimeXBT that are distinct to others. After reading this article, you will be able to decide whether or not to sign up on PrimeXBT. WHY PRIMEXBT PrimeXBT is a bitcoin-based trading platform. It is also an award-winning platform for excellent service and creating the best crypto trading margin. The platform offers exchanges in stock indices, commodities, forex, and cryptocurrencies with up to 1000 times leverage. Below are some of the unique qualities and benefits that PrimeXBT offers. · Registration is easy and speedy on the platform. · Hassle-free withdrawals are based on bank-grade and address whitelisting. · Reliable, technical software · Leverage up to 100 times on commodities, crypto, and stock indices. · Gold, Forex, Silver has about 1000 times leverage. · Secured and fantastic trading engine · PrimeXBT has the option to stop loss and take profit. · A demo account is available for free. · Customer service is open for all live chats 24 hours, 7 days a week. · Learning materials are also available. · The trading platform has updated and new tools for crypto trade. The above-mentioned characteristics and factors make PrimeXBT a highly recommendable trading platform for new crypto traders. All these benefits also make the PrimeXBT attractive, satisfactory, reliable, and remarkable for experienced crypto traders. HOW TO GET STARTED PrimeXBT has the simplest registration process. Registration on PrimeXBT is easy and fast. You will be required only to give a valid email address and your country of residence. From there, you would be asked to proceed to confirm your email address. You will need to have a username and a secret code to enable you to log in another time. Once you have completed the registration process, you can proceed to make your initial deposit. HOW TO MAKE DEPOSITS PrimeXBT only allows payments to a BTC address. Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency for all registered accounts. The minimum deposit fee is 0.01 Bitcoin. Another means of the deposit is through a third-party channel called Changelly. All BTC deposits are immediately confirmed and converted to funds. You must transfer funds to your trading account upon deposit. Funds in the trading account will help you to save some capital separately for trading purposes. This is different from what you have in the trading account for margin. HOW TO MAKE WITHDRAWALS All withdrawals on PrimeXBT are processed once daily. Making withdrawal on PrimeXBT is also a simple process like the deposit. The system converts the Bitcoins to funds before you cash out. After that, the funds go to another BTC address. You may lose funds if you send them to other cryptocurrency exchange different from Bitcoin. The withdrawal window processes all withdrawals at once in a day on PrimeXBT. So, all pending withdrawals will wait until the rollover period. They will join the queue until the next rollover. All the payments from the platform are also officially addressed to the BTC addresses. TRADING ON PRIMEXBT Trading on PrimeXBT is subject to customers' preferences. The trading terminals are developed with excellent built-in software. They have a good number of trading indicators that include SAR, RSI, Ichimoku, and Parabolic, among others. All trading terminals are customized to suit the traders' satisfaction. The trading terminal has a good number of widgets like watch lists and charts. The reliability of the trading engine accounts to about 99.9%, which is known to be fast and error-free. Traders are positioned to enjoy maximum profit irrespective of market turnout. Traders can increase their profits and reduce all risks with the stop loss and take profit orders available on the platform. ASSETS There are about 50 distinctive traditional and digital assets that PrimeXBT offers. These assets create several means of making a profit on PrimeXBT, unlike other rival trading platforms. They include: · Different cryptocurrencies. For example, Bitcoin, Ripple, and Etherum. · Valuable metals. Gold and Silver. · Commodities. WTI Crude Oil, Natural gas, Brent. · Stock Indices and CFDs. Examples are ASX 200, S&P 500, and DAX 30. · Forex currencies. Like AUD, USD, JPY, etc. Considering the cryptocurrency trading market, PrimeXBT has the most attractive and exceptional value assets. REFERRAL Referrals on the platform also generate commissions for traders. Traders who refer customers to the site can generate up to 50 BTC. Traders who are on the leaderboard of the referral chain can even generate over 50 BTC. As the referral increases, the commission increases as well. The referral level and commission grow as each referred trader refer to other traders the platform. The trader who makes the first referral can benefit up to four levels of commission based on the growth of the chain. PrimeXBT also uses CPA offers for its traders. A trader can also enjoy ambassador relationships and personal customer agents as they continue to refer more clients to the platform. CUSTOMER CARE Through an online chat on a daily and weekly basis, customer service agents are available on PrimeXBT. They also give other help center guides, regular updates, and information through their blog. PrimeXBT also has social media platforms that are open to receiving customers' complaints and requests. The customer care representatives are trained and prepared to give any assistance needed to use the platform. SECURITY A secured transaction is one priority of PrimeXBT, which is why they take extensive measures to prevent the security threat of any trading account. PrimeXBT uses Cloudflare technology to ensure the security of all trading on its platforms. All withdrawal accounts are whitelisted and encrypted. The accounts are protected with two-step authentication. One way to test the security level of PrimeXBT is that no personal information is required. The simple step to register is to supply a valid email address, country of residence, create a username, and create a password. TURBO The company recently introduced a new and fantastic trading tool called Turbo. It is also a BTC trading platform with a slight difference from Prime XBT. Turbo works for short-term and synthetic Bitcoin transactions. Traders can select and book for any contract from 30 seconds, a minute or five minutes UP, and DOWN contract. They also order either a profit or loss contract with the new Turbo tool. This new tool is an innovative and exciting trend that makes PrimeXBT unrivaled. CONCLUSION PrimeXBT has won several awards like the ADVFN as the Best Bitcoin Margin Trading Platform. The platform also provides highly competitive features for its traders.  All these are summed in the extremely-fast registration process, rewarding tools, and a wide selection of modern and conventional assets.  If you are keen and concerned about secured and reliable cryptocurrency trade, PrimeXBT is a recommendation for you. PrimeXBT has the best, fast, and profitable assets and cryptocurrency trading. Study all the training tools available and register a free trading account on PrimeXBT to get started.

 Just recently, PrimeXBT released an upgraded version, called the V2.0. This version brought about nothing short of a revolution to the trading platform, including greater access to the platform, improved interface, and enhanced visuals. V2.0 also supports Ethereum (ETH) and digital currency-based margin accounts. This is a guide to everything you should know about PrimeXBT V2.0, and all the upgrades you find on this trading platform, including the USDT, USDC, and ETH margin accounts. INTRODUCTION TO PRIMEXBT V2.0 When you visit PrimeXBT's website, you will get a welcome message if it is your first visit since the upgrade. Do a quick read of the new additions and features noted in the text. The dashboard, which has been upgraded and reorganized, consists of the main account from where you can view your margin accounts, Covesting details, available wallets, account followings, and other relevant details. VERSION 2.O MAIN PAGE AT A GLANCE You have all relevant information immediately you hit the main page, including how to make a withdrawal, deposit, or check your balance.  From the main page, you can deposit funds, make withdrawals, monitor your balance, and do so much more. You can also set up a different account for ETH, USDT, and BTC right from the main page. Funding your account is swift and easy; it starts by depositing funds to all your crypto addresses connected to your dashboard. The next step is to move your crypto deposit from your wallet to all the margin accounts you want to send it. INTRODUCING NEW FEATURES: USDT, USDC, AND ETH ACCOUNTS AND CURRENCIES Do you know what's hot? It is a fact that users now have more options apart from the Bitcoin margin trading that makes PrimeXBT famous. Once you're logged in, you can trade using new currencies like USD Coin, Ethereum, or Tether. PrimeXBT has everything in place for smooth operations as the upgrades and additions are well integrated into the accounts, site infrastructure, and trading engine. New Signings to PrimeXBT can enjoy all these features when they set up a free account and begin trading with little deposit. A GUIDE TO TRADING WITHIN MARGIN ACCOUNTS ON PRIMEXBT V2.0 With V2.0, you can trade with separate account details for each of your margin accounts. You can also trade with any CFD available on PrimeXBT V2.0., including stock indices, forex, commodities, crypto, and about 46 others.   BREEZE THROUGH ACCOUNTING AND TAX REPORTING WITH THE NEWLY-ADDED REPORTS SECTION A visit to the report section newly added to the V2.0 PrimeXBT website holds in-depth account information, including transaction history, basic account details, and movement of funds. All these features will make it easier to keep up with tax and other accounting activities. GET NEW USERS TO PRIMEXBT AND GET REFERRAL BONUSES WITH NEW CURRENCIES  If you have been referring users to PrimeXBT or you have plans of starting, there's a currency tweak you should know. The referral site has undergone some updates, particularly the addition of those new currencies. When you refer a person to PrimeXBT, you will receive your commission in the trading currency that the new user chooses to use in their trade. You can share PrimeXBT referral links on social media groups and amongst friends and family. If you leverage these links, you can get more revenue apart from your trading profit. You can get as much as 20% on commission when you leverage PrimeXBT's referral system. V 2.0 COVESTING COPY TRADING GOT REALLY SMOOTH If any section was left out of the upgrade, it wasn't the covesting module, which got upgraded to support USDT, ETH, and USDC, alongside the exiting Bitcoin trading currencies. PrimeXBT's copy trading system brings strategy managers and followers together for a profitable trading operation and mutual profitability. Followers can copy the trades of strategy managers, helping them to earn more. In return, followers will give a percentage of their earnings to the strategy managers that helped them trade successfully. This interaction has helped both followers and top traders to earn millions trading on PrimeXBT. The platform's ranking system showcases every trader and their rankings on the global leaderboard, alongside their trade profits, losses, wins, and other relevant information. You will also find a 5-star rating system for trades. With the introduction of PrimeXBT V2.0, followers and strategy managers can carry out their interactions with any of the new and existing currencies (USDC, ETH, USDT, and BTC).  Finally, on Covesting copy trading, we find the COV utility token that traders can explore to get more benefits from the copy trading module. BLOG, TURBO, CUSTOMER SUPPORT, AND MORE FROM PRIMEXBT  On PrimeXBT you can leverage Turbo for better positioning in the trade market, and access market information, news, and the company offers on the official blog. Many guides and articles exist on the company blog to guide traders, offer trading tips, and answer relevant questions. TradingView integration offers an analysis of trading strategies, risk assessment, and management, etc. PrimeXBT has 24-hour live customer support with helpful staff available to answer your questions and offer their help. The help center also has a lot of tutorials and helpful materials. PrimeXBT is solid and secure; with bank-level security and infrastructure, accounts have address whitelisting and two-factor verification. Since its creation, the platform has not been a victim of hacking, thanks to the secure wall structure. With a near 100% uptime, there's little wonder why PrimeXBT keeps receiving excellence awards. 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Overview:  Concerns about the virus surge in Europe cut short the euro's bounce and sent it back below $1.1300 and are also weighing on central European currencies, including the Hungarian forint, despite yesterday's aggressive hike of the one-week deposit rate.  Austria has reintroduced a hard 20-day lockdown.  Germany's health minister warned that the situation deteriorated and vaccines were not enough to break the wave.  He was explicit that a lockdown cannot be ruled out.  The US dollar is trading broadly higher.  Only the yen is resilient on the day, but sterling is the only major currency that has edged higher this week.  The Scandis and euro are off more than 1%.  Speculation that Turkey may announce measures over the weekend to stabilize the lira may be helping to deter new sales today after yesterday's rout.  In the nine-day drop through today, it is depreciated by almost 15%.  The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index is off for the fourth consecutive session to bring this week's loss to more than 2%, the most in five months.  Equities do not know of the consternation in the foreign exchange market.  Disappointing Alibaba results weighed on the Hang Seng (~-1%), while most other large regional bourses but Taiwan and India closed the week on an up note.   Europe's Stoxx 600 snapped a six-day advance yesterday. It was only the second loss since October.  It began firmer today but has reversed lower, putting at risk the six-week rally.   US futures are mixed, with the NASDAQ outperforming.  Bond markets are in rally mode as well.   The US 10-year yield is off three basis points to approach the week's low near 1.53%.  European bonds are off mostly 3-5 basis points, even in the UK, where retail sales surprised on the upside.  Gold is steady, finding support near $1850.  Oil initially extended yesterday's recovery but is reversing lower, leaving the January WTI contract set to test yesterday's low near $76.45.  This is the fourth consecutive weekly fall in crude oil.  European natural gas (Netherlands benchmark) is off 4.4% today, the third drop in a row, and pares the week's gain to almost 19%.  In Singapore, iron ore prices jumped 5.7% to break a five-week slide that saw prices tumble by about 28%.   Copper is firmer and paring this week's loss to around 2%.   Asia Pacific There were two developments in Japan to note.  First, October CPI was largely in line with expectations.  Surging gasoline prices (seven-year highs) helped keep the headline rate positive for the second month (0.1% year-over-year).  Excluding fresh food, the core rate was steady at 0.1%.  However, the deflationary forces are evident when fresh food and energy are removed.  The measure deteriorated to -0.7% from -0.5%, the most since June (-0.9%).    Second, Prime Minister Kishida unveiled an overall package of JPY78.9 trillion (~$690 bln). It is larger than the previous two pandemic packages. "Fiscal measures" refer to spending, investment, and loans, and this is seen worth about JPY55.7 trillion.  It is not clear yet, how much represents new spending as opposed to the reallocation of funds from earlier budgets that were not used. However, it appears to be about JPY32 trillion of new spending.   The Chinese yuan, up a modest 2.1% for the year, is the strongest currency.   Against a trade-weighted basket (CFETS), the yuan is pulling back from a six-year high set earlier this week as the euro recovers a cent.  Consider that the yuan has appreciated by more than 9% against the euro and 11.5% against the yen this year.  That means that investment in China has the same tailwind as the dollar and is compensated a bit for the relative lack of transparency and liquidity.  The Financial Times estimates that foreign holdings of Chinese bonds and stocks rose to around $1.1 trillion at the end of September, about a 13% increase this year.  China's stock market has underperformed this year, and the CSI 300 is off around 7% this year.  On the other hand, China's bonds have fared well.  It is the only 10-year bond that has not weakened this year.  China's figures show foreign direct investment has risen by almost 18% this year through October to nearly $142 bln.   The dollar is posting an outside down day against the Japanese yen by first rising above yesterday's high before reversing and taking out yesterday's low. It is approaching the week's low near JPY113.75 in the European morning.  Below there, support is seen around JPY113.60.  A break would warn of a return to JPY113.00.  The Australian dollar has been sold to its lowest level since October 6, when it recorded a low of almost $0.7225.   It has broken the trendline that connected the August and September lows (~$0.7250).  The September low was around $0.7170 and maybe the next important technical target.  The dollar is trading with a firmer bias against the Chinese yuan, but the greenback remains in the range set on Tuesday (~CNY6.3670-CNY6.3965).  The dollar gained on the yuan four sessions this week, the most since July, but the net gain of less than 0.2% still shows an extraordinarily steady exchange rate.   With the yuan near six-year highs against its trade-weighted basket (CFETS), the PBOC warned against one-way moves and encouraged financial institutions to bolster fx risk management.  It set the dollar's reference rate at CNY6.3825, slightly above expectations (Bloomberg survey) for CNY6.3822.   Europe The stronger than expected October retail sales capped the week's data that points to a rebounding economy and boosts the chances of a rate hike next month.  A strong jobs report was followed by a larger than expected rise in CPI and PPI.  Retail sales jumped 0.8% in October, and the September series was revised to flat from -0.2%. It was the first increase since April.  Pre-Xmas sales were reported.  Separately, the UK government reported that the cost of servicing the national debt has risen more than three-fold over the past year, leaving the budget deficit higher than anticipated.  It appears that the swaps market is pricing in a 15 bp hike at the December 16 BOE meeting, though some are talking about a bigger move.    Several ECB officials, including President Lagarde, have successfully pushed back against expectations of a 20 bp rate hike next year that had appeared discounted by the swaps market earlier this month. The market has pushed it into early 2023.  The implied yield of the December 2022 Euribor futures contract has fallen 20 bp this month.  The December 2022 Eurodollar futures contract is moving in the opposite direction.  The implied yield has risen by about 4.5 bp this month.  The net result is the US premium has increased to over 125 bp, the highest since last March.  In late 2019, the premium was around 180 bp.  This is recognized as a factor helping lift the dollar against the euro, and it appears to have become more salient recently.   The euro's bounce yesterday, its first gain in seven sessions (since the US CPI shocker), stalled near $1.1375, where a 780 mln euro option expires today.   The euro traded quietly in Asia before being sold aggressively as news of the virus hit the wires.  The euro traded through $1.1285 before catching a bid.  Resistance now will likely be encountered around $1.1320.  The euro is posting its first back-to-back weekly of more than 1% since March 2020.  Sterling is also sliding back toward the week's lows, just above $1.3400.  A break could signal a test on the $1.3350 area, but it appears stretched on an intraday basis.  While the euro-sterling cross is practically flat, the euro has punched below CHF1.05 for the first time in six years.  It would not be surprising to learn that the SNB has been intervening.  There appears to be little chart support until closer to CHF1.0250. America The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office offered its evaluation of the Biden administration's Build Back Better initiative.  It sees $1.636 trillion in spending over the next decade and almost $1.27 trillion in revenue.  That leaves a deficit of $367 bln.  A notable difference between it and the administration is how much more revenue will be generated by increasing the number of IRS agents.  Even if it passes the House of Representatives, it will likely be marked up in the Senate.  The jockeying for position and spin around it will likely dominate the session, which sees no US economic reports outside of the rig count later today.  The Fed's Clarida and Waller speaker today.  It seems that most market participants still see the Fed behind the curve and disagree with our idea that to secure the ability to respond to a wide range of possible outcomes, the Federal Reserve may accelerate its tapering starting in January.   It is not clear exactly when the debt ceiling will be reached, but it is being played.  The Democrats do not want to lift it through the reconciliation process, though they have forced the Republicans to do so in the past.  The Republicans appear to have the discipline and will to oppose.  No one seems to think the US will really default, and getting even this close seems undignified.  Yet, the desire to avoid being caught out encouraged investors to demand a high yield on the four-week bill sold.  Yesterday's auction saw the yield more than double to 11 bp (annualized).  It is the highest yield since July 2020.  In contrast, the eight-week bill, which is thought to be beyond the shenanigans, yield slipped to 4.5 bp from six previously and a higher bid-cover ratio.   Canada reports September retail sales figures today.  After a 2.1% rise in August, some weakness is expected.  Ahead of it, the Canadian dollar is trading at new lows for the week, though it is faring better than the other dollar-bloc currencies.  The US dollar is approaching the (61.8%) retracement objective of the decline since the CAD1.29 level was tested on September 20.  The retracement level is near CAD1.2665, and a break would target CAD1.2700-CAD1.2750.  The upper  Bollinger Band is found near CAD1.2655 today.   The Mexican peso is also under pressure.  It, too, has fallen to a new low for the week today.  The greenback looks set to test the eight-month high set earlier this month near MXN20.98.  Note that the central bank's Deputy Governor warned that inflation was accelerating, and it could rise to 7% this month and 7.1%-7.3% next month.  In October, the CPI stood at 6.24% year-over-year.  Banxico meets next on December 16, the day after the FOMC meeting.  Lastly, we note that the Brazilian real is off for four consecutive sessions coming into today.  The dollar closed above its 20-day moving average against it yesterday and looks poised to probe above BRL5.60 today. The high for the month was closer to BRL5.70.   Disclaimer

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance released a call for global crypto regulations on Tuesday and a framework of fundamental rights for users that it says should be protected. “At Binance, we believe that crypto belongs to everybody, and that in order to reach the next billion users, blockchain and crypto platforms must work with regulators and policymakers to develop global regulatory frameworks to achieve the mutual goal of protecting users,” the company said in its announcement. “While it’s true that crypto has come a long way, as of today, only a small fraction of the world’s population uses crypto on a regular basis,” the company added. The announcement is the first advertisement that Binance has taken out, according to a tweet from Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. It appeared in newspapers around the globe, including the Financial Times, Washington Post, and New York Times. 10 Fundamental Rights According to Binance’s framework - called the 10 Fundamental Rights For Crypto Users - crypto regulations should be premised on making “financial (opportunities) accessible to everyone, not just the privileged few.” To accomplish this, Binance says regulators and policymakers must work to expand access to crypto technology, implement Know Your Customer requirements for crypto platforms, and implement liquidity requirements like those in the banking system. The framework would also give crypto users the right to access exchanges and ensure their investments are safe. Users would also have safe access to emerging technologies such as non-fungible tokens, stablecoins, staking, and yield-farming. Market maturation The company said it released the framework because the recent market maturation has driven an influx of new crypto investors at a time when the regulatory framework is still relatively weak. Digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum both reached new all-time highs in early November, though the assets have slowly retracted in value since. For example, Bitcoin has experienced two 10% retracements in the past week alone. Even so, data from crypto analytics firm Delphi Digital shows that the funding rates for Bitcoin and Ethereum have remained near neutral levels. This means that futures and options contracts are trading at near equal value to each asset’s market value. A move into the negative territory could “suggest short-term bearishness among the 'smart money' crowd,” according to a note published on Tuesday by Delphi analyst Joo Kian. The crypto market was down on Tuesday with Bitcoin losing 4.58% to $60,643.00 by 21:15 UTC. Other popular assets like Ethereum and Solana were down 5.9% and 5.01%, respectively. Regulatory framework Jessica Jung, a spokesperson for Binance, told Capital.com that these factors make it a critical time to develop a regulatory framework of protections for crypto users. “I believe that regulation is welcomed in this industry and want to stress that 'smart regulation' is beneficial to the safe custody of cryptocurrency,” Jung told Capital.com in an interview. “Like seatbelts in a car, a more appropriately regulated crypto market provides greater protections for everyday users.”

Powell vs Brainard Fed chair nomination  Covid trends and restrictions in Europe US core PCE inflation (Thursday at 2 am AEDT) RBNZ and Riksbank central bank meeting US cash markets shut Thursday for Thanksgiving (Pepperstone US equity indices still open)  Eurozone PMI (Tuesday 20:00aedt) – ECB speakers in play BoE speakers to drive the GBP – will they cast doubt on a December hike? With Covid risks on the rise in Europe and ultimately restrictions being implemented we’ve seen renewed selling interest in the EUR, and the oil-exporting currencies (NOK, CAD, MXN). Certainly, the NOK was the weakest G10 currency last week, and GBPNOK has been a great long position – a pair to trade this week, but consider it is up for 9 straight days and has appreciated 5.2% since late October.  I questioned last week if the divergence in EURCHF plays out, and the break of 1.05 negates that, suggesting staying short this cross for now as the CHF is still a preferred safe-haven.  EURUSD has been in free-fall EURUSD has been in free-fall and will likely get the lion’s share of attention from clients looking for a play on growing restrictions and tensions across Europe. The pair has lost 3.5% since rejecting the 50-day MA on 28 Oct and has consistently been printing lower lows since May – predominantly driven by central bank divergence and a growing premium of 2-year US Treasuries over German 2yr - with the spread blowing out from 78bp to 128bp, in favour of USD. For momentum, trend followers and tactical traders, short EUR remains attractive here.  It will be interesting to see if we see any pickup in shorting activity in EU equities – notably the GER40, with the German govt warning of lockdowns ahead. A market at all-time highs (like the GER40) is a tough one to short, but if this starts to roll over then I’d go along for a day trade. There is a raft of ECB speakers also to focus on, notably with President Lagarde due to speak on Friday.  Playing restrictions through crude While we can play crude moves in the FX, equity and ETF space, outright shorts in crude have been looking compelling. Although we see SpotCrude now sitting on huge horizontal support and a break here brings in the 50-day MA. Of course, as oil and gasoline fall, the prospect of a release of the SPR (Strategic Petroleum Reserves) diminishes, however, the Biden administration could use this move lower move to their advantage and capitalize to keep the pressure on.  (SpotCrude daily) A rise in restrictions also means market neutral strategies (long/short) should continue to work, and long tech/short energy has been popular. We can express this in our ETF complex, with the XOP ETF (oil and gas explorers) -8.1% last week and that works as a high beta short leg. Long IUSG (growth) or the QQQ ETF against this would be a good proxy on the opposing leg. In fact, looking at the moves in Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet and Amazon, and we can see these ‘safe haven’ stocks are working well again, as is Tesla although for different reasons.  Stocks for the trend-followers For the ‘buy strong’ crowd, I have scanned our equity universe for names above both their 5- and 20-day MA AND at 52-week highs. Pull up a daily chart of any of these names - they should nearly always start at the bottom left, and end top right. Playing the RBNZ meeting tactically By way of event risks, the RBNZ meeting (Wed 12:00 AEDT) is one of the more interesting events to focus on. Will the RBNZ raise by 25bp or 50bp? That is the question, and of 19 calls from economists (surveyed by Bloomberg) we see 17 calling for a 25bp hike – yet the markets are fully pricing not just a 25bp hike but a 43% chance of 50bp – from a very simplistic perceptive if the RBNZ hike by ‘just’ 25bp, choosing a path of least regret, then we could see a quick 25- to 30-pip move lower in the NZD. The focus then turns to the outlook and whether the 8 further hikes priced over the coming 12 months seems to be one shared by the RBNZ.  Traders have been keen to play NZD strength via AUD, as it is more a relative play and doesn’t carry the risk on/off vibe, which you get with the USD and JPY. I’d be using strength in AUDNZD as an opportunity to initiate shorts, especially with views that RBNZ Gov Orr could talk up the possibility of inter-meeting rate hikes.  GBP to be guided by the BoE Chief The GBP is always a play clients gravitate to, with GBPUSD and EURGBP always two of the most actively traded instruments in our universe. A 15bp hike is priced for the 16 Dec BoE meeting after last week’s UK employment and inflation data, but consider we also get UK PMI data (Tuesday 20:30 AEDT), and arguably, more importantly, speeches from BoE Governor Bailey and chief economist Huw Pill – perhaps this time around expectations of hikes can be better guided – although, a bit of uncertainty into central bank meetings is very pre-2008 and makes things a little spicy/interesting.  (BoE speakers this week) GBPUSD 1-week implied volatility is hardly screaming movement, and at 6.5% sits at the 10th percentile of its 12-month range. The implied move is close to 130pips, so the range at this juncture (with a 68.2% level of confidence), although I multiple this by 0.8 to get closer to the options breakeven rate. So at this stage, 100 pips (higher or lower) is the sort of move the street is looking for over the coming five days, putting a range of 1.3557 to 1.3349 in play – one for the mean reversion players. Personally, I would let it run a bit as that volatility seems a little low, and a break of 1.3400 could see volatility pick up. I’d certainly be looking for downside if that gave way.  Happy trading.

Summary:  This summary highlights futures positions and changes made by hedge funds across commodities, forex and financials up until last Tuesday, November 16. The report shows the reaction to the US inflation shock on November 11 which among others drove strong demand for gold and more surprisingly a reduction in the dollar long. Also another strong week for most agriculture commodities with positions in coffee and KCB wheat hitting fresh multi-year highs Saxo Bank publishes weekly Commitment of Traders reports (COT) covering leveraged fund positions in commodities, bonds and stock index futures. For IMM currency futures and the VIX, we use the broader measure called non-commercial. Link to latest report This summary highlights futures positions and changes made by hedge funds across commodities, forex and financials up until last Tuesday, November 16. A week where the market responded to the US inflation shock on November 11 by sending  the dollar up by 2% to fresh high for the cycle while 10-year breakeven yields jumped 20 basis point a decade high. While bond market volatility jumped, stocks held steady with the VIX showing a small decline. The commodity sector was mixed with gains in precious metals and not least grains and soft commodities helping offset weakness across the energy sector.  Commodities Hedge funds raised their total commodity exposure, measured in lots, across 24 major futures contracts by the most since July. Driven by continued strong price action across the agriculture sector and more recently also precious metals in response to surging inflation. These sectors saw all but one market being bought while the energy sector were mixed with continued selling of crude oil only being partly offset by demand for gasoline and natural gas. Energy: Crude oil’s four week slide resulted in the biggest weekly reduction since July, and this time, as opposed to recent weeks, it was WTI that led the reduction with a 10% cut to 307k apart from a deteriorating short-term technical outlook also being driven the prospect of a US stockpile release to dampen domestic gasoline prices. Brent meanwhile saw its net long slump to a one-year low at 221.5k lots, and during the past six weeks the net length has now slumped by one-third, a reduction which gathered momentum after the late October failure to break the 2018 high at $86.75, now a double top. Crude oil comment from our daily Market Quick Take: Crude oil (OILUKJAN22 & OILUSDEC21) opened softer in Asia after Friday’s big drop but has so far managed to find support at $77.85, the previous top from July. The market focus has during the past few weeks shifted from the current tight supply to the risk of a coordinated reserve release, fears about a renewed Covid-driven slowdown in demand and recent oil market reports from the EIA and IEA pointing to a balanced market in early 2022. Having dropped by around 10% from the recent peak, the market may have started to conclude that a SPR release has mostly been price in by now. Metals: Another week of strong gold buying has now raised the alarm bells given the risk of long liquidation should the yellow metal fail to hold onto its US CPI price boost above $1830. Last week the net long in gold reached a 14-month high at 164k lots and the speed of the accumulation, especially the 70% jump during the past two weeks alone carries, will be raising a red flag for tactical trading strategies looking for pay day on short positions should support give way.  Gold extended Friday’s drop below $1850 overnight, before bouncing ahead of key support in the mentioned $1830-35 area. The risk of a quicker withdrawal of Fed stimulus supporting real yields and the dollar has for now reduced gold's ability to build on the technical breakout. However, the price softness on Friday helped attract ETF buying with Bloomberg reporting a 10 tons increase, the biggest one-day jump since January 15. A second week of silver buying lifted the net to a four-week high at 35.9k lots, but still below the May peak at 47.8k lots. Copper’s rangebound trading behavior kept the price and the net long unchanged. The latter due to an even size addition of both new long and short positions. Agriculture: Broad gains across the grains market lifted the combined long across the six most traded contracts to a six-month high at 560k lots. Buyers returned to soybeans after the net long recently hit a 17-month low, the corn long was the biggest since May while the KCB wheat long at 60.6k lots was the highest since August 2018. Supported by an increasingly worrying supply outlook, coffee speculators lifted their net long by 16% to a five-year high at 55k lots. Cotton and sugar longs also rose while short-covering helped halve the cocoa net short. More on the reasons behind the current strength in wheat and coffee, and agriculture in general can be found in may recent update: Agriculture rally resumes led by coffee, wheat and sugar ForexIn a surprise response to the US inflation shock on November 11 speculators ended up making a small reduction in their overall dollar long against ten IMM futures and the Dollar index. Selling of euro in response to the 2.4% drop and a 161% increase in the sterling short to a 17 month high ended up being more than off-set by the buying of all other major currencies, most notably JPY and CHF. The result being a fifth weekly reduction in the dollar long to $21.3 billion, now down by 17% reduction from the near 30-month high reached during October. What is the Commitments of Traders report? The COT reports are issued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the ICE Exchange Europe for Brent crude oil and gas oil. They are released every Friday after the U.S. close with data from the week ending the previous Tuesday. They break down the open interest in futures markets into different groups of users depending on the asset class. Commodities: Producer/Merchant/Processor/User, Swap dealers, Managed Money and otherFinancials: Dealer/Intermediary; Asset Manager/Institutional; Leveraged Funds and otherForex: A broad breakdown between commercial and non-commercial (speculators) The reasons why we focus primarily on the behavior of the highlighted groups are: They are likely to have tight stops and no underlying exposure that is being hedged This makes them most reactive to changes in fundamental or technical price developments It provides views about major trends but also helps to decipher when a reversal is looming

November 20, 2021 By InvestMacro | COT | Data Tables | COT Leaders | Downloads | COT Newsletter Here are the latest charts and statistics for the Commitment of Traders (COT) data published by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The latest COT data is updated through Tuesday November 16th 2021 and shows a quick view of how large traders (for-profit speculators and commercial entities) were positioned in the futures markets. All currency positions are in direct relation to the US dollar where, for example, a bet for the euro is a bet that the euro will rise versus the dollar while a bet against the euro will be a bet that the euro will decline versus the dollar. Highlighting the COT Currency data this week is the second straight decline in British pound sterling speculative positions. The pound sterling speculator contracts dropped sharply for the second consecutive week this week and have now fallen by a total of -46,646 contracts over just this two-week time period. These declines have pushed the overall speculative position into a bearish sentiment level of -31,599 contracts which marks the lowest standing of the past seventy-six weeks, dating back to June 2nd of 2020. The GBPUSD currency pair has been under pressure since the middle of October and fallen from around 1.3800 exchange rate to just above the 1.3435 level currently, a drop of almost 400 pips. Data Snapshot of Forex Market Traders | Columns Legend Nov-16-2021 OI OI-Index Spec-Net Spec-Index Com-Net COM-Index Smalls-Net Smalls-Index EUR 705,698 86 -3,826 34 -26,985 68 30,811 25 JPY 252,897 91 -93,126 10 115,758 94 -22,632 1 GBP 207,099 43 -31,599 51 41,182 54 -9,583 36 MXN 170,102 33 -47,655 2 46,127 99 1,528 50 AUD 166,688 57 -61,153 27 69,858 71 -8,705 31 CAD 148,955 30 8,709 62 -26,717 35 18,008 74 USD Index 59,387 88 34,908 86 -40,455 7 5,547 77 RUB 52,624 58 22,625 67 -23,936 31 1,311 70 CHF 49,320 27 -8,889 54 18,767 52 -9,878 34 NZD 42,945 30 13,965 95 -15,521 6 1,556 70 BRL 31,767 32 -15,698 48 15,743 54 -45 66 Bitcoin 13,648 78 -1,478 69 357 0 1,121 23   US Dollar Index Futures: The US Dollar Index large speculator standing this week was a net position of 34,908 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly lowering of -540 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 35,448 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish-Extreme with a score of 86.0 percent. The commercials are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 7.4 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish with a score of 77.2 percent. Free Reports: Top 5 Companies Added to Our Stock Watch List this Quarter - Here are the Stock Symbols that stood out so far in the fourth quarter of 2021. Get our Weekly Commitment of Traders Reports - See where the biggest traders (Hedge Funds and Commercial Hedgers) are positioned in the futures markets on a weekly basis.   US DOLLAR INDEX Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 80.8 3.4 12.8 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 22.0 71.5 3.5 – Net Position: 34,908 -40,455 5,547 – Gross Longs: 47,959 2,000 7,621 – Gross Shorts: 13,051 42,455 2,074 – Long to Short Ratio: 3.7 to 1 0.0 to 1 3.7 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 86.0 7.4 77.2 – COT Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish-Extreme Bearish-Extreme Bullish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 5.0 -2.7 -13.6   Euro Currency Futures: The Euro Currency large speculator standing this week was a net position of -3,826 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly reduction of -7,599 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 3,773 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 33.8 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 68.1 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 25.4 percent. EURO Currency Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 28.1 57.3 12.8 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 28.6 61.1 8.4 – Net Position: -3,826 -26,985 30,811 – Gross Longs: 198,181 404,266 90,261 – Gross Shorts: 202,007 431,251 59,450 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.0 to 1 0.9 to 1 1.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 33.8 68.1 25.4 – COT Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 5.7 -5.2 -0.0   British Pound Sterling Futures: The British Pound Sterling large speculator standing this week was a net position of -31,599 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly lowering of -19,506 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -12,093 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 51.2 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 54.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 35.8 percent. BRITISH POUND Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 24.4 61.4 11.3 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 39.6 41.5 15.9 – Net Position: -31,599 41,182 -9,583 – Gross Longs: 50,443 127,197 23,322 – Gross Shorts: 82,042 86,015 32,905 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.6 to 1 1.5 to 1 0.7 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 51.2 54.0 35.8 – COT Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bullish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -8.3 9.2 -8.1   Japanese Yen Futures: The Japanese Yen large speculator standing this week was a net position of -93,126 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly increase of 12,225 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -105,351 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish-Extreme with a score of 10.4 percent. The commercials are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 93.7 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 0.8 percent. JAPANESE YEN Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 9.7 80.5 8.6 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 46.6 34.7 17.6 – Net Position: -93,126 115,758 -22,632 – Gross Longs: 24,635 203,468 21,790 – Gross Shorts: 117,761 87,710 44,422 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.2 to 1 2.3 to 1 0.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 10.4 93.7 0.8 – COT Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish-Extreme Bullish-Extreme Bearish-Extreme NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -18.4 15.5 -4.1   Swiss Franc Futures: The Swiss Franc large speculator standing this week was a net position of -8,889 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly rise of 8,154 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -17,043 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 54.4 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 52.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 34.3 percent. SWISS FRANC Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 11.2 64.2 24.4 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 29.2 26.1 44.5 – Net Position: -8,889 18,767 -9,878 – Gross Longs: 5,502 31,663 12,048 – Gross Shorts: 14,391 12,896 21,926 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.4 to 1 2.5 to 1 0.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 54.4 52.0 34.3 – COT Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bullish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 11.9 -12.2 11.8   Canadian Dollar Futures: The Canadian Dollar large speculator standing this week was a net position of 8,709 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly rise of 3,605 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 5,104 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 62.3 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 34.9 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish with a score of 74.0 percent. CANADIAN DOLLAR Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 29.6 42.1 27.1 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 23.8 60.0 15.0 – Net Position: 8,709 -26,717 18,008 – Gross Longs: 44,147 62,689 40,389 – Gross Shorts: 35,438 89,406 22,381 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.2 to 1 0.7 to 1 1.8 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 62.3 34.9 74.0 – COT Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bearish Bullish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 29.6 -26.4 10.0   Australian Dollar Futures: The Australian Dollar large speculator standing this week was a net position of -61,153 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly gain of 2,271 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -63,424 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 27.1 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 71.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 31.2 percent. AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 18.5 67.2 11.8 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 55.1 25.3 17.1 – Net Position: -61,153 69,858 -8,705 – Gross Longs: 30,760 112,044 19,744 – Gross Shorts: 91,913 42,186 28,449 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.3 to 1 2.7 to 1 0.7 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 27.1 71.0 31.2 – COT Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 27.1 -29.0 24.4   New Zealand Dollar Futures: The New Zealand Dollar large speculator standing this week was a net position of 13,965 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly boost of 1,083 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 12,882 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish-Extreme with a score of 94.7 percent. The commercials are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 6.5 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish with a score of 69.7 percent. NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 61.4 24.1 11.5 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 28.9 60.2 7.8 – Net Position: 13,965 -15,521 1,556 – Gross Longs: 26,388 10,349 4,923 – Gross Shorts: 12,423 25,870 3,367 – Long to Short Ratio: 2.1 to 1 0.4 to 1 1.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 94.7 6.5 69.7 – COT Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish-Extreme Bearish-Extreme Bullish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 9.9 -11.8 19.8   Mexican Peso Futures: The Mexican Peso large speculator standing this week was a net position of -47,655 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly gain of 752 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -48,407 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish-Extreme with a score of 1.5 percent. The commercials are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 98.8 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 49.5 percent. MEXICAN PESO Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 41.1 55.3 3.1 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 69.2 28.2 2.2 – Net Position: -47,655 46,127 1,528 – Gross Longs: 69,984 94,074 5,245 – Gross Shorts: 117,639 47,947 3,717 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.6 to 1 2.0 to 1 1.4 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 1.5 98.8 49.5 – COT Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish-Extreme Bullish-Extreme Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -5.5 5.6 -1.5   Brazilian Real Futures: The Brazilian Real large speculator standing this week was a net position of -15,698 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly decrease of -240 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -15,458 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 47.6 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 54.4 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish with a score of 66.3 percent. BRAZIL REAL Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 26.7 64.6 8.0 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 76.1 15.0 8.2 – Net Position: -15,698 15,743 -45 – Gross Longs: 8,468 20,507 2,545 – Gross Shorts: 24,166 4,764 2,590 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.4 to 1 4.3 to 1 1.0 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 47.6 54.4 66.3 – COT Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bullish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -17.9 19.3 -12.9   Russian Ruble Futures: The Russian Ruble large speculator standing this week was a net position of 22,625 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly advance of 1,922 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 20,703 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 66.9 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 30.7 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish with a score of 70.2 percent. RUSSIAN RUBLE Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 57.7 37.7 4.6 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 14.7 83.2 2.1 – Net Position: 22,625 -23,936 1,311 – Gross Longs: 30,357 19,849 2,418 – Gross Shorts: 7,732 43,785 1,107 – Long to Short Ratio: 3.9 to 1 0.5 to 1 2.2 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 66.9 30.7 70.2 – COT Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bearish Bullish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 5.2 -3.3 -20.9   Bitcoin Futures: The Bitcoin large speculator standing this week was a net position of -1,478 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly reduction of -11 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -1,467 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 68.7 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 71.4 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 22.9 percent. BITCOIN Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 63.4 5.0 14.7 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 74.2 2.4 6.5 – Net Position: -1,478 357 1,121 – Gross Longs: 8,649 678 2,008 – Gross Shorts: 10,127 321 887 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.9 to 1 2.1 to 1 2.3 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – COT Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 68.7 71.4 22.9 – COT Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bullish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 0.9 -20.8 4.5 Article By InvestMacro – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email *COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the most recent Tuesday (data is 3 days old) and shows a quick view of how large speculators or non-commercials (for-profit traders) were positioned in the futures markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators) as well as their open interest (contracts open in the market at time of reporting).See CFTC criteria here.

Strong US consumption and production figures kept the greenback well supported last week on the heels of the jump in CPI to 6.2%.  Meanwhile, the surge of Covid cases in Europe underscores the divergences with the US, sending the euro to new lows for the year.   At the same time, oil prices headed south for the fourth consecutive week, matching the longest decline in more than two years.  It did not favor the Norwegian krone, the weakest of the majors, with a 2.15% drop.  It brought this year's loss to almost 3.5%, despite it being the first G10 central bank to hike rate, with another likely next month.   The prospects of a Bank of England rate hike next month were lifted by the strong inflation and retail sales figures.  Sterling was the best performing major currency, rising a little more than 0.25% against the dollar.  It also traded at its best level against the euro since March 2020.  At the end of the week, the euro also broke down against the Swiss franc, trading below CHF1.05 for the first time since July 2015.   Japan's October CPI showed that excluding fresh food and energy, the world's third-largest economy has still not broken free of deflation's grip (-0.7% year-over-year).  A weaker yen is not a problem for Japanese policymakers or corporates.  Japan has averaged a monthly trade surplus this year through October of about JPY7.8 bln a month, hardly the stuff that should excite protectionists.  The BIS estimates that eurozone inflation would be closer to 1.5% than the 4.1% reported in October without the supply chain disruptions. The weakness of the euro does not appear problematic for the ECB either.  With the Fed already slowing the pace of its monetary accommodation, a stronger dollar reinforces the policy thrust. Even though net exports shaved Q3 growth by about 1.1 percentage points, it has yet to spur criticism, and September was a record shortfall.   Dollar Index:  The Dollar Index rose for the fourth consecutive week.  It met the (50%) retracement objective of its slide from March 2020 (~103.00) to the January 6 low (~89.20), which is found near 96.10.  DXY stalled ahead of the weekend, just shy of the high set in the middle of the week near 96.25. A move above there targets the next retracement (61.8%), which is close to 97.75.    The MACD is over-extended but still headed higher, while the Slow Stochastic appears to be turning lower.  Support is seen around 95.50.  The market seems to have discounted much of the good news for the dollar and Fed policy.  We note that the US 2-year yield fell almost six basis points last week.  That leaves it off about 4.5 bp this month, despite the strong CPI reading, robust retail sales, and industrial output figures. Euro: The divergence of monetary policy has been the critical weight on the euro, but at the end of last week, it seemed that surge in Covid cases in Europe helped drive the single currency to new lows. It fell to $1.1250 ahead of the weekend to take out the mid-week low near $1.1265.  The weekly loss of about 1.3% is the biggest in five months.  Recall that the $1.1290 area represented the (61.8%) retracement of the rally that began in March 2020.  The momentum indicators are stretched, but a possible bullish divergence is appearing in the Slow Stochastic. A cap seems to be forming around $1.1375.  After repeated tests, and much to the chagrin of the Swiss National Bank, the euro was sold through CHF1.05 ahead of the weekend for the first time since July 2015.  Given its modus operandi, the SNB is likely resisting.  There is little on the charts ahead of CHF1.0250.  In the second half of last week, the euro found support near GBP0.8385, its lowest level since March 2020.  Support is seen close to GBP0.8275-GBP0.8300.  Lastly,  the euro found support near JPY128.00, which has more or less withstood several tests since moving above there in February.   Japanese Yen:  The greenback recorded a new four-year high against the yen, less than a handful of pipis from JPY115 in the middle of last week.  It reversed lower and settled ever so slightly below the previous session's low to leave a key reversal in its wake.  It recorded the week's low ahead of the weekend near JPY113.60.  Since the dollar pushed above JPY112 early last month, we have suggested a JPY113-JPY115 trading range.  It did trade to about JPY112.75 on November 10 and 11 but snapped back into the range.  The US 10-year note futures (December contract) posted a key reversal in the middle of last week, too, and also ended the week at eight-session highs, which, of course, means lower yields.  The dollar-yen exchange rate still seems to be a range-bound creature, more the most part, and heavily influenced by external factors, like US 10-year yield and broader risk appetites.  British Pound:  Sterling outperformed the other major currencies last week, but the 0.3% gain is nothing to write home about.  It remained within the previous week's range. It was unable to sustain the upside momentum after approaching the (50%) retracement objective of the decline since the month's high and outside down day on November 4 (BOE meeting).  That retracement stands at $1.3525.  The strong CPI report on November 17 helped lift sterling to the week's high near $1.3515.  However, the underlying strength of the dollar proved too much, and ahead of the weekend, sterling traded a little below $1.3410.  The momentum indicators have turned higher, and as long as $1.3400 holds, sterling looks attractive.  However, the market appears to have a 15 bp hike at next month's meeting fully discounted.  While it remains a distinct possibility, if not a likelihood, but 100% confidence may leave sterling vulnerable to a reassessment.  Canadian Dollar:  The US dollar rose for the fourth consecutive week against the Canadian dollar, matching the longest advance since early last year.  With the pre-weekend gain, the greenback met the  (61.8%) retracement objective of decline since CAD1.29 was approached on September 20, found near CAD1.2665. The US dollar's broad strength, coupled with the stock market wobble (a proxy for risk), and the drop in crude prices by around 4.25%, the fourth consecutive weekly decline shaved about 0.75% off the Canadian dollar.  The implied yield of the June 2022 Banker Acceptances fell last week and is now about 10 bp lower than at the end of last month.  The MACD is headed up though over-extended, while the Slow Stochastic has flatlined at extreme levels and has not yet confirmed the new highs.  The US dollar continues to hug the upper Bollinger Band, which will begin the new week near CAD1.2650. Australian Dollar:   The Aussie fell for the third straight week, and ahead of the weekend, approached $0.7225, last seen in early October.  As seen with some of the other currency pairs, the MACD is still warning of currency weakness, while the Slow Stochastic is flatlining but over-extended.  The trendline connecting the August and September lows initially held last week. It (~$0.7240) yielded ahead of the weekend, but the Aussie managed to close back above it.   It needs to resurface above $0.7300 to be anything meaningful.  Softer than expected, wage growth may have reinforced the RBA's message to the markets, and the yield of the June 2022 T-bill futures fell seven basis points last week and is now down 31 bp on the month.   Mexican Peso:  Emerging markets currencies remain out of favor in a strong dollar environment.  The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index slumped by more than 2% last week, the most since June.  The Turkish lira collapsed by nearly 11%.  The Indian rupee rose by 0.3%, the strongest in the EM space.  The greenback made a new marginal high in two-and-a-half weeks before the weekend, slightly below MXN20.89.  The momentum indicators are constructive for the dollar, but it is at the upper end of its recent range (~MXN20.12-MXN21.00).  The high for the year was set in March near MXN21.64, and it will come into view when the greenback rises above MXN21.15.   Chinese Yuan:   By shadowing the dollar so tightly, the yuan is dragged higher on a trade-weighted basis in the stronger greenback environment. The yuan is at six-year highs on the basket the PBOC tracks (CFETS).  The PBOC reportedly stressed the importance of exchange risk management ahead of the weekend, and it may be a warning that its willingness to tolerate a stronger yuan is limited.  The yuan slipped an inconsequential 0.12% against the dollar last week.  For nearly the past five weeks, the exchange rate has been mostly confined to a CNY6.38-CNY6.40 range.  It is a fuzzy range and allows for around a big figure in both directions. The index of Chinese companies listed in the US (NASDAQ Golden Dragon Index) fell about 5.7% last week.  The major benchmarks in China, including the CSI 300, posted small gains.  The Hang Seng fell 1.1% last week, and most of that was before the weekend on disappointing earnings from Alibaba (-10.3% in HK).     Disclaimer

While the dollar is on a tear, precious metal stocks have gotten away with it lately. But how long will their resistance last? The USD Index (USDX) After the USD Index’s negative response to the ECB’s monetary policy meeting on Oct. 28, I warned on Oct. 29 that dollar bears were unlikely to celebrate for much longer. I wrote: Based on the rather random comment during the conference, the traders panicked and bought the EUR/USD, which triggered declines in the USD Index (after all, the EUR/USD is the largest component of the USDX). Was the breakout to new 2021 lows invalidated? No. The true breakout was above the late-March highs (the August highs also served as a support level, but the March high is more important here) and it wasn’t invalidated. What was the follow-up action? At the moment of writing these words, the USDX is up and trading at about 93.52, which is just 0.07 below the August high in terms of the closing prices. Consequently, it could easily be the case that the USD Index ends today’s session (and the week) back above this level. You’ve probably heard the saying that time is more important than price. It’s the end of the month, so let’s check what happened in the case of previous turns of the month; that’s where we usually see major price turnarounds. I marked the short-term turnarounds close to the turns of the month with horizontal dashed blue lines, and it appears that, in the recent past, there was practically always some sort of a turnaround close to the end of the month. Consequently, seeing a turnaround (and a bottom) in the USD index now would be perfectly normal. And with the USD Index making quick work of 94, 95, and now 96, the greenback’s rally continues to gain steam. What’s more, the USD Index also surged above its late 2020 resistance and 98 should be the next bullish milestone. More importantly, however, gold, silver, and mining stocks are sensing that something is amiss. For example, while they largely ignored the USD Index’s recent ascent, their negative correlations resurfaced last week (on a very short-term basis, so far, but still). Moreover, while the precious metals’ recent rallies were likely euro-weakness-driven and not USD Index-strength-driven, the dollar basket’s uprising should elicit more pain for gold, silver, and mining stocks over the medium term. To explain, I wrote on Nov. 17: The euro recently declined and the prices of silver and gold recently rallied shortly after dovish comments from the eurozone. Namely, while the expansionary nature of fiscal and monetary decisions in the U.S. might be after its peak (with the infrastructure bill signed even despite high inflation numbers), the eurozone is far from limiting its expansionary (i.e., inflationary) policies, and it was just made clear recently. That was bearish for the euro and bullish for the gold price – as more money (euros in this case) would be chasing the same amount of physical gold. The point here is that it might have been the decline in the value of the European currency that caused gold to rally, and it had little to do with what happened in the USD Index. Don’t get me wrong, most of the time, the gold-USD link is stable and negative. In some cases, gold shows strength or weakness by refusing to move in tune (and precisely: again) with U.S. dollar’s movement. But in this case, it seems that it’s not about the U.S. dollar at all (or mostly), but rather about what happened in the Eurozone and euro recently. As a result, with the USD Index likely to take the lead in the coming months, the precious metals should suffer along the way. For context, the USD Index is approaching overbought territory and a short-term decline to ~95 isn’t out of the question. However, it’s more of a possibility than a given. Moreover, the greenback’s medium-term outlook remains robust, and any short-term pullback is likely a corrective downswing within a medium-term uptrend. Circling back to the euro, I’ve been warning for months that the Euro Index was materially overvalued and that a sharp re-rating would likely unfold. I wrote previously: The next temporary stop could be ~1.1500 (the March 2020 highs, then likely lower). For context, the EUR/USD accounts for nearly 58% of the movement of the USD Index, and that’s why the euro’s behavior is so important. And after the Euro Index sunk to a new 2021 low last week, the European currency has officially fallen off a cliff. To that point, after breaking below the declining support line of its monthly channel, a drawdown to ~111 is likely next in line (which is signaled by the breakdown below its bearish head & shoulders pattern). The Euro Index is near oversold territory and a short-term bounce may ensue, but the bearish medium-term implications remain intact. Please see below: Adding to our confidence (don’t get me wrong, there are no certainties in any market; it’s just that the bullish narrative for the USDX is even more bullish in my view), the USD Index often sizzles in the summer sun and major USDX rallies often start during the middle of the year. Summertime spikes have been mainstays on the USD Index’s historical record and in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2018 a retest of the lows (or close to them) occurred before the USD Index began its upward flights (which is exactly what’s happened this time around). Furthermore, profound rallies (marked by the red vertical dashed lines below) followed in 2008, 2011 and 2014. With the current situation mirroring the latter, a small consolidation on the long-term chart is exactly what occurred before the USD Index surged in 2014. Likewise, the USD Index recently bottomed near its 50-week moving average; an identical development occurred in 2014. More importantly, though, with bottoms in the precious metals market often occurring when gold trades in unison with the USD Index (after ceasing to respond to the USD’s rallies with declines), we’re still far away from that milestone in terms of both price and duration. Again, the recent move higher in the USD Index doesn’t necessarily apply in the case of the above rule, as it was not the strength of the USD but weakness in the euro that has driven it. Likewise, with the USD Index now approaching its long-term rising support line (which is now resistance), a rally above the upward sloping black line below would invalidate the prior breakdown and support a move back above 100. However, with the dollar basket’s weekly RSI (Relative Strength Index) now above 70, a short-term consolidation may ensue. Conversely, please note that the recent medium-term rally has been calmer than any major upswing witnessed over the last 20 years where the USD Index’s RSI has hit 70. I marked the recent rally in the RSI with an orange rectangle and I did the same with the second-least and third-least volatile of the medium-term upswings. The sharp rallies in 2008 and 2014 were of much larger magnitudes. And in those historical analogies, the USD Index continued its surge for some time without suffering any material corrections. As a result, the short-term outlook is more of a coin flip. However, the medium-term outlook remains profoundly bullish, and gold, silver, and mining stocks may resent the USD Index’s forthcoming uprising. Just as the USD Index took a breather before its massive rally in 2014, it seems that we saw the same recently. This means that predicting higher gold prices (or the ones of silver) here is likely not a good idea. Continuing the theme, the eye in the sky doesn’t lie. And with the USDX’s long-term breakout clearly visible, the wind still remains at the dollar’s back. Please see below: The bottom line? With my initial 2021 target of 94.5 already hit, the ~98 target is likely to be reached over the medium term, and the USDX will likely exceed 100 at some point over the medium or long term. Keep in mind, though: we’re not bullish on the greenback because of the U.S.’ absolute outperformance. It’s because the region is fundamentally outperforming the Eurozone, the EUR/USD accounts for nearly 58% of the movement of the USD Index, and the relative performance is what really matters. In conclusion, while the USD Index’s 2021 surge caught the consensus by surprise, I’ve been sounding the bullish alarm for many months. And with more strength likely to materialize over the medium term, the ‘death of the dollar’ narrative has been grossly over-exaggerated. Moreover, while gold, silver, and mining stocks recently ignored the greenback’s fervor, history implies that their relative strength won’t last. As a result, more downside will likely confront the precious metals over the next few months. Thank you for reading our free analysis today. Please note that the above is just a small fraction of today’s all-encompassing Gold & Silver Trading Alert. The latter includes multiple premium details such as the targets for gold and mining stocks that could be reached in the next few weeks. If you’d like to read those premium details, we have good news for you. As soon as you sign up for our free gold newsletter, you’ll get a free 7-day no-obligation trial access to our premium Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. It’s really free – sign up today. Przemyslaw Radomski, CFAFounder, Editor-in-chiefSunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care * * * * * All essays, research and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses are based on data available to authors of respective essays at the time of writing. Although the information provided above is based on careful research and sources that are deemed to be accurate, Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA and his associates do not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the data or information reported. The opinions published above are neither an offer nor a recommendation to purchase or sell any securities. Mr. Radomski is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Przemyslaw Radomski's, CFA reports you fully agree that he will not be held responsible or liable for any decisions you make regarding any information provided in these reports. Investing, trading and speculation in any financial markets may involve high risk of loss. Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA, Sunshine Profits' employees and affiliates as well as members of their families may have a short or long position in any securities, including those mentioned in any of the reports or essays, and may make additional purchases and/or sales of those securities without notice.

The Gold Update by Mark Mead Baillie --- 627th Edition --- Monte-Carlo --- 20 November 2021 (published each Saturday) --- www.deMeadville.com As time is at a bit of a premium for penning this week's missive, (even as Gold is priced at a massive discount by valuation), let's jump right in. The macro question at large we oft receive is: â–  "How come Gold isn't much higher with all the money printing?" Macro indeed per the above Gold Scoreboard, price having settled yesterday (Friday) at $1847, just 46% of our valuation level of $3993. To be sure per the right-hand panel Gold is, on balance, in ascent toward chasing the unconscionable rise in the U.S. "M2" money supply; yet the gap from here to up there remains HUGE! The micro question of late we oft receive is: â–  "How come Gold is going up even if the Dollar is also going up?" Micro indeed as such phenomenon does on occasion occur given (for the ad nauseath time) Gold plays no currency favourites. To be sure, both Gold and the Buck have been on the rise per their percentage tracks for the 15 trading days thus far in November. Here as shown, Gold is +3.5% and the Dollar Index is +2.1%. Yes, Gomer, it really can happen: In fact "surprise, surprise, surprise" if measuring from mid-year 2014, (albeit their respective routes hardly are in linear harmony), Gold is +39.7% and yet the Dollar Index is +20.4%. So even more broadly there, no directional favoritism. And yet from that date some seven years ago, the supply of Gold is only +10.7% whereas the U.S. "M2" money supply is +88.4%. Further with specific respect (or lack thereof) to the Dollar, recall from Econ 101 class that more of something (in this case much more) makes it worth less, arguably in the Dollar's case worthless. And yet an inevitable -- some say forcibly imminent -- Federal Reserve interest rate increase (versus, for example, sovereign bank rates in Europe still seen as staying essentially negative for the foreseeable future), is therefore getting the Dollar a bid such as to push the Buck into the lead of the currencies' so-called Ugly Dog Contest. 'Course, attempting to explain irrationality is an exercise in same, in this case more Dollars nonetheless being worth more whatevers. And even irrespective of inflation, we read speculation this past week of the €uro ultimately collapsing ... and being replaced by the Dollar. "What?" But then, could such dual-continent currency still be deemed a "Federal Reserve Note"? Either way, we wouldn't recommend your losing sleep over this whimsy. For if you've Gold, you're fine. And looking .9999 fine is our chart of Gold's weekly bars with their parabolic long trend, now neatly in place these past three weeks. Yes, Gold put in an acceptable net loss for this recent week after having been up for five of the prior seven. However, the daily table therein of our BEGOS Markets "Breakout?" suggestions popped up last evening with "Sell" for both precious metals. So some further slipping may be seen into the ensuing week; yet on balance by the bars' structure in the chart, the 1800s not only appear safe, but the dashed regression trend line is now more perceptively rotating from negative toward positive. And that would tie in well (as historically noted last week) with Gold reaching 1971 during this new parabolic Long run: Thus having awakened the dip buyers, let's turn to the StateSide economy, by which our Economic Barometer had a sound week and sufficiently so as to put it on pace toward recording its second best month year-to-date. For the week's 14 incoming metrics, 12 were improvements over the prior period, the only two negatives being inflationary October Import Prices (even ex-Oil) and a slight slowing in that month's Housing Starts. But the latter was mitigated by growth in Building Permits, plus a firm increase in November's National Association of Home Builders Index. November also scored marked increases for both the New York State Empire and Philly Fed Indexes. Other positives included October's Retail Sales, Industrial Production, Capacity Utilization, and the Conference Board's lagging read of Leading Indicators. "'Tis all good, right?" Well, just bear in mind there, Bunky, that much of Q3's Gross Domestic Product "growth" was mitigated by a very high Chain Deflator, (i.e. inflationary rather than real growth): And as to Q3 Earnings Season, it just ended as follows: for the S&P 500, 80% of reporting constituents beat both estimates and prior period results. 'Tis rare when the latter keeps up with the former. However more broadly, 1,440 other mid-cap and smaller companies by our tabulation found just 56% having actually improved over 2020's Q3 shutdown period. That's an uh-oh... But in toto, great economics (arguably inflationarily but not really) + great earnings (by estimates but not always actual growth) = S&P 500 all-time highs. Moreover, money is pouring into the stock market per the website's S&P Moneyflow page: "Let's all buy high!" 'Tis quite extraordinary. "So then maybe this a blow-off top, mmb..." Squire, we long ago stopped counting the number of would-be S&P blow-off tops. Remember: as we've herein put forth for many-a-year, this is now the age of the stock market being the Great American Savings Account. "You have to be IN!" they say. "Gold's for the BIN!" they say. And then there's the ever-annoying individual blurter: "I bought X back at blah and am now making BLAH!" For whom we have this important reminder: the market capitalization of the S&P 500 as of Friday night is $41.4 trillion; yet the liquid M2 money supply of the U.S. is but half that at $21.4 trillion. So when it all goes wrong, good luck in getting out with something. Meanwhile amongst it all going good, we read that a record number of StateSide workers are quitting their jobs, the notion being they can do better doing something else. Watch for this great mania of "There's a better way!" and "My stocks are so up!" ultimately ending with "What was I thinking?" Then from the "We Knew This Was Coming Dept." it seems just mere weeks go by before yet again U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet "Old Yeller" Yellen has to chase down the Legislature 'cause she's run out of dough to make the country go. For sanity's sakes: "Got Gold?" Hopefully as the Fed Chair passes to Lael "The Brain" Brainard, she and the Treasury Secretary can sort it all out. (See too: "In Like Flint", 20th Century Fox, '67). From steely flint to a wee loss of glint describes at present our precious metals. Per the two-panel graphic below, we see on the left a bit of a topping pattern in the daily bars, but again with structural support still well within the 1800s. Then on the right in Gold's 10-day Market Profile, 1864 clearly is the dominant price traded across these past two weeks: Silver, too, shows similar toppiness per her daily bars (at left) with the low 24s/high 23s as supportive; then in her Profile (at right), 25.15 is where the bulk of Sister Silver's action has been: In sum, we see a bit of near-term pullback for Gold and Silver, but nothing really materially daunting, especially given the notion of 1971 during Gold's current parabolic up run; (you'll recall from a week ago, arriving at that level equates to the median gain of the 43 prior parabolic Long trends since the year 2001). And at some point -- you know, and we know, and everyone from Bangor, Maine to Honolulu and right 'round the word knows that -- the Buck ultimately shall run out of luck. Indeed to that end (and so much more), in having opened with a couple of questions, let's close with one that came in this past week from a highly-valued publisher of The Gold Update: "Do you think $1900 is nigh?" Our response in kind: "$4000 is nigh." Cheers! ...m... www.deMeadville.com www.deMeadville.com

  Democrats are not slowing down - the social spending bill follows the infrastructure package. Will gold benefit, or will it get into deep water? Will the American spending spree ever end? On Monday last week (November 15, 2021), President Biden signed a $1 trillion infrastructure package, and just a few days later, Biden’s social spending bill worth another $1.75 trillion passed the US House of Representatives. Apparently, $1 trillion was not enough! Apparently, we don’t already have too much money chasing too few goods. No, the economy needs even more money! Yes, I can almost hear the lament of American families: “we need more money, we already bought everything possible, we already own three cars and a lot of other useless crap, but we need more! Please, the almighty government, give us some bucks, let your funds revive our land”. Luckily, the gracious Uncle Sam listened to the prayers of its poor citizens. Given the above, one could think that the US economy is not already heavily indebted. Well, it’s the exact opposite. As the chart below shows, the American public debt is more than $27 trillion and 125% of GDP, but who cares except for a few boring economists? Of course, neither infrastructure nor spending bill will increase the fiscal deficits and overall indebtedness to a similar extent as the pandemic spending packages. These funds will be spread over years. Additionally, the fiscal deficit should narrow in FY 2022 as pandemic relief spending phases out (this is already happening, as the chart below shows), while the economic recovery combined with inflation tax bracket creep increases tax revenues. However, both of Biden’s bills will increase indebtedness, lowering the financial resilience of the US economy. What’s more, the overall debt is much larger than the public debt I focused on here. Other categories of debt are also rising. For instance, total household debt has jumped 6.2% in the third quarter of 2021 year-over-year, to a new record of $15.2 trillion.   Implications for Gold What does the fiscal offensive imply for the precious metal market? In the short run, not much. Fiscal hawks like me will complain, but gold is a tough metal that does not cry. Both of Biden’s pieces of legislation have been widely accepted, so their impact has already been incorporated into prices. Actually, the actual bills could be even seen as conservative – compared to Biden’s initial radical proposals. In the long run, fiscal exuberance should be supportive of gold prices. The ever-rising public debt should zombify the economy and erode the confidence in the US dollar, which could benefit the yellow metal. However, the empire collapses slowly, and there is still a long way before people cease to choose the greenback as their most beloved currency (there is simply no alternative!). So, it seems that, in the foreseeable future, gold’s path will still be dependent mainly on inflation worries and expectations of the Fed’s action. Most recently, gold prices have stabilized somewhat after the recent rally, as the chart below shows. Normal profit-taking took place, but gold found itself under pressure also because of the hawkish speech by Fed Governor Christopher Waller. He described inflation as a heavy snowfall that would stay on the ground for a while, rather than a one-inch dusting: Consider a snowfall, which we know will eventually melt. Snow is a transitory shock. If the snowfall is one inch and is expected to melt away the next day, it may be optimal to do nothing and wait for it to melt. But if the snowfall is 6 to 12 inches and expected to be on the ground for a week, you may want to act sooner and shovel the sidewalks and plow the streets. To me, the inflation data are starting to look a lot more like a big snowfall that will stay on the ground for a while, and that development is affecting my expectations of the level of monetary accommodation that is needed going forward. So, brace yourselves, a janitor is coming with a big shovel to clean the snow! Just imagine Powell with a long-eared cap, gloves, and galoshes giving a press conference! At least the central bankers would finally do something productive! Or… maybe shoveling is not coming! Although the Fed may turn a bit more hawkish if inflation stays with us for longer than expected previously, it should remain behind the curve, while the real interest rates should stay ultra-low. The December FOMC meeting will provide us with more clues, so stay tuned! If you enjoyed today’s free gold report, we invite you to check out our premium services. We provide much more detailed fundamental analyses of the gold market in our monthly Gold Market Overview reports and we provide daily Gold & Silver Trading Alerts with clear buy and sell signals. In order to enjoy our gold analyses in their full scope, we invite you to subscribe today. If you’re not ready to subscribe yet though and are not on our gold mailing list yet, we urge you to sign up. It’s free and if you don’t like it, you can easily unsubscribe. Sign up today! Arkadiusz Sieron, PhDSunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care

Bitcoin has suffered from the former institutional love affair with it. On Monday, a significant sell-off in the stock and bond market prevented the first cryptocurrency from returning to the upside. The recent sell-off confirmed a bearish scenario for bitcoin for now. And one should watch closely to see if this situation becomes toxic for the entire cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin fluctuated widely on Monday, and at some point, it managed to recover an initially weak start. But pressure on equities in the US trading session and the ongoing strengthening of the dollar dragged crypto down. From intraday highs, bitcoin lost 6.3% by the end of the day, at one point falling to $55.6K. The bears showed who is in control now, clearly demonstrating that bounce attempts are stumbling into aggressive selling. In such an environment, it should come as no surprise that the cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index moved into "fear" territory, losing 17 points to 33 - its lowest level since October 1st. Perhaps the following line of defence for the bulls could be the $52.0-53.5K area, where the previous extremes and the 61.8% retracement from the September-November rally are concentrated. One can only wonder how ETHUSD continues to hold its critical $4000 level amid such aggressive pressure on BTCUSD. The first cryptocurrency appears to be under pressure from institutional sell-offs, of which there are drastically less in Ether.

Bitcoin has lost 2.5% on Wednesday morning, returning to $56.3K. It seems that after a lull of a day-long, sellers’ pressure on the first cryptocurrency has continued. Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market manages to remain positive, adding 0.3% in capitalisation over the past 24 hours. A little over a month ago, Bitcoin’s share of total crypto market capitalisation trended downwards. From a peak of 49.2% on October 19th, its share has fallen to 41.7%. Optimistic market participants point to impressive demand for altcoins, which is shaping the trend. On the other hand, pessimists point out that without the market’s flagship Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies are more likely to reverse sooner rather than later, recalling the situation in late 2017 and early 2018. Behind the pressure on bitcoin is a reduction in risk traction in traditional finance, while retail investors continue to look to cryptocurrencies for insurance against devaluation and speculative/investment potential. In addition, the way retail investors participate in cryptocurrencies has changed over the past five years since the previous cycle. Cryptocurrency ICO and trading have migrated to crypto exchanges, minimising some of the fraud risks of cryptocurrency creators. However, the investment risks have not gone anywhere. Of course, Bitcoin’s steady downward trend is eating away at crypto enthusiasts’ optimism. Still, a smooth pullback like this acts as an incentive for the market to look for new names, leaving Bitcoin to conservative finance. The latter has only begun to regularly allocate a share of their portfolio to crypto this year, filling it predominantly with Bitcoin. At the same time, the leading edge of investors already views the first cryptocurrency as too conservative and boring.

USD/TRY belongs to the exotic group of Forex currency pairs, that’s why traders don’t trade it regularly. However, these days this pair is in the focus of all the trading community! What happened? The Turkish lira dropped to the all-time low of just over 13.00 as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continued to defend the huge interest rate cuts by the central bank: three times since September. That drove up inflation to 20%. The Turkish lira has lost almost half of its value this year, making it the world's worst-performing currency. What’s next? Credit Suisse forecasts USD/TRY to reach 14.00 soon. The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) needs to make a sizable rate increase to reverse the downtrend in USD/TRY. However, it is unlikely to happen soon. What else? Turkey is not the only country that will face an economic crisis. Indeed, the prospect for higher interest rates in the US is a negative factor for all these countries that have debt in US dollars. The Federal Reserve is expected to start slowing down the pace of its asset purchases already this month. Besides, the central bank plans to raise rates as soon as June 2022. It’s a bullish factor for the USD. Tech analysis USD/TRY has reversed down after rallying for so long and dropped. However, it has stopped ahead of the significant support level of 12.00. The pair won’t cross it on the first try. The most likely scenario is that it bounces off and turns to the upside. The move above 12.50 will clear the way to the resistance zone of 13.00 and 13.15. Support levels are 12.00 and 11.50. Download the FBS Trader app to trade anytime anywhere! For a personal computer or laptop, use MetaTrader 5!

November 24, 2021  $USD, Currency Movement, Germany, Japan, Mexico, RBNZ, Turkey Overview:  The dramatic collapse of the Turkish lira was like an accident one could not help look at, but it was not an accident, but the result of a disregard for the exchange rate and compromised institutions.  The lira was off around 15% at its worst yesterday, before settling 11.2% lower.  After falling for 11 sessions, it has steadied today (~2.7%)  but the capital strike may not be over.  On the other hand, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand delivered the 25 bp rate hike and seemed to give hawkish guidance, and yet the New Zealand dollar was sold and the worst-performing of the major currencies, off 0.65% through the European morning.  The tech losses on Wall Street yesterday weighed on Asia Pacific equities today, where the large markets fell but in China.  Europe's Stoxx 600 is less tech sensitive and is trying to snap a four-day air pocket, but early gains have been reversed. The US futures point to around a 0.5% lower opening.  The greenback has a firmer bias ahead of the full economic calendar ahead of tomorrow's holiday.  The yen is the notable exception.  The greenback rose to a new multi-year high near JPY115.25 but has come back offered and is straddling the JPY115 level in late morning turnover in Europe.  Emerging market currencies are mixed, though the JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index is firmer after six consecutive down sessions.  Gold is steadying after a four-day drop that took it from around $1870 to about $1782. Oil extended yesterday's recovery after the concerted agreement to release strategic reserves from six countries but is struggling to sustain the upside momentum.  The market was unimpressed with the new supply and had it (and more?) discounted.  European (Dutch) gas rose 8% yesterday and remains firm today.  Iron ore prices are higher for the fourth session, during which time it has risen by around 20%.  Copper is also firmer for the second session.  It is up about 4.5% from the middle of last week's low.   Asia Pacific The Reserve Bank of New Zealand hiked its cash rate 25 bp to 0.75%.  It was widely expected, and many had leaned to a 50 bp move.  The forward guidance saw the cash rate at 2.0% at the end of next year.  The swaps market had this nearly priced in as well.  This might help explain the profit-taking on the New Zealand dollar.  The 2-year yield fell 14 bp, and the 10-year yield eased by 5.5 bp.  New Zealand stocks defied the regional pressure and rose by about 0.6%.   Japan's economy is recovering. The economy contracted by 0.8% in Q3, but after a slow start, the vaccination program has been successful.  It has allowed a re-opening of the economy.  This is evident in the flash PMI report.  The manufacturing PMI rose to 54.2 from 53.2, and the services PMI improved to 52.1 from 50.7.  The composite new stands at 52.5 (from 50.7) and represents a new cyclical high.  Recall that it bottomed in August at 45.5.  The fiscal support being offered by the supplemental budget is pro-cyclical; it will accelerate the recovery.   The break of JPY115.00 has seen limited follow-through dollar buying.  It peaked near JPY115.25 in Asia and fell to around JPY114.80, where it has found a bid in European dealing.  The nearly $950 mln option that expires today at JPY115 has likely been neutralized (hedged/offset), and the one at JPY115.50 for $1.2 bln may be too far away to be impactful.  Our idea of a JPY113.-JPY115 range is being tested, but recall that earlier this month, the dollar has slipped to almost JPY112.70.  The range is not carved in stone, and some fraying is inevitable.  Still, a move above JPY115.50 would suggest that this consolidation since mid-October is over, and a new and higher range is likely.  Next:  JPY118-JPY120, maybe.  The Australian dollar leaked lower and briefly dipped below $0.7200 for the first time since October 1.  There is an option that is expiring today there for about A$355 mln.  It steadied after early Asia Pacific trading and approached the nearby cap near $0.7230.  A move above here would help the technical tone.  Officials appear to have broken the one-way trading in the yuan.  It has been alternating between gains and losses this week, but the movement has been small, and the yuan is virtually unchanged this week.  The reference rate was set at CNY6.3903, slightly more than the market expected (Bloomberg) of CNY6.3898.   Lastly, we note that South Korea is widely expected to hike the seven-day repo by 25 bp tomorrow, following a similar hike in August.   Europe It has taken the better part of the two months, but the new German coalition appears to have been agreed upon.  However, what the soon-to-be Chancellor Scholz is inheriting is a mess.  The Bundesbank warned recently that the economy may be stagnating this quarter (though the flash PMI yesterday did not confirm this), and inflation may be approaching 6%.  Moreover, the covid infection rate has reportedly doubled in the past two days.  The US CDC put Germany (and Denmark) on a heightened travel advisory.   As one would expect, this is taking a toll on sentiment.  The IFO investor survey showed this.  The current assessment fell to 99.0 from 100.2.  The expectations component eased to 94.2 from 95.4.  The assessment of the overall business climate stands now at 96.5, down from 97.7. After falling for the fifth consecutive month,  it is at the lowest level since April.   The euro's losses were extended to almost $1.12.  The weakness seems most pronounced in Europe, which lends credence to ideas that European financial firms are key sellers, which some related to year-end adjustments.  However, the three-month cross-currency basis swap has steadied since Monday, and pressure on the euro remains.   We note that the two-year US-German interest rate differential rose for the fourth consecutive session yesterday to reach 135 bp, the most since last March, but is steadying today.  Since the convincing break of $1.13, we do not see strong chart support until closer to $1.10.  Sterling made a margin new low for the year yesterday near $1.3345.  It remains stuck near there in quiet turnover.  The $1.3400 area offers nearby resistance.  Here we see little technical support until around $1.3165.  America The US holiday tomorrow is forcing a heavy data release schedule today.  Not all the data is of equal importance.  Of the first set of reports, the weekly jobless claims will command attention.  They have fallen for the past seven weeks and are at their lowest level since the pandemic (268k).  The November national employment report is due at the end of next week, and another 500k jobs were thought to have been filled.  The October trade balance and durable goods orders are notable.  Nearly all the October data has been reported better than expected.  Growth differentials warn of the risk of a wider trade shortfall.  The revisions to Q3 GDP (likely higher) are unlikely to capture much attention as it is too backward-looking.   The second batch of data may see a bigger market reaction, especially in the debt market.  The US is expected to report a jump in personal spending (consumption needs to accelerate if the economy strengthens this quarter).  Income is likely to recover a bit from the 1.0% drop reported in September.  The market may be most sensitive to the deflators.  Here inflation is set to accelerate.  The headline is projected to rise above 5%, while the core should peak above 4%.   Lastly, new homes sales surged 14% in September and maybe lucky to sustain those higher levels in October.  Late in the session, when many in the US may be winding down ahead of the holiday, the FOMC minutes from this month's meeting will be released.  The current focus is on the possibility that the Fed accelerates its tapering next month, and anything that sheds light on this could shape the market's reaction.    The US dollar reversed lower yesterday after reaching CAD1.2745.  It settled near its lows (~CAD1.2670), but there has been no follow-through selling, and the five-day moving average, which it has not closed below since November 15, held (~CAD1.2660). Initial resistance is seen now around CAD1.2700-CAD1.2720.  We note that Canadian bonds are under some pressure, and the 10-year yield is above 1.80%, the highest level since April 2019.  The dollar rose to MXN21.30 yesterday and remains firm, even if off the high today.  News that Mexico's President pulled the nomination of Herrera, the former finance minister, as the next central bank governor, injected some volatility into the peso.  Reports suggest that Herrera's nomination was retracted a few months ago but was kept confidential.  It is not clear what happens next.  Some suspect Herrera may still get the nomination.  It does not appear that any official statement or clarification has been provided.  The median seems to be playing up the likelihood of some announcement in the coming days.  Meanwhile, Mexico reports its bi-weekly CPI figures, and inflation is still accelerating.  Tomorrow's final Q3 GDP is expected to confirm that the economy contracted.  The dollar recorded the high for the year against the peso in March near MXN21.6360.   Disclaimer

Macro 2021-11-24 08:40 6 minutes to read Summary:  US equity markets bounced back from an extension of the sell-off from the highs of Monday, perhaps in part as a firm US 7-year treasury auction saw yields settling back lower, just after that particular benchmark had notched a new high yield for the cycle. Today sees a flurry of US data and the FOMC Minutes all crammed into the last day before the long Thanksgiving weekend in the US, where markets are closed tomorrow and only open for short session on Friday. What is our trading focus? Nasdaq 100 (USNAS100.I) and S&P 500 (US500.I) - Nasdaq 100 recovered from steep losses late in yesterday’s session which has extended this morning on a positive session in Asia driven by improved sentiment in Chinese equities on good earnings releases. Nasdaq 100 futures are trading 1.4% higher than yesterday’s lows. The key thing to monitor is still the US 10-year yield and the USD for clues of where US equities are going. If Nasdaq 100 futures can extend their momentum today the 16,443 level is the natural gravitational point in this market sitting at the 50% retracement level over the past three trading sessions. USDJPY – The  USDJPY outlook is predominantly a question of “will it or won’t it sustain a break above 115.00?” And the answer to that question is likely coincident with whether long US treasury yields will rise above the 1.75% highs established earlier this year. After a strong 7-year US treasury auction yesterday, US longer yields dipped from session highs, drawing out the suspense on USDJPY direction here. AUDNZD – after the RBNZ meeting proved far less hawkish than the market has priced, it feels as if it will be difficult for the momentum in higher RBNZ rate expectations to return as the bank likely waxed a bit cautious overnight (more below) to give itself more time to assess how quickly the tightening in the bag and a few more planned hikes already priced in are affecting the NZ economy. In Australia, meanwhile, the economy is emerging from lockdowns and rate expectations could close the gap, with an additional possible source of support from China, where stimulus may be on the way, and where the anticipation of a rise in steel output has sharply boosted iron ore prices (Australia’s largest export). AUDNZD may have bottomed out now and we watch for whether this sharply rally off the bottom could have legs for at least 1.0600 as AU vs. NZ yield spreads mean revert. Gold (XAUUSD) trades higher after finding support ahead of $1781. The slump this week below  $1835 area was triggered by rising Treasury yields following the renomination of Jerome Powell as Fed chair. The oversized downside reaction, however, was caused by long liquidation from hedge funds who had been rushing into gold before and after the recent CPI shock. Gold’s short-term ability to bounce will mostly depend on whether the washout has triggered a big enough reduction of recently established and now loss-making positions. A sharp drop in open interest in COMEX gold futures and two days with double the normal trading volume could indicate most of the adjustments have now been executed. Crude oil (OILUKJAN22 & OILUSJAN21) jumped the most in two weeks yesterday after a US initiated release of strategic reserves underwhelmed in its size and details. Most of the oil being offered to refineries will have to be returned at a later date while international contributions were smaller than expected. Refineries are already processing crude near the seasonal pace so the market doubt how much extra oil they may need. Also, and more important, the OPEC+ alliance called the move unjustified given current conditions and as a result they may opt to reduce future production hikes, currently running near 12 million barrels per month. Ahead of today’s EIA stock report, the API last night reported a 2.3 million barrel increase with stockpiles at Cushing also rising US treasuries (SHY, IEF, TLT). At the beginning of the day, the yield curve bear flattened with 7-year yields breaking above 1.55% before the 7-year auction. It led many to believe that it could be a catastrophic bond sale as demand for Monday’s 2-year and 5-year Treasuries was weak. Surprisingly, bidding metrics were strong with the bid-to-cover ratio being the highest since September 2020, and the yield stopping through by 1bps at 1.588%. Following the auction, the yield curve steepened slightly amid lower breakeven rates and less aggressive rate hikes for 2022. We expect the bond market to continue to be volatile as the market adjusts expectations for rate hikes next year. Yet, the long part of the yield curve is likely to remain in check until a resolution to the debt ceiling is not found. Todays’ Personal Consumption Expenditures might revive inflation fears reversing gains in the Asia trading session. Italian BTPS (BTP10). Italian government bonds sold off for the second day in a row as German and French PMI beat expectations, hinting at the inevitable end of the PEPP program. To weaken sentiment in BTPS was also news that President Mattarella is going to vacate his position in January leaving a political vacuum. Parties are pushing Draghi to get that position to get rid of him and go to early elections. If that were to happen, the stability that Italian BTPS enjoyed since Draghi is leading the government will vanish provoking a fast widening of the BTPS-Bund spread. What is going on? EU gas prices surged back above $30/MMBtu (€90/GWh) yesterday in response to rising winter demand, low power production from wind farms and increased competition from Asia which is ramping up its LNG imports. The US imposing additional sanctions aimed at Russia’s Nord Strem 2 pipeline also received some unwelcome attention. Sky-high day ahead prices for power adding to the pain with some countries approaching record highs. Power plants are burning more coal which is cheaper and more profitable and it has helped drive the emissions future (CFIZ1) to a new all-time high this week above €70 per tons. RBNZ hikes only 25 basis points, statement somewhat cautious. The majority of market participants were looking for a 25-basis point hike from the RNBZ overnight, but enough were looking for 50 bps that the 0.25% hike to take the official cash rate to 0.75%  rate triggered a sell-off in the kiwi. But it was the guidance that was a bit more of a surprise than the rate move, as the RBNZ noted that, while further rate rises would be needed, “the Committee expressed uncertainty about the resilience of consumer spending and business investment....(and) also noted that increases in interest rates to households and businesses had already tightened monetary conditions.” The 2-year NZGB yield dropped 14 basis points overnight to 1.94% as the market lowered rate hike expectations out the curve. Turkish lira descent accelerates – yesterday was a wild day for the TRY, which fell almost 20% in a single day yesterday before stabilizing slightly, on fresh rhetoric from Turkish president Erdogan, who complimented the recent Turkish Central Bank decision to cut rates again and who continues to use belligerent rhetoric against the standard EM playbook for dealing with a devaluing currency (vicious belt tightening via rate hikes, etc.). Chinese equities are rebounding on good earnings releases. Yesterday’s earnings releases from Xiaomi, Kuaishou Technology, and XPeng  have lifted sentiment in Chinese equities. Kuaishou was a positive surprise given the technology crackdown in China and XPeng overtook NIO in Q3 on EV deliveries showing that the company can ramp up production. ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos says inflation drivers are becoming more structural. In a speech yesterday in Madrid, the central banker said that “the ECB is continuously pointing out that the inflation rebound is of a transitory nature....However, we have also seen how in recent months these supply factors are becoming more structural, more permanent.” Euribor futures far out into 2024 and 2025 are several ticks lower from recent highs, but also up a few ticks from yesterday’s lows, as the market is only pricing for the ECB to move back to 0% rates by around the beginning of 2025. What are we watching next? Busy US Economic Calendar ahead of long holiday weekend - the majority of US office workers take a long weekend that includes Thanksgiving Day tomorrow and the Friday as well, with a lot of the data that normally would have been spread out over the rest of the week all piled up into a heap in early US hours today. The key number to watch today is the October PCE Inflation numbers, where the headline “PCE Deflator” and “PCE Core Deflator” are expected to show year-on-year readings of 5.1%/4.1% respectively vs. 4.4%/3.6% in September, which would mean the hottest pace of inflation since the early 1990’s. Much later in the day we have the FOMC minutes from the November 3 meeting, which should be interesting for whether the debate on whether the Fed needs to tighten policy more quickly is becoming more heated. Earnings Watch – the rest of the week in terms of earnings will be quite light with today’s focus on Deere which sells equipment to the agricultural sector and thus is a good indicator on this sector. Wednesday: Deere Thursday: Adevinta Friday: Meituan, Pinduoduo Economic calendar highlights for today (times GMT) 0900 – Germany Nov. IFO Survey 1330 – US Weekly Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims 1330 – US Oct. Advance Goods Trade Balance 1330 – US Q3 GDP Revision 1330 – US Oct. Durable Goods Orders 1430 – UK BoE’s Tenreyro to speak 1500 – US Oct. PCE Inflation 1500 – US Final University of Michigan Sentiment Survey 1500 – US Oct. New Home Sales 1530 – EIA's Weekly Crude and Product Inventory Report 1700 – EIA’s Natural Gas Storage Change 1900 – US FOMC Meeting Minutes   Follow SaxoStrats on the daily Saxo Markets Call on your favorite podcast app: Apple Spotify Soundcloud Sticher

The bitcoin price changed slightly over Wednesday and is moving Thursday morning without a clear direction, around $57.3K. In the past 24 hours, the rate has added 1.6%, slightly better than the dynamics of the entire crypto market, whose capitalisation is up 1%. The observed strengthening of bitcoin right now is nothing more than a sign of the pull into a more liquid instrument from several other major altcoins. Cardano, for example, came under pressure yesterday, losing more than 10% intraday, but managed to bounce back somewhat by the close of the session. Solana is digging 4.5% in 24 hours, and Polkadot is under pressure. Due to pressure on top altcoins, the cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index remains in the fear territory, at 32, where it was last in early October. BTCUSD, remaining below its 50-day moving average, is in the clutches of the bears, threatening to ramp up its fall. Many bulls seem to have moved into Ether, which, time after time, manages to fend off sellers, staying above its 50-day moving average and building up positions above $4000. The upcoming US holiday season promises to be an important test of crypto-enthusiasts strength. Four years ago, Bitcoin collapsed sharply around Christmas: probably due to the eagerness of investors at the time to lock in multiple price increases for that year. Advances in cryptocurrencies not only make them easier to buy but also easier to sell. The top coins are easy to pay for, and many can be easily, cheaply, and quickly exchanged for fiat currencies. As the crypto market stalls and inflation eats away at physical commodity prices, conditions begin to form where retail and casual investors who are not long-term crypto-enthusiasts may want to lock in profits and exit the market for the coming months ushering in a sell-off season for altcoins.

The Euro fell against the dollar to 1.1200, a new 16-month low, having lost more than 4% in the last four weeks. The downward trend in the single currency accelerated in November on the divergence between Fed and ECB policies. And the latest news on business activity from Europe reinforces this divergence by feeding the bears in a single currency. The recovery in Europe appears to have peaked in May and June, after which business sentiment indicators are methodically falling. The latest data from Germany's Ifo marked the fifth consecutive month of deteriorating business conditions, driven by logistical problems, the energy crisis in Europe and a rise in coronavirus cases, followed by stricter lockdown measures. Technically, on the weekly candlestick charts, the EURUSD is oversold as last seen in 2015. Often this is a precursor for some recovery. However, historically for EURUSD, this oversold signal means we may see a further acceleration of the downside and increased volatility ahead. In 2014, 2010, 2008 and 1996, the dip of the RSI below 30 on the weekly charts followed the acceleration collapse, sometimes taking almost a free fall form. In those cases, the signal for a reversal was a rebound of the indicator above the oversold level (i.e. higher than 30), signalling the end of the sell-off in the Euro. It can take a long time between these points, e.g., in 2014-2015, it took more than half a year for the EURUSD exchange rate to collapse by 18%. The multi-year and repeatedly tested EURUSD support level is located around 1.07, and that is where the Euro could end up in the next six months. This will be especially true if economic growth in the Eurozone slows down while bond yields rise. These are conditions we are currently experiencing.

The Turkish Lira added 10% against the dollar and Euro from lows at the start of Wednesday. At the beginning of trading on Thursday, there was also a relative calm in the exchange rate performance. However, an important question to be answered in the coming days is how temporary this calm will be. The fundamentals for the Turkish currency are unchanged: The Turkish central bank and the President continue to argue about the benefits of low-interest rates for the economy and benefits of competitiveness through a weaker currency. But it should not be forgotten that these factors only have a positive effect when the currency has stabilised, and the financial markets have a point of reference. Right now, the economy is suffering a severe shock from a 40% devaluation of the Lira against the USD so far this month to yesterday low. Even worse, such rate hikes are shaping expectations for further depreciation and further spurring sales of the Lira. Retailers and manufacturers in such circumstances prefer to fix prices of goods in harder currencies, which causes a shock freeze in economic activity. The example of Apple’s retail shops being closed because of the Lira’s devaluation is striking but hardly the only one. What we are likely seeing today, and perhaps for the next couple of days, is just a brief moment of stabilisation before a new wave of pressure on the Lira, which could continue right up to the policy changes. Whether it will be capital controls or rate hikes is an open question, but for sure, the answer won’t be easy.

The cryptocurrency market opens Friday on a positive note, while traditional markets are experiencing a classic risk-off. Bitcoin has lost 2% since the start of the day, but this pullback has so far only brought it back to Tuesday’s levels at $57.5. Since the beginning of the week, bulls have been buying BTC and ETH on dips, forming higher lows sequence. However, this support looks like thin ice that may not withstand a heavy, more than 2% drop in key Asian indices from the start of the day on Friday and a decline of around 1% in US index futures. With increased equity market volatility, crypto investors should be on guard. Because of the institutional love affair, Bitcoin is substantially vulnerable to moments of exit from risky assets when it sells off everything, regardless of the outlook. And its severe sell-off risks dragging the entire cryptocurrency down with it. From a different perspective, retail investors have developed a reflex to buy crypto on coronavirus fears, with WHO discussing new virus variants and restrictions on air travel. This means that real crypto-enthusiasts and long-term investors in cryptos may consider buying it out of the severe downturn on the exit of traditional financial institutions.

November 26, 2021  $USD, Covid, Currency Movement, Hungary, Mexico, South Korea Overview: Concerns that a new mutation of the Covid virus has shaken the capital markets.  Equities are off hard, and bonds have rallied.  In the foreign exchange market, the Japanese yen and Swiss franc have rallied.  While there may be a safe haven bid, there also appears to be an unwinding of positions that require the buying back of the funding currencies, which is also lifting the euro.  The currencies levered from growth, the dollar-bloc and Scandis are weaker.   Oil has been knocked back by around  6.7%, with January WTI trading near $73. Led by 2%+ losses in Japan, Hong Kong, and India, and 1%+ losses in South Korea, and Taiwan, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index has slumped to its lowest level since July.   Europe's Stoxx 600 gapped lower and is off around 2.4% near midday.  US futures are sharply lower (1.25%-2.5%).  The US 10-year yield has dropped around 12 bp to nearly 1.50%.  While UK Gilts have kept pace with US Treasuries, continental benchmark yields are off 6-8 bp.  The US 2-year yield is about 15 bp lower (~0.49%), while European 2-year yields are mostly 2-5 bp lower.  The 2-year Gilts yield has shed about 12 bp, as the market unwinds some of the chances of a rate hike next month.   Key Development: A new variant of the Covid virus was found.  It is thought to have the most mutations to date.  The EU, UK, Israel, and Singapore have quickly banned travel from South Africa and five neighboring countries.  This is coming on top of and is separate from the outbreak in Europe, where Germany has reported a record number of new cases and several other countries have introduced new restrictions.  Almost a third of Shanghai flights were canceled as three local cases were found.  US infections are also on the rise.  Asia Pacific  As widely expected, South Korea hiked its key 7-day repo rate by 25 bp to 1.0% yesterday.   It follows a 25 bp hike in August.  Consumer inflation rose 3.2% year-over-year in October, while the core rate rose 2.8%.  Growth in Q3 was 4.0%.  With today's roughly 0.3% decline, it brings this year's loss to almost 9%.  Only the yen (~-9.4%) and the Thai baht (~-11%) have performed worse in the region.   Australia reported stronger than expected October retail sales.  The 4.9% month-over-month surge was more than twice the Bloomberg median forecast (2.2%) and follows September's 1.3% gain.  It underscores the recovery that is taking place. The preliminary PMI showed the recovery continuing into November.  The composite rose to 55.0, its highest reading since June.   The dollar was fraying the upper end of the range we anticipated against the yen, pushing against JPY115.50.  The momentum looked to have been at risk of stalling when the news struck.  The dollar was sold to almost JPY113.65.  An option for $710 mln at JPY113.70 expires today.  The price action appears to be stabilizing a bit in the European morning, and the greenback is hovering around JPY114.00.    The trendline connecting the September and the previous two November lows comes in today near there today.  The JPY114.50 area looks to offer initial resistance.  The Australian dollar had been leaking through $0.7200, and the risk-off move sent it slightly through $0.7115, just above the low for the year set on August 20, closer to $0.7105.  A break could spur a move toward $0.7050, which is the (38.2%) retracement of the Australian dollar's recovery since March 2020, when it hit a low near $0.5500.  The $0.7140 area may provide the initial cap for the bounce.   The Chinese yuan is a rock.  It has hardly moved despite the broader developments.  The greenback is slightly (less than 0.05%) firmer and still a little below CNY6.39.  The PBOC set the dollar's reference rate at CNY6.3936, a touch above the CNY6.3934 median projection (Bloomberg survey).   Europe Part of the limited reaction short-end of the European debt market derives from the fact that investors had not expected a change in ECB's monetary policy until the very end of next year, at the earliest.  The surge in the delta strain had already emerged as a weight on the euro.  We had put emphasis on the divergence with the US and saw it captured in the two-year interest rate differential between the US and Germany.  The US premium had risen from around 90 bp in mid-September to 140 bp in the middle of this week.  It has fallen back to about 128 bp today.  Some observers had focused on the year-end adjustments of European banks and the shifting of liquidity through the cross-currency swap basis.   The new German coalition has been announced, and it will have its work cut out.  A record number of new cases have been reported in Germany, and many countries are introducing new social restrictions.  Portugal will try something a bit different.  It is set to require people to work from home in early January for a week to avoid a spike in the virus after the holidays.   Hungary was more aggressive than expected yesterday.  It raised its one-week deposit rate by 40 bp to 2.90%.  Recall that on November 18, it had hiked the one-week deposit rate 70 bp to 2.50%.  Two days earlier, it lifted the base rate 30 bp to 2.10%.  The forint had fallen to a record low against the euro on November 23.   The euro's high was just shy of HUF372, and it fell back to about HUF364.80 yesterday before jumping back to almost HUF369.50 today.  It has steadied around HUF368 in the European morning.   The euro's downside momentum had begun easing as bids below $1.12 were being filled.  The virus developments have spurred what appears to a be short-covering rally that has lifted the single currency thought $1.1280, where a 460 mln euro option expires today.  Nearby resistance is seen near $1.1300 and then last week's high near $1.1375.  Sterling recorded a new low for the year near $1.3280 in late Asian turnover before finding support.  It recovered to about $1.3335 so far.  A move above yesterday's high (~$1.3355) could spur a move to $1.3400-$1.3425.    America The dollar's rally has been fueled by the prospect of a divergence of monetary policy that favored the Fed over the ECB and BOJ.  Indeed, since the November 10 surprise jump in the October CPI to above 6%, we had emphasized the likelihood that the Fed would have to taper quicker to give it the flexibility to lift rates earlier if needed.  Since then, 4-5 Fed officials and several large banks have also underscored this possibility. However, this scenario is being called into question today, which is evident in the swaps markets and the Fed funds futures.  The implied yield of the June 2022 Fed funds futures contract is 7.5 basis points lower, and the December 2022 contract implied yield is down 14.5 bp.  The US dollar rallied to CAD1.2775, its highest level since late September.  It tests a downtrend line connecting the August (~CAD1.2950) and September (~CAD1.2900) highs. A convincing break of the trendline would signal a test on those earlier highs.   We are inclined to see it hold but cannot be confident until CAD1.2720 yields.   The Mexican peso was trampled before today amid concerns about the implications of President AMLO pulling Herrera's nomination for central bank head.  Herrera is a seasoned hand, and although he worked closely with AMLO from the finance ministry, his appointment did not seem to jeopardize the independence of the central bank.  Perhaps the market has been influenced by developments in Turkey, but the nomination of a less experienced and less known candidate has weighed on sentiment.  The dollar, already bid, jumped to MXN22.1550, at its best level since September 2020.   It has pulled back to around MXN21.83, which leaves it up around 1.2%.  This would be the seventh consecutive decline in the peso.  Support is seen around MXN21.60.  Disclaimer

Forex 2021-11-26 14:05 5 minutes to read Summary:  The contagion across asset markets triggered by new covid strain concerns has hit FX in the form of classic deleveraging, as euro and yen shorts are squeezed on a reversal of recent US yield rises and safe haven seeking, while the US dollar gets a pass elsewhere because it is still safer than smaller, less liquid currencies, particularly in EM. The timing is terrible for this wave of risk aversion as we have thin trading conditions over the US Thanksgiving holiday.   FX Trading focus: Position squaring hits heavy euro- and yen shorts Risk contagion across the board overnight on the news of a new covid strain in South Africa with significant mutations and signs of overtaking as a percentage of cases in regional outbreaks. There may a sudden “straw that broke the camel’s back” angle to this, given the covid concerns elsewhere, particularly in Europe. The timing is worse than unfortunate, as the liquidity backdrop of particular concern as the news has hit with the US out on holiday yesterday and only open for half a session today, with few likely anticipating until last night or this morning that they would even need to bother showing up for work today. The sense of whiplash has been particularly acute as we have just had a look at US President Biden nominating Powell for a second term and many highlighting the focus on inflation in his acceptance speech for the nomination, with Brainard’s acceptance speech also highlighting inflation as a major concern. This had jolted Fed expectations for next year to new highs for the cycle at the outset of this week, and now just a few days later we get covid mutation concerns that have sent a deleveraging wave across markets. In US treasuries, this has mean a sharp drop along the entire US yield curve, giving the euro and the yen a strong boost, as the euro in particular was headed south and fast on the policy divergence theme of the ECB seen likely to maintain zero rates and even some level of QE out over the horizon while the market had priced in three full Fed rate hikes by the end of next year before this sudden reversal. On the weak side, while the US dollar has fallen within the G3 and is approximately flat against sterling, the smaller currencies are sharply lower against all of the above, and EM generally doubly so. Meanwhile, a chunky new drop in oil prices on the anticipation of widening international travel restrictions and even domestic lockdowns in places is adding to the NOK woes just after that currency was trying to recover versus the single currency last week, sending EURNOK up through its 200-day moving average and above 10.20 at one point today after trading below 9.70 barely over a month ago. Chart: AUDJPYAUDJPY is doing its usual job of capturing a wave of risk aversion as the lurch lower in risk sentiment was reflected here, and the clearly important 200-day moving average gave way with a bang. This is beginning to demolish the longer-term bullish hopes as it is a hold below the 200-day moving average here is a kind of confirmation of the rejection of the next cycle highs above 85.00 that were attempted last month. Theoretically, if the last gasp support of the 61.8% retracement of the local rally wave can avoid falling, there is shred of hope, but that would likely depend on a full reversal of everything we have just seen overnight. As we emphasized in this morning’s Saxo Market Call podcast, it is impossible to know how the virus situation shapes up here until further details emerge, but the market appears poorly positioned here for a more difficult global growth outlook at a time was just on how much the Fed is going to have to course correct and end QE and hike rates because US Q4 GDP is running incredibly hot. And that was in turn driving the predominant focus on relative policy divergences, with especially Europe being singled out for its particularly weak outlook, given the energy crunch and it being at the epicenter of the latest covid wave. If I am to poke around at places where moves are getting a bit overdone here in the short term, the EURSEK squeeze move looks a bit excessive, but that isn’t to say that poor liquidity and the usual market correlations can’t send it squeezing higher still. Yesterday, the Riksbank brought a rate hike into its forward guidance (late 2024) for the first time for the cycle at a time as the market is front running that and even pricing the ECB to achieve lift-off next year. Trading a market move like the one has developed overnight is tricky business as anything can happen and either direction. Concern may deepen and dramatically so that nations will scramble to limit the spread of this new variant until more is known, and we still know little about its virulence. And in the very short-term, a self-propelling position squaring can extend aggressively ahead of the weekend as risk managers force adjustments linked to the blow-up in volatility. Then the gap risk can move in the other direction over the weekend. Impossible to know, only to limit risk and exercise patience and a couple of weeks or more of headline risks before we know the lay of the land better. Table: FX Board of G10 and CNH trend evolution and strengthAs noted above, the big direction change here is in the euro and the JPY, which have pulled sharply higher in most crosses, with the Swiss franc happy to continue higher as well (suggesting that the USDCHF pair was increasingly important positioning-wise recently?). Elsewhere, SEK downside is beginning to look extreme, and CNH upside likewise if commodity prices continue to crater. Table: FX Board Trend Scoreboard for individual pairs.Far too early to talk trends when what we have here is a sudden positioning wipeout – but we will have to see how the next few days develop. Most “flips” as of this update are linked to the oil move (NOKSEK, CAD crosses etc.) although note the euro ripping higher against AUD and NZD.

November 28, 2021  $USD The new covid variant injected a new dynamic into the foreign exchange market.  The World Health Organization cautioned against the need to impose travel restrictions, but policymakers, by and large, do not want to be bitten by the same dog twice.  To err on the side of caution is to minimize one's biggest regret.  The risk is that the uncertainty is not lifted quickly but lingers, which would likely unpin volatility.   US and European benchmark 10-year yields fell sharply ahead of the weekend.  In the US, the market unwound some of its aggressive pricing in of Fed policy.  This is reflected in the commensurate drop at the short-end.  In Europe, the decline in 10-year yield reflected a slowing of growth/inflation as its short-end was largely unchanged.   There are three areas in which market participants cannot be as confident as they were in the middle of last week.  First, the odds of a Bank of England hike next month were diminishing and fell further at the end of last week.  Second, an acceleration in the Fed's tapering seemed increasingly likely given the strength of recent data and the jump in price pressures.  However, the emergence of this new strain makes an aggressive rate hiking campaign less likely.  Third, the prospects for stronger world growth diminished on the margins.  This undermines risk appetites and weakens those currencies that often appear to do better in robust growth phases (e.g., dollar bloc, Scandis, and most emerging market currencies).   Dollar Index:  The Dollar Index put in a new high for the year on November 24, slightly below 97.00. It was confined to a narrow range when the US markets were closed on November 25 and sold off on news of the new variant and imposition of travel controls by several countries.  The setback was sufficient to turn the MACD lower from over-extended territory, though the Slow Stochastic hasn't and remains stretched.  If we assume a correction has begun, a key question is what move is being retraced.  A conservative but logical assumption is that the last leg up, since the November 10 CPI, is in play.  The first (38.2%) target is near 95.75, and then the (50%) retracement is around 95.40.  A break of 95.00 could signal another cent decline.  Euro:  Interest rate differentials and the surge in delta variant cases had sent the euro to almost $1.1185 in the middle of the last week, the lowest since July 2020.  When news of the new variant broke, what appears to be a short-covering rally lifted the euro to almost $1.1325.  The (38.2%) retracement of the leg down since November 10 is near $1.1340.  A more formidable resistance area is in the $1.1375-$1.1400 band.  As was the case with the Dollar Index, the MACD is turning, but the Slow Stochastic is lagging.  Initial support now is seen near $1.1260. With the old and now new variant, the surge accelerated inflation expected to be reported next week may not be the fodder for the ECB has that some anticipated.   Japanese Yen:  We have suggested that the dollar was in a JPY113-JPY115 range.  Earlier this month, it had dipped briefly below JPY112.75 and snapped back.  Indeed, in the first part of last week, it was fraying the upper end of the range and traded slightly through JPY115.50.  However, the pre-weekend turmoil saw the greenback drop back to the lower end of the range (~JPY113.05).  The trendline connecting the August low and the two November lows, found near JPY114.10 ahead of the weekend, was taken out with determination. The MACD is turning down but never recovered from the mid-October-mid-November decline.  The Slow Stochastic is edging back into over-extended territory. British Pound:   As the December short-sterling futures contract rallied, implying a less likely chance of a BOE hike before year-end, the pound fell.  The interest rate futures contract will begin next week with a seven-day rally intact.  Sterling, itself has fallen for six sessions, and a new low for the year was set near  $1.3320 before the weekend.  Here, both the MACD and Slow Stochastic are falling while being over-extended on the downside.   A move above $1.3350 would help stabilize the tone,  but it requires a push above $1.3400 to be notable.  On the downside, we continue to see a risk of a test on the  $1.3165, the first retracement (31.8%) of sterling's rally since Mach 2020.     Canadian Dollar:  Talk about trending currencies; the Canadian dollar fell for the fifth consecutive week following a five-week rally.  Net-net,  it is little changed.  The US dollar settled near CAD1.2765 on September 17, which was between the Bank of Canada meeting and the FOMC.  The greenback reached CAD1.28 ahead of the weekend before settling back near CAD1.2760.  There is little chart resistance until closer to CAD1.29.  As one would expect, the momentum indicators are stretched and frayed the upper Bollinger Band (~CAD1.2770).  It requires a break of the CAD1.2630-CAD1.2640 area to be meaningful.   Australian Dollar:  In the pre-weekend carnage, the Australian dollar came within a whisker of the year's low set in August near $0.7100.  The Aussie, like the Canadian dollar, has been streaking.  Its four-week decline comes are a four-week rally.  The move was underway before the new variant was announced.  The next target is around $0.7050, the (38.2%) retracement of the rally from the March 2020 low (~$0.5500).  Below there is the $0.7000 area, which caught the lows in September and October 2020.   The MACD continues to fall, while the Slow Stochastic has begun to flatline in the trough.  The 25 bp hike by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which was fully expected, and disappointed those that looked for a larger move, did little to support the New Zealand dollar.  Indeed, it was the worst-performing major currency last week, losing about 2.5%, more than twice as much as the Canadian dollar and two-thirds more than the Australian dollar.  It also tested the year's low set in August (~0.6800). A break would open the door to steeper losses, but the next area of support may be found in the $0.6760-$0.6780 area.   Mexican Peso:  The peso was the second weakest currency in the world last week (after the Turkish lira), falling around 4.3% to a new low for the year.  It had three strikes against it last week.  First, emerging market currencies broadly are out of favor.   The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index has fallen for 10 of the past 12 weeks.  Second, the new variant and the dramatic risk-off saw the peso's losses accelerate.  Third are domestic considerations.  AMLO's nomination to head the central bank starting next year did not bolster the market's confidence, which was on the heels of the Turkish debacle.  Also, domestic economic conditions have worsened.  The data have been softer than expected, including a downward revision in Q3 GDP showing a contraction of 0.4% rather than 0.2%. At the same time, the bi-weekly CPI rose above 7%.   Ahead of the weekend, the dollar rose to MXN22.1550, and although it pulled back, it found support above the previous session's high (~MXN21.60).  Nearly all the emerging market currencies fell against the dollar (The Brazilian real was a notable exception.  It eked out ~0.5% gain).  However, Mexico seems particularly vulnerable.  The credibility of the central bank may be called into question.  The economic challenge of surging inflation and weak economic activity would seem to require fiscal support, for which AMLO shows little interest.  In April 2020, the greenback reached nearly MXN25.7850, and the MXN22.47 area corresponds to the halfway mark of its subsequent decline.   Chinese Yuan:  Chinese officials appear to have expressed mild displeasure with the foreign exchange market, cautioning against a one-way market and checking prop positions.  Officials would seem to think that the banks are short dollars, while many outside observers, trying to reconcile the large current account surplus with little currency movement and stable reserves, think the large banks are accumulating dollars ostensibly on behalf of officials (hence the talk of stealth intervention). In fact, the one-way market has been broken.  On November 16, the dollar traded between CNY.3670 and CNY6.3965 and has not moved out of that range.  We suspect the risk is for an upside break for the dollar and initially see a move toward CNY6.42.   Disclaimer

The gold bulls capitulated on Monday, pushing the price back to the $1800 area. The daily charts clearly show how the momentum of gold’s rise was losing strength in the second half of the month. We saw roughly the exact reversal in May and June when gold’s attempts to break the downtrend collided with a change in Fed rhetoric. Again, as earlier in the year, the reason for the sell-off in gold was heightened expectations that the Fed would be more aggressive in raising interest rates. Markets are now laying a 77% chance of a key rate hike in June 2022, compared with 61% a month ago. For the short-term outlook for gold, the crucial area is near $1790, where the 50- and 200-day moving averages are concentrated. If touching these levels does not bring back demand for gold, we should prepare for a further sharp sell-off in the metals. A sharp decline in gold under these levels and a consolidation below them would risk reversing the bullish breakout of early November. Perhaps the best indicator of gold’s prospects now is once again the performance of the dollar and the government bond market. Further increases in yields and the US currency will undermine interest in precious metals. However, it is worth noting that the dollar looks locally overbought, and rate expectations are emotionally optimistic, forming the potential for at least a local rebound.

Commodities 2021-11-30 10:30 Summary:  Futures positions and changes made by hedge funds across commodities, forex and financials up until last Tuesday, November 23. While a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since last Tuesday, it is nevertheless interesting, not least considering the report encapsulated the market reaction to last weeks renomination of Fed chair Powell which helped send both treasury yields and the dollar sharply higher, as well as the oil market reaction to the coordinated SPR release announcement. Finally, it also gives us an idea about the level of positioning ahead of Friday's omicron related sell off Saxo Bank publishes weekly Commitment of Traders reports (COT) covering leveraged fund positions in commodities, bonds and stock index futures. For IMM currency futures and the VIX, we use the broader measure called non-commercial. Link to latest report The below summary highlights futures positions and changes made by hedge funds across commodities, forex and financials up until last Tuesday, November 23. The report normally released on Friday's was delayed due to last weeks Federal holidays, and while a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, its nevertheless interesting. Not least considering the report encapsulated the market reaction to last weeks renomination of Fed chair Powell which helped send both treasury yields and the dollar sharply higher, as well as the oil market reaction to the coordinated SPR release announcement. Also it gives a good idea about how funds and speculators were positioned ahead of the sharp risk off to the new omicron virus variant. Commodities The commodity sector saw sizable shift out of energy and metals into the agriculture sector where all 13 futures contracts covered in this update saw net buying. During the week the energy sector lost 2.1% while precious metals dropped 4.3% after gold broke below key support at $1830. A 1.5% rise in copper was not enough to convince speculators who cut their net long by 20%. Most noticeable however was the strong buying seen across the agriculture sector, with strong demand and weather worries more than offsetting the headwind caused by the stronger dollar. Energy: Crude oil, both Brent and WTI, were sold ahead of the coordinated SPR release announcement last Tuesday. The combined net long dropped by 14k lots to a one-year low at 514.6k lots. The loss of price momentum during the past few months has, despite an overriding bullish sentiment in the market, been driving the reduction, and following Friday's 10% price collapse these traders have been rewarded for sticking to the signals the market was sending instead of listening to bullish price forecasts. Hedge funds are not "married" to their positions hence their better ability to respond to changes in the technical and/or fundamental outlook.Metals: Having increase bullish gold bets by 65k lots during the previous two weeks, funds were forced to make 45k lots reduction last week in response to the Powell renomination sending gold sharply lower and below support in the $1830-35 area. Speculators have been whipsawed by the price action in recent weeks and it helps to explain why they are in no mood to reenter in size despite renewed support from Covid19 angst. Silver's 6% sell off during the week helped trigger a 17% reduction in the net long to 30k lots while in copper a small price increase was not enough to stem the slide in net length. Following seven weeks of selling, the net length has dropped by 64% to 19.5k lots, a 13-week low. Months of rangebound behaviour has reduced investor focus, and until we see High Grade Copper make an attempt to break its current $4.2 to $4.5 range, the level of positioning is likely to remain muted. Agriculture:  More concerned with other drivers such as weather, strong demand and supply chain disruptions helped trigger across the board buying of all 13 futures contracts split into grains, softs and livestock. The combined long held across these contracts reached a six-month high at 1.13 million lots, representing a nominal value of $43.5 billion. Buying was broad with the top three being corn, sugar and soybeans. Elsewhere the net long in Arabica coffee reached a fresh five-year high at 58k lots and KCB wheat a four-year high at 65.6k lots. UPDATES from today's Market Quick TakeCrude oil (OILUKJAN22 & OILUSJAN21) turned sharply lower in early European trading as the mood across markets soured on renewed concerns about the omicron virus strain. This after Moderna’s head told the Financial Times that existing vaccines will be less effective at tackling omicron and it may take months before variant-specific jabs are available at scale. The news come days before the OPEC+ group of producers meet to discuss production levels for January. Brent crude oil already heading for its biggest monthly loss since March 2020 trades below its 200-day moving average for the first time in a year, a sign that more weakness may lie ahead, thereby raising the prospect for OPEC+ deciding to pause or perhaps even make a temporary production cut. Gold (XAUUSD) received a muted bid overnight in response to the omicron virus comments from the head of Moderna (see oil section above). In addition, comments from Fed chair Powell helped reduced 2022 rate expectations from three to two after he said the omicron virus posed risks to both sides of the central bank’s mandate for stable prices and maximum employment. Despite this development together with softer Treasury yields and a weaker dollar, gold continues to struggle attracting a safe-haven bid. Silver (XAGUSD) looks even worse having dropped to a six-week low on weakness spilling over from industrial metals. Forex:Broad dollar buying following Fed chair Powell's renomination helped drive a 20% increase in the greenback long against ten IMM currency futures and the Dollar index to $25.4 billion and near a two-year high. All the currencies tracked in this saw net selling with the biggest contributors being euro (12.6k lots), CAD (11.8k) and JPY (4.1). The net short on the latter reached 97.2k lots or the equivalent of $10.6 billion, a short of this magnitude helps explain the strength of the sell off in USDJPY since last Thursday when safe haven demand picked up as the omicron news began to spread. Despite hitting a 16-month low last week the euro short only reached 12.6k lots, a far cry from the -114k lots reached during the panic month of February last year when the pair briefly traded below €1.08. What is the Commitments of Traders report? The COT reports are issued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the ICE Exchange Europe for Brent crude oil and gas oil. They are released every Friday after the U.S. close with data from the week ending the previous Tuesday. They break down the open interest in futures markets into different groups of users depending on the asset class. Commodities: Producer/Merchant/Processor/User, Swap dealers, Managed Money and otherFinancials: Dealer/Intermediary; Asset Manager/Institutional; Leveraged Funds and otherForex: A broad breakdown between commercial and non-commercial (speculators) The reasons why we focus primarily on the behavior of the highlighted groups are: They are likely to have tight stops and no underlying exposure that is being hedged This makes them most reactive to changes in fundamental or technical price developments It provides views about major trends but also helps to decipher when a reversal is looming

The cryptocurrency market remains in a state of apprehension, although the degree of it continues to weaken, as reflected in the rise in the relevant index from 33 yesterday to 40. The overall capitalisation of the cryptocurrency market, according to CoinMarketCap estimates, has fallen by 0.7% in the past 24 hours. However, the situation in the financial markets is firmly tied to the news of a new strain and therefore things could change very quickly. The main pressure during the last 24 hours was in the last hours, so it is worth being prepared for higher volatility later in the day. Fear in the financial markets, if entrenched, promises to seriously push down the price of bitcoin and ether, and through them spread negativity across the entire cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin is currently clinging to $56K. At 5% below, at 54 there is a signal support level, the capture of which could signal an acceleration of the sell-off. The opposite is also true, at 5% above the current price, at 59 lies an area of local highs. An ability to consolidate above this level would indicate strong buying demand. Despite Bitcoin's weak performance, which has been hovering around current levels for the past week and a half, the Ether remains up-trending. It has added 1.5% in the last 24 hours and over 6% in the last seven days. On the intraday charts, there is still a buying trend on the downtrends. In our view, this looks like a good trend. Bitcoin is often seen to preserve capital, while Ether and several other coins are working projects. In recent weeks, there has been an influx of interest in meta-currency projects, as crypto enthusiasts see a real business model behind them. All of this is bringing the crypto market closer to the stock market, only taking it to a new, less centralised, and regulated level. Everyone has their answer for good or bad. But it is almost certainly temporary.

Nevertheless, this might be over soon. Regulation might kill the majority of the expanded crypto world. Bitcoin might be banned, as it has been in the past in various countries. And yet, once fiat currency value implodes, bitcoin will be the last man standing. BTC in US-Dollar, Weekly Chart, last weeks call on the nose: Bitcoin in US-Dollar, weekly chart as of November 23rd, 2021. We posted the above weekly chart of bitcoin in last week’s chart book release. We anticipated a low-risk entry. BTC in US-Dollar, Weekly Chart, as planned: Bitcoin in US-Dollar, Weekly chart as of November 29th, 2021. Since then, prices have swiftly penetrated our entry zone. We caught two trades, a daily and a weekly time frame position. We posted these trades (entries and the partial exits), as usual, in real-time in our free Telegram channel.Furthermore, we employ a quad exit strategy that ensures instant risk elimination by quickly taking half of the position off. With entries of US$ 53,877 (daily timeframe trade) and US$ 54,000 (weekly timeframe trade), we were able, with first exits at US$ 54,591 and US$ 55,797, to not only eliminate risk but ensure profits on half of the positions of 1.33% and 3.33%. As well our next following targets have been reached! We took another 25% of position size out at US$ 55,811.6 and US$ 57,317.7, which booked us another 3.59% return on the daily position and 6.14% on the weekly position. The remaining 25% of position sizes on each trade we call runners. With stops set now at break-even entry levels, we can only produce additional winnings for each trade. Each trade had tight stops, assuring less than half a percent of risk per trade.   BTC in US-Dollar, Monthly Chart, modest odds for follow through: Bitcoin in US-Dollar, Monthly chart as of November 30th, 2021. The possible contrarian short signal on the monthly chart makes the weekly trades success probabilities for the runner smaller. Nevertheless, this quad exit approach allows for low-risk positioning versus endless mind chatter and debate since it is typical that different time frames show different long, short and sideways plays. Here, bitcoin again overcomes adversity. Typically, tight ranged instruments erase many trade opportunities for profit margins relating to commissions and risk to small. The earlier mentioned profit percent numbers are typical for bitcoins volatility and, as such, allow for risk reduction and short- to midterm profitability being more extensive than the average S&P500 annual return. Bitcoin, overcoming adversity: Bitcoin will be the cure to inflation damage for those you invested in it in a timely manner. Inflation is a creeping disease to money. Humans seem to have in history always procrastinated towards dangers of inflation, mostly since inflation treads slowly. Inflation also holds illusions supporting hope, hope that also fuels procrastination. While most who suffer under inflationary times think prices for goods went up, the reality is that monetary value went down. With this illusion, we hold on to stock portfolios seemingly rising, bonds, 401ks, and Roth IRAs trusting governments for the status quo to be protected or at least trouble to be temporary. Much more likely, most citizens are drained of their savings and cheated out of their retirements. At the end of such a monetary devaluation cycle, it will be the last time bitcoin will defend its place.  Doubt will finally vanish. Unfortunately, too late for those who did not educate themselves early enough to find a haven in this principled way to protect one’s wealth. Feel free to join us in our free Telegram channel for daily real time data and a great community. If you like to get regular updates on our gold model, precious metals and cryptocurrencies you can subscribe to our free newsletter. This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone. They do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Midas Touch Consulting. By Korbinian Koller|November 29th, 2021|Tags: Bitcoin, Bitcoin bounce, Bitcoin bullish, bitcoin consolidation, crypto analysis, Crypto Bull, crypto chartbook, DeFi, low risk, quad exit, technical analysis, trading education|0 Comments About the Author: Korbinian Koller Outstanding abstract reasoning ability and ability to think creatively and originally has led over the last 25 years to extract new principles and a unique way to view the markets resulting in a multitude of various time frame systems, generating high hit rates and outstanding risk reward ratios. Over 20 years of coaching traders with heart & passion, assessing complex situations, troubleshoot and solve problems principle based has led to experience and a professional history of success. Skilled natural teacher and exceptional developer of talent. Avid learner guided by a plan with ability to suppress ego and empower students to share ideas and best practices and to apply principle-based technical/conceptual knowledge to maximize efficiency. 25+ year execution experience (50.000+ trades executed) Trading multiple personal accounts (long and short-and combinations of the two). Amazing market feel complementing mechanical systems discipline for precise and extreme low risk entries while objectively seeing the whole picture. Ability to notice and separate emotional responses from the decision-making process and to stand outside oneself and one’s concerns about images in order to function in terms of larger objectives. Developed exit strategies that compensate both for maximizing profits and psychological ease to allow for continuous flow throughout the whole trading day. In depth knowledge of money management strategies with the experience of multiple 6 sigma events in various markets (futures, stocks, commodities, currencies, bonds) embedded in extreme low risk statistical probability models with smooth equity curves and extensive risk management as well as extensive disaster risk allow for my natural capacity for risk-taking.

The cryptocurrency market rumbled loudly on Friday but generally kept key support levels from which purchases resumed over the weekend and early Monday. BTCUSD has added 5.6% in the last 24 hours to $57.6K, almost at the same levels as seven days ago. The cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index remains in the fear territory, at 33, up from 27 on Sunday and 21 on Saturday morning. Today's low values are nothing more than a tail of Friday's sell-off, and sentiment has improved significantly since then. From the side of this indicator, the situation looks like another moment to buy on downturns, as it was in early October. On Friday, bitcoin fell into the $54K area, pulling back to the 61.8% level of the July-November rally. If indeed it is over, such a pullback could clear the way for growth to new highs, as bulls were allowed to lock in profits and shortly after to buy the dip. On the other hand, BTCUSD remains below its 50-day average, which has acted as resistance for the past ten days. It is now passing through levels near the circular $60K level, which increases the significance. In the event of a sharp breakout of this level, bitcoin could fly to new highs on inertia. If that breakout fails, we could say the crypto market's bullish trend is broken, as there are too many sellers. Ether has successfully withstood the pressure and actively rallied on declines below 4000. The primary altcoin looks more popular among buyers, managing to stay above its critical circular level and above the 50-day moving average, continuing the short-term bullish trend. Thus, it can be stated that sentiment in the crypto market has quickly returned to normal after a slight shake-up. However, it is worth keeping a close eye on bitcoin dynamics. If it does not return to a solid growth path, it could upset the entire crypto market by turning it downwards.

The cryptocurrency market is developing its growth, which is now also supported by Bitcoin. In the last 24 hours, the capitalisation of all cryptocurrencies has risen by 2.7% to 2.66 trillion, while the first cryptocurrency has risen by 0.8%. At the same time, it is important to note the continued pressure on BTCUSD, which is being kept off the ground by financial market worries. On Tuesday, Powell acknowledged the inflation problem in the US and suggested abandoning the term "transitory", which he coined at the start of the year. For the markets, this means that the world's top central bank has stepped up the inflation warpath and become more hawkish, promising a higher degree of volatility for traditional markets. Among cryptocurrencies, this promises to have the greatest impact on bitcoin as it is the most populated by financial institutions. Likely due to volatility and Bitcoin's inability to move to sustained growth, the cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index has once again been pushed down 6 points to 34. However, note that ETHUSD is up almost 12% in the last seven days, continuing to climb the ladder again step by step. Its current level of $4720 is an arm's length away from the historical highs set in November at $4840 and has been gaining steadily for the fourth day in a row. Here we see a classic market pattern: consolidation at an important level in September, a breakout and subsequent steady and methodical buying throughout October and the first half of November, and finally a period of correction and cooling off in November while maintaining significant levels. Now, the correction and consolidation look complete, and the ether looks set to rewrite historical highs. Among the fundamental global drivers behind this sentiment are improvements in the network itself and its applicability to working projects, as well as the balance between supply and demand for coins. In choosing between the leading currencies, the cryptocurrency world is betting on Ether as the future of cryptocurrency as a business, with bitcoin still being a good savings vehicle, but now becoming vulnerable to the turmoil of the traditional financial.

Plan B has reaffirmed Bitcoin price target of $100,000 in one standard deviation band in his Stock-to-Flow model. One of the largest asset managers, Fidelity Investments, plans to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF in Canada this week. Alex Krüger has placed the odds of Bitcoin hitting fresh all-time highs by the year-end at 17%, as headwinds increase. Analysts are evaluating the probability of Bitcoin hitting fresh all-time highs before the end of 2021. There is a spike in fear among Bitcoin traders, but open interest in the futures market remains high despite sell-off. Bitcoin price is on track to hit a new all-time high above $100,000 Plan B is popular for his Stock-to-Flow model that has projected a $100,000 target for Bitcoin price before the end of 2021. The analyst is bullish on Bitcoin and tweeted earlier on Wednesday to reaffirm that his prediction is on track. The Bitcoin “Fear and Greed Index,” an indicator used to evaluate the sentiment of traders in the market, indicates “fear” among market participants. Despite “fear” and increased risk of sell-off across exchanges, the open interest in Bitcoin futures on Bybit, a cryptocurrency exchange, has remained high. Open interest (OI) is the total number of Bitcoin futures contracts bought or sold. The rise in OI indicates increasing activity in Bitcoin futures and higher volatility in the underlying asset price. A sudden increase in OI historically indicates a massive consolidation in Bitcoin price. Fidelity Investments, an American multinational firm, is set to launch its spot Bitcoin ETF in Canada this week. Proponents expect the launch of a Bitcoin spot ETF to impact the asset’s price positively. Alex Krüger, a cryptocurrency analyst, believes that the odds of Bitcoin price hitting fresh all-time highs before the end of 2021 are approximately 17%. The increased headwinds have reduced the odds of Bitcoin price hitting a new all-time high from 2/3 to 1/2. FXStreet analysts have evaluated the Bitcoin price trend and predicted that the asset has one obstacle to overcome before going parabolic.

Forex 2021-12-01 15:25 4 minutes to read Summary:  Fed Chair Powell cemented recent evidence that the Fed has changed its stripes from a punch bowl refiller for the economy and the labor market to an inflation fighter at large. The market is finding it tough to absorb this message, given the recent market choppiness and virus distractions, but interesting that the US dollar has not found more strength on this momentous pivot. FX Trading focus: Hawkish broadside from Powell Fed Chair Powell cemented the impression that the Fed has shifted firmly into inflation fighting mode with an appearance yesterday before a Fed panel. The rhetoric was direct and of a make-no-mistake variety. Powell said that the end of balance sheet expansion would likely wind down a few  months sooner than originally foreseen, even with the current omicron variant of covid concerns. He also spelled out that it is probably time to retire the word “transitory” when discussing inflation, ad said that the risk of higher inflation has increased. Perhaps most interesting was a comment that persistent higher inflation brought a risk to getting the labor market back to where it was pre-covid. It is crystal clear at this point that the Fed has pivoted to inflation-fighting and tightening and will move in that direction as quickly as it can until the inflation numbers improve markedly. Of course, the market was already adjusting to clear signs that the Fed is moving into a far more hawkish stance early last week, only to be sidelined viciously by the omicron variant worries in recent days. Were it not for that interlude, Fed expectations would likely be at new cycle highs as yesterday’s signals from Powell make the Fed shift as clear as day. As it is, we have only clawed back a majority of the 2022 hikes priced in pricing of Fed rate hikes, still some 8 basis points to go for end of year Fed pricing (the “omicron discount” being perhaps 15 basis points or more?). The two curious things are that the US yield curve continues to viciously flatten and the market continues to price the terminal Fed rate for the coming hiking cycle at 2.00%. The inability for the longer yields to lift higher recently may be reining in the USD upside for. The other indicator besides yield-curve shifts that is making waves here on my radar screen of financial conditions is the measure of corporate credit, where spreads have blown wider, as discussed over the last couple of episodes of the Saxo Market Call podcast. The bluntness from the Fed yesterday may have driven the particularly bad day for junk bonds as the new style from the Fed could lead investors in the riskiest debt to conclude that they may be allowed to twist in the breeze down the road if inflation levels stay high, rather than receiving endless bailouts that keep zombie companies in business and able to forever roll forward their debts. We are set up for an interesting 2022 that will likely look very different from 2021. The shift in Fed rhetoric will make the market extra-sensitive to US data and developments that impact inflation, from energy prices, to the CPI/PCE data itself and the average hourly earnings data perhaps even more than the usual nonfarm payrolls change focus. Today’s Beige Book could be interesting for anecdotal evidence from interviews with companies on their impression of supply constraints, wage adjustments and issues finding qualified workers, etc. Today’s November ADP Payrolls was another strong 500k+ as expected. Chart: USDJPYUSDJPY was handcuffed by developments yesterday – on the one hand with the USD supported by a rise in Fed expectations, but on the other hand, JPY traders finding no fresh reason to bid up the JPY as the long end of the US yield curve remains pinned at quite low yields and there has been no shift in the Fed’s “terminal rate” – where the market sees the Fed rate hike cycle peeking out. So the price action bobbed well back above the 112.73 range pivot level that was broken yesterday, but has a steep wall to climb to threaten the 115.00+ cycle highs again, something that would likely require the entire Fed yield curve to lift, and more aggressively than expectations for policy normalization elsewhere. Source: Saxo Group Table: FX Board of G10 and CNH trend evolution and strengthAgain, the market is finding the reaction function increasingly difficult to the recent jolts in inputs. Note the huge momentum shift in SEK, where the market overdid the recent squeeze, but the strength there will likely only improve once the euro bottoms and the outlook for EU yields and fiscal improves. Table: FX Board Trend Scoreboard for individual pairs.Well entrenched trends are few and far between, but the EURCNH and EURCHF downtrends stand out, with the latter’s lack of volatility after recent direction changes remarkable. The Swiss franc does well as a safe haven and does well because the SNB can’t be seen weakening the currency when inflation pressures are rising. Upcoming Economic Calendar Highlights (all times GMT) 1500 – US Fed Chair Powell, Treasury Secretary Yellen to testify before House panel 1500 – US Nov. ISM Manufacturing 1530 – DOE’s Weekly Crude Oil and Fuel Inventories 1900 - Fed Beige Book 0030 – Australia Oct. Trade Balance

Saxo Bank has today released its 10 Outrageous Predictions for 2022. The predictions focus on a series of unlikely but underappreciated events which, if they were to occur, could send shockwaves across financial markets: The plan to end fossil fuels gets a rain check Facebook faceplants on youth exodus The US mid-term election brings constitutional crisis US inflation reaches above 15% on wage-price spiral EU Superfund for climate, energy and defence announced, to be funded by private pensions Women’s Reddit Army takes on the corporate patriarchy India joins the Gulf Cooperation Council as a non-voting member Spotify disrupted due to NFT-based digital rights platform New hypersonic tech drives space race and new cold war Medical breakthrough extends average life expectancy 25 years While these predictions do not constitute Saxo’s official market forecasts for 2022, they represent a warning against the potential misallocation of risk among investors who might typically assign just a one percent chance of these events materialising.  It’s an exercise in considering the full extent of what is possible, even if not necessarily probable, and particularly relevant in the context of this year’s unexpected Covid-19 crisis. Inevitably the outcomes that prove the most disruptive (and therefore outrageous) are those that are a surprise to consensus. Commenting on this year’s Outrageous Predictions, Chief Investment Officer at Saxo Bank, Steen Jakobsen said:   “The theme for 2022 Outrageous Predictions is Revolution. There is so much energy building up in our inequality-plagued society and economy. Add to that the inability of the current system to address the issue and we need to look into the future with a fundamental view that it’s not a question of whether we get a revolution but a more a question of when and how. With every revolution, some win and some lose, but that’s not the point—if the current system can’t change but must, a revolution is the only path forward. A culture war is raging across the globe and the divide is no longer simply between the rich and the poor. It’s also the young versus the old, the educated class versus the less educated working class, real markets with price discovery versus government intervention, stock market buy-backs versus R&D spending, inflation versus deflation, women versus men, the progressive left versus the centrist left, virtual signalling on social media versus real changes to society, the rentier class versus labour, fossil fuels versus green energy, ESG initiatives versus the need to supply the world with reliable energy—the list go on. We collaborated globally on Covid vaccines in 2020 and 2021. Now we need a new Manhattan Project–-type endeavour to set the marginal cost of energy, adjusted for productivity, on the path to much lower levels while eliminating the impact of our energy generation on the environment. Such a move would unleash the most significant productivity cycle in history: we could desalinate water, make vertical farms feasible almost anywhere, increase computer powers to quantum states, and continue to explore new boundaries in biology and physics.” Remember that the world is forever evolving if at varying speeds, while business and political cycles are always finite.” The Outrageous Predictions 2022 publication is available here with headline summaries below: 1. The plan to end fossil fuels gets a rain check Summary: Policymakers kick climate targets down the road and support fossil fuel investment to fight inflation and the risk of social unrest while rethinking the path to a low-carbon future. Realising the inflationary threat from surging commodities prices and the risk of an economic train wreck due to the unrealistic timeline for the green energy transition, policymakers kick climate targets down the road. They relax investment red tape for five years for oil production and ten years for natural gas production, to encourage producers to ensure adequate and reasonably priced supplies that bridge the gap from the energy present to the low-carbon energy future. This development has already jacked up prices and price volatility, not only for energy, but also for industrial metals, most of which are needed in greater quantities for the green transformation push. On top of this, surging energy prices have spiked prices for diesel and especially fertiliser, important farming costs that raise concerns about the production of key food crops. Market impact: The iShares Stoxx EU 600 Oil & Gas ETF (Ticker: EXH1:xetr) surges 50 percent as the whole energy sector gets a new lease on life 2. Facebook faceplants on youth exodus Summary: The young abandon Facebook’s platforms in protest at the mining of personal information for profit; the attempt by Facebook parent Meta to reel them back in with the Metaverse stumbles. Facebook has gone from being a vibrant hub of young people, to a platform for older “boomers” as young people would say. Young people are increasingly turned off by Facebook’s algorithms turning their social media experiences into that of homogenous feedback loops of identical content, or even worse, hateful and disinforming content. Facebook’s own research suggests that teens spend 2 to 3 times longer on TikTok than on Instagram (which is Facebook’s youngest social media asset), and that Snapchat is the preferred way to communicate with friends. A new company name (Facebook is now called Meta) and brand identity to separate and shield Instagram (its most valuable current asset), together with creating a new product tailored towards young people, is the exact same playbook tobacco companies have used for years. But in 2022, investors will realise that Meta is rapidly losing the young generation and thus the future potential and profitability of the company. In a desperate move, Meta tries to acquire Snapchat or TikTok while throwing billions of dollars into building the creepy Metaverse, which is aimed at surveilling users more directly than ever before and getting young people back into Meta’s universe of social media platforms, in the perceived wisdom that being a first mover is always best in technology. The plan struggles to take off as the young generation fails to sign up. Market impact: Facebook parent company Meta struggles, down 30 percent versus the broader market and is urged to spin off its components as separate entities, shattering Zuckerberg’s monopolistic dreams. 3. The US mid-term election brings constitutional crisis Summary: The US mid-term election sees a stand-off over the certification of close Senate and/or House election results, leading to a scenario where the 118th Congress is unable to sit on schedule in early 2023. The chaotic 2020 US Presidential Election was a scary moment for many US institutions. The sitting president Donald J. Trump initially refused to conceded defeat in the election and complained that the election was stolen, a claim that was never seriously challenged in a court of law but one which had widespread sympathy among the Trump base. A crowd of hard-core believers in the stolen election conspiracy was encouraged by the President’s rhetoric to a sufficient degree to storm Capitol Hill and “stop the steal”, i.e., to prevent the election result from being made official on January 6, 2021, in a scene unprecedented in US history. Prior to this, and then again later in the hotly contested Senate run-off elections in Georgia, dedicated election officials—many of them Republican—were doing their duty to tally the real results while risking their life amidst threats—even death threats—from extremists. In 2022, the Republicans ensure that no such traditional duty-bound officials are in the “wrong” place, with all election-related positions filled by toe-the-line partisans ready to do anything to tilt the results to suppressing voter turnout. In the wake of the 2022 election, a handful of key Senate and House races come down to the wire and one or both sides move against certifying the vote, making it impossible for the new Congress to form and sit on its scheduled first day of January 3, 2023. Joe Biden rules by decree and US democracy is suspended as even Democrats also dig in against the Supreme Court that was tilted heavily by Trump. A full-blown constitutional crisis stretches over the horizon over the stand-off as 2023 gets under way. Market impact: extreme volatility in US assets, as US treasury yields rise and the USD drops on hedging against the existential crisis in the world’s largest economy and issuer of the world’s reserve currency of choice. 4. US inflation reaches above 15% on wage-price spiral Summary: By the fourth quarter of 2022, the wages for the lower half of US incomes are rising at an annualised 15% clip as companies scramble to find willing and qualified workers who are increasingly selective due to a rising sense of entitlement as jobs are plentiful relative to the meagre availability of workers at all skill levels. The official US CPI reached a peak at 11.8% in February 1975. It wasn’t until the recession of 1980-82 and brutal policy rate increases to levels as high as 20% that inflation was finally killed. In 2022, the Federal Reserve and Fed chair Jerome Powell repeats the same mistake all over again as the post-Covid outbreak economy and especially the labour market are severely supply constrained, making a mockery of the Fed’s traditional models. Powell believes millions of Americans will return to work and fill some of the 10.4 million open job positions as Covid-19 fades. But this is plain wrong. Some have retired early due to the crisis and thus have permanently left the US workforce. The big difference between today and yesterday is that the pandemic has fuelled a great awakening of workers. Across sectors and income classes they realise they are now more empowered than ever. They demand a better experience: better job conditions, higher wages, more flexibility and a sense of purpose from work. Coupled with persistent inflationary pressures coming from the production side, the energy crisis and labour shortage, this results in unprecedented broad-based double-digit annualised wage increases by Q4. As a consequence, US inflation reaches an annualised pace above 15% before the start of 2023, for the first time since WWII. This prompts the Federal Reserve into a too-little, too-late move to tighten monetary policy faster in a desperate effort to tame inflation. But the central bank has lost credibility; it will take time to regain it. Market impact: extreme volatility in US equity and credit markets. The JNK high-yield ETF falls as much as 20% and the VIXM mid-curve volatility ETF soars as much as 70%. 5. EU Superfund for climate, energy and defence announced, to be funded by private pensions Summary: To defend against the rise of populism, deepen the commitment to slowing climate change, and defend its borders as the US security umbrella recedes, the EU launches a bold $3 trillion Superfund to be funded by pension allocations rather than new taxes. The security umbrella provided by the US during the Cold War and afterwards over much of Eastern Europe is rapidly fading and threatens to fail entirely in the years ahead as the US looks east at far more serious economic and military rivals. French President Macron, backed by a Draghi moving to stave off Italy’s own rise of the populists, rolls out a vision for an “EU Superfund” that will address the three-fold priorities of defence, climate and the related clean energy transition. Given the EU’s aging population and heavy tax burdens, policymakers know that it will be impossible to finance the Superfund with higher taxes on incomes or other traditional tax revenues. Instead, France has a light-bulb moment as it seeks to overhaul its pension system and looks at Europe’s enormous pensions. It decides that all pensions for all workers above the age of 40 must allocate a progressively larger portion of their pension assets into Superfund bonds as they age. This allows new levels of fiscal stimulus in the EU even with the sleight-of-hand trick of hiding the spending in inflation and negative real returns on low-yielding Superfund bonds that are actually EU bonds in disguise. At the same the younger generation enjoys a stronger job market and less unfair tax burdens as the system proves such a success that income taxes are lowered progressively. Market impact: Bond yields harmonise across Europe, leading to German Bunds underperforming. EU defence, construction and new energy companies are some of the best performers. 6. Women’s Reddit Army takes on the corporate patriarchy Summary: Mimicking the meme stock Reddit Army tactics of 2020-21, a group of women traders launch a coordinated assault on companies with weak records on gender equality, leading to huge swings in equity prices for targeted companies. Women are not willing to wait any longer. Tired of the lack of progress, 2022 sees a massive grass-roots effort based on social media platforms to force companies that break civil rights laws to address unfair and sexist, racist, ageist and ableist practices. Although women have been struggling with lower salaries, they have higher saving rates than men. Those savings will now come in handy as they decide to take the situation into their own hands and throw their considerable influence around in a #metoo movement in financial markets. In contrast to the often-nihilistic original Reddit Army, the Women’s Reddit Army will be more sophisticated, with women traders coordinating a long squeeze by shorting stocks of selected patriarch companies. At the same time, they will direct funds to companies with the best metrics on female representation in middle management and among executives. Instead of condemning the development, politicians worldwide welcome and support their cause, putting even more pressure on companies with outdated patriarchal attitudes, poor gender equality in pay, and under-representation of women on boards and in management to address the errors of their ways. Market impact: The movement gets real results as the broader market catches on to the theme and joins in, forcing targeted company prices sharply lower, which sees companies scrambling to change their ways. It marks the beginning of a gender parity renaissance in markets. 7. India joins the Gulf Cooperation Council as a non-voting member Summary: The world’s geopolitical alliances will lurch into a phase of drastic realignment as we have an ugly cocktail of new deglobalising geopolitics and much higher energy prices. Countries reliant on imports for the majority of their energy inputs in a rapidly deglobalising world will need to move fast to strategically reorientate strategic alliances and secure long-term energy supplies. One such alliance could involve India, with its mighty technology sector, joining the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as non-voting member, or in some sort of free trade zone. This alliance would see a reduction in India’s energy insecurity as it secures long-term import commitments. Interregional trading zones will secure “closer to home” production and investment, combined with the security of reliable supplies from India’s point of view, and a reliable destination market from the GCC’s point of view. The alliance helps lay the groundwork for the GCC countries to plan for their future beyond oil and gas and for India to accelerate its development via huge new investments in infrastructure and improvements in agricultural productivity together with fossil fuel imports, bridging the way to a post-carbon longer-term future. Market impact: The Indian rupee proves far more resilient than its EM peers in a volatile year for markets. The bubbly Indian stock market corrects with other equity markets in early 2022 but proves a strong relative performer from the intra-year lows. 8. Spotify disrupted due to NFT-based digital rights platform Summary: Musicians are ready for change as the current music streaming paradigm means that labels and streaming platforms capture 75-95 percent of revenue paid for listening to streamed music. In 2022, new blockchain-based technology will help them grab back their fair share of industry revenues. While the early days of NFTs have looked chaotic and dangerous for asset buyers, the outlook is bright for NFT technology. Not only does an NFT-based platform offer a new way to verify the ownership of rights, but also a way to distribute rights without intermediaries, i.e., a completely decentralised system obviating the need for a centralised platform. The use case for NFTs could prove particularly compelling in the next step for the technology for content generators in the music industry as musicians feel unfairly treated by the revenue sharing models of the current streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. These models don’t guide individual subscribers’ fees to the actual music an individual subscriber listens to. Rather, all subscription fee revenues are aggregated and distributed based on every artist’s share of total streams. In addition, the platforms take a substantial cut, which together with the cut paid to labels is some 75 percent or more of the total revenue. In 2022, an NFT-based service takes hold and begins offering music from notable stars – perhaps the likes of Katy Perry, The Chainsmokers and Jason Derulo, all of whom have recently backed an effort to create a new blockchain-powered streaming platform. Other well-known artists begin pulling their music from the now “traditional” streaming platforms, which suddenly find themselves terminally disrupted. Investors see the eventual writing on the wall for podcasts, movies and other forms of digitisable contents as well. Market impact: Investors recognise that Spotify’s future is bleak, sending its shares down 33 percent in 2022. 9. New hypersonic tech drives space race and new cold war Summary: The latest hypersonic missile tests are driving a widening sense of insecurity as this tech renders legacy conventional and even nuclear military hardware obsolete. In 2022 a massive hypersonic arms race develops among major militaries as no country wants to feel left behind. In 2022, it is clear from funding priorities that hypersonics and space are the heart of a new phase of the deepening rivalry between the US and China on all fronts—economic and military. Other major powers with advanced military tech join in as well, likely including Russia, India, Israel and the EU. Hypersonic capabilities represent a game-changing threat to the long-standing military strategic status quo, as the technology brings asymmetric new defensive and offensive capabilities that upset the two massive pillars of military strategy of recent decades. The first is the potential for devastating hypersonic tech defence against the conventional attack capabilities of long-range bombing aircraft, as well as the so-called “deep water” navy of ships that can bring the fight to any corner of the globe without refuelling. The second pillar of the old Cold War era was the principle of mutually assured destruction (MAD) in the event of nuclear war, under which it was pointless to launch a nuclear war as long as there was still time for the opponent to launch an equally destructive ICBM counterattack from land- and submarine-based ballistic missiles. But the speed and agility of hypersonic tech introduces the belief that superior defence could thwart an attack entirely and even allow for new first-strike capabilities. Market impact: massive funding for companies like Raytheon that build hypersonic tech with space delivery capabilities and underperformance of “expensive conventional hardware” companies in the aircraft and ship-building side of the military hardware equation. 10. Medical breakthrough extends average life expectancy 25 years Summary: Young forever, or for at least a lot longer. In 2022, a key breakthrough in biomedicine brings the prospect of extending productive adulthood and the average life expectancy by up to 25 years, prompting projected ethical, environmental and fiscal crises of epic proportions. The year 2022 sees a breakthrough from a multi-factor approach, as a cocktail of treatments is put together that tweaks cell-level processes in order to extend their life and thus the life of the organism composed of those cells. It’s not cheap, but it’s effective and has already been demonstrated on laboratory mice containing human DNA, extending their lives some 30% and more. The prospect of a massive leap in human quality of life and life expectancy are huge wins for mankind but bring an enormous ethical and financial quandary. Imagine that almost everyone can look forward to living to an average age of 115 and more healthily. What would this mean for private and government pensions, or even the ability or desire to retire? And what about the cost to the planet if it is set to support billions more people, not to mention whether or not there is enough food to go around? And then there is the ethical question of whether it is humane to not make the cocktail available to everyone. In short, how would our value systems, political systems and planet cope?

December 01, 2021  $USD, Macro The pandemic is still with us as the year winds down and has not yet become endemic, like the seasonal flu.  Even before the new Omicron variant was sequenced, Europe was being particularly hard hit, and social restrictions, especially among the unvaccinated, were spurring social strife.  US cases, notably in the Midwest, were rising, and there is fear that it is 4-6 weeks behind Europe in experiencing the surge.  Whatever herd immunity is, it has not been achieved.  Moreover, despite plenty of vaccines in high-income countries, inoculation efforts in many low-income countries won't begin in earnest until next year.   That said, the new variant has injected a new element into the mix, and it is with a heightened degree of uncertainty that we share our December outlook.  Given the unknowns, policymakers can choose the kind of error they are willing to make. They are trying to minimize their maximum regret.  The utmost regret is that the mutation is dangerous and renders the existing vaccines and treatment significantly less effective.  This will leave them vulnerable to accusations of over-reacting if the Omicron turns out to be a contagious but less deadly variation.   Meanwhile, there has been some relief to the supply chain disruptions.  Covid-related factory closures in Asia, the energy shortage, and port congestion are easing. Large US retailers have stocked up for the holiday shopping season, some of which chartered their own ships to ensure delivery. There are also preliminary signs that the semiconductor chip shortage may be past its worst.  Indeed, the recovery of the auto sector and rebuilding of inventories will help extend the economic expansion well into next year, even though fiscal and monetary policy are less supportive for most high-income countries.  The flash November US manufacturing PMI saw supplier delivery delays fall to six-month lows.   We assume that the US macabre debt ceiling ritual will not lead to a default, and even though it distorted some bill auctions, some resolution is highly probable.  The debate over the Build Back Better initiative, approved by the House of Representatives, will likely be scaled back by moderate Democratic Senators and Republicans.  Besides assessing the risks posed by the new variant, the focus in December is back on monetary policy.  Four large central banks stand out.  The Chinese economy has slowed the People's Bank of China quarterly monetary report modified language that signals more monetary support may be forthcoming.  Many observers see another reduction in reserve requirements as a reasonable step.  Unlike in the US and Europe, which saw bank lending dry-up in the housing market crisis (2008-2009), Beijing is pressing state-owned banks to maintain lending, including the property sector.   The Federal Reserve meets on December 15.  There are two key issues.  First, we expect the FOMC to accelerate the pace of tapering to allow it to have the option to raise rates in Q2 22.  The Fed's commitment to the sequence (tapering, hikes, letting balance sheet run-off) and the current pace of tapering deny the central bank the needed flexibility.  The November CPI will be reported on December 10.  The headline will likely rise to around 6.7%, while the core rate may approach 5%.  Second, the new "Summary of Economic Projections" will probably show more Fed officials seeing the need to hike rates in 2022.  In September, only half did.  The rhetoric of the Fed's leadership has changed.  It will not refer to inflation as transitory and is signaling its intention to act.  The European Central Bank and the Bank of England meet the day after the FOMC.  The ECB staff will update its forecasts, and the key here is where it sees inflation at the end of the forecasting period.  In September, it anticipated that CPI would be at 1.5% at the end of 2023.  Some ECB members argued it was too low.   It may be revised higher, but the key for the policy outlook is whether it is above the 2% target.  We doubt that this will be the case.  While the ECB will likely announce that it intends on respecting the current end of the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program next March, its QE will persist. The pre-crisis Asset Purchase Program is expected to continue and perhaps even expand in Q2 22.  The "modalities" of the post-emergency bond-buying program, size, duration, and flexibility (self-imposed limits) will be debated between the hawks and doves.  With eurozone inflation approaching 5% and Germany CPI at 6%, the hard-money camp will have a new ally at the German Finance Ministry as the FDP leader Linder takes the post.  On the other hand, the Social Democrats will name a Weidmann's replacement at the head of the Bundesbank, and nearly anyone will be less hawkish.   While we correctly anticipated that the Bank of England would defy market expectations and stand pat in November, the December meeting is trickier.  The decision could ultimately turn on the next employment and CPI reports due 1-2 days before the BOE meeting.  The risk is that inflation will continue to accelerate into early next year and that the labor market is healing after the furlough program ended in September.  On balance, we suspect it will wait until next year to hike rates and finish its bonds purchases next month as planned.   Having been caught wrong-footed in November, many market participants are reluctant to be bitten by the same dog twice. As a result, the swaps market appears to be rising in about a 35% chance of a 15 bp move that would bring the base rate up to 25 bp.  Sterling dropped almost 1.4% (or nearly two cents) on November 4, the most since September 2020 when the BOE failed to deliver the hike that the market thought the BOE had signaled.   The combination of a strong dollar and the Fed tapering weighed emerging market currencies as a whole.  The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index fell by about 4.5% in November, its third consecutive monthly decline, bringing the year-to-date loss to almost 10%.  It fell roughly 5.7% in 2020.  Turkey took the cake, though, with the lira falling nearly 30% on the month.  It had depreciated by 15% in the first ten months of the year.  This follows a 20% depreciation last year.  Ten years ago, a dollar would buy about 1.9 lira.  Now it can buy more than 13 lira.  The euro's weakness was a drag, and the geopolitical developments (e.g., Ukraine, Belarus) weighed on central European currencies. The central bank of Hungary turned more aggressive by hiking the one-week deposit rate by 110 bp (in two steps) after the 30 bp hike in the base rate failed to have much impact.  The forint's 3.1% loss was the most among EU members.   Colombian peso was the weakest currency in Latam, depreciating by almost 5%. It was not rewarded for delivering a larger than expected 50 bp rate hike in late October.  Bannockburn's GDP-weighted global currency index (BWCI) fell by nearly 1% in November, the largest monthly decline since June.  It reflected the decline of the world's largest currencies against the dollar.  Three currencies in the index proved resilient  On the GDP-weighted basis, China has immense gravity, with a 21.8% weighting (the six largest EM economies, including China, account for a 32.5% of the BWCI). It appreciated by about two-thirds of a percent. The Brazilian real managed to rise (~0.25%) too.  Since the day before the Omicron variant was sequenced, the Japanese yen gained a little more than 2%, reversing the earlier decline that had brought it to four-year lows.  It rose by  0.7% in November, making it the strongest currency in the index.  Among the major currencies, the Australian dollar fell the most, declining about 5.2%.  The Canadian dollar was next, with around a 3% loss.   As it turns out, the dollar (Dollar Index) recorded its low for the year as shocking events were unfolding in Washington on January 6.  The bottomed against the yen and euro the same day.   The greenback did not bottom against the Australian dollar until February, but it took it until early June to put in a low against sterling and the Canadian dollar.  The BWCI peaked in early June and, by the end of last month, had retreated by about 2.7%.  We suspect it may decline by another 2%, which would return it the levels of late 2019.  That, in turn, implies the risk of a stronger dollar into the first part of next year.     Dollar:  The jump in US CPI to above 6%, and a strong sense that it is not the peak, spurred speculation that the Federal Reserve would likely accelerate the pace of tapering at the December meeting. Several Fed officials seemed sympathetic, including San Francisco President Daly, who is perceived to be a dove. The minutes of the November meeting underscored the central bank's flexibility over the pace of tapering.  At the same time, most of the high-frequency data for October came in stronger than expected, lending credence to ideas that after a disappointing Q3, the world's largest economy is accelerating again in Q4.  The divergence of monetary policy and the subsequent widening interest rate differentials is the primary driver of expectations for dollar appreciation against the euro and yen.  The market had been leaning toward three rates hikes in 2022 before news of the new Covid mutation emerged and trimmed the odds.  Powell was renominated for a second term at the helm of the Federal Reserve, Brainard was nominated to be Vice-Chairman.  There is still the Vice-Chair for supervision and an empty governor seat for President to Biden to fill.  In addition to the changes in leadership, the rotation of the voting members of the FOMC brings in a somewhat more hawkish bias next year.   Euro:  In contrast with the US, eurozone growth is set to slow in Q4. After two quarters that growth exceeded 2% quarter-over-quarter, growth is likely to moderate to below 1% in Q4 21 and Q1 22.  Food and energy are driving inflation higher.  The EC continues to negotiate with the UK over changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol.  The dispute over fishing licenses and migrant crossing of the channel are also unresolved sources of tension with the UK. Tensions between the EC and Poland/Hungary over the rule of law, judicial independence, and civil liberties have also not been settled.  As was the case in the spring, Russia's troop and artillery movement threatened Ukraine, though the tension on the Poland/Belarus border has eased.  The ECB's leadership continues to maintain the price pressures are related to the unusual set of circumstances but are ultimately temporary.  Its December 16 meeting, the last one before Bundesbank President Weidmann steps down, is critical. In addition to confirming the end of the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program in March 2022, and the expansion of the Asset Purchase Program, the ECB staff will update its inflation forecasts.  The focus here is on the 2023 CPI projection of 1.5%.  There was a push back against it in September, and a slight upward revision is likely. Nevertheless, it will probably remain below the 2% target.  The swaps market is pricing in a 25 bp hike in 2023.   (November indicative closing prices, previous in parentheses)   Spot: $1.1335 ($1.1560) Median Bloomberg One-month Forecast $1.1375 ($1.1579)  One-month forward  $1.1350 ($1.1568)    One-month implied vol  7.1%  (5.1%)         Japanese Yen:  Japan has a new prime minister who has put together a large fiscal stimulus package that will help fuel the economic recovery that had begun getting traction since the formal state of emergency was lifted at the end of September.  After a frustratingly slow start, the inoculation efforts have started bearing fruit, with vaccination rates surpassing the US and many European countries.  Unlike most other high-income countries, Japan continues to experience deflationary pressures.  Food and energy prices may be concealing it in the CPI measure, but the GDP deflator in Q2 and Q3 was  -1.1%. However, the BOJ does not seem inclined to take additional measures and has reduced its equity and bond-buying efforts.  The exchange rate remains sensitive to the movement of the US 10-year note yield, which has chopped mostly between 1.50% and 1.70%. With a couple of exceptions in both directions, the greenback has traded in a JPY113-JPY115 range.  The emergence of the new Covid mutation turned the dollar back after threatening to break higher.  A convincing move above the JPY115.50 area would likely coincide with higher US rates and initially target the JPY118 area.    Spot: JPY113.10 (JPY113.95)       Median Bloomberg One-month Forecast JPY113.30 (JPY112.98)      One-month forward JPY113.00 (JPY113.90)    One-month implied vol  8.2% (6.4%)   British Pound:  Sterling never fully recovered from disappointment that the Bank of England did not hike rates in early November.  Market participants had understood the hawkish rhetoric, including by Governor Bailey, to signal a hike.  The implied yield of the December 2021 short-sterling interest rate futures plummeted by 30 bp by the end of the month, and sterling has not seen $1.36, let alone $1.37, since then.  Indeed, sterling chopped lower and recorded new lows for the year in late November near $1.3200.  Growth in the UK peaked in Q2 at 5.5% as it recovered from the Q1 contraction.  It slowed to a 1.3% pace in Q3 and looks to be slowing a bit more here in Q4.  The petty corruption scandals and ill-conceived speeches by Prime Minister Johnson have seen Labour move ahead in some recent polls.  An election does not need to be called until May 2024, but the flagging support may spur a cabinet reshuffle.  The next important chart point is not until around $1.3165 and then the $1.30 area, which holds primarily psychological significance.       Spot: $1.3300 ($1.3682)    Median Bloomberg One-month Forecast $1.3375 ($1.3691)  One-month forward $1.3315 ($1.3680)   One-month implied vol 7.5% (6.8%)      Canadian Dollar:  The Canadian dollar appreciated by almost 2.4% in October and gave it all back, plus some in November.  Indeed, the loss was sufficient to push it fractionally lower for the year (-0.4%), though it remains the best performing major currency against the US dollar.   The three major drivers of the exchange rate moved against the Canadian dollar last month.  First, its two-year premium over the US narrowed by 17 bp, the most in four years.  Second, the price of January WTI tumbled by around 18.2%.  Commodity prices fell more broadly, and the CRB Index snapped a seven-month rally with a 7.8% decline.  Third, the risk appetites faltered is reflected in the equity markets. The Delta Wave coupled with the new variant may disrupt growth.  Still, the swaps market has a little more than two hikes discounted over the next six months.   The government is winding down its emergency fiscal measures, but the spring budget and election promises mean that the fiscal consolidation next year will be soft.     Spot: CAD1.2775 (CAD 1.2388)  Median Bloomberg One-month Forecast CAD1.2685 (CAD1.2395) One-month forward CAD1.2770 (CAD1.2389)    One-month implied vol 7.2% (6.2%)      Australian Dollar:  The Australian dollar fell by more than 5% last month, slightly less than it did in March 2020.  It did not have an advancing week in November after rallying every week in October.  Australia's two-year premium over the US was chopped to less than 10 bp in November from nearly 28 bp at the end of October.  The Reserve Bank of Australia pushed back against aggressive rate hike speculation.   The unexpected loss of jobs in October for the third consecutive month took a toll on the Australian dollar, which proceeded to trend lower and recorded the low for the year on November 30, slightly below $0.7065.  A break of $0.7050 would initially target $0.7000, but convincing penetration could spur another 2-2.5-cent drop.  The 60-day rolling correlation between- changes in the Australian dollar and the CRB commodity index weakened from over 0.6% in October to below 0.4% in November. The correlation had begun recovering as the month drew to a close.       Spot:  $0.7125 ($0.7518)        Median Bloomberg One-Month Forecast $0.7195 ($0.7409)      One-month forward  $0.7135 ($0.7525)     One-month implied vol 9.7%  (9.1%)        Mexican Peso:  The broadly stronger US dollar and the prospects of more accelerated tapering weighed on emerging market currencies in November, but domestic considerations also weighed on the peso.   The Mexican peso fell by around 4.1%, the most since March 2020.  The economy unexpectedly contracted by 0.4% in Q3.  There is little fiscal support to speak of, while monetary policy is becoming less accommodative too slowly compared with some other emerging markets, such as Brazil.  Price pressures are still accelerating, and the bi-weekly CPI rose above 7% in mid-November. The swaps market discounts nearly a 25 bp hike a month for the next six months.  The government's policies, especially in the energy and service sectors, are not attractive to investors.  President AMLO dealt another blow to investor confidence by retracting the appointment of former Finance Minister Herrera for his deputy to head up the central bank starting in January.  This is seen potentially undermining one of the most credible institutions in Mexico.  Lastly, Mexico's trade balance has deteriorated sharply in recent months and through October has recorded an average monthly trade deficit of nearly $1.2 bln this year.  In the same period, in 2020, it enjoyed an average monthly surplus of almost $2.5 bln, and in the first ten months of 2019, the average monthly trade surplus was a little more than $150 mln.     Spot: MXN21.46 (MXN20.56)   Median Bloomberg One-Month Forecast  MXN21.23 (MXN20.42)   One-month forward  MXN21.60 (MXN20.65)     One-month implied vol 14.9% (9.6%)      Chinese Yuan:  The Chinese yuan has been remarkably stable against the US dollar, and given the greenback's strength, it means the yuan has appreciated sharply on a trade-weighted basis.  Going into the last month of the year, the yuan's 2.6% gain this year is the best in the world.  Chinese officials have signaled their displeasure with what it sees as a one-way market.  At best, it has orchestrated a broadly sideways exchange rate against the dollar, mainly between CNY6.37 and CNY6.40. The lower end of the dollar's range was under pressure as November drew to a close.   Even though the Chinese economy is likely to accelerate from the near-stagnation in Q3 (0.2% quarter-over-quarter GDP), it remains sufficiently weak that the PBOC is expected to consider new stimulative measures.  It last reduced reserves requirements in July, and this seems to be the preferred avenue rather than rate cuts.  Yet, given the interest rate premium (the 10-year yield is around 2.85%), record trade surpluses ($84.5 bln in October), portfolio inflows, and limited outflows, one would normally expect a stronger upward pressure on the exchange rate.    Spot: CNY6.3645 (CNY6.4055) Median Bloomberg One-month Forecast  CNY6.38 (CNY6.4430)  One-month forward CNY6.3860 (CNY6.4230)    One-month implied vol  3.5% (3.5%)    Disclaimer

Over the past 24 hours, cryptocurrency market capitalisation has fallen by 1.8% to $2.59 trillion, with bitcoin losing only 0.5% to $56.7K. On bitcoin's daily charts, the RSI index remains in the lower half of the scale, at 45. The 50-day moving average is now at $60.7K and the 200-day at $48.2K, both moving horizontally. On balance, this means that Bitcoin is in a medium-term decline phase but is still on a long-term bull phase. Locally, a steady sequence of lower highs and lower lows has been forming in Bitcoin since the 17th of November. The intraday charts clearly show BTCUSD bouncing back from increasingly lower levels. And this is a serious reason to think about selling by the big players. The cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index lost one point, declining to 32. The market failed to pick up the pace of the recovery and use fear as a reason to buy because of the negative stock market dynamics. Players rushed to lock in some of the profits in those coins that had been rising ahead of the recent gains. As a result, ETHUSD lost 4% over 24 hours, Binance Coin -1.4% and Polkadot -5.6%. Despite the latest downtick, the cryptocurrency market continues to distance itself from the situation in traditional financials without going into a deeper profit correction mode. The local downtrend in BTCUSD, if not accelerated in the coming days, promises to be a sign of a healthy maturity of the market without hurting it. Cryptocurrency investors are becoming more sophisticated, viewing the sector as a business rather than a capital-savings vehicle or casino, where a bet played can multiply an investment.

Overview: The third record close of the S&P 500 failed to lift Asia Pacific and European shares today.  In Asia, the large bourses fell, except South Korea, which rallied a little more than 1%.  Europe's Stoxx 600 is threatening to snap a three-day advance, while US index futures are soft.  The US 10-year yield is firm, around 1.56%.  European bonds are rallying.  Peripheral yields are off 8-9 bp, while core rates are 3-5 lower.  The Reserve Bank of Australia formally abandoned its yield-curve control, and the local debt market was quiet, but the Australian dollar is selling off and dragging the other dollar-bloc currencies lower.  Only the yen, among the majors, is gaining on the greenback.  Emerging market currencies are faring better, led by Asian currencies and most central and eastern European currencies.  The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index is rising for the first time in five sessions.  Gold continues to consolidate within the range set before the weekend (~$1771-$1801) but is a bit softer on the day.  Oil prices are firm, and the December WTI contract is at the upper end of the $80-$85 range that has prevailed since mid-October.  Copper initially moved higher but reversed lower, and a break of $432 could signal another two percent decline.   Asia Pacific The Reserve Bank of Australia formally jettisoned its yield-curve control of targeting the April 2024 bond yield at 10 bp.  The market expected this after the RBA had been missing in action as the yield soared.  Today, the on-the-run 3-year yield fell six basis points after falling 21 yesterday.  It has now returned below 1%.  Governor Lowe did not fully capitulate but is trying to hold on to a middle ground.  He said the central bank will be patient on rates, and it is still plausible not to raise rates until 2024. However, he acknowledged rates could be lifted in 2023.  The swaps market is pricing in almost 80 bp of tightening over the next 12 months, with a 10 bp hike seen in six months.   European and American equities have recovered from the wobble in mid-September that sparked fear that Evergrande's losses would trigger a Lehman-like event.  Yet, the problem with Chinese property developers continues, even though Evergrande took advantage of its 30-day grace period, it serviced its debt.  China's high yield bond market is dominated by the property development sector.  The yields rose for eight consecutive sessions through yesterday and briefly rose above 20% last week.  Estimate debt servicing costs amount to around $2 bln this month.  House sales and prices are falling, a separate challenge to the economy than the energy crunch and high commodity prices.  It is still unclear whether Chinese officials are prepared to take more decisive action to support the economy, like a cut in reserve requirements.  New economic initiatives may emerge from the Communist Party's Central Committee meeting (November 8-11).  Officially it will focus on the achievements in preparation for the 20th Congress next year that will likely confirm another term for President Xi but possibly shuffle other senior posts.   The dollar rose to almost JPY114.45 yesterday and has come back offered today.  It has slipped below the 20-day moving average (~JPY113.55) for the first time since September 23.  Last week's low was closer to JPY113.25.  A break of JPY113.00 could signal losses toward JPY112.60 initially.  The price action is lending credence to the JPY114.50-JPY115.00 being the top of the new range. The lower end of the range is less clear.  The Australian dollar's 4% rally led the majors last month, but it stalled near the 200-day moving average (~$0.7555) and is breaking down today.  It has taken out last week's lows (~$0.7465) marginally, but the downside momentum has continued in the European morning.  There is near-term scope toward $0.7435 and maybe $0.7410.   The PBOC set the dollar's reference rate at CNY6.4009, firmer than the median (Bloomberg) forecast of CNY6.3986. The gap was slightly wider than it has been.  The last time the gap was more than 20 pips was October 20. So if it is a protest, it is still faint. Meanwhile, stricter virus curbs took a toll on Chinese equities. The greenback has risen above CNY6.40 on an intraday basis but continues to struggle to sustain it on a closing basis.   Europe The EMU final manufacturing PMI was slightly lower than the preliminary estimate, owing to a softer than expected Spain reading and a downward revision in Germany.  The aggregate stands at 58.3, down from 58.5 initially and 58.6.  It is the fourth consecutive decline, but it can hardly be considered weak.  Germany's manufacturing PMI was lowered to 57.8 from the 58.2 preliminary projection and 58.4 in September.  The French reading was tweaked up to 53.6 from 53.5.  It is still down from 55.0 and is the fifth straight loss.  Spain disappointed with a 57.4 report.  It was projected to be unchanged at 58.1, which seemed optimistic from the get-go.  Italy offered an upside surprise.  Its manufacturing PMI rose to 61.1 from 59.7.  Economists had expected some slippage.   Some pressure on the euro appeared to be coming from the cross against the Swiss franc.  Since the Fed met in September through the end of last week, the euro fell about 3.35% against the franc. Sight deposits rose steadily in October after falling in the first half of September.  Last week's increase was the most in two months as the euro broke below CHF1.08 for the first time since  May 2020. The rise in sight deposits is consistent with stepped-up intervention by the Swiss National Bank.  Yesterday, the euro fell against the Swiss franc, even as it rose against the dollar.  Clearly, the intervention is not arresting the euro's weakness. SNB is more likely moderating the decline.   Moreover, if the SNB also seeks to maintain a certain currency allocation of its reserves, it needs to acquire dollars after acquiring euros.  And if it does not want to grow reserves like Japan or China, it will sell some of the euros for dollars, minimizing the intervention effect on reserve accumulation.  The value of the SNB's reserves declined slightly in the year through September.    The pace of the euro's decline against the franc has accelerated in the past two sessions and closed below the lower Bollinger Band (two standard deviations below the 20-day moving average) for the second consecutive session.  Last year's low was set near CHF1.05 and yesterday, the euro pushed briefly through CHF1.0550.  It is now near CHF1.0570. The next technical support may be around CHF1.0250. However, speculators in the futures market see it differently.   They have the largest net short franc position (~19.3k contracts) since December 2019 and the smallest gross longs (~1245 contacts) since 2003.   French President Macron is holding back from imposing retaliatory measures against the UK over the fishing license dispute.  Reports suggest that Jersey is considering granting temporary licenses to French trawlers.  Separately, despite some confusing gas flows yesterday (from Germany to Poland), Russia says Putin's promise to boost gas shipment to Europe starting next week, after Gazprom completely rebuilding its domestic inventories, remains intact.  Look for results shortly of the auctions for pipeline capacity.   After falling a little more than 1% before the weekend, the euro bounced back yesterday and managed to close above $1.16. Follow-through buying was limited to about $1.1615, but it has struggled to sustain the positive momentum.  There is an option for 1.8 bln euros at $1.1585 that expires today.  A break signals a test on nearby support seen in the $1.1540-$1.1560 area.  Last week's low was about $1.1535, and the year's low is closer to $1.1525.  Sterling is off for the third consecutive session.  It reached $1.3630, the lowest level since October 14, which is about the (50%) retracement objective of last month's rally.  Some sales may have been related to the GBP316 mln option at $1.3650 that expires today.  The next (61.8%) retracement is by $1.3575.  America Today is the quietest day of the week for North American economic data. However, there is one feature, monthly autos sales.  Due to the supply chain disruptions, especially semiconductor chips, auto production has been crushed, and by extension, auto sales.  This is not limited to the US by any means.   Yesterday, Japan reported that October auto sales are off slightly more than 30% year-over-year in October. European auto registrations, a proxy for sales, were down 23.1% year-over-year in September.  Last week's Q3 GDP showed that growth was halved to 4% but the problems in the auto sector.  In September, US auto sales were about 25.5% below September 2020 sales.  Bloomberg's survey found a median forecast for October sales of 12.5 mln vehicles (seasonally adjusted annual basis), which would be the first increase since April.  Cox Automotive warns of another decline to 11.8 mln vehicles. The US Treasury unexpectedly boosted its Q4 borrowing needs to about $1.02 trillion, or around $312 bln more than it anticipated in August.  It appears to be largely a function of adjusting its cash balances and the calculations around the debt ceiling.  It is projecting Q1 22 borrowing needs at less than half of the Q4 sum.  Of course, it is assuming that the debt ceiling will be raised or suspended. Still, tomorrow's quarterly refunding announcement is expected to reduce its coupon offerings for the first time since 2016.  Separately, but not totally unrelated, the Democratic Party is still struggling to agree on the infrastructure initiative.   The US dollar continues to consolidate against the Canadian dollar but is enjoying a firmer tone today.  The Bank of Canada met on October 27, and it surprised the market by ending its bond-buying program and acknowledging the risk of an earlier hike.  The US dollar covered a range of roughly CAD1.2300 to CAD1.2435.  It has remained in that range since then. We note that speculators in the futures market switched to a net long position for the first time since early September in the week through last Tuesday.  The greenback is knocking on initial resistance in the CAD1.2400-CAD1.2410 area, and a break could signal a move toward CAD1.2430-CAD1.2450.  An option for about $900 mln expires tomorrow at CAD1.2450.  The greenback has a five-day rally in tow against the Mexican peso.  Earlier today, it pushed above last month's high (~MXN20.90), but it has stalled.  It is trading little changed on the session around MXN20.8500 as the North American session is about to start.   Still, unless it can break below MXN20.80, we look for higher levels.  That said, the pace of the dollar's rally is threatening the upper Bollinger Band (~MXN20.95)

The US dollar turned in a solid week's performance, rising against most currencies and recording a marginal new high for the year against the euro.  Sterling and the Australian dollar competed for the worst performer.  Both central banks pushed against market expectations for aggressive near-term tightening.  The central banks triggered a short squeeze in the bond market, where 10-year benchmark yields from 10 bp in the US to 34 bp in Italy.  UK 10-year Gilts and French Oats yields fell nearly 22 bp.  Germany lagged with an almost 18 bp decline.  The speculative market had its largest net short Treasury note futures position since March 2020.  It has swung from its largest net long position in four years (~181k contracts) in early October to a net short position of almost 270k as of November 2.  The macro focus shifts back to inflation next week with American and Chinese reports.  Rising inflation in the world's two largest economies may arrest the rally in the bond markets. We anticipated the dollar to move broadly higher this month, and the move we envision does not appear over.  However, important support has been approached in a sharp thrust that has penetrated Bollinger Bands, suggesting some patience may be needed.  The dollar did close relatively softly, especially given the stronger than expected employment report.   Dollar Index: A new high for the year was recorded after the employment report was slightly above 94.60.  The momentum indicators are trending higher, and the five-day moving average crossed back above the 20-day moving average.  Recall that the 94.50 area is (38.2%) retracement of the sell-off since the March 2020 peak (~103).  The high from last September was closer to 94.75, but above there, nothing stands out until the 95.70-96.10 band. Yet ahead of the weekend, it finished poorly and formed a potential bearish shooting star candlestick.  Initial support is seen around 93.80.   Euro:   The single currency was virtually flat last week, but it does not hide the fact that a new low for the year (~$1.1515) was recorded.  The MACD and Slow Stochastic are moving lower, and the price action has been poor.  The $1.1490 area corresponds to the (50%) retracement objective of the rally from the March 2020 low (~$1.0635).  The next retracement (61.8%) is found a little below $1.13.  The euro finished on a firm note near session highs, suggesting scope for some corrective gains at the start of the new week. The new momentum shorts are frustrated with the lack of follow-through and maybe in weak hands.  A close above $1.1620 would lift the technical tone.  Japanese Yen:  The Japanese yen was the strongest of the major currencies, gaining an inconsequential 0.25% against the dollar.  The decline in US rates helped drag the dollar lower against the yen.  In terms of market positioning, short-yen carry trades had become momentum trades, too and the unwind was also supportive of the yen.   The dollar-yen exchange rate continues to track US 10-year yields.  The 10-year yield fell below 1.50% for the first time in a month ahead of the weekend, and the dollar made a new low for the week near JPY113.30.  Recall that in the big picture, we have suggested a range-trading affair between around JPY113.00 and JPY114.50-JPY115.00.  That still seems reasonable.  However, we note the dollar's momentum is flagging, and the five-day moving average slipped below the 20-day for the first time since late September.   The Slow Stochastic and MACD are trending lower.  A break of JPY113.00 signals the next leg down into the JPY112.00-JPY112.50 band.  British Pound: After the Bank of England confounded market expectations, sterling was spanked, falling more than 1% for only the second time this year (the other was on September 28, which arguably was more of a dollar move).  Expectations, partly facilitated by official comments, for tighter monetary policy spurred a roughly 4.3-cent rally in sterling last month.  If the BOE is saying, "sorrow about the mate, you misunderstood the conditionality and our job," it seems only fitting that sterling return to the late-September low near $1.3400.  It did so ahead of the weekend to $1.3425.  Ahead of the weekend, it settled below the lower Bollinger Band for the second consecutive session.  The momentum indicators are still falling. However, it managed to close near session highs, and a potential hammer candlestick may have been formed.  However, if $1.34 does not hold, it is difficult to find much chart support ahead of the $1.3165-$1.3200 area should $1.3400 be convincingly broken.  Canadian Dollar:  The Canadian dollar fared better than the other dollar-bloc currencies but still lost about 0.5% against the US dollar.  Since meeting the head and shoulders objective near CAD1.23, the US dollar has been consolidating and forming a rounded bottom.  The five-day moving average crossed back above the 20-day for the first time in a month.  The greenback finished the week bumping against the 200-day moving average (CAD1.2480), while the momentum indicators suggest there is more to come.  A retracement (38.2%) of the greenback's slide since September 20 high (~CAD1.29) is found near CAD1.2520, and the next retracement (50%) is slightly below the neckline of the head and shoulders pattern (~CAD1.2600).     Australian Dollar:  The Australian dollar's pullback has been more profound than the other majors.  It dropped almost 2.6% from the late October higher (~$0.7555), which was its best level since early July, and retraced half of last month's rally at the pre-weekend low (~$0.7360).  The momentum indicators are still falling, and the five and 20-day moving averages have crossed for the first time in nearly a month.  The next (61.8%) retracement target is closer to $0.7315.  Still, it closed firmly and with a possible bullish hammer candlestick, suggesting a bounce early next week is likely. The $0.7430-$0.7450 area may be the first important hurdle.  The Reserve Bank of Australia, like many other central banks, is emphasizing labor market developments in their forward guidance. Given the gap between what the RBA is saying (no hike likely until 2024) and what the market is saying (the swaps market implies nearly 70 bp of tightening over the next 12 months), next week's October jobs data may have greater impact.  Australia lost almost 285k jobs in August and September amid the lockdown.  A modest recovery is expected. In fact, the worst was probably in August. Full-time positions increased by almost 27k in September.   Mexican Peso:   The peso staged a brilliant recovery last week, but only after first falling to its lowest level since March.  The fall in US rates helped take pressure off the peso and emerging markets more broadly.  The strong US employment report bolstered risk appetites and lifted the JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index, which had been lower on the week, ahead of the data.  The dovish FOMC tapering announcement saw the dollar record a key downside reversal against the peso by reversing lower after making new highs and closing below the previous session's low.  Modest follow-through selling pushed the dollar through the (61.8%) retracement objective (~MXN20.46) of the rally that had begun in late October (from ~MXN20.21), ahead of the FOMC meeting and jobs report.  Before the weekend, it settled at the lows for the week (~MXN20.30).  Initial support is seen near MXN20.20.  The central bank meets next week (November 11).  Most expect a 25 bp hike, but an acceleration in CPI last month ( to be reported on November 9) may boost the risk of a 50 bp move.   Chinese Yuan:  The yuan's 2% gain this year puts it in third place globally, behind the Russian ruble (4.5%) and the Canadian dollar (2.3%).  The yuan has drifted higher in recent weeks.  It has risen for the past three months for a cumulative gain of a little less than 1%.  For the past several weeks, the PBOC consistently set the dollar's reference rate above market expectations (median projection in Bloomberg's survey) but did not do so ahead of the weekend.  Last week the dollar traded quietly within the range seen in the past two weeks.  The dollar recorded four-month lows in October in front of CNY6.38.  Given the official penchant for stability, the issue now is the upper end of the range, and it seems to be CNY6.40-CNY6.41.  Since late September, the dollar has not settled above the 20-day moving average (~CNY6.4075), the middle of the Bollinger Bands.  China's 10-year bond yields peaked in mid-October near 3.05% and last week finished below 2.90% for the first time in several weeks. It is the only country whose 10-year yield has fallen this year (~25 bp).  The October inflation gauges are the market's focus, but trade and lending figures may generate more insight into the economic drivers.   Disclaimer

Forex 2021-11-29 13:00 4 minutes to read Summary:  The Friday meltdown in USDJPY and JPY crosses was all about position squaring as we had just come from a place of anticipating a more hawkish shift from central banks, particularly the US Fed. The sense of whiplash was most acute in USDJPY, which had just been up testing multi-year highs before the deleveraging across markets on the new omicron covid variant clouding the outlook. FX Trading focus: Narrative whiplash for JPY traders on omicron variant concerns The news of the new omicron variant of covid could not have come at a more difficult time for the market to absorb for at least two reasons. First, of course, was the poor liquidity when US markets were closed Thursday and only open part of Friday due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Second was that we had just earlier the same week seen Fed Chair Powell and Brainard elevating the relative focus and position of grappling with inflation in their acceptance speeches, which had sent Fed rate hike expectations to new highs for the cycle early last week before the news hit. That ratcheting up of Fed rate anticipation had helped take USDJPY to new highs since early 2017 above 115.00 and EURUSD to new lows below 1.1200. But the positioning build-up in USDJPY has been far more extreme and the reaction in JPY crosses on Friday was fully in fitting with the JPY’s old status as a safe haven. Note that AUDJPY had its worst single-day drop since the heart of the pandemic outbreak panic in March of last year, while EURJPY has poked below the important 128.00 area that would suggest a break-down if the move holds. EURUSD rose sharply, as the sudden repricing of the Fed saw the EU-US yield spread tightening sharply, but the move would have to extend as far as 1.1500 to start having more profound technical implications. Has the market taken the news too far? That is not for me to judge, as it will take some time to assess the status of the reach of the current outbreak transmissibility, virulence and vaccine-evading characteristics of this new variant, all while real damage is being done as some countries are limiting travel, some merely from the areas where the new variant was discovered in southern Africa, while Japan has announced a full ban on inbound travel starting tomorrow. US President Biden will speak on the new variant later today. What does the best outcome look like? The omicron variant proves very transmissible, but is considerably milder and/or not particularly good at getting around the existing vaccines. Worst case involves some combination of significant vaccine evading characteristics and virulence that is anywhere similar to prior variants. I suspect that without immediate good news (real news surely requires at least a week from here?), the uncertainty could see risk-correlated trades dragged lower before things can improve, but a significant further deterioration in risk assets would likely require actual bad news emerging rather than merely an extension of the uncertainty. Regarding a timeline for learning more about the risks from the omicron variant, it’s best perhaps to admit that I have no clue, but a Reuters article suggests the major vaccine makers may be able to determine efficacy of existing vaccines in about two weeks. Chart: USDJPYWhile other JPY crosses were bigger movers on Friday, the technical development in USDJPY was the most remarkable, as it came off new cycle- and multi-year highs. The damage is significant locally, but would turn more severe if the 112.73 pivot low from October is broken and then goes on to challenge the more structurally significant 111.50-111.00 area. Source: Saxo Group Looking at the week ahead, we would normally be touting the importance of the next set of US survey numbers (November Consumer Confidence and November ISM Manufacturing on Wednesday and ISM Services on Friday) and November jobs and earnings numbers on Friday, but instead, we’ll have to juggle the ongoing news flow and headlines from the new virus variant and may have to file these data away for a later “pent-up” reaction if the omicron variant impact dissipates. Besides the US dollar and the JPY, I will watch all points on the US yield curve and risk sentiment measures closely for how the market is reading the situation. Powell is out today with opening remarks at some event - more interesting is testimony tomorrow, together with Treasury Secretary Yellen, on the policy response to the pandemic, which could see interesting exchanges on inflation, etc.  Table: FX Board of G10 and CNH trend evolution and strengthThe JPY is in a very different place from where it was a week ago or even two trading sessions ago and looks to remain the high-beta currency to whether the virus news drags market sentiment. The SEK reading looks extreme, but difficult to fade in terms of picking levels – downside put spreads in EURSEK the cautious way to proceed for those interested in fading this move now rather than waiting for a reversal pattern to develop. Source: Bloomberg and Saxo Group Table: FX Board Trend Scoreboard for individual pairs.Talking trends is treacherous business when the market goes into headline reactivity mode, but note that USDJPY and CNHJPY turning negative (if they close lower today) would make it a clean sweep for the JPY across the board. Source: Bloomberg and Saxo Group Upcoming Economic Calendar Highlights (all times GMT) 1300 – Germany Nov. Flash CPI 1330 – Canada Oct. Industrial Product Prices 1530 – US Nov. Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey 1715 – ECB President Lagarde to speak 2000 – US Fed’s Williams (voter) to speak 2005 – US Fed Chair Powell gives opening remarks at conference 2350 – Japan Oct. Industrial Production US President Biden to speak about omicron variant 0030 – Australia Oct. Building Approvals 0100 – China Nov. Manufacturing and Non-manufacturing PMI 0200 – Australia RBA’s Debelle to speak

December 03, 2021  $USD, Australia, Canada, China, Currency Movement, EMU, FOMC, Inflation, Japan, jobs, UK Overview:  The Omicron variant has been detected in more countries, but the capital markets are taking it in stride.  Risk appetites appear to be stabilizing.  The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose for the third consecutive session, though Hong Kong and Taiwan markets did not participate in the advance today.  Europe's Stoxx 600 is struggling to hold on to early gains, while US futures are narrowly mixed.  The US 10-year yield is a little near 1.43%, down around six basis points this week.  European yields are slightly softer. Core yields are off 5-6 bp this week.  The dollar is firm ahead of the jobs data.  The Antipodeans and Swedish krona are the heaviest, falling around 0.6% through the European morning.  The Swiss franc and euro are up about 0.1% and are the most resilient so far today.   The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index is trading lower for the third session and is set to extend its losing streak for the fourth consecutive week.  Accelerating inflation is the latest drag on the Turkish lira.  The 0.6% decline today brings the week's drop to around 10.5%.  Gold is little changed within yesterday's range.  Last week, it settled a little above $1802.  Now it is below $1775  Oil is extending yesterday's recovery. Although OPEC+  unexpectedly stuck with plans to boost output by 400,000 barrels a day next month, it warned it could change its collective mind at any point.  January WTI recovered from around $62.40 yesterday to close at $66.50.  It is trading close to $68.20 before US markets open.  US natural gas fell nearly 25.5% over the past four sessions but is bouncing by around 3.7% today. European gas (Dutch) is stabilizing after yesterday's 5.6% decline.  Still, it is posting gains for the fifth consecutive week and is up more than 35% over the run.  Iron ore and copper prices are little changed.   Asia Pacific At the same time that Chinese officials are cracking down on the "variable interest entity" form of offshore listings for domestic companies, the US SEC is moving to enforce the 2002 laws that require foreign companies to allow greater scrutiny by US regulators.  Didi, the ride-hailing service, which listed in the US over local official objections, is now in the process of reversing itself.  The press reports that China and Hong Kong companies are the only ones to refuse to acquiesce to US demands.  This seems to be another facet of the decoupling meme.  Note that the NASDAQ Golden Dragon Index that tracks 98 Chinese companies listed in the US has fallen for five consecutive sessions coming into today, for a cumulative loss of about 10%.  China's Caixin service PMI was weaker than anticipated at 52.1, down from 53.8.  This, coupled with the softer manufacturing reading, shaved the composite to 51.2 from 51.5.   In contrast, Japan and Australia's flash service and composite PMIs were revised higher.  In Japan, the service PMI was revised to 53.0 from 52.1 and 50.7 in October.  The composite was revised to 53.3 from 52.5, to rise for its third consecutive month.  Australia's service PMI stands at 55.7, up from the flash reading of 55.0 and 51.8 in October.  The composite PMI is at 55.7, its third consecutive monthly rise as well.  Japan and Australia's PMI contrasts with the disappointment in China and Europe, and the US. This is because they are recovering from the long emergency (Japan) and lockdowns (Australia).   Trading remains choppy, and market confidence is fragile.  The dollar remains in the range set against the yen on Tuesday((~JPY112.55-JPY113.90).  Today's high has been just below JPY113.50, where options for $520 mln expire today.   Options for around $1.3 bln at JPY113.00 also will be cut today.  The greenback settled last week slightly below JPY113.40.  The Australian dollar has been sold to new lows for the year a little lower than $0.7050.  We have noted that this area corresponds to the (38.2%) retracement of the Aussie's rally from the March 2020 low near $0.5500.  The next area of support is seen around $0.7000.  It is the fifth consecutive weekly decline that began in late October above $0.7500.  The US dollar's two-day rise against the Chinese yuan is ending with a minor loss today. Similarly, the greenback posted gains for the past two weeks and has given it all back this week.  The PBOC set the dollar's reference rate at CNY6.3738, just below the median (Bloomberg survey) projection of CNY6.3740.   Offshore investors appear to have bought the most Chinese stocks today via the connect-link in a couple of weeks.  Also, note that China extended the tax exemption for foreign institutional investors from the interest tax through the end of 2025.    Europe German and French PMIs were revised lower, while Spain and Italy surprised on the upside.  The revisions shaved the gains initially reported for the service and composite PMIs.  Still, the German composite rose for the first time in four months to stand at 52.2 from 52.0.  The French composite PMI stands at 56.1, up from 54.7.  It is the first increase since June.  Separately, France reported a 0.9% rise in October industrial output, which is better than expected, but the September contraction was revised to -1.5% from -1.3%.   Spain's service PMI rose to \59.8 from 56.6 and was well above expectations.  The composite reading is 58.3, up from 56.2.  It is the first gain in five months and is the highest since August.  Italy's service PMI rose to 55.9 from 52.4.  Economists had expected something closer to 54.5.  The composite rose to 57.6 from 54.2.  It has softened in September and October, and the November reading is the best since August.   The UK's service and composite PMI were revised to show a slightly larger decline than initially seen in the flash report.  The service PMI slipped to 58.5, from 58.6 preliminary estimate and 59.1 in October.  The composite PMI was shaved to 57.6 from the 57.7 initial estimate and 57.8 in October.  The November weakness was disappointing after rising in September and October to snap a three-month decline.  The December short-sterling interest rate futures consolidated in a choppy activity this week after the implied yield fell for eight consecutive sessions previously.  The market is discounting about a 1 in 3 chance of a hike at the BOE meeting on December 16.  The euro slipped to a three-day low slightly above $1.1280 in late Asian turnover before resurfacing the $1.1300 area in the European morning.  Still, we suspect the upside is limited.  The 20-day moving average is near $1.1350, and the single currency has not traded above it since November 9.  The euro remains within the range set on Tuesday (~$1.1235-$1.1385).  Given the divergence of monetary policy, resistance looks stronger than support.  For its part, steering is holding barely above its three-day low near $1.3260.  It, too, remains within Tuesday's range (~$1.3195-$1.3370).  Recall that the $1.3165 area corresponds to the (38.2%) retracement objective of the rally from the March 2020 low near $1.14.  Meanwhile, the euro is pressing below CHF1.04.  It has not closed below there in six years.   America Fully cognizant of the irony here, but barring a shockingly poor report, today's US employment data may have little last impact on the market.  If there was any doubt about it before, since Federal Reserve Chair Powell spoke, there isn't.  The Fed has shifted from helping to facilitate recovery to preventing inflation expectations from getting entrenched.  That means that even a mediocre report today will be overshadowed by next week's CPI, which will likely show that inflation is still accelerating.  Conventional wisdom holds that the White House prefers doves at the Fed, but that does not hold now.  President Biden's public approval rating is low, and the Vice President's is lower still. Polls suggest that inflation is a knock against the administration.  When Biden announced the re-nomination of Powell and Brainard's nomination to Vice-Chair, both candidates reaffirmed their commitment to combat inflation.  What is true of the employment data also holds for the final services and composite PMI, factory orders, and the service ISM.  There may be headline risk but little implication for policy.  The Senate passed the stop-gap measures to keep the federal government funded through February 18.  Meanwhile, the debt ceiling is expected to hit between December 21 and late January.   Canada's labor market has recovered quicker than the US.  Today's another constructive report will likely solidify expectations that the Bank of Canada may hike rates in the March-April period.  The Bank of Canada meets next week.  Of course, it may be cautious with the unknowns surrounding the Omicron variant, but the economic recovery is solid after the weakness in Q2.  Trade tensions with the US are rising.  The US doubled its anti-dumping and countervailing tariffs on Canadian softwood imports (almost 18%).  US January lumber prices were limit up ($45) Wednesday and yesterday and have risen by more than 19% so far this week to reach five-month highs. There is a dispute over Canadian potato exports as well.  There are also disputes over some US initiatives' "Buy American" thrust, including electric vehicles.   The US dollar is at its best level against the Canadian dollar since late September.  It is pushing near CAD1.2840. The September high was closer to CAD1.29, and the late August high, which is also the high for the year, was near CAD1.2950. Barring a reversal, this will be the sixth consecutive week of the greenback's gains.  The swaps market has the first hike discounted for March 2022.  The US dollar began the week with a seven-day advance against the Mexican peso in tow.  It ended with a 1%+ pullback on Monday and again on Tuesday.  It consolidated Wednesday and fell another 1%+ yesterday.  It is little changed today near MXN21.29.  Next week, the November CPI will be reported.  It looks set to accelerate from about 6.25% to around 7.25%.  The central bank meets on December 16, after the FOMC meeting.  A 25 bp rate hike is the consensus, but an argument can be made for a 50 bp increase from the current 5.0% target.   Disclaimer

Forex 2021-12-03 13:28 4 minutes to read Summary:  A look across FX shows many of the usual suspects weakening with the recent bout of risk aversion, with commodity currencies near important levels versus the US dollar. While the JPY has traded erratically of late on conflicting themes and has not shown its safe haven status of yore, the Swiss franc has, managing to thrive when the focus is on inflation and when it is on weak risk sentiment as the SNB seems to have quietly stepped away from reining in franc strength. FX Trading focus: EURCHF lower has been the Teflon trade The most consistent trending pair in G10 FX of late has been the slide in EURCHF, which has even slipped below the prior six-plus-year low near 1.0500 over the last week. Remarkably, the pair has maintained its consistent ride lower through some remarkable jolts in the background, including the more hawkish shift from the Fed and the omicron news. This may suggest that the move is not being driven by strong speculative flows – which might have shown significant volatility in line with other currency pairs recently, but rather by consistent flows as the Swiss National Bank has apparently stepped away from the assumed stout defense of the 1.0500 level. The last two weeks of sight deposit data have shown no growth, i.e., no signs that the SNB is leaning against this move after doing so the prior four weeks. Also, when inflation fears dominate as they have at times recently, CHF strength is an easy way to avoid importing inflation without rocking the boat with monetary policy signals, while CHF strength is also a natural safe haven play when volatility spikes as it has in recent weeks. The consistent trend may be set to extend here, with parity in EURCHF a natural target. Elsewhere in FX, most of the smaller currencies are lining up on the usual risk-on, risk-off fault-lines, with commodities currencies and Scandies all weak as sentiment has softened again today, although it will be interesting to see if oil prices can make a stand after the reversal of the sharp sell-off yesterday despite nominally bearish news. Big next levels coming into view include 1.3000 in USDCAD and 0.7000 in AUDUSD. On the strong side, the EUR, USD and JPY are jockeying for the upper hand in addition to the strong CHF noted. The reaction function around today’s US jobs report (can a strong average hourly earnings add further energy to Fed upside expectations on top of an already momentous shift, and how much will residual omicron uncertainty hold back that pricing for now?). Chart: EURCHFEURCHF has weakened steadily since mid September in line with the weakening in EURUSD, but far more steadily than the latter, as this trend has managed to sustain through recent volatility elsewhere and shifting focus. The technical situation is without remarkable variation and there are no signs that the SNB is leaning against the move of late. Could the move extend all the way to within reach of parity? Source: Saxo Group Elsewhere, notable BoE hawk Michael Saunders was cautious sounding in comments today on the omicron variant uncertainty, prompting the sharp slide in sterling today. He said that the omicron development is a key consideration for whether to hike in December and sees some advantages in the BoE waiting for omicron data, which may sideline any hike potential at the December 16 meeting, with the market currently putting low odds on a move (difficult to measure – the idea has developed that the BoE will hike 15 bps to 0.25%, with about a 5-7 bps of hiking priced). Saunders still favors policy tightening soon and said today that the rate rise would be limited if the BoE gets going soon. Table: FX Board of G10 and CNH trend evolution and strengthThe impressive CHF rising nearly all the way to the top of the table here, as the left/right split of the G10 currencies is nearly perfect, with all of the five “smalls” in the red, most of them deeply so. Source: Bloomberg and Saxo Group Table: FX Board Trend Scoreboard for individual pairs.Plenty of bright orange readings in the daily ATR shadings – these indicate very significant volatility relative to the last 1000 trading days (top 10% ranking), , while it is interesting to note something like the EURUSD supermajor still trading with still quite low intraday volatility. AUDNZD is trying to flip back to negative, while USDCHF and USDJPY have yet to follow through lower after their recent flips to the negative in the “trend” reading. Source: Bloomberg and Saxo Group Upcoming Economic Calendar Highlights (all times GMT) 1300 – ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane to speak 1330 – US Nov. Change in Nonfarm Payrolls 1330 – US Nov. Average Hourly Earnings 1330 – US Nov. Unemployment Rate 1330 – Canada Nov. Net Change in Employment 1330 – Canada Nov. Unemployment Rate 1415 – US Fed’s Bullard (voter in 2022) to speak 1500 – US Nov. ISM Services  1500 – US Nov. Factory Orders

Omicron: In today’s weekly I’ll be dedicating some digital ink for the latest information on the new variant omicron. Ok so what are the major points of importance. New admissions to hospitals in Gauteng increased by 144% last week (hospitalisations lag cases by around 1-3 weeks). So far the early data shows the majority of these hospitalisations are from the unvaccinated (if that trend remains that’s positive). However, a recent study released from South Africa indicates reinfection risk is 3 times higher than previous variants. In terms of the deadliness of this variant, the early data looks good with Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly stating that of the 300 cases recorded worldwide all were very mild or had no symptoms at all. However, the sample size is too small so we can’t draw solid conclusions at this stage. The major vaccine makers have offered timelines of two to six weeks for assessing the vaccine escape properties of omicron via in-vitro lab tests. Interestingly, Moderna is less optimistic than Pfizer about expecting current vaccines needing to be tweaked to fend off the omicron variant. Volatility will remain high as the market remains on tenterhooks as new information drips through. Dollar Index (DXY): The greenback is flat on the week, with many quite perplexed by the lack of gains (particularly against the euro) given the hawkish Fed pivot and risk sentiment remaining on edge. The dollar coming in flat is a combination of gains against high-beta cyclical companies offset by losses against traditional safe haven currencies. Just take a look at the charts of USDJPY and AUDUSD. In terms of the euro, I’ll chat more about that below in the EURUSD paragraph. The big domestic news for the dollar this week was Jerome Powell’s hawkish rhetoric. The word transitory is to be retired as he admits the threat of persistently higher inflation has grown. On the QE purchases side of things, he remains open to it being wrapped up earlier than originally expected with a discussion on a faster pace taking place in 2 weeks at their December meeting. He elucidated his thoughts on the employment side of their mandate, stating that a great labour market requires a protracted expansion and in order to achieve this price stability has to occur. I see this as inflation now taking primacy over employment goals, indicating a shift in the Fed’s thinking with regards to inflationary pressures. The hawkish commentary from FOMC members this week such as Daly, Quarles, Barkin and Bostic would certainly suggest this is the case. STIRs are showing rate lift-off for practically June 2022 (96%) and over 2.5 hikes through December 2022. All attention now falls to the Non-Farm Payrolls number out today. The preliminary indicator such as ISM manufacturing index, ADP and jobless claims all pointing towards decent numbers from the jobs report today disappointed as NFP numbers missed expectations by a significant amount. Price moves have been muted as traders may be reluctant to place any fresh positions on and chase with the risk of adverse news over the weekend regarding omicron. Bottom line - traders should expect cross-asset volatility to remain higher over December. Next week we’ll receive November US inflation data, which is expected to remain elevated. DXY has regained the upper trend line of its ascending channel, putting some distance between price and its moving averages. The 21-day EMA continues to provide some dynamic support to price dips. The RSI has held above the key 55 level of support. Targets wise keep an eye out on the 96.5 on the upside and to the downside the 21-day EMA and former support around 95.5. EURUSD: So why did EURUSD strengthen on the market sell-off due to omicron on Friday and has remained fairly defensive throughout this week? It’s certainly not because the euro is a safe-haven currency in times of risk aversion. This price action has more to do with its use as a funding currency. Traders borrow euros to search for higher yield globally which is a decent strategy when risk conditions are favourable, however, when that risk dial flips in other direction we see the typical carry trade unwind, leading to flows back into the euro. Additionally, because expectations for rate hikes with regards to the eurozone are already significantly low, it’s at much less risk of a dovish repricing working favourably in terms of spread differentials with the dollar. Political pressure is rising on the ECB to act, particularly from Germany. A Reuters article out mid-week pointed towards some members wanting to rather hold off declaring their asset purchase intentions at this December meeting due to uncertainty caused by omicron. However, the ECB's Muller stated that he doesn’t think omicron is a reason to shift the scheduled end date for PEPP. Following this line of thought just today Madame Lagarde expressed that she feels certain that PEPP will cease in March as planned, saying markets require clarity in December. On the data front we had better than expected inflation prints from Germany (5.2% YoY) and the eurozone (4.9% YoY). It’s quiet in terms of economic data next week with the ZEW survey out as we lead up to a crucial ECB meeting in two weeks. EURUSD is drifting lower from its 21-day EMA. The RSI has stalled around the 40 level. Looking at the technicals clearly EURUSD is in a downtrend. Rallies in my opinion should be short lived with sellers coming in. Key levels to monitor in both directions are 1.135 (21-day EMA) and on the downside 1.12. GBPUSD: With a vacuum of economic data for the UK, the words of central bankers took centre stage. Bailey didn’t provide much meat at his speech this Wednesday. However, Saunders (leans hawkish) who spoke today has caused a repricing lower in the probability of a 15bps rate hike come December (only an additional 4bps now from around 8bps pre-speech). He expressed the need for potentially taking a patient approach with the uncertainty from omicron. Cable is lower as a result. On the virus front, the UK regulator has given the green light for booster doses to be offered to all adults. Additionally, the government has signed a contract for 114 million vaccine doses from Pfizer and Moderna, including access to modified vaccines if they're needed to tackle omicron and other future variants of concern. On the political front, domestically the Tories held the seat of Old Bexley and Sidcup, however, with a reduced majority. On Brexit, it’s been quiet of late with some optimism around the granting of additional fish licences to French fisherman in Guernsey, Jersey is the more important zone though prone to flare ups in tension. However, temperatures remain high between France and the UK on issues related to immigration. Next week sees UK October GDP data released. EURGBP has been moving higher on the back of dovish commentary (given he’s a hawk) from Saunders as well as benefiting from any souring in risk-sentiment. The 200-day SMA isn’t far aware, which has previously capped price gains. Cable continues to -plumb fresh YTD lows and is now nearing 1.32. The RSI is near to oversold territory but with some room remaining to eke out further losses. Moving averages are all pointing downwards. Targets wise, on the upside the 1.335 and above there former support around 1.34 (21-day EMA too). USDJPY: This pair continues to trade on US 10-year yield moves and now it’s status as a safe-haven currency has kicked back in. Early Friday morning has seen a bid coming in, which could be some pre NFP positioning on expectations of a move higher in the back end of the US yield curve. Put EURJPY on your radar, price is at a key support level around 128. USDJPY is finding support around its 50-day SMA, 113 round number and the 38.2% Fibonacci level. Price is trying to overcome resistance from the 50-day SMA. The former range support is providing some resistance around 113.5. The RSI is trying to get back into its range support around 46. Targets wise on the upside, 114 will be important and on the downside 112.5 (this week's lows). Gold: Gold has slipped below the $1775 support level as the hawkish fed leads to higher short term rates, kryptonite for the shiny yellow metal. Fears over inflation have failed to help gold stay propped up as well as risk-off fears from omicron. Inflation data out from the US next week will be a risk event for gold traders as well as the Fed meeting the following week. Today’s NFP hasn’t ignited much excitement in gold markets. Gold is trying to reclaim the $1775 support level. The 50-day SMA has made a very minor cross above the 200-day SMA. The 21-day EMA has been capping further gains. The RSI is in no man's land around 38. Targets wise, if $1775 is cleared then $1800 opens up (moving averages just below there). On the downside, $1750 comes into view. Oil: Crude fell sharply into a bear market this week as risk-off, Fed tightening, fears over further lockdowns and travel bans from the new omicron variant led to a repricing on the demand side of the equation. OPEC+ the main event for crude traders this week, decided to stick to their scheduled 400k bpd for January, but caveated this with the meeting remaining in “session”, meaning changes to the supply side could be made before their 4 January meeting if omicron causes a further deterioration. This led to yo-yo style price behaviour. Until there is more clarity regarding omicron, I expect oil’s price to remain choppy without a solid price trend. Backwardation spreads have narrowed, indicating a more balanced supply and demand equation. Iranian Nuclear Negotiations began the week positively, but sentiment turned pessimistic towards the end of this week, providing further short-term bullish tailwinds to crude’s price. JPM has some very bullish forecasts with the bank expecting crude to hit $150 by 2023. Oil is having a run at its 200-day SMA. The RSI has moved out of overbought territory and is a fair distance below its 50-day SMA (some mean reversion). Right now price will remain choppy within a range as omicron news flow prevents a trend from forming. Targets wise, on the upside the 200-day SMA and $73.50 dollar mark will be key. On the downside $68 support is important.

The cryptocurrency market experienced a shock shakeout on Saturday morning. Low trading activity and the relatively narrow previous trading range created a situation where stop orders were placed close to the market price. Outside forces, such as the stock market pressure on Friday, triggered a snowball. On Saturday morning, the fall below the previous day's low at $52K triggered a sharp liquidation of positions, with the price falling to $42K at one point. Other altcoins also fell 10-25% as investors could not stay away from such a drop. By the end of the day, buyers brought BTCUSD back to $48K, but they still lacked the strength to push it above $50K. Over the weekend, news came in that MicroStrategy and El Salvador were again using this drawdown to build up their bitcoin holdings. We wonder if these big buyers are ready for a change of trend from bullish to bearish, which happens quite regularly. Will corporate and government finances be able to withstand the new crypto winter? If not, it will only increase the blow to the market when it runs the risk of being flooded with forced sell orders, a kind of margin call and subsequent depression. From the tech analysis perspective, Bitcoin is experiencing a crucial moment. The bulls managed to get the quotes back neatly above the 200-day moving average, and the RSI index touched level 20, an oversold territory. A stabilisation and even a slight pullback would form a positive picture of how the bulls defended the global upside trend. If the rate is below $48K by the end of Monday, it will signal that the bears didn't finish their play, and we should expect a further decline, potentially to the $40K area. ETHUSD, which at one point on Saturday was losing more than 17% to $3500, also managed to defend its significant $4000 level. But still, on Sunday and Monday morning, there is evident caution. A mutual ability for Ether to stay above $4000 and for Bitcoin to stay above its 200-day average (now $48K) would be a serious sign of staying within the bullish trend. A failure of these levels promises to escalate very quickly into a new liquidation of long positions. It will move the timing and levels of the local bottom in cryptocurrencies further down. Overall, the market remains under pressure, and its total capitalisation has lost 2.8% to 2.26 trillion in the last 24 hours, down 14% from Friday morning's levels. The cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index has fallen to 16, its lowest level since July. These levels can safely be called attractive buying on a downturn, but cautious traders should still wait first for solid indications that the Greed and Fear Index has formed a bottom and is headed for growth.

While the cryptocurrency market is known for its volatility and potential price spikes, the correction experienced this weekend appeared to shake confidence in the market as a whole. Prices were under increasing pressure following news of the new Omicron variant and the reaction seen in stock markets as many of them retreated below previous support levels, and over the weekend we saw a 20-30% drop in most major coins, including Bitcoin. Today the situation appears quite uncertain as BTC trades around $47,000 and as investors focus on headlines to ascertain the severity of the matter. One thing to note is that although prices dropped across the board, a look at the ETH/BTC chart indicates that a significant part of the money flowed into Ethereum rather than into the main crypto and we actually saw BTC dominance drop to the lowest level in several months. While this could point to the beginning of a new cycle in the crypto market, it remains unclear how investors will react to future price swings in this already puzzling environment. UK Construction PMI and Car sales point to improving conditions Today's IHS construction data showed the fastest increase in construction output for four months, driven partly by robust and accelerated rise in commercial work along with a drop in the number of firms reporting supplier delays and as input cost inflation dips to seven-month low. While these are all positive signs for the economy, pressure remains on the BoE to keep monetary and fiscal policy under control and to facilitate the continuation of the post pandemic recovery despite potential unexpected events. Today’s car registration figures paint a slightly different picture of the current situation in the UK economy with figures showing an increase of around 1.7% on a monthly basis and a return to the level seen last november. However, as inflation pressures continue and as uncertainty related to the new variant increases, we could be seeing an impact on multiple sectors of the economy, including car sales and registrations as consumers worry about rising costs.    

Commodities 2021-12-06 10:50 Summary:  Futures positions and changes made by hedge funds across commodities, forex and financials up until last Tuesday, November 30. A week that encapsulated the markets very nervous reaction to the Omicron virus news as well as Jerome Powell's increased focus on combatting inflation. While global stocks and US long end yields dropped, a 7% correction in the Bloomberg commodity index helped trigger the biggest and most widespread hedge fund exodus since February 2020. Saxo Bank publishes weekly Commitment of Traders reports (COT) covering leveraged fund positions in commodities, bonds and stock index futures. For IMM currency futures and the VIX, we use the broader measure called non-commercial. Link to latest report This summary highlights futures positions and changes made by hedge funds across commodities, forex and financials up until last Tuesday, November 30. The reporting week encapsulated the markets very nervous reaction to the Omicron virus news as well as Jerome Powell confirming inflation is no longer being transitory. His comments to the Senate banking committee raised expectations for faster tapering with the first full 0.25% rate hike now priced in for July next year. The US yield curve flattened considerably with virus related safe-haven demand driving down the yield on 10-year US treasury notes by 22 basis point. Global stocks slumped with the VIX jumping 8%. Hardest hit, however was the commodity sector after the Bloomberg commodity index slumped by 7%, thereby triggering the biggest and most widespread hedge fund exodus since February 2020. Commodities Hedge funds responded to heightened growth and demand concerns related to the omicron virus, and the potential faster pace of US tapering, by cutting their net long across 24 major commodity futures by 17% to a 15-month low at 1.8 million lots. This the biggest one-week reduction since the first round of Covid-19 panic in February last year was triggered by net selling of all but three livestock contracts. Energy: Hardest hit was the energy sector where renewed demand concerns sent the prices of WTI and Brent down by more than 15%. In response to this, hedge funds accelerated their pace of futures selling with the combined net long slumping by 90k lots to a one-year low at 425k lots. The loss of momentum following the late October peak has driven an eight-week exodus out of oil contracts, culminating last week, and during this time the net length has seen a 35% or 224k lots reduction. Potentially setting the market up for a strong speculative driven recovery once the technical and fundamental outlook turns more friendly.Latest: Crude oil (OILUKFEB22 & OILUSJAN21) trades higher following its longest stretch of weekly declines since 2018. Today’s rise apart from a general positive risk sentiment in Asia has been supported by Saudi Arabia’s decision to hike their official selling prices (OSP) to Asia and US next month. Thereby signaling confidence demand will be strong enough to absorb last week's OPEC+ production increase at a time when mobility is challenged by the omicron virus. For now, both WTI and Brent continue to find resistance at their 200-day moving averages, currently at $69.50 and$72.88 respectively.  Metals: Gold was net sold for a second week as speculators continued to reduce exposure following the failed breakout attempt above $1830. With Fed chair Powell signaling a change in focus from job creation to fighting inflation, sentiment took another knock, thereby driving a 13.7k lots reduction to a four-week low at 105k lots. Industrial metals also suffered with the net long in HG copper slumping by one-third to a three-month low at 13.4k lots. Copper’s rangebound trading behavior since July has sapped hedge funds involvement with the current net length a far cry from the 92k record peak seen this time last year.Latest: Gold (XAUUSD) received a small bid on Friday following mixed US data, but overall, it continues to lack the momentum needed to challenge an area of resistance just above $1790 where both the 50- and 200-day moving averages meet. Focus on Friday’s US CPI data with the gold market struggling to respond to rising inflation as it could speed up rate hike expectations thereby putting upward pressure on real yields which are inverse correlated to gold's performance.  A full 25 basis point rate hike has now been priced in for July and the short-term direction will likely be determined by the ebb and flow of future rate hike expectations. Agriculture: The whole sector with the exception of livestock took a major hit, just one week after funds had increased bullish bets on grains and softs by the most in 15 months. Both sectors suffered setbacks of more than 5% with recent highflyers like wheat and cotton taking big hits. As mentioned, selling was broad and led by corn, soybeans, sugar and cocoa, with the latter together with palladium being the only two contracts where speculators hold an outright short position.This week the grain market will be focusing on weather developments in Australia and its potential impact on the wheat harvest, as well as the monthly World Agriculture Supply & Demand report (WASDE) from the USDA.  Forex In forex, speculators reacted to renewed virus concerns by increasing bullish dollar bets against ten IMM currency futures and the Dollar Index to an 18-month high at $27.9 billion. Speculators were buyers of JPY (18.4k lots or $2 billion equivalent) but sellers of everything else, including euros (6.8k) and the two commodity currencies of AUD (16.9k) and CAD (10.9k). These changes resulting in the aggregate dollar long rising by $2.3 billion. In terms of extended positioning, a euro short at 23k lots was last seen in March 2020, the GBP short at 39k lots was a two-year high while the 60k lots MXN short was the highest since March 2017. What is the Commitments of Traders report? The COT reports are issued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the ICE Exchange Europe for Brent crude oil and gas oil. They are released every Friday after the U.S. close with data from the week ending the previous Tuesday. They break down the open interest in futures markets into different groups of users depending on the asset class. Commodities: Producer/Merchant/Processor/User, Swap dealers, Managed Money and otherFinancials: Dealer/Intermediary; Asset Manager/Institutional; Leveraged Funds and otherForex: A broad breakdown between commercial and non-commercial (speculators) The reasons why we focus primarily on the behavior of the highlighted groups are: They are likely to have tight stops and no underlying exposure that is being hedged This makes them most reactive to changes in fundamental or technical price developments It provides views about major trends but also helps to decipher when a reversal is looming

Based on gains, Shiba Inu, Sandbox, and Axie Infinity are the top 3 cryptocurrencies of 2021. Axie Infinity and Sandbox feature among the top 10 performing cryptocurrencies as adoption of metaverse and gaming tokens increases. Altcoins have stepped up, confirming declining Bitcoin dominance and the rise of metaverse and gaming tokens. Bitcoin’s dominance takes a hit as metaverse, and dog-themed tokens gain popularity. Over the past two months, there has been a massive spike in active wallet addresses holding Shiba Inu. Shiba Inu, Axie Infinity and Sandbox dominate list of top performing cryptos Shytoshi Kusama, Shiba Inu project leader and one of the lead developers, believes that SHIB is the future of gaming. The dog-themed cryptocurrency is poised to be a game-changer in the blockchain gaming industry. Shiba Inu team partnered with AAA games, a celebrated developer, to build the Shiba Inu gaming ecosystem. Over the last weekend, the number of Shiba Inu holders crossed 1,040,000. The steady increase in the number of holders of dog-themed tokens can be attributed to 270,000% gains offered by Shiba Inu since the beginning of 2021. Metaverse and blockchain-gaming tokens Axie infinity and Sandbox have witnessed a spike in the number of active users. Axie Infinity and Sandbox offered 18,500% and 12,500% in profits since January 2021, respectively. Alex Krüger, a cryptocurrency analyst, revealed the top 10 performing cryptocurrencies of 2021 in his recent tweet: Interestingly, Bitcoin dominance continues to drop as metaverse and gaming tokens gain popularity in the crypto ecosystem. Cryptocurrency analysts have noted that despite the flash crash in the overall cryptocurrency market, metaverse tokens are still in demand. Sandbox posted nearly 200% gains in November 2021. The metaverse token’s price is currently in a downward trend. @imBagsy, a pseudonymous cryptocurrency analyst, believes that Sandbox has lost its uptrend. (17) Bagsy on Twitter: "$SAND Lost its uptrend, prob gonna act like quicksand for the next while. https://t.co/CdpGoDWR53" / Twitter FXStreet analysts have evaluated the Shiba Inu price trend and confirmed a capitulation set up with tons of upside potential.

Like a whale diving deep to gorge on krill to emerge even more empowered shortly after. When catching these cycles right, bitcoin is ever rewarding. BTC in US-Dollar, Monthly Chart, up and up and up: Bitcoin in US-Dollar, monthly chart as of December 7th, 2021. Typically, fortunes are slowly acquired and quickly destroyed, not so with bitcoin. Bitcoin’s up moves can be as dramatic as their declines. In addition, bitcoin seems bulletproof to fundamental attacks. With China’s ban on mining, its share of the global hash rate sank from 75% held in September 2019 to zero by now. Miners migrated to the US and had its 2019 4% hash rate rise to 35%. It is essential to remind oneself of facts like these, when emotions overcome one with doubt and confidence falters at these steep declines in bitcoin. At times when opportunity knocks and self-confidence is critical for accurate trade execution. The monthly chart above shows the roller coaster moves that can make even the stern trader doubtful, yet bitcoin rose closer to the sun after each cloud. We find six figure bitcoin prices to be likely within the next few months, as indicated in the very right green up arrow in the chart. Gold in Bitcoin, Daily Chart, measuring true value: Gold in Bitcoin, daily chart as of December 7th, 2021. Where we see bitcoin going from strength to strength, as well, is the relatively rare occurrence of fiat currencies being endangered by inflation to the level that we are right now. Fortunes can change hands quickly. Typically, procrastination is fueled by the belief of a rise in the cost of things. In reality, currency is less valuable. We, as such, encourage you not to measure everything in your country’s currency. We find measurements towards a gold price or a bitcoin price a more realistic view of price/value changes. The chart above shows how the relationship between gold and the bitcoin price changed over the short term, with bitcoins’ recent sharp decline.   BTC in US-Dollar, Weekly Chart, in the not to distant future: Bitcoin in US-Dollar, weekly chart as of December 7th, 2021. A six-sigma event risk in the overall market environment is always present. Such a market crash would temporarily drag bitcoin to lower prices and needs to be reflected in your money management. Other than that, we see prices right here as a good starting zone for the next push-up which should exceed all-time highs in the not-too-distant future, as portrayed in the above chart. Bitcoin, going from strength to strength: No matter what we tell ourselves, when prices decline, we feel fearful. It is always hard to step into such selling pressure for a low-risk entry spot based on the action/ reaction principle to be part of the next cycle up.  Moreover, practice and planning are required to be part of these upswings and to ride the wave. Our quad strategy aims to reduce initial risk quickly after an entry has been made. Last Friday’s entries near the lows of the day allowed for a more than ten percent profit-taking on half of the position size, a target we call “financing.” Unheard of in any other liquid, low-risk market. Feel free to join us in our free Telegram channel for daily real time data and a great community. If you like to get regular updates on our gold model, precious metals and cryptocurrencies you can subscribe to our free newsletter. This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone. They do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Midas Touch Consulting. By Korbinian Koller|December 7th, 2021|Tags: Bitcoin, Bitcoin bounce, Bitcoin bullish, bitcoin consolidation, crypto analysis, Crypto Bull, crypto chartbook, DeFi, low risk, quad exit, technical analysis, trading education|0 Comments About the Author: Korbinian Koller Outstanding abstract reasoning ability and ability to think creatively and originally has led over the last 25 years to extract new principles and a unique way to view the markets resulting in a multitude of various time frame systems, generating high hit rates and outstanding risk reward ratios. Over 20 years of coaching traders with heart & passion, assessing complex situations, troubleshoot and solve problems principle based has led to experience and a professional history of success. Skilled natural teacher and exceptional developer of talent. Avid learner guided by a plan with ability to suppress ego and empower students to share ideas and best practices and to apply principle-based technical/conceptual knowledge to maximize efficiency. 25+ year execution experience (50.000+ trades executed) Trading multiple personal accounts (long and short-and combinations of the two). Amazing market feel complementing mechanical systems discipline for precise and extreme low risk entries while objectively seeing the whole picture. Ability to notice and separate emotional responses from the decision-making process and to stand outside oneself and one’s concerns about images in order to function in terms of larger objectives. Developed exit strategies that compensate both for maximizing profits and psychological ease to allow for continuous flow throughout the whole trading day. In depth knowledge of money management strategies with the experience of multiple 6 sigma events in various markets (futures, stocks, commodities, currencies, bonds) embedded in extreme low risk statistical probability models with smooth equity curves and extensive risk management as well as extensive disaster risk allow for my natural capacity for risk-taking.

On Monday, along with rising risk appetite in global markets, buying interest in cryptocurrencies returned. The cryptocurrency fear and greed index added 9 points to 25 overnight. This is still an area of extreme fear, but recent dynamics of the largest coins indicate that this is now the moment for investors with increased risk appetite to enter. BTCUSD has added 4.9% in the last 24 hours, trading just above the $51K level. The RSI on the daily candlestick charts has retreated from below 30 (oversold area). The price has found support from buyers at the important 200-day moving average. This is a strong signal for many participants that the whole market stays in a long-term bullish phase. But so far, we see very cautious buying, which is creating doubts. A better signal would be a sharp move up, crossing this line, as in July and October this year and before that in April 2020. This is quite an optimistic scenario for bitcoin, where it gets sustained bullish support, preventing it from descending into an uncontrollable fall. The pessimistic scenario for bitcoin, and the entire cryptocurrency market, assume a bullish/bearish sentiment tied to 4-year halving cycles. The previous two bear markets came in 2014 and 2018, giving speculators a good shake out of that train and leaving only the most resilient crypto enthusiasts. A sharp reversal to the downside after a dizzying rise came in late 2013 and 2017 and lasted about a year. This suggests a high risk of reversal at the end of 2021. From peak to bottom in 2013-2014, BTC lost more than 70%, and in 2017-2018 – 85%. A repetition of these scales sets BTCUSD up for a pullback in the 10-20k range. In our view, even a decline to 20k - the highs of the previous cycle - looks like a very pessimistic scenario for now. But it may well materialise under a negative set of circumstances, though it is bound to attract the interest of long-term buyers. Bitcoin needs to pass several checkpoints before we seriously consider such a scenario. The first one is the 200-day moving average (currently at 48k). Confirmation we will get on the decline under $40K, the level of previous local lows.

Since yesterday, Bitcoin has gone from almost $52K to $50.7K. On Tuesday, the crypto market was green on nearly all fronts, including ETH, ADA, XRP, etc. And although the Fear Index continued to remain in the horror zone with 26 points, everyone was buying altcoins. However, BTC did not gain a foothold above the resistance at $51,800, so it is premature to talk about conquering the heights and completing the correction. Perhaps this is not even a correction now, but a search for the actual price without rose-coloured glasses and excessive optimism. Whether there are still those who want to ride up at their own expense on the market, we will only find out when Bitcoin rises above $56K. A Grayscale poll found that 26% of American investors have already bought BTC. So, apparently, we just need the remaining 74% to join in. But do they have any motivation? Moreover, the United States has introduced cryptocurrencies into its anti-corruption strategy, although exactly how this will affect the market is unclear. Aside from the local downward trend in Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency market remains bullish, rapidly changing sentiment and moving from correction to growth. Based on the posts on Twitter, the popularity of cryptocurrencies is only growing. Thus, in partnership with the Gemini crypto exchange, the largest bank in Colombia, Bancolombia, added transaction services with BTC, ETH, LTC, and BCH to its list. Video game developer Ubisoft has launched an NFT platform, and blockchain project Spiral, a division of Jack Dorsey's Block, will improve Bitcoin's Lightning Network. Among the small altcoins, the hot class of projects related to the metauniverses remains. This topic is so popular that almost any new project considers it its duty to point out the potential for the development of this topic. It seems that investors are recruiting all newcomers to their portfolio, hoping to get an impressive profit if at least one project hits. However, you should be extremely careful. At the end of November, it seemed that the Covalent coin, issued six months ago, recovered relatively quickly from the traditional drawdown in the first months of its life. However, since the beginning of December, its value has been rapidly decreasing, colouring the first eight days of the month in red and confidently remaining below the offering price. At the same time, this cryptocurrency suits well for intraday trading: for yesterday's session, for example, it grew by 3.62%, although this did not affect the overall “red” result.

Forex 2021-12-08 14:45 4 minutes to read Summary:  Risk sentiment is well on its way to erasing the reaction to the news of the omicron variant of covid, with most reactions across FX adjusting as one would expect on an improved outlook, with commodity currencies performing best, while safe haven JPY and CHF trade weaker and the euro is unable to figure out what it wants to do. Adding to a more hopeful stance and a weaker US dollar overnight was China allowing its currency to push to new highs for the year, beyond the highs established back in May. FX Trading focus: CNY new highs for the year, strong resurgence in risk sentiment The US dollar has pushed lower this week on a resurgence in risk sentiment, led by fading omicron fears – particularly yesterday – but also on hopes that China is set to support the global growth outlook and signaling confidence by allowing the renminbi to push to new highs for the year versus the US dollar. The weaker US dollar elsewhere this week explains the timing of the large move to new lows in USDCNH, as the CNH has actually underperformed resurgent commodity FX and some EM FX this week even while it outperformed the strong US dollar this year on balance. If the USD is to weaken further from here, it would be no surprise to see CNH continuing higher versus the US dollar – perhaps even beyond the 2018 lows in USDCNH – while keeping it somewhat weaker versus other currencies against which it has appreciated so aggressively this year. China is clearly interested in defending the stability and purchasing power of the CNH versus the USD and its basket, but the extent of the revaluation is getting stretched if we look at the official CNY basket. In G10 FX, the resurgence in risk sentiment has boosted the usual suspects and weighed against the other usual suspects, although a couple of unusual situations stick out: GBP and SEK: Sterling is in danger of breaking down versus the euro here after testing new lows for the year this morning in GBPUSD despite sterling’s former correlation with risk appetite, perhaps as a lot of air has been taken out of Bank of England expectations as the market has shifted the expected lift-off meeting to February of next year after pricing as early as November a couple of months ago. Late last week, the BoE’s normally hawkish Saunders sounded cautious on lifting off next week, while the day before yesterday Deputy Governor Broadbent advised looking “a couple of years ahead” in predicting that “these pressures on traded goods prices are more likely to subside than intensify”, although he did say wages could be an inflation driver. Chart: EURGBPEURGBP is poking at the 200-day moving average from the downside for the third time in recent months, and the less hawkish BoE may help trigger a further squeeze higher, especially if the 0.8600 prior pivot high falls. Next focus higher still comes in at the range highs from April-May near 0.8720. Source: Saxo Group SEK has traded sideways today rather than rallying, as one would expect, on the strong comeback in risk sentiment. The krona is historically one of the most highly risk sensitive currencies. Sure, the euro is largely stuck in the water here and the EU growth outlook has plenty of clouds over it with covid shut-downs etc, but EURSEK looks “wrong” relative to other reaction to the improved mood across markets, and should be lower. A statement today by Riksbank dove Jansson that it is hard to justify rate hikes and that a more active fiscal policy is the way forward likely held back SEK, as perhaps NOKSEK buying, judging from the last couple of session in that cross. In other developments, AUDNZD has cleared the important 1.0500 level, EURCHF is trying to pull higher but is still some way from challenging the important 1.0500 level. The CHF has not behaved anything like the JPY in recent months, failing to show sensitive in EURCHF, at least, to large shifts in safe haven years. Likely, to get EURCHF off the mat, we’ll need to see a broader EUR rally that includes EURUSD on a brightening outlook for EU growth. Hard to see how it gets much worse, on a relative basis, at present (covid shutdowns, energy crunch, etc…) The Bank of Canada is out just after pixel time for this article. The market is leaning for hawkish guidance for a sure rate hike at the January meeting, which is very likely what it will get. The degree to which CAD can continue to rally will also depend on whether the now suddenly very CAD-supportive backdrop extends. USDCAD needs to bash back below 1.2500 to suggest a full reversal of the rally move off the sub-1.2300 lows in October is in the cards. Looking ahead, the next critical event risks are the Friday US November CPI print, and then the exercise next week in seeing how the market reacts to the crystallization of the now hawkish Fed’s adjustments to its new monetary policy statement and to the “dot plot” of its policy forecasts. Table: FX Board of G10 and CNH trend evolution and strengthStill mean reverting from the prior trends in most currencies, but far more upside needed from commodity currencies to fully reverse the prior trends. Source: Bloomberg and Saxo Group Table: FX Board Trend Scoreboard for individual pairs.A strong move higher in EU yields taking EURJPY back well above the important 128.00 level of contention lately – watching whether the trend can flip positive in the week ahead. Elsewhere, note again that AUDNZD has pulled above the important 1.0500, that USDCHF flipped positive (even if it is mid-range after surviving another test of the 200-day moving average), and that NOKSEK is trying flipping positive after a very sharp rebound from recent lows. Source: Bloomberg and Saxo Group Upcoming Economic Calendar Highlights (all times GMT) 1500 – Canada Bank of Canada Rate Decision 1500 – US JOLTS Job Openings survey 2130 – Brazil Selic Rate Announcement 2205 – Australia RBA Governor Lowe to speak 0001 – UK Nov. RICS House Price Balance 0130 – China Nov. CPI / PPI

The cryptocurrency market capitalisation rose slightly, by 0.4%, to 2.36 trillion in the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index added another 1 point overnight to 29, a significant retreat from the December 6 lows of 16 points, but still in the fear zone. Binance Coin, XRP and Luna have added between 4% and 10% over the past 24 hours, leading the gains among the top altcoins. Growth has been held back by the negative dynamics of the first cryptocurrency, which is losing more than any other of the top-20 coins. The pressure intensified on exceeding the $50K level, pushing it down 1.7% in a day and 12% in seven days. As another result, bitcoin’s overall crypto market share fell below 40%. Approaching this mark in May was a manifestation of sharp profit-taking in Bitcoin after a dizzying rally. Any sustained period when the share of the first cryptocurrency fell below 40% was in January -March and April-June periods in 2018. After that, the BTC domination has recovered with altcoins’ deeper crash, called later the crypto winter. But there is another crucial point: Bitcoin’s peak share declines from cycle to cycle as more new players emerge. At the beginning of 2017, it was 87%, then in 2019, it is already less than 70%. Many other projects have appeared in place of XRP, which has lost its former strength, like a hydra with several new ones growing in an area of its severed head. That said, neither the mechanics (BTCUSD above its 200-day average and retreating from an oversold area on the daily charts) nor the sentiment in the stock markets are pessimistic, indicating that we see purely local momentum in Bitcoin. Ether continues to pivot around its 50-day moving average, sticking to local bullish momentum. As always, it should be stated that a sustained negative on Bitcoin has the power to affect the entire crypto market, but the smooth slide in price suggests that enthusiasts are looking for other ideas in the sector, but not a general flight out of it. Perhaps capital flowing from one cryptocurrency to another is the best scenario for the entire market. However, as Saturday showed, it is easy to scare the whole market with solid moves in BTCUSD.

Macro 2021-12-09 08:40 6 minutes to read Summary:  Global markets tried to gin up additional enthusiasm yesterday on the announcement yesterday from Pfizer that three shots of vaccine may offer far more protection from the omicron variant, but the market traded largely sideways as the sharp rally from the prior day was consolidated. The US dollar is showing signs of consolidating lower ahead of arguably the last two major event risks for the year for the currency, the Friday US November CPI data and the FOMC meeting next Wednesday. What is our trading focus? Nasdaq 100 (USNAS100.I) and S&P 500 (US500.I) - US equities momentum waned a bit yesterday and trading flat in early European trading hours. In Nasdaq 100 futures the 16,420 is the key resistance level to watch in today’s session. While Nasdaq 100 futures are flat this morning, Bitcoin is trading 2% lower which if it continues could spill over into US technology stocks as these pockets of the market are connected in terms of risk-off. Bubble stocks were the biggest gainers yesterday and provide another opportunity for retail investors to reduce exposure in bubble stocks ahead of the new year. EURUSD – The EURUSD rallied sharply yesterday as the US dollar was generally on its back foot, but a solid jump higher in EU sovereign bond yields and the official handover of power to the new German government coalition yesterday may have been elements supporting the rally. The move rose as high as 1.1350, just ahead of tactical resistance near 1.1375, the last hurdle ahead of more major trend resistance near 1.1500. In many past cycles, the calendar roll has proven a major inflection point for EURUSD. The December 15 FOMC meeting and December 16 ECB meeting both look important for the provision of new guidance, with the FOMC already having made a clear hawkish shift, while the ECB will have to deliver revised inflation forecasts and guidance on balance sheet policy after its emergency “PEPP” form of QE is set to end in March. AUDUSD – The Aussie has undergone a significant sentiment shift from one of the weakest G10 currencies to one of the strongest in recent sessions, in part on the reversal in risk sentiment, but also aided by China signaling a willingness to ease policy. Speculative positioning in the US futures market suggest a very heavy short position that, if similar to positioning in the OTC market, could provide significant fuel for a squeeze higher in the currency if the backdrop of improving risk sentiment and a focus on inflation risks further boosts the price action in key commodities like iron ore, coking coal and other metals. At any rate, AUDUSD has reversed up through the first resistance near 0.7100 and is now staring down the next pivotal area into 0.720-7250, needing to blast through this and then some to suggest an attempt to put in a bottom after touching the huge 0.7000 level within the last week. Crude oil (OILUKFEB22 & OILUSJAN22) trades higher for a fourth day as omicron demand concerns continue to ease and speculators accumulate length following last week’s washout. Flare-ups around the world resulting in temporary lockdowns is however likely to prevent the market from returning to pre-omicron levels at this point. The EIA reported a small 240k barrels weekly decline in crude stocks while inventories of fuel rose by a combined 6.6 million barrels. Next level of resistance in Brent being the 21-day moving average at $77.20 followed by $77.60. Gold (XAUUSD) remains stuck below the 200-day moving average, currently at $1793 with the market struggling for direction ahead of Friday’s key US inflation data. Support from a softer dollar continues to be offset by worries that a succession of expected US rate hikes in 2022 will drive up US real yields, thereby reducing a key source of support for gold. Ahead of Friday’s CPI data, the market has priced in three rate hikes next year with the first potentially coming as soon as May. Focus on silver (XAGUSD) which following its recent 13% slump is trying to establish support at $22, thereby supporting a lower XAUXAG ratio has stopped rising after finding resistance above 80 ounces of silver to one ounce of gold. US Treasuries (IEF, TLT). Haven bid for bonds faded as news hit the market that a third vaccine dose gives coverage for the omicron strain. Ten-year US Treasury yields rose above 1.50%, and yesterday’s 10-year US Treasury auction wasn’t as good as the 3-year auction the previous day. It tailed 0.4bps pricing at 1.518%. The bid-to-cover rose to 2.43x, a little lower than the past six auctions average. The yield curve bear steepened. Yet, we expect long-term yields to remain compressed if Covid infections still are an issue and lead to more restrictions. Today, the Treasury is selling 30-year bonds. If the selloff in the long part of the yield curve continues, we might witness a weak auction. What is going on? China PPI falls less than expected in November as it rises 12.9% year-on-year. The PPI number is widely considered a global inflation barometer as China is “the world’s factory”. The rise was higher than the 12.1% year-on-year expected, but lower than October’s 13.5%. The November China CPI number came in slightly cooler than expected at 2.3% year-on-year versus 2.5% expected and 1.5% in October. Pfizer says three shots of its vaccine offer more significant protection against the omicron covid variant. This news from yesterday sounded more promising than the news from just yesterday from a preliminary South African study that patients vaccinated with two shots showed some, but heavily reduced, production of antibodies in patients with the omicron variant. Pfizer found the same, but says that a third shot can bring the antibody response to similar levels as for the prior covid variants. Pfizer also said an omicron-targeted version of its vaccine could be ready in March. Buffett-backed digital lender Nubank to start trading today. The Brazilian-based digital bank Nubank is raising $2.6bn in its IPO becoming of the biggest IPOs this year with shares priced at $9 and first day of trading today on NYSE. This will mark one of the biggest publicly listed fintech companies in the world and provide a glimpse into the feasibility of running a large digital only bank. Bank of Canada upgrades language on inflation, likely set for January rate hike. The new Bank of Canada policy statement dropped a reference from the prior statement on “temporary” inflation forces, though it still maintained the expectation that inflation would drop toward 2 percent in the second half of next year. The strength in the jobs market was noted. Overall, the hawkish language changes were clear, if relatively small relative to rather aggressive market shift in expectations, and Canadian yields eased a few basis points lower at the front part of the yield curve, though a January rate hike from the bank remains likely, according to market expectations. Brazil hikes policy rate 150 basis points, BRL sees sharp gains. The rate hike to 9.25% was in line with expectations, but the central bank delivered hawkish guidance for another hike of the same size at the February meeting as the bank has clearly gone into aggressive inflation fighting mode. The Brazilian real responded strongly, gaining some 1.4% versus the US dollar yesterday. The EU gas and power market went from bad to worse yesterday after an unplanned outage temporarily cut supplies from Norway’s giant Troll field. Coming on top of geopolitical risks related to Ukraine, low winter supplies from Russia, freezing cold weather and rapidly declining stocks, these developments have driven Dutch TTF one month benchmark gas back above €100 per MWh or $34 per MMBtu. With rising demand for coal driving the cost of EU emissions to a fresh record above €90 per tons, the cost of power has surged as well. In Germany the one-year baseload contract reached a record €189 per MWh, or 5 times the long-term average. What are we watching next? WASDE on tap - Ahead of today’s monthly update on world supply and demand, the grains sector has seen a slight drift lower during the past week as the market tried to gauge the impact of the omicron variant. Today’s World Agriculture Supply and Demand report (WASDE) will primarily focus on ending stocks with expectations pointing to a relatively quiet update. US corn stockpiles are expected to have fallen slightly from November while wheat and soybean stocks are both expected to be higher, both in the US and globally. The EU is set to decide by December 22 whether investments in gas and nuclear energy should be labelled climate friendly. The design of the EU green investment classification system is closely watched by investors worldwide and could potentially attract billions of euros in private finance to help the green transition, especially given the need to reduce the usage of coal, the biggest polluter. This week’s earnings: Today’s focus is Oracle which is still struggling to find an attractive growth trajectory in the age of cloud applications, SaaS business models, and more open-source software on databases with flat revenue over the past four fiscal years. Lululemon has been one of the big winners during the pandemic gaining tailwind from home exercising, but generally the company taps into a longer-term trend of personal health. Analysts expect Lululemon to report 29% y/y revenue growth in Q3 (ending 31 October). Thursday: Sekisui House, Hormel Foods, Costco Wholesale, Oracle, Broadcom, Lululemon Athletica, Chewy, Vail Resorts Friday: Carl Zeiss Meditec Economic calendar highlights for today (times GMT) 0830 – Hungary Rate Announcement 1200 – Mexico Nov. CPI 1330 – US Weekly Initial Jobless Claims and Continuing Claims 1530 – EIA Natural Gas Storage Change 1700 – USDA World Agriculture Supply and Demand Report (WASDE) 1800 – US Treasury 30-year T-Bond auction   Follow SaxoStrats on the daily Saxo Markets Call on your favorite podcast app: Apple Spotify Soundcloud Sticher

EUR/USD Current price: 1.1300 Valeria Bednarik Stocks markets are giving mixed hints on sentiment heading into Wall Street’s opening. US Treasury yields recovered from an early dip, challenging weekly highs. EUR/USD is mildly bullish in the near term, needs to clear the 1.1310 resistance. The EUR/USD pair recaptured the 1.1300 level heading into the US opening, although so far, there has been no follow-through. The market´s mood is unstable, as investors are still struggling to price in the latest coronavirus developments and the latest from central banks after the Fed announced it might speed up tapering in their next meeting. The American currency managed to advance during European trading hours, following softer US government bond yields and as stocks traded with a sour tone. Equities bounced, putting mild pressure on the greenback, but as government bond yields remain strong, the dollar’s decline is modest. The EU did not release relevant macroeconomic figures, while the US published MBA Mortgage Applications for the week ended December 3, up 2% from -7% in the previous month. The US will publish October JOLTS Job Openings. EUR/USD short-term technical outlook The EUR/USD pair trades near a daily high of 1.1307, mildly bullish in the near term. The 4-hour chart shows that the price is currently extending above its 20 and 100 SMAs, both converging flat a few pips below the current level. At the same time, technical indicators crossed their midlines into positive territory, maintaining their bullish slope. The pair needs to break through the 1.1310 resistance to have further chances of advancing. Support levels: 1.1265 1.1220 1.1185 Resistance levels: 1.1310 1.1345 1.1380

The Turkish lira has stabilised recently, although it remains near historic lows against the dollar and euro, at 13.7 and 15.5 respectively. Erdogan’s latest comments have so far been of little help to the national currency and have not allowed it to develop a rebound after the grand overselling. In particular, the Turkish president remains firmly in the position that lower interest rates will reduce inflation in the country, and the results will be visible early next year. Mentioning that low rates will solve the inflation problem and stabilise the currency seems only to inflame the greed of currency speculators, reversing the already relatively modest achievements of the Bank of Turkey, which has intervened to stop the one-sided movement of the national currency. From the economic side, the cumulative effect of the recent devaluation (+65% since September and 77% y/y) will be transferred to consumer prices in the coming months, which promises to be a much bigger problem for Turkey than for other EM countries. Erdogan’s dispute with the conclusions of the conventional economic theory could be called a remarkable experiment if the welfare of millions of people in the country were not at stake. The decline in interest rates in response to rising inflation and a falling currency can be compared to the populist policies of some Latin American countries in previous years, which caused an endless devaluation of their currencies and a decline in living standards. And at the moment, it isn’t easy to find economic reasons to say that Erdogan’s stance allows for a bet on the rise of the lira.      

December 09, 2021  $USD, Brazil, Canada, China, Currency Movement, Germany, Japan, Portfolio flows, UK Overview: The euro has come back offered after its seemingly inexplicable advance yesterday.  The dollar is firmer against most major currencies today, with the yen an exception after JPY114.00 held on yesterday's advance.  Most emerging market currencies are also softer, with a handful of smaller Asian currencies proving a bit resilient.  Most large bourses advance in the Asia Pacific region, except Japan and Australia.  Europe's Stoxx 600 is steady after retreating late yesterday while US futures are pointing to a softer opening.  After rising for the past three sessions (~18 bp), the yield of the 10-year US Treasury is consolidating by hovering a little below 1.5%.  European yields are 3-5 bp softer.   Gold is little change.  This week's quiet tone contrasts with the sharp moves in Bitcoin and Ethereum.  Oil is consolidating after the three-day advance that lifted January WTI by around 8.5%.  US and European natural gas is also softer after the rally over the last few days.  Iron ore, which rallied over 10% in the first two sessions this week, edged lower yesterday and is off 3% today.  Copper's three-day rally is in jeopardy.   Asia Pacific The number of countries participating in a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics is growing.  In addition to the US, Lithuania, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the UK have joined.  While it may annoy Chinese officials, it is symbolic.  Given Chinese quarantine protocols, many diplomats were not going to attend in the first place.  Also, the impact on China's human rights will likely be negligible.  The moral righteousness is signaling to domestic constituencies.  Yet, treatment of the Peng Shuai and the jailing of reporters needless antagonized the already precarious situation.  China's consumer inflation rose less than expected while producer prices rose more.  Owing to a jump in vegetable prices (30.6%), November CPI rose 2.3% from a year ago. The median forecast (Bloomberg survey) was for a 2.5% increase.  It is the fastest pace since August 2020. The decline in pork prices (-32.7% year-over-year) is slowing.  Excluding pork, the CPI would have risen by 3%.  Service prices remain soft.  Excluding food and energy, the core CPI is up 1.2% over the past year (1.3% previously).  Producer price inflation slowed from 13.5% in October to 12.9% in November.  Economists had forecast a 12.1% pace.  Recall officials moved to boost supplies, including coal, helping to ease the strong upside pressures.   Officials have moved to a more pro-growth stance, which means that inflation will not stand in the way of further easing monetary policy (via reserve requirements even if not interest rates) next year. Meanwhile, Evergrande and the Kaisa Group have formally missed debt-servicing payments on dollar obligations. Still, unlike the end of the property bubble in the US and Europe, China is forcing banks to continue to lend. This keeps the proverbial treadmill going.   The lending figures for November, released today, illustrate it.  New yuan loans, which track bank lending, rose by 50%+ to CNY1.27 trillion from CNY826 bln in October.  Aggregate financing, which adds shadow banking activity to bank lending, rose to CNY2.61 trillion from CNY1.59 trillion.  Note that just before publishing this report, the PBOC announced a two percentage point hike in the reserve requirement for foreign currency deposits.  This will likely weigh on the yuan, initially.    Japanese weekly portfolio flows were unusually large last week.  Data from the Ministry of Finance showed that Japanese investors were large sellers of foreign bonds for the second consecutive week.  The JPY1.18 trillion in sales followed the divestment of JPY1.34 trillion the previous week. It was the most selling in a two-week period since February.  From a high level, most of the selling last week did not require net yen buying as Japanese investors essentially shifted into foreign equities, snapping up JPY1.2 trillion.  This is the most since the time series began in 2005.  Separately, foreign investors bought JPY2.0 trillion of Japanese bonds, which appears to be the second-highest on record (after the JPY2.57 trillion bought in early July).   For the third consecutive week, foreign investors were small sellers of Japanese shares.  The dollar approached JPY114.00 yesterday and was turned back, falling to JPY113.35 today.  The JPY114 area is "defended" by a $2.2 bln option at JPY114.10 that expires today and a $1.15 bln option at JPY114.25 that expires tomorrow.  A break of JPY113.25-JPY113.35 could signal a test on JPY113.00, but the market will likely be cautious ahead of tomorrow's US CPI report.  The Australian dollar's recovery faltered earlier today slightly above $0.7185, the 20-day moving average, which it has not traded above since November 4.  The first retracement (38.2%) of this week's bounce is near $0.7115, but initial support is seen in the $0.7140 area.  The greenback edged slightly lower against the Chinese yuan (~CNY6.3430) before steadying and turning marginally higher.  It is caught between two large options expiring today.  One set is for around $2.5 bln at CNY6.34, and another set is for about $950 mln at CNY6.35.  The PBOC's reference rate for the dollar today (CNY6.3498) was the largest gap with the median projection (Bloomberg, CNY6.3467) since the middle of October.   Europe Germany's October trade figures are maybe too dated to have much market impact, but the growth of imports and exports is a constructive development.  The 4.1% rise in exports, the most since July 2020, were well above expectations, as was the 5% jump in imports (most since August 2020).  For Germany, it translates into a smaller than expected trade surplus (12.8 bln euros).  The monthly average surplus this year through October is 15.5 bln euros, which is a little above the average for the same period last year (14.4 bln euros), but off average in 2019 (through October) of 19 bln euros.   On the heels of "party-gate," UK Prime Minister Johnson has announced Plan B in the face of the new infection surge that calls for people to work from home again.  It has created much furor. Businesses have called for more government support, and unions want the furlough program to be re-instituted.  Any lingering ideas of a rate hike next week by the Bank of England have faded.  The short-sterling interest rate futures contract expiring shortly is implying the lowest yield (11 bp) in three months.   Short-covering appeared to lift the euro to $1.1355 yesterday, and it settled above its 20-day moving average for the first time since November 3.  However, this was not a harbinger of a breakout, and the euro's gains are being pared today. Initial support is seen around $1.13 and then $1.1275 area.  Sterling recorded new lows for the year yesterday slightly below $1.3165, the (38.2%) retracement of the rally since March 2020 low.  Today, it is in less than a quarter-cent range capped near $1.3215.  It is consolidating weakly.  There are options at $1.32 that expire today (~GBP370 mln) and tomorrow (GBP600 mln) that are likely neutralized.   America The US reports weekly initial jobless claims, wholesale trade and inventories, and Q3 household net worth. These are not market movers, especially today. Instead, investors' focus will likely be on equities as it waits for tomorrow's CPI.  US inflation is still accelerating, and the headline CPI is likely to move closer to 7%, setting the stage for a hawkish FOMC meeting next week.  An acceleration in tapering and more officials will likely see the need for more hikes.  Recall that in September, the last time officials updated their forecasts, half did not see a need to hike rates next year.  The market has done much of the heavy lifting for the Federal Reserve.  The implied yield of the December 2022 Fed funds futures contract has risen around 50 bp since the September FOMC meeting.  The Bank of Canada left policy on hold yesterday, as widely expected.  However, the market was disappointed that it did not upgrade its forward guidance to reflect the strong data.  The swaps market is pricing in five hikes over the next 12 months, and the central bank said nothing to encourage such an aggressive stance.  This leaves the Canadian dollar somewhat vulnerable, we think.   Brazil did not disappoint.  The central bank hiked the Selic rate by 150 bp for the second consecutive month and signaled another hike of the same magnitude in February when it meets again.  It has lifted the Selic rate by 750 bp this year.  It is being driven by rising inflation, and the economy contracted in Q2 and Q3.  The Selic rate stands at 9.25%.  The IPCA inflation measure is due tomorrow, and it is expected to have risen to 10.9% (Bloomberg survey) from 10.67% in October.   Peru is expected to hike its reference rate by 50 bp to 2.5%. It would be the third 50 bp in a row.   Its November CPI, reported at the start of the month, is slightly above 5.6%.   Mexico reports its November CPI figures today.  It is expected to rise from about 6.25% to 7.25% and set the stage for another 25 bp rate hike next week in the overnight rate to 5.25%.   The US dollar is trading firmly against the Canadian dollar, and the heavier equities may be helping it.  While initial resistance is seen near CAD1.2700, we suspect there is scope toward CAD1.2730-CAD1.2750.  The greenback fell to almost MXN20.8860 yesterday, its lowest level since November 23, and the five-day moving average crossed below the 20-day moving average for the first time since early last month.  The move appears to have exhausted itself, but the dollar needs to resurface above the MXN21.05 area to boost confidence that a low is in place.  Disclaimer

The crypto market has lost 4.2% of its capitalisation in the past 24 hours and now stands at $2.27 trillion. From the peak levels reached a month ago, capitalisation has dropped by 23%, allowing us to speak of the start of a bear market for the sector, at least like the one we saw in April-July. The cryptocurrency fear and greed index dropped from 29 to 24, slipping into the extreme fear territory. Alarmingly, the overall capitalisation this time was pulled down by altcoins. The first cryptocurrency lost around 3% over the day, returning to $48.3, where the 200-day moving average runs and touched the oversold area again. A significant short-term indicator for the market promises to be the 200-day average for Bitcoin. An ability to bounce back above that line would indicate bullish sentiment prevails and promises new attempts to climb above $50K or $60K this month. A sharp fall would formally clear the way for a deeper correction to $41K or even $30K. ETHUSD has been losing 6% over the last 24 hours and is dangerously close to the psychologically significant $4000 level. The latest momentum of the decline pushed the first altcoin away from the 50-day moving average, and a deeper correction may follow. Ether fell out of the bullish uptrend from the end of September and went into a prolonged consolidation. The declines yesterday and this morning brought the coin back to the lower end of the consolidation range, and a dip under $4000 would open a straight road down with a potential target at $3300 or further to $2700. Bitcoin’s share of the crypto market has started to rise again, reaching 40.3%. We see this growth in a falling market as an additional sign of fear of the crypto market.

For the third day in a row, bitcoin is hovering around $56.7K with a slight downward bias. The pressure from traditional financial markets is already hard to speak of as there has been some rebound. This time around, the stability of bitcoin dynamics is not a balance between a furious tug-of-war and a tight spring. Instead, we see neat selling on growth attempts, with bitcoin sellers turning the price around each time from ever-lower levels. The Cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index lost another point, dropping to 31. However, its reading seems somewhat outdated, as the top coins have been trending in green so far today. Over the past 24 hours, the total capitalisation of the crypto market has risen by 0.85% to 2.62. During the week, a whole cycle of market sentiment shifted with a sharp dip, followed by recovery and a local renewal of highs. Still, already on Thursday, it was noticeable how enthusiastic buying was met with selling pressure. It seems that retail and short-term investors in cryptocurrencies are keen to capitalise on a very successful year. That said, it is hardly fair to speak of any fundamental break in the bullish trend. The market's optimism is also supported by ETHUSD. It picked up on Thursday on a drawdown below 4500. We have yet to find out whether this was a sign of the end of a mini-correction. This Friday promises to be very turbulent for the financial markets, which are near key levels ahead of the publication of the labour market data. It used to be the most unpredictable and meaningful market news, although now the Fed's interpretation of the published data sets the tone.

So, what are the facts: Monthly chart, Silver in US-Dollar, probabilities: Silver in US-Dollar, monthly chart as of December 10th, 2021. In 2020, silver broke a multiyear sideways range and moved strongly up. It has now consolidated for over a year in a sideways range again. This is a bullish setup! As much as emotions might be weary, from a probability perspective, a general rule is that the longer a congestion is from a time perspective, the more significant will be the subsequent breakout from that range. Statistical probabilities are also clearly pointing to the upside rather than returning into the prior range. Not to forget, buying near the lows of such a range box guarantees the lowest entry risk and highest risk/reward-ratio play to be taken for the long side, even if emotions might tell you otherwise. 2021 silver trades performance: 2021 silver trades performance. Another fact is that one does not need to know when and if a breakout is happening to extract money from the markets consistently. The above chart is this year’s silver trades that we posted in real-time in our free Telegram channel. The systematic approach focuses on low-risk entry points with a risk reduction method through our quad exit strategy. Sideways markets provide an income-producing aspect of one’s trading, and a possible breakout of a range would give a significant bonus. An approach like this keeps emotions in check since one’s labor gets rewarded and allows for significantly higher rewards once ranges do break. Silver in US-Dollar, quarterly chart, silver is moving up: Silver in US-Dollar, quarterly chart as of December 10th, 2021. In short, while waiting is strenuous, and one might feel doubtful, from a probability perspective, silver is an even likelier success story now than it has been six months or a year ago. What should also not be underestimated is the fundamental situation of this wealth preservation play. The extensions of governments playing the inflation game to such length are like adding fuel to the silver play. Widespread problems that are the pillars to this insurance play have, if anything, increased. Consequently, supporting a good likelihood that silver prices go up. When? Well, that is hard to say since no one knows the future, but maybe this question gets proportionally in weight too much attention since insurance isn’t just bought for the next storm to come but in principle acquired to make one feel good and to protect one’s wealth long term. The quarterly chart above shows how silvers inherent volatility can sustain, in times of market turmoil, extended phases of extreme standard deviation levels. Price moves far away from the mean (red line). We are trading near the mean as of now, and the very right green line is a projection of a possible price move up.   S&P 500 in US-Dollar, quarterly chart, Quod erat demonstrandum: S&P 500 in US-Dollar, quarterly chart as of December 10th, 2021. Still, some doubt left? Have a look at the above S&P500 chart, representing the broad market. Does that look like a healthy chart? Baby boomers and general stock-market participants might be in for a rude awakening once they realize how little their fiat currency is still worth when they cash in those stock portfolio investments. Just compare your total living cost from 2020 with 2021. All positions from food to health insurance, from car gas to electricity bills. Calculate the percentage difference from those two numbers and add this percentage to the average acquisition cost of your physical silver, and you have the real value of your silver already now. How does homelessness double to a half million people per day sleeping roofless factor in? Does this chart represent great times when we face supply chain disruptions? Or is it all smoke and mirrors, and once the music stops, there will be countless chairs missing for everyone to sit down? Silver is moving up: The essential principle in play is that markets are counterintuitive. Meaning your feelings might have switched from enthusiasm to uncertainty, even frustration, but probability facts are in direct opposition to one’s feelings. This principle is the underlying reason why moves out of extended congestion zones can result in substantial moves. Once emotionally weak hands are washed out, these breakouts come from an emotional perspective surprising. Bears step aside and bulls chase prices. Feel free to join us in our free Telegram channel for daily real time data and a great community. If you like to get regular updates on our gold model, precious metals and cryptocurrencies you can also subscribe to our free newsletter. This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone. They do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Midas Touch Consulting.

Cryptocurrencies avoided strong moves over the weekend. Bitcoin failed to significantly move away from its 200-day moving average and Ether from the $4000, leaving short-term traders in limbo. The capitalisation of all cryptocurrencies has barely changed in the past 24 hours, remaining at 2.26 trillion. The cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index is gradually recovering, rising to 28 (fear) against a low of 16 on Saturday morning. But as we can see, the state of extreme fear has not pushed key coins over the red lines. Bitcoin saw demand last week on intraday declines below $48K. Buyers support prevented it from getting below a critical technical level. But we are alarmed that the bulls managed to push the rate only slightly higher. If the bulls surrender this defensive line, a mighty avalanche of liquidation of marginal long positions is likely. If that happens, we expect volatility to spike to a magnitude similar to what we saw on the first Saturday in December and earlier in September and May. ETHUSD is hovering around $4000, and bounces from that level are getting lower in December. So far, Ether has withstood the sellers' onslaught, defending the round level and the September highs area. However, a fifth consecutive week of declines is lousy publicity for cryptocurrencies. The key demand drivers are still speculative expectations of price growth rather than company performance as in shares. Investors in the two major cryptocurrency coins have paused to assess the situation. They are waiting for meaningful signals for a continued bullish trend or the start of a bear market. The markets seem to be lacking new drivers for a strong bullish rally in the major cryptos. This week, financial market attention will be focus on the Fed meeting, and cryptocurrencies could come off pause if the Central Bank's comments elicit an unequivocal market reaction. Investors should also note that Bitcoin often makes strong moves around Christmas.

December 12, 2021  $USD US yields and the dollar softened after the release of the November CPI figures before the weekend.  The data were in line with expectations showing the headline rate accelerated to 6.8% and the core rate to 4.9%.  The price action likely reflected positioning rather than a reassessment of the outlook for next week's FOMC meeting.  Nearly everyone recognizes the likelihood that the pace of tapering is quickened, and the individual forecasts reflect a more aggressive tightening path than anticipated in September.  With the diverging monetary policy impulses are evident in the shifting two-year interest rate differentials in the US favor, it is increasingly expensive to resist a stronger greenback.  A critical part of the backdrop is that market participants feel more comfortable that the Omicron variant may not be as disruptive as feared in Europe and the US (where the current surge is notable in its own right). As a result, those major currencies that tend to do well when risk appetites are strong, namely the dollar bloc and Scandis, are outperforming.  At the same time, the traditional funding currencies, the yen, and Swiss franc, were out of favor.  The euro falls in the latter camp.  A return to working from home, the evaporation of speculation that the BOE would raise rates in the week ahead, and a disappointing October GDP report pinned sterling in its trough.   It is difficult to see the market getting significantly more aggressive about the next year's outlook for the Fed.  The futures market is pricing in two hikes entirely and around two-thirds of a third hike.  A similar logic has turned us more cautious about the Canadian dollar.  There the market has discounted 125 bp of hikes over the next 12-months, which seems too aggressive.   Dollar Index:  The Dollar Index has been moving broadly sideways, though it rose for the seventh consecutive week.  For the first eight sessions of December, it has traded within the range set on November 30 (~95.50-96.65).   The momentum indicators have trended lower but appear to be stabilizing near mid-range.  The next big target is slightly below 97.75, which is the high from June-July 2020, and the (61.8%) retracement target of the decline since the March 2020 high near 103.00.   Euro:  The single currency briefly traded below the November 30 low (~$1.1235) last Tuesday before short-covering lifted it to the week's high ($1.1355) the following day.  It finished the week on a firm note after wobbling initially after the US CPI report.  With a brief exception, the euro has chopped between $1.12 and $1.14 since mid-November.   The broad sideways movement has seen the momentum indicators correct from over-extended territory.  Since November 10, when the US reported the jump in CPI to 6.2%, the US 2-year premium over Germany rose by roughly 18 bp to 1.40%,  to set the year's high.  It stalled.  The consolidative phase may continue ahead of the FOMC meeting.  Given what the market is pricing in, it may be difficult for the Fed to get ahead of market expectations for next year when it meets on December 15.   Japanese Yen: After testing support near JPY112.55 to start last week, the dollar recovered to almost JPY114.00 in the middle of the week before moving sideways.  It continued to track the movement of US 10-year yields.  As yields rose in the first part of the week, the dollar traded higher against the yen, and when yields slipped min the second half of the week, so did the greenback.  The MACD has flatlined, while the Slow Stochastic is trending higher.  A break of JPY113.00 retargets the lows.  On the topside, the JPY114.00-JPY114.30 area offers nearby resistance. British Pound:  Little is going sterling way.  Support for the Prime Minister has fallen, and polls show Labour opening its largest lead in years.  It has opted for "Plan B," with people returning to working from home, though no new government support was offered.  The economic growth slowed more than expected in October, which was before the Covid wave intensified and the Omicron variant was detected.  The rate hike that looked so likely in November now seems off the table until at least February.  Meanwhile, the fishing row and the attempt to change the Northern Ireland Agreement remain unresolved but causing enough consternation to deter the US from lifting the steel and aluminum tariffs that Trump imposed, let alone discussing a free-trade agreement.  Sterling made a marginal new low for the year last week (slightly below $1.3165, which met the (38.2%) retracement objective of the rally from the March 2020 low.  The next retracement (50%) is around $1.2830.  The momentum indicators are not generating a strong signal presently.  It finished last week on a firm note but a move above $1.3300-$1.13350 is needed to signal anything important.   Canadian Dollar:  The Canadian dollar's recovery fizzled after the central bank failed to provide fresh encouragement to the market, with 125 bp of hikes priced into the swaps market over the next 12 months.  The US dollar, which had rallied and closed above CAD1.28 on December 3 despite the diverging jobs reports, fell nearly CAD1.26 before catching a good bid.  Ahead of the weekend, it had recovered to the middle of the week's range (~CAD1.2730).  A move above the CAD1.2760 area could signal another run at the highs. The MACD pulled back, but it looks like it may try turning higher, while the Slow Stochastic is still falling.  The five-day moving average is set to slip below the 20-day moving average for the first time in a month.  Canada reports November CPI figures on December 15, and the year-over-year pace is set to accelerate from the 4.7% 12-month clip seen in October.  Inflation is also likely rising even faster this month.   Australian Dollar: The Australian dollar rose almost 2.5% last week to end a five-week slide that shook a nickel from it.  The Aussie recovered from the year's low slightly below $0.7000 (December 3), the measuring objective of the potential head and shoulder pattern traced out in H1 21. However, the recovery stalled shy of $0.7190.  The initial retracement of the leg lower that began in late October was closer to $0.7210. Still, the anticipation of a strong employment report (December 15) could help underpin the Aussie.  Provided it holds above the $0.7120 area, the Australian dollar can work its way higher.  The MACD and Slow Stochastic are trending higher.   Mexican Peso: While the Australian dollar was the strongest of the major currencies, the Mexican peso led the emerging market currencies a nearly 2% gain.  Last week, Latam provided three of the four strongest emerging market currencies (Colombian peso +1.25%) and the Brazilian real (0.95%).  The Thai baht was in third place with a 1.25% gain.  Banixco meets on December 16.  It is widely expected to hike by another 25 bp.  The central bank of Chile meets on December 14 and is expected to hike 125 bp to 4.0%.  The last move in October was also for 125 bp.    The Colombian central bank meets on December 17.  Most anticipate a 50 bp hike to 3.0% after initiating the tightening cycle with a 75 bp move in October.  Mexico's central bank appears to be a laggard in this cycle, but the peso's 4.5% loss this year makes it the top performer in the region.  The US dollar fell to a new three-week low slightly below MXN20.85 before the weekend.  The momentum indicators are trending lower, and the five-day moving average crossed below the 20-day for the first time since mid-November.  Initial support is seen in the MXBN20.70-MXN20.75 band. Chinese Yuan:  Chinese officials have delivered verbal warnings and cautioned banks and businesses to adopt good foreign exchange hedging practices and avoid a one-way market.  It signaled displeasure as the yuan rose to new three-year highs against the dollar by setting the daily reference rate.  It cut reserve requirements ahead of the expected FOMC decision next week to accelerate its tapering and bring forward its first rate hike.  The PBOC also raised the reserve requirement for foreign currency deposits.  Yet, the yuan rose in all but one session last week and eked a small gain on the week.  This month, the dollar's high was set ahead of the weekend near CNY6.3835,  but the positive greenback momentum was not sustained.  The dollar finished around CNY6.3700.  In the grand scheme of things, these are small moves, yet this is where the lines are being drawn.  Some observers have argued that state-owned banks in China have operated on behalf of the central bank (stealth intervention).  If this is true,  one must ask what happened to them now or why is that channel not working?  Still, with policy divergence on the PBOC's side, the risk-reward does not seem to favor fighting it now.  If the PBOC wants to drive home its message, the dollar needs to rise above CNY6.40.  Portfolio inflows and the large trade surplus need to be offset by increased capital outflows if officials want to remove the upside pressure on the currency.  That said, if there is an escalation ladder here, officials dominate nearly every rung.  In the long game, officials cannot be seen as losing, and if the carrots do not work, the will appears to be there to use the stick.   Disclaimer

December 13, 2021  $USD, Australia, Canada, China, Currency Movement, FOMC, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey, UK   Overview: Equities, bonds, and the dollar begin the new week on a firm note.  Japanese, Chinese, Australian, and New Zealand equities advanced in the Asia Pacific region.  Europe's Stoxx 600 is snapping a three-day decline, and US futures are 0.25%-0.35% higher.  The US 10-year yield is a little softer at 1.48%. European benchmark yields are mostly 1-2 bp lower, and near 0.71%, the UK Gilt's yield is at a three-month low.  The dollar is rising against all the major currencies and is 0.3%-0.45% higher against most.  The Canadian dollar and sterling are the most resilient.  Among emerging market currencies, the Chinese yuan continues to defy official signals to eke out a small gain.  The Turkish lira is off more than 2%, after having dropped 4% initially. Intervention at the end of last week failed to have a lasting impact, and the central bank is expected to cut rates again later this week.  The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index is giving back last week's 0.2% gain plus more today.  It was the first weekly gain in five weeks.  Gold is quiet in the upper end of the pre-weekend range, holding above $1780.  January WTI is firm but capped near the 20-day moving average (~$72.80).  US natgas is firm after falling 5% last week.  Dutch gas is up 8% to new two-month highs.  It has a six-week rally in tow, during which time it has gained a little more than 60%.  Industrial metals are higher too.  Iron ore snapped a three-day air pocket and gained it all back and more with its 6.5% rally today.  Copper has steadied after falling almost 2.5% in the last two sessions.   Asia Pacific The results of Japan's Tankan survey were in line with the talk we have picked up that while the new government, vaccination efforts, and fiscal stimulus are helping fuel the economic recovery, businesses are not yet convinced that significant change is taking place.  Sentiment among large manufacturers was steady at 18, and the outlook ticked lower.  The improvement in sentiment among the large non-manufacturers was more pronounced (9 vs. 2). However, the outlook was subdued at 8 (from 3).  Capex plans from the large businesses were softer than expected at 9.3% (from 10.1%).  Sentiment among the small companies improved, but the diffusion index and the outlook remained negative.  South Korea reported strong traded numbers for the first ten days of December (exports 20.4% and imports 42.3% year-over-year).  Seoul was busy.  Its foreign minister met with high Japanese counterpart on the sidelines of the G7 meeting and struck a cooperative tone. South Korea's President Moon met with Australia's Prime Minister Morrison and struck a A$1 bln weapon deal for self-propelled howitzers (which have already been purchased by other countries, including India and Turkey).  South Korea, however, will not be participating in the diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics, citing the need for Beijing's cooperation to denuclearize the peninsula.   The US dollar remains within its recent range against the Japanese yen (~JPY113.20-JPY113.95).  The 20-day moving average is at the top of the range, and it has not traded above it this month yet.  An option for almost $400 mln at JPY114.00 expires today.  It is the fifth session that the dollar has not traded below JPY113.20.  The Australian dollar's rally stalled near $0.7185 last week and is testing the lower end of its three-day range (~$0.7130) in the European morning.  Support is seen in the $0.7090-$0.7115 area.  The highlight of the week is the November jobs report, which is expected to show a strong bounce after three months of Covid-related declines.  More problems among China's property developers and activity in the manufacturing hub in Zhejiang were suspended due to an outbreak of the virus that failed to trigger a retreat in the yuan.  The dollar spent most of the local session below the pre-weekend low (~CNY6.3615).  The PBOC set the dollar's reference rate at CNY6.3669.  The market (Bloomberg survey) expected CNY6.3649.   Europe The UK appeared to make two concessions over the weekend.  First, it signaled that it was no longer seeking to exclude a role for the European Court of Justice in enforcing the Northern Ireland protocol.  Second, new fishing licenses were made available to the EU and French fishers. Jersey and the UK issued another 23 licenses, and although Paris was seeking more, it seemed sufficient to de-escalate the situation.   The UK government is under pressure from many sides.  The "partygate" scandal is a culmination of miscues by the Prime Minister, who has struggled with a Peppa Pig speech and a Kermit the Frog speech at the UN.  Several petty sleaze scandals have also marred the government.  Recent polls put Labour ahead of the Conservatives. This Thursday, the special election could see the Tories defeated in a traditional stronghold (ie Lib-Dems a protest vote for disenchanted Tories?).  The UK's stance toward the EU and the risk to the Good Friday Agreement have estranged the US government to some extent, which has not lifted Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs and put much energy into a free-trade agreement between the two special allies.   Turkey reported a large than expected October current account surplus ($3.16 bln) current account surplus.  While the currency's sharp depreciation would be expected to help the trade account, it also scares international investors.  It reported a net outflow of $2.2 bln portfolio capital in October.  Industrial output surprised on the upside in October, rising by 0.6%.  Economists (Bloomberg survey) expected a 0.1% decline after a 1.5% fall in September.  Turkey appeared to intervene in the foreign exchange market at the end of last week.  The dollar held below TRY14 but jumped to almost TRY14.76 today before pulling back.  The Swiss National Bank also looks like it intervened last week.  The euro held above CHF1.04 after having been sold to about CHF1.0375 earlier this month, its lowest level since July 2015.  Swiss domestic sight deposits rose by CHF1.12 bln, the biggest increase in three weeks.  Note that after buying euros against the franc, the SNB is believed to sell euros for dollars to maintain the allocation of its reserves.  The euro peaked last week near $1.1355.  It has been sold to a four-day low of $1.1260 today.    There is an option for 1.44 bln euros at $1.1250 that expires today.  The low for the year was set on November 24 near $1.1185, while last week's low was slightly below $1.1230.  With diverging impulses expected from the Fed and ECB this week, the euro looks vulnerable.  Sterling closed on its highs before the weekend and is on the defensive today.  The market appears to be absorbing bids that might be related to the expiration of a couple of options today (~GBP500 mln at $1.3235 and ~GBP560 mln at $1.3200).  The low for the year was set last week (December 8) near $1.3165, but initial support today is around $1.3220.  The odds of a BOE rate hike later this week have fallen to less than a 1 in 5 chance.   America The highlight of the week is the FOMC meeting.  Nearly everyone expects the Fed to accelerate its tapering and for individual forecasts to shift, matching the more hawkish rhetoric seen since the October CPI print jumped above 6% (November 10).  November's CPI, reported at the end of last week, accelerated to 6.8%.  Before we get to the FOMC meeting, though, this US reports PPI (the heading is expected to accelerate above 9% and the core above 7%) and November retail sales (a solid gain is anticipated of around 0.8% but off the heady 1.7% pace seen in October).  After the mid-week FOMC meeting conclusion, the US reports November housing starts, industrial production, and the Philly Fed's December survey.  The preliminary December PMI estimates are also due Thursday.  The week's data highlight for Canada is the mid-week estimate of November CPI.  Prices may have edged up by 0.2% on the month, but the year-over-year rate is expected to be little changed from the 4.7% pace seen in October.  The underlying measures may have edged up a little.  Price pressures are elevated but do not appear to be accelerating, as seen in the US.  Tomorrow, the new central bank mandate will be announced.  The mandate is reviewed every five years.  The press reports that the 2% inflation target will be retained, but the mandate may include a component of the labor market as it takes what is expected to be a small step toward a dual mandate like the Fed's.   Mexico's central bank meets on Thursday.  It is widely expected to lift the overnight rate target by 25 bp to 5.25%. In Bloomberg's survey of  17 economists, three forecast a 50 bp hike.  It would be the fourth hike in the cycle that began in August.  Chile and Colombia's central banks also are expected to hike rates this week.  Chile, which hiked by 125 bp in October after a 75 bp increase in August, is expected to make another 125 bp adjustment tomorrow.  It would lift the policy rate to 4%. It holds the second round of its presidential election on December 19.  Colombia's central bank meets on December 17.  A 50 bp increase would lift the repo rate to 3.0%.  The first increase in the cycle was 75 bp in October (to 2.5%).  November's CPI was a little above 5.25%.   The US dollar is rising against the Canadian dollar for the fourth consecutive session.  It is poking above CAD1.2750 in the European morning, where an option for almost $450 mln expires today (and another for $515 mln expires tomorrow).  A convincing move above CAD1.2760 could retarget the month's high (~CAD1.2855).  The market has 125 bp of hikes discounted over the next 12 months, but little new encouragement from the central bank.  The greenback fell against the peso in four of last week's five sessions.  It is little changed today, trading above the pre-weekend low (~MXN20.8430).  The next support area is seen closer to MXN20.70.  Still, the market is likely to be cautious extending short US dollar positions ahead of the Fed.   Disclaimer

Macro 2021-12-10 08:30 6 minutes to read Summary:  Risk sentiment has consolidated after sharp gains earlier this week as the market nervously eyes the US November CPI release today from the US and whether this will trigger a more hawkish FOMC meeting next week. The US White House has already been out attempting damage control from the inflation headlines today, saying that the data will not reflect recent declines in gasoline and other prices.   What is our trading focus? Nasdaq 100 (USNAS100.I) and S&P 500 (US500.I) - US equities and particularly tech stocks consolidated a significant chunk of the sharp gains from earlier this week, with speculative sectors getting the worst of it on the day, although most stocks were down on the day. A high US November CPI release today could spook investors as it would raise the anticipation of an even more hawkish FOMC meeting next week. EURUSD – The EURUSD rally attempt from Wednesday faltered in what now looks a mere tactical squeeze ahead of today’s US November CPI report (more below). Given that the slide in EURUSD has largely tracked with the rise in Fed expectations, the degree to which those expectations are adjusted higher or lower in the wake of today’s US CPI data and then next week in the wake of the FOMC meeting Wednesday and ECB meeting Thursday will likely correlate with EURUSD direction, where the focus is on the cycle lows just below 1.1200 for a possible run at 1.1000 on a break lower and the tactical pivot high near 1.1380. USDJPY and JPY crosses – the omicron variant news of some two weeks ago triggered a huge slide in USDJPY just after it was trying to engineer a break above multi-year highs near 114-50. Similar to developments in crude oil and longer US yields, USDJPY has failed to get back to the upper reaches of the recent range since that sell-off, which bottomed out near the 112.50 area – the current trigger zone for a possible further sell-off wave (most like in a scenario of cratering risk sentiment and US treasuries serving as a safe-haven) that could poke at the important 111.00-50 downside pivot zone. Elsewhere, JPY crosses backed up very sharply this week on hopes that the omicron variant will prove mild and won’t impact the growth outlook, but the scale of the rally or squeeze has been modest relative to the prior sell-off. Watching areas like 127.50-128.00 in EURJPY and 79.00 in AUDJPY in coming sessions for whether another wave of JPY strength is in the cards. Crude oil’s (OILUKFEB22 & OILUSJAN22) week-long rally hit the buffers yesterday with Brent and WTI retracing back towards support at their 200-day moving averages at $73 and $69.80 respectively. A study finding the omicron variant is 4.2 times more transmissible than the delta combined with new restrictions among several nations helped weaken the sentiment, and with end of year approaching many traders are increasingly becoming more risk adverse, potentially leading to more fluctuations. Focus today on omicron news, US inflation data and whether the mentioned support level can be maintained. Wheat (WHEATMAR22 & ZWH2) trades near five-week low following three days of losses which accelerated yesterday after the USDA raised its outlook for global stocks. The 3% drop in Chicago also helped drag down the recent highflyers futures for Kansas and Paris milling wheat. Global stock levels at the end of the 2022-23 season received a boost from production upgrades in Russian (1mt) and Australian (2.5mt) while US export slowed with high prices curbing demand. US Treasuries (TLH, TLT).  Yesterday’s 30-year auction showed that the market is not willing to buy long-term US Treasuries at current low yields. The 30-year auction was priced with a high yield of 1.895%, tailing by 3.2bps. Although the tail was smaller than last month’s 5.2bps, it would have been enough to cause a selloff in long-term Treasuries. However, covid distortions kept yields compressed, hence volatility in rates was avoided. Today’s CPI numbers are in focus as a high number is likely to contribute to more upward pressure in the yield curve. What is going on? The US White House was already out attempting damage control on inflation before today’s CPI release. A White House official, economic adviser Brian Deese, was out late yesterday saying that today’s US November CPI release won’t reflect recent drops in the price of key commodities, especially gasoline and natural gas as it is “backward looking”. China property developers formally declared to have defaulted - as Fitch Ratings noted missed interest payments on Evergrande and Kaisa Group Holdings USD bonds as it downgraded these issues to restricted default. USDCNY and USDCNH bounce sharply a day after posting new low for the year - China fixed the USDCNY level at a far weaker level than expected and announced an FX reserve ratio increase to 9%, forcing domestic banks to maintain higher reserves of foreign currencies.  These are rather obvious signals that China would like to avoid a further rise in its currency after a powerful and broad rally that saw both the offshore and onshore yuan posting new highs for the US dollar for the year just this Wednesday. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies close sharply lower – with Bitcoin closing at its lowest levels on a weekday since September. Technically, the 40-45k zone looks important for avoiding a more significant capitulation lower after the recent weekend meltdown that took the price some 20% lower to below 43k before support was found. According to coinmarketcap.com, the market cap of the nearly 15.5k cryptocurrencies is currently near $2.26 trillion after peaking near $2.93 trillion in November, a drawdown of over 22%. What are we watching next? US November CPI data release today, expected at 6.8% year-on-year for the headline number and 4.9% at the core, both of which would be the highest readings in decades. Given that expectations are so high, would a slightly hotter than expected number move the needle on a Friday ahead of next week’s important FOMC meeting? A significant beat to the upside just might make a difference, given that the Fed has clearly made a shift toward fighting inflation and would probably need to bring a March 2022 rate hike possibility into its forward guidance. Fed rate expectations for next year are poised near the high for the cycle, suggesting a 0.8% Fed Funds rate (vs. currently 0-0.25%) is priced in through the December 2022 Fed meeting. The EU is set to decide by December 22 whether investments in gas and nuclear energy should be labelled climate friendly. The design of the EU green investment classification system is closely watched by investors worldwide and could potentially attract billions of euros in private finance to help the green transition, especially given the need to reduce the usage of coal, the biggest polluter. Economic calendar highlights for today (times GMT) 0905 – ECB President Lagarde, others speaking at panel discussion1300 - Poland National Bank of Poland meeting minutes1330 – US Nov. CPI1500 – US Dec. Preliminary University of Michigan Sentiment Follow SaxoStrats on the daily Saxo Markets Call on your favorite podcast app: Apple Spotify Soundcloud Sticher

https://www.midastouch-consulting.com/13122021-gold-recovery-ahead December 13th, 2021: The gold market is nearing the end of a difficult and very challenging year. Most precious metal investors must have been severely disappointed. Gold – Recovery ahead. Review 2021 started quite bullish, as the gold price climbed rapidly towards US$1,960 at the beginning of the year. In retrospect, however, this peak on January 6th also represented the high for the year! In the following 11.5 months, gold did not even come close to reaching these prices again. Instead, prices came under considerable pressure and only bottomed out at the beginning and then again at the end of March around US$1,680 with a double low. Interestingly, the low on March 8th at US$1,676 did hold until today. The subsequent recovery brought gold prices back above the round mark of US$1,900 within two months. But already on June 1st, another violent wave of selling started, which pushed gold prices down by US$150 within just four weeks. Subsequently, gold bulls attempted a major recovery in the seasonally favorable early summer phase. However, they failed three times in this endeavor at the strong resistance zone around US$1,830 to US$1,835. As a result, sufficient bearish pressure had built up again, which was then unleashed in the flash crash on August 9th with a brutal sell-off within a few minutes and a renewed test of the US$1,677 mark. Despite this complete washout, gold bulls were only able to recover from this shock with difficulty. Hence, gold traded sideways mainly between US$1,760 and US$1,815 for the following three months. It was not until the beginning of November that prices quickly broke out of this tenacious sideways phase and thus also broke above the 15-month downtrend-line. This was quickly followed by another rise towards US$1,877. However, and this is quite indicative of the ongoing corrective cycle since the all-time high in August 2020, gold prices made another hard U-turn within a few days and sold off even faster than they had risen before. Since this last sell-off from US$1,877 down to US$1,762, gold has been stuck and kind of paralyzed for three weeks, primarily trading in a narrow range between US$1,775 and US$1,785. Obviously, the market seems to be waiting for the upcoming FOMC meeting. Overall, gold has not been able to do much in 2021. Most of the time it has gone sideways and did everything to confuse participants. These treacherous market phases are the very most dangerous ones. Physical investors can easily sit through such a sideways shuffling. But leveraged traders had nothing to laugh about. Either the movements in gold changed quickly and abruptly or almost nothing happened for days and sometimes even weeks while the trading ranges were shrinking. Technical Analysis: Gold in US-Dollar Weekly Chart – Bottoming out around US$1,780? Gold in US-Dollars, weekly chart as of December 13th, 2021. Source: Tradingview Despite the 15-month correction, gold has been able to easily hold above the uptrend channel, which goes back to December 2015. The steeper uptrend channel that began in the summer of 2018 is also still intact and would only be broken if prices would fall below US$1,700. Support between US$1,760 and US$1,780 has held over the last three weeks too. The weekly stochastic oscillator is currently neutral but has been slowly tightening for months. Overall, gold is currently trading right in the middle of its two Bollinger bands on the weekly chart. Thus, the setup is neutral. However, bottoming out around US$1,780 has a slightly increased probability. Daily Chart – New buying signal Gold in US-Dollars, daily chart as of December 13th, 2021. Source: Tradingview On the daily chart, gold has been searching for support around its slightly rising 200-day moving average (US$1,793) over the last three weeks. However, eye contact has been maintained, hence a recapturing of this important moving average is still quite possible. Despite the failed breakout in November, the current price action has not moved away from the downtrend-line. A further attack on this resistance thus appears likely. Encouragingly, the daily stochastic has turned up from its oversold zone and provides a new buy signal. In summary, the chances of a renewed recovery starting in the near future predominate on the daily chart. In the first step, such a bounce could run to around US$1,815. Secondly, the bulls would then have to clear the downtrend-line, which would release further upward potential towards US$1,830 and US$1,870. The very best case scenario might see gold being able to rise to the psychological number of US$1,900 in the next two to four months. On the downside however, the support between US$1,760 and US$1,780 must be held at all costs. Otherwise, the threat of further downward pressure towards US$1,720 and US$1,680 intensifies. Commitments of Traders for Gold – Recovery ahead Commitments of Traders for Gold as of December 12th, 2021. Source: Sentimentrader The commercial net short position in the gold futures market was last reported at 245,623 contracts sold short. Although the setup has somewhat improved due to the significant price decline in recent weeks, the overall constellation continues to move in neutral waters. There is still no clear contrarian bottleneck in the futures market, where professional traders should have reduced their net short positions to below 100,000 contracts at least. Until then, it would still be a long way from current levels, which could probably only happen with a price drop towards US$1,625. As long as this does not happen, any larger move up will probably have a hard time. In summary, the CoT report provides a neutral signal and thus stands in the way of a sustainable new uptrend. However, given the current futures market data, temporary recoveries over a period of about one to three months are currently possible. Sentiment for Gold – Recovery ahead Sentiment Optix for Gold as of December 12th, 2021. Source: Sentimentrader Sentiment for gold has been meandering in the neutral and not very meaningful middle zone for more than a year. Furthermore, a complete capitulation or at least very high pessimism levels are still missing to end the ongoing correction. Such a high pessimism was last seen in spring of 2019, whereupon gold was able to rise more than US$800 from the lows at US$1,265 to US$2,075 within 15 months. This means that in the big picture, sentiment analysis continues to lack total capitulation. This can only be achieved with deeply fallen prices. In the short term, however, the Optix for gold has almost reached its lows for the year. At the same time, german mainstream press is currently asking, appropriately enough, “Why doesn’t gold protect against inflation? This gives us a short-term contrarian buy signal, which should enable a recovery rally over coming one to three months. Seasonality for Gold – Recovery ahead Seasonality for Gold over the last 53-years as of December 12th, 2021. Source: Sentimentrader As so often in recent years, precious metal investors are being put to the test in the fourth quarter of 2021. In the past, however, there was almost always a final sell-off around the last FOMC meeting between mid-November and mid-December. And this was always followed by an important low and a trend reversal. This year, everything points to December 15th or 16th. Following the FOMC interest rate decision and the FOMC press conference, the start of a recovery would be extremely typical. Statistically, gold prices usually finish the last two weeks of the year with higher prices, because trading volume in the west world is very low over the holidays, while in Asia, and especially in China and India, trading is more or less normal. Also, the “tax loss selling” in mining stocks should be over by now. Overall, the seasonal component turns “very bullish” in a few days, supporting precious metal prices from mid-December onwards. Typically, January in particular is a very positive month for gold, but the favorable seasonal period lasts until the end of February. Macro update and Crack-up-Boom: US-Inflation as of November 30th, 2021. ©Holger Zschaepitz Last Friday, inflation in the U.S. was reported to have risen to 6.8% for the month of November. This is the fastest price increase since 1982, when Ronald Reagan was US president, and the US stock markets had started a new bull market after a 16-year consolidation phase. Today, by contrast, the financial markets have been on the central banks’ drip for more than a decade, if not more than two. The dependence is enormous and a turn away from the money glut is unthinkable. Nevertheless, the vast majority of market participants still allow themselves to be bluffed by the Fed and the other central banks and blindly believe the fairy tales of these clowns. The Global US-Dollar Short Squeeze However, while inflation figures worldwide are going through the roof due to the gigantic expansion of the money supply and the supply bottlenecks, the US-Dollar continues to rise at the same time. A nasty US-Dollar short squeeze has been building up since early summer. The mechanism behind this is not easy to understand and gold bugs in particular often have a hard time with it. From a global perspective, the US-Dollar is still the most important reserve currency and thus also the most important international medium of exchange as well as the most important store of value for almost all major countries. Completely independently of this, many of these countries still use their own currency domestically. International oil trade and numerous other commodities are also invoiced and settled in US-Dollar. For example, when France buys oil from Saudi Arabia, it does not pay in its own currency, EUR, but in USD. Through this mechanism, there has been a solid demand for US-Dollar practically non-stop for decades. The US-Dollar system The big risk of this “US-Dollar system”, however, is that many foreign governments and companies borrow in US-Dollar, even though most of their revenue is generated in the respective national currency. The lenders of these US-Dollar are often not even US institutions. Foreign lenders also often lend to foreign borrowers in dollars. This creates a currency risk for the borrower, a mismatch between the currency of their income and the currency of their debt. Borrowers do this because they have to pay lower interest rates for a loan in US-Dollar than in their own national currency. Sometimes dollar-denominated bonds and loans are also the only way to get liquidity at all. Thus, it is not the lender who bears the currency risk, but the borrower. In this way, the borrower is basically taking a short position against the US-Dollar, whether he wants to or not. Now, if the dollar strengthens, this becomes a disadvantage for him, because his debt increases in relation to his income in the local currency. If, on the other hand, the US-Dollar weakens, the borrower is partially relieved of debt because his debt falls in relation to his income in the local currency. Turkish lira since December 2020 as of December 13th, 2021.©Holger Zschaepitz Looking, for example, at the dramatic fall of the Turkish lira, one can well imagine the escalating flight from emerging market currencies into the US-Dollar. Since the beginning of the year, Turks have lost almost 50% of their purchasing power against the US-Dollar. A true nightmare. Other emerging market currencies such as the Argentine peso, the Thai baht or even the Hungarian forint have also come under significant pressure this year. On top, the Evergrande bankruptcy and the collapse of the real estate bubble in China may also have contributed significantly to this smoldering wildfire. All in all, the “US-Dollar short squeeze” may well continue despite a technically heavily overbought situation. Sooner or later, however, the Federal Reserve will have to react and row back again. Otherwise, the strength of the US-Dollar will suddenly threaten a deflationary implosion in worldwide stock markets and in the entire financial system. The global house of cards would not survive such shock waves. The tapering is “nearish” It is therefore highly likely that the Fed will soon postpone the so-called “tapering” and the “interest rate hikes” until further notice. To explain this, they will surely come up with some gibberish with complicated-sounding words. All in all, an end to loose monetary policy is completely unthinkable. Likewise, the supply bottlenecks will remain for the time being. This means that inflation will continue to be fueled by both monetary and scarcity factors and, on top of that, by the psychological inflationary spiral. In these crazy times, investors in all sectors will have to patiently endure temporary volatility and the accompanying sharp pullbacks. Conclusion: Gold – Recovery ahead With gold and silver, you can protect yourself well against any scenario. In the medium and long term, however, this does not necessarily mean that precious metal prices will always track inflation one-to-one and go through the roof in the coming years. Most likely, the exponential expansion of the money supply will continue and accelerate. Hence, significantly higher gold and silver prices can then be expected. If, on the other hand, the system should implode, gold and silver will be able to play out their monetary function to the fullest and one will be glad to own them when almost everything else must be written down to zero. In the bigger picture, however, gold and silver fans will have to remain patient for the time being, because the clear end of the months-long correction has not yet been sealed. Rather, the most important cycle in the gold market should deliver an important low approximately every 8 years. The last time this happened was in December 2015 at US$1,045. This means that the correction in the gold market could continue over the next one or even two years until the trend reverses and the secular bull market finally continues. In the short term, however, the chances of a recovery in the coming weeks into the new year and possibly even into spring are quite good. But it should only gradually become clearer after the Fed’s interest rate decision on Wednesday what will happen next. A rally towards US$1,815 and US$1,830 has a clearly increased probability. Beyond that, US$1,870 and in the best case even US$1,910 could possibly be reached in February or March. For this to happen, however, the bulls would have to do a lot of work. Analysis initially written and published on on December 13th, 2021, by www.celticgold.eu. Translated into English and partially updated on December 13th, 2021. Feel free to join us in our free Telegram channel for daily real time data and a great community. If you like to get regular updates on our gold model, precious metals and cryptocurrencies you can subscribe to our free newsletter. By Florian Grummes|December 13th, 2021|Tags: Gold, Gold Analysis, Gold bullish, Gold Cot-Report, gold fundamentals, gold mining, Gold neutral, Silver, The bottom is in|0 Comments About the Author: Florian Grummes Florian Grummes is an independent financial analyst, advisor, consultant, trader & investor as well as an international speaker with more than 20 years of experience in financial markets. He is specialized in precious metals, cryptocurrencies and technical analysis. He is publishing weekly gold, silver & cryptocurrency analysis for his numerous international readers. He is also running a large telegram Channel and a Crypto Signal Service. Florian is well known for combining technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis into one accurate conclusion about the markets.

British jobs data came out stronger than expected, supporting the British currency and helping the FTSE100 partially counter the market pressure from the start of the day on Tuesday. Wage growth has been slower than expected, adding 4.9% in the last three months to the same period a year earlier, vs expected 4.6%. The rate of wage growth is declining due to a move away from the low base effect, and current data leaves earnings above inflation (4.2%). This is a noticeably stronger performance than in Europe and the USA, where wages are not keeping up with price rises. Furthermore, the number of jobless claims has fallen for the ninth month in a row, although there are still 722K more claims than before the pandemic hit in March 2020. On balance, strong wage growth and a recovery in employment give the Bank of England more room to tighten monetary policy. Later this week, the BoE will likely give transparent hints of an imminent rate hike, further supporting the contrast of the pound against the euro.

There are less than 2.1 million BTC left to be mined. The last Bitcoin is expected to be mined in 2140. Analysts believe that the scarcity could propel BTC price to reach six figures. Bitcoin has recently reached a massive milestone, as miners have minted over 18.9 million BTC into supply, accounting for 90% of the 21 million maximum supply in the network. 90% of all Bitcoin have been created Less than 10% of the entire Bitcoin maximum supply now remains, and analysts are expecting the leading cryptocurrency’s scarcity to influence a supply shock which could propel BTC price higher. As the adoption of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are on the rise, analysts are predicting that the long-term price outlook for BTC will reach over six figures. As miners continue to mint new coins, the number of new Bitcoins entering into supply have steadily increased, reaching past the 18.9 million mark, resulting in 90% of all BTC to have been created and released into supply. After reaching this threshold, only 2.1 million BTC, or roughly 10% of the total 21 million Bitcoin remains to be mined. Additionally, there are estimates of three to five million Bitcoin that have not moved in the past decade, and a large portion could be permanently lost. The current block reward for miners is 6.25 BTC per block, and the rewards will decrease to half of the amount per block post-halving. Given the current rate of 900 BTC mined per day and 210,000 blocks are needed for every halving, the next reward halving is expected to be in May 2024. The current Bitcoin inflation rate fluctuates between 1.75% to 1.88% and after the halving event, the inflation rate is estimated to be around 1.10%. Until 2030, there will be two sizeable Bitcoin block reward halvings, after then, the rewards will be fractions of BTC. The inflation rate is expected to be around 0.50% by 2030, and 98.02% of all Bitcoin supply will be expected to be mined. The last BTC is expected to be mined in the year 2140. Given that Bitcoin hashrate surging to all-time highs, the network has accelerated the timeframe between halvings, as the daily issuance rate has rapidly increased than previously estimated. Bitcoin halvings occur every four years, allowing fewer coins to enter into supply, making the leading cryptocurrency scarce which increases demand. Marcus Soitiriou, analyst at GlobalBlock suggested that Bitcoin’s scarcity will lead to supply shock for BTC to overtake gold’s market capitalization over the next ten years, which stands at around $10 trillion. He estimates the bellwether cryptocurrency’s price to rise to $500,000 in the future. Bitcoin price awaits 12% ascent Bitcoin price has formed a falling wedge pattern on the 4-hour chart, indicating hope for the bulls. BTC has bounced off of the descending support trend line that forms the lower boundary of the governing technical pattern at $45,654. The leading cryptocurrency is now ready for a recovery. The first line of resistance may appear at the 21 four-hour Simple Moving Average (SMA), coinciding with the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level at $48,501. Additional headwind may appear at the 50 four-hour SMA at $49,057. A break above the upper boundary of the falling wedge could put a 12% climb on the radar toward $55,435. BTC/USDT 4-hour chart If selling pressure increases, Bitcoin price will discover immediate support at the December 4 low at $46,131, before dropping toward the lower boundary of the prevailing chart pattern at $45,654.

Over the past 24 hours, total crypto market capitalisation rose by 2.1% to $2.24 trillion, recovering to the levels at the start of the week. Yesterday, the figure was close to the $2.0 trillion mark, but demand for risk assets recovery supported cryptos, providing around a 12% rise from the bottom to peak in the following four hours. On balance, the cryptocurrency fear and greed index reclaimed another point, rising to 29. The bulls seem to be putting in the necessary minimum effort to keep the positive picture on the charts of the major cryptocurrencies. But there isn’t much more to do now. Bitcoin is up 1.2% in the last 24 hours, trading at $48.7K. The bulls managed to push BTCUSD into the area above the 200-day moving average but are not getting away from it. Etherereum is adding 3.5%, clinging to the $4K. The strong market reaction after the FOMC pushed ETHUSD above this round level, but we saw some selling pressure in the morning. Short-term traders should closely watch whether the former support has turned into resistance. The pair of major cryptocurrencies appear to have been supported by a general increase in risk appetite in the markets following the FOMC announcements. However, investors should keep in mind that this upward move in traditional financial markets was more of a “buy the rumours, sell the facts” style reaction. Fundamentally, news about the faster QE tapering and greater willingness to raise rates has already been priced in during previous weeks. But at the same time, long-term investors should not lose sight of the natural tightening of financial conditions because of these moves, which will slowly but persistently reduce demand for risky assets. The main risk for the crypto market is that we have seen a monetary regime switch in the last couple of months, which promises to take some of the demand for crypto away..

The cryptocurrency market came under impressive pressure on Monday afternoon, taking 6% off its total capitalisation to 2.12 trillion. The Fear and Greed Index for the sector returned to the extreme fear territory, dropping from 28 to 21. It is not easy to pinpoint the new wave of pressure trigger, but it intensified and widened after the two largest cryptocurrencies gave up their key positions. Bitcoin has fallen below its 200-day average, trading below $47K at the time of writing. Excluding the intraday drop on the 6th of December, these are the lowest values since early October, and bitcoin has lost a third of its value from its peak levels just over a month ago. By and large, the highs at 69k were the starting point for pressure on the BTCUSD. Should the decline develop, it is worth paying increased attention to the 40k and 30k levels, significant round levels where Bitcoin had previously turned to the upside. The ETHUSD decline below 4,000 has intensified the sell-off. The pullback now exceeds 23% of the peak, signalling the start of a bear market. ETHUSD’s previous deep correction earlier this year only halted after a 60% loss, taking the price back from $4400 to the $1700 area. Should upward pressure develop, the intensity of the tug-of-war between bulls and bears could increase near the $3300, $2700, and $1800 levels, which acted as turning points earlier this year. The whole crypto sphere is in a Bear market. Their total capitalisation is already more than 30% lower from their peaks, and attempts to consolidate beyond critical levels have failed. Last summer, cryptocurrency investor interest returned after capitalisation fell by more than half. This suggests the potential for a further 30% decline from current levels.

A hedge fund has reaped the opportunity to buy the recent Ethereum price dip. Ether has recently dropped to a swing low of $3,675. Speculators believe the fund’s CEO caused fear, uncertainty and doubt to drive ETH price lower. While Ethereum price has risen significantly this year, the token has recently suffered several periods of volatility lately, reaching a swing low at $3,675. Ethereum fear and greed index is displaying a reading of 34, indicating fear which suggests that the token may be slightly oversold. A hedge fund has taken the opportunity to buy the ETH dip, pouring over $456 million into the cryptocurrency in less than two weeks. Hedge fund buys the Ethereum dip Cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital has purchased $56 million worth of Ether earlier on December 14. Etherscan shows that the firm, founded by Su Zhu, has transferred 14,833 ETH from Binance and Coinbase to its wallet. This is not the first time the hedge fund has purchased a large amount of Ethereum. Last week, Three Arrows Capital transferred $400 million in ETH from crypto exchanges FTX, Binance and Coinbase to its wallet. Crypto reporter Colin Wu first spotted the transactions and Zhu stated that he will continue to “bid hard on any panic dump,” and that purchasing 100,000 ETH is “dust,” suggesting that more purchases in Ether are yet to be made. However, the founder of the crypto hedge fund has been involved in controversy in the crypto community, as he revealed in November that he “abandoned Ethereum despite supporting it in the past.” His statement attracted attention from the crypto industry, and he has since softened his stance and even turned it around and said, “I love Ethereum and what it stands for.” Speculators in the crypto market suggested that Zhu tried to create fear, uncertainty and doubt to drive Ethereum price down to buy more ETH at a lower price. Ethereum price struggles with major headwind at $3,900 Ethereum price has rebounded slightly after a major drop toward the swing low at $3,675 on December 13. ETH continues to be sealed within a symmetrical triangle but is struggling to battle with resistance at the 200 twelve-hour Simple Moving Average (SMA) at $3,900 as buyers are slowly entering the market. An additional obstacle may appear at the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level at $3,989, then at the 21 twelve-hour SMA at $4,112. A spike in buy orders may see Ethereum price tag the 50% retracement level at $4,139 then head toward the upper boundary of the prevailing chart pattern, coinciding with the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at $4,289. ETH/USDT 12-hour chart If Ethereum price slices above the aforementioned line of resistance, a 26% bounce toward $5,404 is on the radar. If selling pressure increases, Ethereum price may discover immediate support at the lower boundary of the governing technical pattern at $3,712 before sliding toward the swing low at $3,675.

The ECB has announced the end of its special PEPP bond-buying scheme in March. Raising the volume of the APP scheme is limited and set to be reduced. Other central banks remain well ahead of the ECB, potentially limiting the euro's rise. A wise owl – that is what European Central Bank Christine Lagarde aspires to be. Her latest move seems to have met that desire, as the ECB all but tapers its bond-buying schemes, following others' footsteps. The Frankfurt-based institution will wind down its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP) in March 2022, two years after its launch. On the other hand, it will expand its regular Asset Purchase Program to €40 billion in the second quarter – but already pre-announced it would squeeze to €30 billion in the third quarter. In other words: tapering. Buying fewer bonds and creating more fewer euros is positive for the common currency, and that explains the 30-pip jump. However, the ECB has stiff competition. The move comes just the Federal Reserve's decision to double its tapering pace to $30 billion/month and projection of three hikes in 2022. The Bank of England surprised markets by announcing a 15bp rate hike – just 45 minutes ahead of the ECB. In the second quarter of 2022, the ECB would still be buying bonds while the Fed would already move toward raising rates and the BOE could be after its second or third move. Investors are unlikely to wait for that to happen before acting. The euro's relative disadvantage does not solely stem from central banks' intentions but from the underlying economic situation. The ECB continues labeling inflation as transitory, and for good reasons. Core inflation is roughly half that in the US, and skewed to the upside by German VAT changes. Europe is more economically sensitive to covid than the US. These gaps, which brought EUR/USD down in recent months, could return to push EUR/USD lower. This current advance could turn into a selling opportunity.

The cryptocurrency market capitalisation fell 1.2% over the past 24 hours to $2.21 trillion. The cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index reacted rather sharply, losing 6 points to 23 and slipping back into extreme fear territory, remaining in the lower half of the scale for over a month.Among the top coins, Solana (+3%) and Tera (+6%) fared best, while Polkadot (-3.8%) Cardano (-3%) fared worst. Bitcoin, which is sensitive to demand from US tech stocks, has lost more than 2% in the past 24 hours to $47.5K. Its rate continues to walk around the 200-day average, reflecting either indecision or a balance of power between buyers and sellers. At the same time, this line itself has reversed downwards, and the RSI on the daily charts remains near the oversold area. Both of these indicators point to a possible failure of the price shortly. A bearish scenario could bring bitcoin back to 40K or even 30K fairly quickly if we see another episode of margin liquidation. Large long-term buyers are unlikely to return before the price drops to $20K. Further evidence that the bears own the initiative in cryptocurrencies - ETHUSD is holding below $4000, confirming the shift from a rising to a downtrend in the last month. Should the sell-off intensify, potential buyers of Ether should look to $3350. The rally started from this level in early October, and now the 200-day moving average is near this mark. A break below it runs the risk of a buyers’ capitulation and would quickly land the rate at $2700. A longer-term bearish target is seen in the $1300-1700 area, where long-term buyers are expected. The realisation of such a bearish scenario would return capitalisation to the $1 trillion area for the entire crypto market. This would be a slightly lesser failure than the top two currencies, as we believe that long-term investors are still looking for other projects outside of the two oldest currencies.Market Analyst live on the youtube channel.

The crypto market's capitalisation has fallen 2.8% in the last 24 hours to $2.166 trillion. Methodical pressure on the significant coins persists along with wary trading in traditional equity markets. The bitcoin price has been losing 2.5% in the last 24 hours and is 5.6% lower than it was exactly a week ago. Ether is down 3.4% and 4%, respectively. Some other top coins are also under severe pressure, but we cannot say that the dynamics are unambiguous. For example, XRP is up 5.5%, AVAX is up 22%, and Luna is up 30.7% in the last seven days. At the beginning of the year, institutional and investment bank interest provided cryptocurrencies with overperformance but now lowered demand for safety is becoming their Achilles' heel. The most methodical, albeit relatively measured, pressure has been seen in Bitcoin and Ether, which have been under bearish control for the past month and a half. According to equity and commodity market definitions, BTCUSD and ETHUSD have crossed the bear market threshold, having lost more than 20% of their peaks in early November. Bitcoin, meanwhile, is not gaining meaningful support on the decline towards the 200-day average. These are all signs that the bear market is entering its rights, as enthusiasts can no longer buy out any drawdowns. Generally speaking, a modest downside amplitude is not typical of cryptocurrencies, so short-term traders should be prepared for an explosion of volatility on a decline below meaningful levels. We assume that crucial support is concentrated near $40K for Bitcoin, a resistance level in January and a support level in October. Falling below this level could dramatically increase the coin's volatility and affect the entire market. For Ether, relatively measured volatility could continue up to the level of the 200-day moving average (just above 3300), which coincides with the area of extended consolidation in August and September and the start of the latest rally in October. Suppose Ether and Bitcoin fail to find strong buying below these levels as well. In that case, we risk seeing a true capitulation of the entire cryptocurrency market and a revision of the outlook to a more bearish one.

Cryptocurrency market capitalisation rose 3.7% in the last 24 hours, again reaching $2.24 trillion, with almost the entire top 100 coins in green over the past 24 hours. The Cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index has added 2 points to 27. This is still a ‘fear level’, but the general dynamic over the past few hours suggests that investors are opting to buy with the expectation of a further bounce from these levels. Bitcoin and Ether have added around 4% in the past 24 hours, managing to move back above the signal levels. BTCUSD is trading above the 200-day average again, while ETHUSD has surpassed $4000. If we went deeper into the reasons, the rise of the two largest cryptocurrencies was helped by the performance of stock indices, which received support from buyers yesterday, indicating continued demand for risky assets and a desire to buy on downturns. Despite this morning’s positivity, it is worth noting that the optimism looks somewhat fragile and has little explanation for the fundamentals. Under such conditions, the situation could turn abruptly in a matter of hours, so a fix above $4000 for Ether and $48000 for bitcoin today should be considered a more reliable signal.

The Turkish lira gained 40% in the past 13 hours, sending USDTRY from 18.3 to 11. Despite the impressive amplitude, the exchange rate is only back to levels of a month ago. There is no doubt that behind such a sharp strengthening were interventions by the central bank, which decided to spend a significant portion of its already meagre reserves to stem the chaos in the financial market. Interventions alone won’t solve the situation, so to make a move looking bold, the Turkish president has announced compensating lira deposit holders if the currency’s fall exceeds the return on dollar deposits. Exporting companies will get the lira forward rate directly from the central bank as lira buyers have disappeared on the open market. There is a lack of important details, but it most likely means that more national currency will be printed, increasing the pressure on its value. In our view, this is a sure step towards hyperinflation. Since the end of last week, the currency crisis has taken on more and more signs of a financial crisis, as the fall in the lira began to pull the stock markets, bringing trading to a halt. The surge in the lira promises to hurt the market even more in the short term today and in the next few days. It seems that the lira’s fall has reached the pain point of the Turkish president and government. Although we and the markets, in general, have doubts about the correctness of the announced measures, still, the very appearance of these steps should signal an exit for speculators who have been betting on a collapse of the lira in recent months.

The main currency market pair, EURUSD, is trading in a sideways pattern of around 100 pips, rarely breaking out of it for long. The observed balance is very fragile. The news backdrop from Europe and the US has been very mixed regarding monetary policy and overall demand for risky assets. When we look at the situation from a short-term perspective, the fundamental analysis is clearly against the Euro for now. Officially, the ECB has not backed down from its position that inflation is temporary, in stark contrast to the reversal of rhetoric and the acceleration of tapering from the Fed. From this perspective, the Eurozone’s lag in the rate hike cycle has so far only increased, which should reduce interest in the region’s bonds and put pressure on the Euro. It seems that on the Euro’s side now is profit-taking from short sells after it has weakened by 8% and 6.5% against the Dollar and the Pound so far this year. Also supporting the single currency could be the expectation that monetary tightening in the US, Britain, and a host of emerging economies will keep inflationary pressures in check, allowing the ECB to do its bit. However, it is more likely that the current lull in EURUSD is only a temporary balance of power, which will be broken at the start of the new year as big players return to the market with ideas for new trades. The pause in the EURUSD decline observed in recent weeks is not a sign of ironclad support in the Euro at current levels. Instead, it is a local retracement of positions. And, after a pause, EURUSD will head further down to the multi-year lows at 1.05-1.07.

Binance is partnering with the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA) to help develop regulations for the fledgling cryptocurrency center. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the DWTCA, according to a post on the company’s blog. Binance said it would “help advance Dubai’s commitment to establishing a new international Virtual Asset ecosystem.” Having collaborated with global regulators after coming under scrutiny this year, Binance plans to share this experience with the DWTCA to facilitate the development of the country’s regulatory regime. Another stated goal was to assist in the licensing of “crypto exchanges, businesses that offer blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) services, and a wide range of digital currencies.” “Through our leadership position and expertise, combined with the long-term vision of Dubai, we plan to develop a regulatory framework appropriate to fit the fast-moving and progressive nature of virtual assets,” said Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. Crypto zone Earlier this week, the Dubai Media Office declared that the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) would become a crypto zone, as well as a regulator for cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets. Amid intensifying regional economic competition, the DWTCA is working to establish an international virtual asset ecosystem in an effort to attract new business. A “free-zone” within the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the DWTCA had agreed to the framework enabling it to approve and license crypto-related financial activities in September. Meanwhile, another free-zone, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) established an initial regulatory framework for digital tokens in October. Binance in UAE The move contributes to growing speculation that Binance intends to establish a headquarters in the UAE. Last week, Binance executives met with officials from special economic zones within the UAE about a prospective move. Zhao had said last month that Binance had chosen a location for its global headquarters but would only announce it after communicating with regulators. There are other indicators pointing to the UAE as Binance’s choice. For one, Binance recently acquired former senior officials from a few of the economic zones. Additionally, Zhao had earlier praised the UAE as being “pro-crypto,” along with France and Singapore, and recently bought his first home there as well. The post Binance Helping Dubai Crypto Zone Develop Regulations appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Harmony (ONE) could confirm its bullish reversal with a breakout from the current descending resistance line and the $0.287 resistance area. ONE has been decreasing since reaching an all-time high price of $0.38 on Oct 26. The downward move led to a local low of $0.233 on Dec 4.  A significant bounce followed and ONE reclaimed both the ascending support line and the $0.225 horizontal area. Such reclamations are considered bullish developments and often precede further significant upward moves. The fact that the $0.225 area previously acted as the all-time high resistance further supports this possibility. Technical indicators have also turned bullish.  The MACD, which is created by short and long-term moving averages (MA), is moving upwards and is nearly positive. This means that the short-term MA is moving at a faster rate than the long-term average.  The RSI, which is a momentum indicator, has just crossed above 50. Movements above the 50-line are often considered to be a sign of a bullish trend. ONE Chart By TradingView Short-term movement The six-hour chart shows that ONE has been following a descending resistance line since the aforementioned all-time high price.  The line currently coincides with the $0.287 resistance area, which is created by the 0.618 Fib retracement resistance level. A breakout above this resistance it is required in order for a bullish reversal to be confirmed. ONE Chart By TradingView ONE wave count Due to the overlap between the Nov 18 low and Dec 19 highs (red line), it seems likely that the decrease was part of an A-B-C corrective structure. This means that the correction is complete and ONE will continue moving upwards. The closest resistance area is found at $0.328, just below the current all-time high price. If ONE is successful in moving above it, the next resistance would be found at $0.527. This target is the 1.61 external Fib retracement resistance level. ONE Chart By TradingView ONE/BTC Cryptocurrency trader @CryptoNTez tweeted a ONE/BTC chart, stating that the pair could increase towards 520 satoshis. Source: Twitter/TradingView ONE/BTC is also following a descending resistance line that’s been in place since the all-time high.  Similar to the USD pair, the MACD and RSI are both bullish. Therefore, a breakout from the line and an eventual new all-time high is likely. ONE/BTC Chart By TradingView For BeInCrypto’s latest Bitcoin (BTC) analysis, click here The post Harmony (ONE) Reclaims Previous All-Time High Level appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Photo Credit: eflon || All in all, you’re just another brick in the wall… In some ways, the Federal Reserve is the whipping boy of Congress. Congress can’t decide on anything significant, so the Fed fills in the blanks, and keeps things moving, even if it creates humongous asset bubbles in the process. That is what we are facing today. Overvalued stocks, housing, corporate bonds, private equity, and more. Inflation in goods and services may be transitory, but asset inflation is a constant. Whether by QE or rate policy, the Fed tries to end the possibility of recessions by making financing cheap, and blowing asset bubbles in the process. What of the future? The Fed will be dragged kicking and screaming to tightening. It will follow the stupid Alan Greenspan highway of 25 basis points per meeting. It will be all too predictable, which has little to no impact until it is too late, creating pro-cyclical economic policy, something the Fed specializes in. The Fed will be surprised (again) to see that the long end of the yield curve does not respond to their efforts. Are they stupid? Yes. the yield curve hasn’t worked in the classical way for over 20 years. In an overindebted economy, long rates are sluggish. Can the Fed abandon the dead orthodoxy of neoclassical economics to embrace the reality of overindebted economics? I doubt it. I asked two Fed governors three years ago when the Fed would abandon the failed Neoclassical economics. They looked like dead sheep for a moment, before they gave some lame defenses of the theory that can’t account for financial markets or marketing. What I expect is that the Fed will tighten the Fed funds rate to 1.5% or so, the long end sinking, and then something blows up, and they return to the prior policy of 0% rates, and QE… failed policies that inflate asset bubbles and increase inequality. We’re in a “doom loop” where there is no way to purge this system of its errors. We would be better off under a gold standard, with stricter regulation of banks. Would we have a recession? Yes, but eventually the economy would grow again organically, without the pollution of stimulus. That said, the Federal Reserve is not the main problem. The main problem is American culture that will not tolerate severe recessions. We need recessions to liquidate bad debts that hinder the economy from growing rapidly in the future. We need to accept the boom-bust cycle, and not look to the government or central bank to moderate matters. Bank regulation is another matter, as loose regulation of banks led to extreme booms and busts, particularly between 1870-1913, and 2004-2008. Conclusion The Fed will tighten and fail, returning us to the same morass that we are in now. Financial repression via the Fed will continue to create inequality with no smoking gun. Stupid people will finger other causes, when the real cause is the Federal Reserve. We need to eliminate the Federal Reserve, and cause Congress and the Executive Branch to take responsibility for their failed policies. PS — there could be a currency panic, but I doubt it. Too many countries want to export to the US.

Image credit: All images belong to Aleph Blog This should be a brief post. At the end of the third quarter, the S&P 500 was poised to nominally return -0.64%/year over the next 10 years. As of the close today, that figure was -1.83%/year, slightly more than the -1.84%/year at the record high last Friday. The only period compares with this valuation-wise is the dot-com bubble. We are above dot-com level valuations. And if you view the 10-year returns from the worst time of the dot-com bubble to now, you can see that the results they obtained are milder than what I forecast here. Of course, a lot of what will happen in nominal terms will rely on the actions of the Fed. Will the Fed: Allow a real recession to clear away dud assets that are on life support from low rates? (Collapsing the current asset bubble)Change the terms of monetary policy, and start directly monetizing US Treasury debt? (Risking high inflation)Continue to dither with financial repression, leaving rates low, not caring about moderate inflation, with real growth zero-like. (Zombie economy — this is the most likely outcome for now) In some ways the markets are playing around with something I call “the last arbitrage.” Bonds versus Stocks. The concept of TINA (There is no alternative [to stocks]) relies on the idea that the Fed will be the lapdog of the equity markets. If stocks are high, the Fed is happy. Phrased another way, if the Fed maximizes wealth inequality, it is happy. And the Fed will be happy. They live to employ thousands of macroeconomists who would have a hard time finding real employment. These economists live to corrupt our understanding f the macroeconomy, justifying the actions of the Fed. The Fed just wants to scrape enough seigniorage to pay the staff, and keep Congress and the Administration mollified. All taken out of the hides of those who save. So with the last arbitrage… interest rates have to stay low to keep the stock market high, even if it means slow growth, and moderate and growing inflation. The likely change promulgated by the Fed today, raising the short rate by 0.75% in 2022 will likely flatten the yield curve, leading to a crisis of some sort, and push them back into QE and near-zero short rates. The stock market will have a pullback and a rally, but what of inflation? How will people act when there is no way to save for the short-run, without inflation eating away value? Brave new world. The Fed is stuck, and we are stuck with them. Gold does nothing, and would be a kinder mistress than the Fed. Better to live within strict limits, than the folly of an elastic currency. But as is true with all things in America, we are going to have to learn this the hard way. PS — As for me, I am living with value stocks, small stocks, and international stocks. Very little in the S&P 500 here.

The chip shortage affects many industries. But are Bitcoin miners the scapegoat we are all looking for? Cars, smartphones, gaming: the chip shortage is affecting many industries. For example, the Playstation 5 has already been on the market for about a year, but some customers are still waiting for their devices to this day. The same holds for Apple products, such as the new iPhone. Here, too, customers have to brace themselves for higher prices. Those who want to buy a new car must also expect longer waiting times. “Depending on the make and model, the delivery time for a large proportion has leveled off at three to six months,” says Marcus Weller, a market expert at the German Association of Motor Trades and Repairs. Where does the chip shortage come from? The global chip shortage is due to two factors: an intense increase in demand and an inflexible and complicated microchip supply structure. For example, the increase in demand is characterized by car manufacturers investing in the expansion of electric vehicles. Similarly, the demand for electronic devices increased sharply as a result of the global pandemic. This was driven by more home offices being created, and homeschooling. The supply of microchips is inflexible mainly due to the complexity of manufacturing. “In fact, chips today have structures that are often only a few atomic layers thick. Highly sensitive clean rooms are required to produce them. This makes manufacturing facilities enormously expensive and complex. It can cost several billion euros to build a semiconductor plant,” says FHTW expert Peter Rössler. It seems the chip shortage will continue. Chip production is even more time-consuming. A microchip consists of a ‘wafer.’ In semiconductor manufacturing, ‘wafers’ are the disks on which the integrated circuits, the microchips, are produced. Such wafers have a lead time of six weeks to three months in a semiconductor factory. What role does crypto mining play in the chip shortage? What impact crypto mining companies have on the global chip shortage is debatable. Clearly, it can be stated that it makes a difference what type of crypto mining is involved. Bitcoin miners use 5nm or 7nm chips, which are mainly needed for the production of smartphones. Currently, there’s no scientific data or study that reliably sheds light on Bitcoin mining’s share of the microchip shortage. Projections assume that Bitcoin mining takes up about 4-6% of 5nm to 7nm chip production. Ethereum mining relies on graphics cards that are also used for gaming. Estimates suggest that 19% of graphics processing units produced in 2020 were purchased by Ethereum miners. This has led to computing power on the Ethereum network being at an all-time high, currently >900 tH/second. Conclusion The impact of crypto mining on chip shortages is thus industry and currency-specific. While gaming PCs are strongly competing with Ethereum miners, the impact of Bitcoin mining on smartphone production seems to be rather limited. So, if the new iPhone is not found under the Christmas tree in time this year, Bitcoin is probably only partly to blame. Do you think Bitcoin miners are responsible for the chip shortage? Let us know here. The post Chip Shortage: My iPhone Won’t Arrive in Time for Christmas – are Bitcoin Miners to Blame? appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Cryptocurrency market capitalisation little changed over the past 24 hours, losing 0.4% to $2.27 trillion. This can hardly be called a move for such a volatile crypto market. The cryptocurrency fear and greed index lost 11 points, dropping to 34, returning to fear territory. However, this comeback should be attributed more to the failure to develop growth rather than the price fall. However, we must admit that the currencies are not catching up with the optimism of the stock indices, and there is no sign of a Christmas rally. Bitcoin stalled on Wednesday at the $50K area and is trading again at $48.3K on Thursday morning. Ether was once again below $4K, another sign that too many traders are looking to lock in profits on the eve of a very successful year for cryptocurrencies. The relative share of Ether and Bitcoin has been falling over the past couple of days. The divergence between the equity market and the leading cryptocurrencies may be nothing more than a temporary phenomenon and a tactical shake-up of fund portfolios and large investors. However, it is still prudent for crypto investors to remain wary of near-term dynamics. The prolonged consolidation of significant cryptocurrencies creates a bad sentiment about the entire sector., Bitcoin’s sharp sell-off in early December clarifies that solid moves in the flagship cryptocurrencies are provoking altcoins into even greater amplitude.

The British Pound is gaining support from several drivers at a time, managing to add more than 1.5% since Tuesday to levels above 1.3400 in the GBPUSD pair, which we last saw a month ago. The British currency’s ability to show buyer support on dips below 1.32 earlier in December has attracted the attention of speculators, who come into play as financial market liquidity declines in the run-up to the Christmas holidays. Very often, there are more decisive moves in the thin market during pre-Christmas and between Christmas and New Year period, much of which the market recovers back in the first days after the holidays.The Pound also looks attractive for short-term buyers because it positively correlates with risky assets. Strengthening demand for equities as part of the Santa Rally has determined the direction in which GBPUSD will move in the short term.GBPUSD is also interesting from a tech analysis perspective. The British currency has gained support after a 50% pullback from May 2020 lows at 1.2070 to this year peaks near 1.42, and a 61.8% rally from the March 2020 lows. Globally, this reversal from support could be the end of a correction and the start of a new GBPUSD upside wave with a long-term target at 1.60. However, a move towards levels we last saw only in 2014 is only looking plausible if the Bank of England will repeatedly raise rates faster than the Fed and well above inflation, copying the policy of the early 2000s.A much closer target for speculators at the end of the year is 1.3600, around which the resistance area of the descending trading range of the second half-year passes. A sure exit above this would signal that not only speculators but also more structural forces are in play.

Near Protocol (NEAR) has increased by 25% so far on Dec 23 and is approaching its all-time high price of $17.50. On Dec 15, NEAR reached a new all-time high price of $17.50. However, it dropped sharply the same day, creating a long upper wick of 43.5%. Despite the drop, the token regained its footing shortly afterwards and initiated another upward movement on Dec 21. Two days later, it broke out from a descending resistance line, which had been in place since the previous all-time high. This confirmed that the correction had ended. Technical indicators are also bullish.  The MACD, which is created by a short and a long-term moving average (MA), has moved into positive territory for the first time in Dec. This means that the short-term MA is faster than the long-term one, and further confirms that the trend is bullish.  In addition to this, the RSI has moved above 50, another sign of a bullish trend. Chart By TradingView Short-term movement The six-hour chart shows that NEAR has broken out from the $12.40 horizontal resistance area.  If a short-term drop were to occur, this area would now be expected to act as support.  Similarly to the daily time-frame, both the RSI and MACD are moving upwards, supporting the continuation of the upward movement. Chart By TradingView NEAR wave count Cryptocurrency trader @KRMA_0 tweeted a NEAR chart, stating that the token could soon go ballistic. Source: Twitter The wave count indicates that NEAR is in wave three of a bullish impulse.  The deviation and reclaim of the $7 horizontal area (green circle) suggests that the token completed wave two, which is corrective.  The first potential target for the top of wave three is at $23.1. The target is found by giving waves 1:3 a 1:1.61 ratio (white) Afterwards, a potential target for the top of the entire movement would be at 30.5, created by the 4.2 external Fib retracement (black) of the most recent drop. Chart By TradingView For BeInCrypto’s latest Bitcoin (BTC) analysis, click here The post Near Protocol (NEAR) Regains Value After 43% Wick Decrease appeared first on BeInCrypto.

The Gold Update by Mark Mead Baillie --- 632nd Edition --- Monte-Carlo --- 25 December 2021 (published each Saturday) --- www.deMeadville.com Christmas Greetings to Everyone Everywhere. With but five trading days remaining in 2021, Gold -- as we'll show -- traditionally is the gift that keeps on giving into year-end. But first, we've this: The last time 25 December arrived on a Saturday was 11 years ago in 2010: â–  'Twas the date of Gold Update No. 58; today we're penning No. 632; â–  The price of Gold then was 1379; today 'tis 1810, (+31%) â–  The U.S. money supply ("M2" basis) then was $8.9 trillion; today 'tis $21.6 trillion, (+2.4x) â–  The supply of Gold then was 173.7 tonnes; today 'tis 202.8 tonnes, (+17%). Query, (courtesy of the "Fun With Numbers Dept."): Given across these past 11 years the +2.4x increase in the U.S. money supply, even as tempered for the duly noted +17% increase in the supply of Gold itself, ought its price nonetheless now be 2747? After all, currency debasement is the ultimate, primary driver of price, lagging as 'tis been. Further by the above opening Gold Scoreboard which comprehensively accounts for 41 years of currency debasement, more than double present price is Gold's valuation today of 4030! Thus analogous in reprising the infamous query of immortal football coach Vince Lombardi: "What da hell's goin' on out dere??" 'Course, you regular readers of The Gold Update know exactly what's goin' on out dere. 'Tis "The Age of the Shiny Object". Why purchase Gold -- as stated just +31% from this day of days 11 years ago -- when by merely owning the S&P 500 itself you've recorded a gain over same of +276%? Better still, how about your cryptocrap with its gains of +∞%? But wait, there's more: How are those NFTs workin' out for ya? (We think of them ultimately as "non-fundable tokens"). Then, too, is "The M Word" crowd: "Churn it and burn it, baby!" Or as Carly Simon might have sung it from back in '71: "Manipulation..." Regardless, with the S&P now at an all-time "Santa Claus Rally" closing high of 4726 (thank you record level of stock buybacks), Stoopid is sleeping securely because should the market dip from here, it always comes back, right? Arithmetically that's been undeniably true. Undeniably true as well by its historical track is the S&P's price/earnings ratio (our "live" read now 49.5x) having always returned to its median (at present 20.4x since the Index's inception nearly 65 years ago on 04 March 1957). So here's the crux: we've already accounted that year-over-year earnings' increases from a "shutdown 2020" to an "open 2021" were not sufficient enough to materially boost the "E" of the P/E such as to mitigate the ever-rocket-boosted "P". Therefore: the next reversion of the P/E to its 20.4x median essentially requires a move of the S&P from today's 4726 level down to 1948, (i.e. a -58.8% "dip"). But Stoopid worries not: "Been there, done that, it always comes back." Even as this time 'round rates rise, in turn ramping up that variably-priced interest on Stoopid's fully drawn credit cards. "Got Gold?" For which there is some good news, both aft and ahead. â–  Aft - Whilst during each of this past Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Gold dealt with dilly-dallying 'round as usual in the 1780s, price finally saw its way clear to close on Thursday above 1800, its first weekly settle north of said number since that ending 19 November. â–  Ahead - Per this missive's title, 'tis time for Gold's annual finale rally, (our now pointing that out meaning it shan't occur). But it being a festive day, let's stay positive as traditionally is Gold's wont through the final five trading days of the year. For as the following table displays, Gold during this stint has risen in 17 of the 20 completed years thus far this millennium. We thus anticipate that for this 21st year of the 21st century, Gold shall be higher in a week's time than today's 1810 level: That is a statistical gift. Now here's one that is technical: The above graphic depicts Gold's daily "price oscillator" (a mainstay of the website's Market Rhythms page) during 2021's fourth quarter-to-date. The rightmost wee blue nub just crossed to positive, the trader's signal thus being to get Long Gold. The prior 12 such Long signals (dating back to 27 March 2020) saw upside price follow-throughs averaging as much as +77 points which in that vacuum from 1810 would be to 1887, the more conservative median being +31 points to 1841. No guarantees 'natch, but nicely on time to synch with Gold's annual finale rally should it come to pass. Meanwhile, unsurpassed for better than three years until just now is the current level of the Economic Barometer, which with but a week to run in 2021 saw this past week's set of 13 incoming metrics move the Baro to its highest oscillative level since 31 July 2018. Yes, there were a few weak links in the data: Q3's Current Account Deficit sagged to its worst level since Q3 2006; and although the quarter's final read on Gross Domestic Product increased to an annualized "growth" rate of +2.3%, that was more than double-mitigated by the party-pooper Chain Deflator being finalized at a +6.0% "growth" rate. (For you WestPalmBeachers down there, that basically means there is no real GDP "growth", but rather "stagflation"; look it up). Too, increases slowed in November's Personal Income and Spending. But highlighted were improvements in November's New and Existing Home Sales, Durable Orders and (not surprising should you follow the Baro) the Conference Board's Leading (i.e. lagging) Indicators. 'Course the real stinker was the Fed's favoured inflation read of Core Personal Consumption Expenditures coming in at an annualized pace of +6.0%. But, perhaps folks "just don't get it yet" given the level of Consumer Confidence (also per the Conference Board) rising in December to a five-month high. Here's the whole view: With respect to the Baro's having re-attained the noted 2018 level, 'twas after that the S&P 500 then declined into the year's Christmas Eve by -16.5%. Not that history shall repeat same going into next year: we anticipate worse -- far worse -- either by our "Look Ma, No Earnings!" crash (per the aforementioned P/E assessment), and/or by Federal Reserve Vice Chair Nominee Lael "The Brain" Brainard's "Climate Change!" crash. Also there's now ever-increasing amount of "Oh My! Omicron!" Still, upward economic gains along with increasing inflation strains both serve justice for the Fed to commence raising its Bank's Funds rate as early as 26 Jan. Which in turn means you'll have somewhere else to park your dough when the stock market doth over the cliff go. Get ready for "The Return of the Savings Account!" In theatres next Spring. 'Course far better than that, again: "Got Gold?" And don't forget Silver too! All so stated, New York FedPrez John "It's All Good" Williams looks to the Fed's rate rises as an economic positive -- which to his credit -- has historically synched with the beginning of higher interest rates. And perhaps more costly money can be withstood, Dow Jones Newswires this past week having referred to U.S. household wealth as "vast". Indeed per a year-old survey from the Fed, the median StateSide household wealth level is $122,000. (Admittedly, we did not dig sufficiently deep into the data to divulge if that includes proceeds from the aforementioned fully-drawn credit cards). Next let's fully draw our two-panel graphic of Gold's daily bars from three months ago-to-date on the left and the 10-day Market Profile on the right. Especially encouraging therein are Gold's "Baby Blues" penetrating up through their 0% axis in confirming the regression trend having rotated to positive. And the Profile shows the most dominant trading level of the past two weeks as (no surprise) 1787: With the same drill for Silver, we see her "Baby Blues" (below left) in accelerating ascent, albeit the low 23s may be a sticky wicket there. Still, her Profile (below right) appears supportive for the mid-to-lower 22s, (and happy winkies to you too there, Sister Silver): Time to wrap it up from here with this note: it again appears The World Elites' Economic Forum in Davos is being "deferred", the great convening over The Great Reset to instead take place toward early summer. Bit of an economic inflow delay there for little ole Switzerland, but we have it on well-vetted authority they'll manage. The small alpine nation may rank just 135th by size and 101st by population. But it ranks seventh in total Gold holdings and far and away first in per capita Gold wealth: there is one tonne of Gold for every 8,322 people which (in sparing you the math) is $7,672 per Swiss resident. (Italy is a distant second at $2,589). "And Season's Greetings to you, mmb!" Thank you, Squire, and our very best to you 'n yours, all the little Squires down the line, and absolutely as well to our star readers right 'round the world! Everyone take care, and don't forget the real star: Gold! Cheers! ...m... www.deMeadville.com www.TheGoldUpdate.com

Kraken CEO has announced the launch of a custodial NFT marketplace, joining the race with exchanges like Binance. Kraken’s NFT marketplace would provide custody services to exchanges and offer users funds in exchange for digital art and collectibles as collateral. Proponents consider 2021 the year when NFTs went mainstream. NFTs have become mainstream with rising institutional capital inflow. The US-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has announced the launch of its NFT platform. Kraken’s custodial marketplace to offer loans in exchange of NFTs The US-based exchange has revealed plans to enter the race of non-fungible tokens. Jesse Powell, CEO and founder of Kraken, told Bloomberg in an interview that the exchange is developing a marketplace to facilitate loans for users using NFTs as collateral. Kraken’s NFT custodial marketplace will determine the liquidation value of the digital art and collectibles before accepting them as collateral. Kraken’s marketplace will act as a custodian, following in the footsteps of exchanges like Coinbase and FTX. However, unlike its competitors, Kraken will offer additional features to NFT holders. Powell believes that 2021 is the year of NFTs, and it will go down in history as the period in time when non-fungible tokens became mainstream. There is a spike in the interest in NFTs, driving an increase in the capital inflow. The Kraken CEO expects rising demand to attract investors and institutions to the NFT platform and offer more than purchasing and selling digital art. Powell was quoted as saying, If you deposit a CryptoPunk on Kraken, we want to be able to reflect the value of that in your account. And if you want to borrow funds against that. FTX’s NFT platform lists Ethereum and Solana-based non-fungible tokens on its platform. Kraken’s NFT marketplace is a part of the exchange’s expansion.

Santa Claus is coming to town! What will he give gold: a gift or a rod? During the holiday week, not much happens in the marketplace. Investors focus on two things right now: whether Democrats will be able to pass Biden’s spending bill in the face of Senator Joe Manchin’s opposition, and whether the coronavirus Omicron variant will trigger new restrictions and hamper economic growth. After all, this strain has already become the dominant one in the US, but its effects are not yet known. Like most of 2021, gold has been rubbing against $1,800 this week but did not have the strength to permanently rise above this level. Despite a surge in inflation and very low real interest rates, the yellow metal didn’t rally. Thus, we could say that gold was rather naughty this year and doesn’t deserve gifts from Santa. However, maybe it’s not gold’s fault, but our too high expectations? After all, gold had to compete with cryptocurrencies and industrial metals (or commodities in general), both of which performed exceptionally well during periods of high inflation. Despite all the Fed’s hawkish rhetoric and tapering of quantitative easing, gold didn’t break down. Hence, it all depends on the perspective. The same applies to historical analyses and forecasts for 2022. The bears compare the current situation with the 2011-2013 period. The 2020 peak looked like the 2011 peak. Thus, after a period of consolidation, we could see a big decline, just as it happened in 2013. On the other hand, gold bulls prefer to compare today with 2015, as we are only a few months away from the Fed’s interest rate hikes. As a reminder, gold bottomed in December 2015, so the hope is that we will see another bottom soon, followed by an upward move. In other words, the bears believe that the replay of the “taper tantrum” is still ahead of us, while the bulls claim that the worst is already behind us.   Implications for Gold Who is right? Of course, me! But seriously: both sides make valid points. Contrary to 2013, the current tapering was well telegraphed and well received by the markets. Thus, the worst can indeed be already behind us. Especially that the 2020 economic crisis was very deep, but also very short, so everything was very condensed. I mean: the Great Recession lasted one and a half years, while the Great Lockdown lasted only two months. The first taper tantrum occurred in 2013, while the first hike in the federal funds rate – at the end of 2015. We won’t wait that long now, so the period of downward pressure on gold prices stemming from expectations of the Fed’s tightening cycle will be limited. Having said that, gold bears highlight an important point: real interest rates haven’t normalized yet. As the chart below shows, although nominal bond yields have rebounded somewhat from the August 2020 bottom, real rates haven’t followed. The reason was, of course, the surge in inflation. However, if inflation eases, inflation-adjusted rates will go up. Additional risk here is that the Fed will surprise the markets on a hawkish side. The bottom line is that Santa Claus may bring gold a rod this time. Although gold’s reaction to the recent FOMC meeting was solid, the overall performance of the yellow metal this month is worse compared to the historically strong action in December. I don’t expect a similarly strong downward move as in 2013, but real interest rates could normalize somewhat in 2022, given the upcoming Fed’s tightening cycle and possible peak in inflation. The level of indebtedness will limit the scope of the move, but it won’t change the direction. Anyway, whether you are a gold bull or a gold bear, I wish you a truly merry and golden Christmas (or just winter holidays)! Let the profits shine, even if gold won’t! If you enjoyed today’s free gold report, we invite you to check out our premium services. We provide much more detailed fundamental analyses of the gold market in our monthly Gold Market Overview reports and we provide daily Gold & Silver Trading Alerts with clear buy and sell signals. In order to enjoy our gold analyses in their full scope, we invite you to subscribe today. If you’re not ready to subscribe yet though and are not on our gold mailing list yet, we urge you to sign up. It’s free and if you don’t like it, you can easily unsubscribe. Sign up today! Arkadiusz Sieron, PhDSunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care

If traders do not properly set stop losses (as some do), their forex trading accounts may wind up with negative balances. Using Stop Loss and Margin Call levels, a forex trader may often avoid a negative balance. Stop losses may be triggered fast during periods of high volatility, resulting in a negative balance. Making a new deposit may help you recover your overdraft.   Negative balance FX protection is a safeguard that brokers use to protect their customers. Negative balance protection is provided when a trader's account balance becomes negative as a result of their trading activity, preventing them from losing more money than they deposited.   On January 15, 2015, the USDCHF plummeted 2780 pips in 30 minutes, putting my account in the red. When the Swiss National Bank removed the euro limit, the franc increased by 30%. Because my broker was unable to alter currency pairings, I used stop losses on all of my transactions. My trading account was losing money.   Foreign currency trading (Forex) is a risky endeavor since the value of various currencies fluctuates drastically owing to a number of factors. Despite the fact that most forex traders only trade with what they have, a negative balance in one's Forex account is not uncommon. On January 15, 2015, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) made an unexpected decision to remove the floor from the EUR/CHF currency pair. When the floor was raised, hundreds of live forex account balances turned negative, much to their amazement.   Many forex accounts had negative balances as a result of the SNB's decision to remove the floor. Changes in the volatility of a certain currency pair may have an impact on some trading systems. As long as there is a significant difference in the values of various currencies, the balance may go below zero. As a consequence, the phrase "negative balance" has become synonymous with currency trading. Despite the use of stop-out levels and margin calls, it is a difficulty that many forex traders face. Negative Balance Protection In Forex Is it possible to lose money while trading currencies? Because traders utilizing leverage may owe more than they have access to in their accounts, the likelihood of a negative balance grows. It's easy to be concerned about a currency account's negative balance from this vantage point.   If you want to avoid your forex trading account from sliding into the red, you must use a stop-loss order. Stop-Loss (SL) and Margin Call (MC) stops may be employed. Furthermore, certain brokerages, such as XM broker, give their clients accounts with negative balance protection. One example is the XM ultra low account, which does not charge traders commission costs. Aside from that, traders are permitted to employ the previously stated stop-loss order, which is often used by investors, to prevent negative balances on their accounts. In certain situations, brokers imposed a Margin Call limit, which meant that floating positions would be terminated at a loss if their expected losses exceeded a predefined limit.   Many forex traders ignore the MC limit for fear of losing their whole account. Even if you have Margin Call activated in your account settings, your account balance might still fall negative or be totally wiped out. Traders tend to ignore Stop Loss orders, despite the fact that they are a crucial risk-reduction instrument.   Traders may be certain that they will not go bankrupt if their forex trading account has a negative balance. If a margin call is made, a trader who is fast losing money may be able to avoid bankruptcy. When you get a margin call, you immediately close all of your open investments that are fast losing value. How To Prevent Negative Balance? A negative balance may be prevented in the first place, and it is possible to avoid it. You will not be asked to pay the negative amount if you have Negative Amount Protection, but your account will be reset to $0. To put it another way, you'll lose all you invested. In other words, why wait for the NBP to kick in when you can halt the loss immediately?   Consider the number of your holdings as well as the number of orders you make when making transactions. Because not all transactions are successful, the more you trade, the more likely you are to lose money. What's the harm in doing so if it allows you to better regulate your transaction and reduce your risk? In this instance, forex brokers' micro accounts, which often contain smaller bets, might be a viable option.   To keep your money in your account, you must create a reasonable stop loss barrier. As a result, the danger of market and price volatility is reduced.   The more leverage you have, the more money you will be able to get. You are, however, put at greater danger as a consequence of it. There are various techniques to reduce your stock market risk.   When the market is volatile, stop losses, margin calls, and stop-outs all fail. This tendency is typically triggered when news or events with a big influence on the market cause fear. Keep an eye on the economic calendar and avoid trading at particular times of the year.   Most forex brokers will announce and change leverage and margin requirements for certain instruments when a major event or news release is near. You should either stay out of the market or adjust your position as a consequence of this warning.

The biggest financial market in the world is the forex market. To begin trading Forex, you must have a working grasp of the current state of the global economy. You need to be aware of the significance of this news and happenings in the forex market and how they will affect your transactions. If you want to be at the top of the list, you may invest some time studying what this economic news and activities truly imply in simple words.   Understanding the fundamentals of global economics may aid in your Forex trading success. A wide range of economic variables affects the exchange rates of different currencies all around the globe. The following are some of the factors:   Interest rate changes by a country's central bank Spending by both the government and the general public There is both public and private debt. GDP and CPI are two measures of the economy. a currency's supply of money and demand   The movement of currencies throughout the globe is affected by any change in money flows. Understanding the rules of trading is more important than being an expert in economics. But, having a fundamental comprehension of the economic principles that regulate the movement of money throughout the globe and a high-level understanding of Forex trading as well, would be ideal.   In order to build a strategy that fits your personality it is crucial to be familiar with the market structure, order flow and algorithmic movement. Those people who are new in this industry need to get more information about how to learn forex trading, to avoid losing money and being a victim of financial frauds. For forex traders, there is always a piece of economic data due for publication from at least eight major currencies that may be used to make smart bets. However, It is also worth noting that in reality, the eight most closely watched nations provide statistics on an average of seven days a week (excluding vacations). There are several prospects for people who trade news.   It's more difficult to trade the news than it seems. Both official and unofficial estimates (whispers) and adjustments to earlier reports are critical to determining a consensus figure. According to both the relevance of the nation providing the data and the importance of this release in comparison to other data releases, certain releases are more relevant than others. How To Start Forex Trading - Basic Guide If the value of one currency rises or falls relative to the other, then forex trading is successful.   Even if the price may rise tomorrow, a trader may decide to acquire a currency now and sell it for a profit at a later date. We call this "going long."   Another option is to sell a currency and then purchase it back later at a lower price if they believe its value will fall. Going short is a term for this.   Inflation, interest rates, and political events may all have an impact on the value of a currency. Find a forex broker first to obtain access to the market.   You may establish a forex trading account online after you've chosen a broker and are ready to begin trading.   Before making an investment, it is essential to verify that a broker is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).   The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) maintains an online database of all regulated brokers traders could trust. So, there is a risk that a broker that isn't listed is a fake company that is willing to defraud you for money. That’s the reason why you should always be vigilant and informed while making a choice.   Depending on whether you are buying or selling, the same currency pair will have somewhat different pricing.   There is a bit of a learning curve, but it's worth remembering that prices are always given in terms of the forex broker's viewpoint, rather than yours.   From the viewpoint of a broker, prospective purchasers must make an offer if you are selling currency. Consequently, When you purchase a currency, you'll have to pay the seller's asking price.   Using leverage, traders are able to borrow money from a broker so that they may trade higher quantities of money.   The broker will cover the remainder of your investment once you make a modest initial deposit known as a margin.   Depending on the broker, the amount of leverage available varies. If the investment is successful, leverage may help you enhance your profit, but it's crucial to keep in mind that trading higher quantities of currency can also raise your chance of loss.   Before employing leverage, make sure you understand all of the dangers and potential losses. This is because, unlike conventional investments, where you can only lose your original investment, leverage leaves you exposed to an almost limitless amount of risk.   As currencies fluctuate in value, it's difficult to maintain track of your transactions 24 hours a day in the forex market.   To minimize the danger of losing money if the market does not move in your favor, there are certain automatic methods that you may set up in your forex account   Stop-loss orders restrict the amount of money a trader loses if a currency's value rises over a specified threshold. An investor may select a minimum or maximum price at which they want to purchase or sell a currency pair. When you use limit orders, you don't have to keep an eye on currency rates and automatically purchase or sell a currency when the price reaches your target.   You need to exchange big amounts of money in order to see a profit on the forex market. However, even while leverage raises the amount of currency you trade, it substantially increases the chance of you losing money, so much so that you stand to lose more than your starting capital. So, before you start trading forex, make sure you do your homework and figure out whether you can afford to lose your money.

Equities 2021-12-01 00:00 7 minutes to read Summary:  Hello December...Traditionally the second most bullish month for equites with the ASX200 rising 1.7% on average in December (since 1993/inception), while the S&P500 index has risen 1.5% on average (since 1950). Now the question is, will this December be different? Probably yes, as there is much uncertainty; markets are weary of Omicron (awaiting vaccine makers to develop a new vaccine), while retail sales are growing slower than expected (going against the grain as sales generally ramp up this time of year). So what’s next? We cover what to watch today and potential trading considerations. So volatility is indeed picking up right? And add in the fact that US Fed Chair said overnight, that the bond-buying taper process could wrap up “few months sooner than expected”…which opens the door to interest rates hikes thereafter. Powell also said “it’s probably a good time to retire” the world “transitory” to describe inflation. While global equities remain on tender hooks, keep an eye on volatility, and consider possible hedges. Iron ore breaks above its 30-DMA for the first time since 26 October. Watch the Aussie dollar with GPD data ahead. Markets and what you need to know    Equites: In the US: The Dow Jones fell 1.8%, the S&P500 lost 1.9%. Apple rose 3.1%. Pfizer rose 2.5% Salesfore.com fell 4%. Travellers fell 3.6% In Europe: the Euro Stoxx 50 fell 1.1%, the FTSE 100 down 0.7%. Yesterday most Asian markets fell, with the Australian market being the exception, rising 0.2% Commodities: Gold spot down 0.5% to $1,775.45, erasing gains after Powell’s comments on Taper, Inflation Keep an eye on Newcrest (NCM AU), Northern Star (NST AU), Evolution (EVN AU), Regis Resources (RRL AU), Resolute Mining (RSG AU), OZ Minerals (OZL AU):  WTI crude down 5.4% Oil Falls Below $65 With Powell signaling faster end to tapering Keep an eye on Woodside (WPL AU), WorleyParsons (WOR AU), Oil Search (OSH AU), Beach Energy (BPT AU), Karoon (KAR AU), Origin Energy (ORG AU), Santos (STO AU):  Copper down 1.4% Iron ore fell 0.4% after rising 6.8% the prior day Keep an eye on BHP (BHP AU), Rio Tinto (RIO AU) and Fortescue (FMG AU) Currencies: Aussie down 0.4% to 0.7118 per US dollar (Australia, NZ dollars record biggest monthly drops since pandemic) Kiwi down 0.1% to 0.6817 per US dollar Bonds: U.S. 10-year yield fell 6.2bps to 1.4375% Company News: Volvo Cars shares rose 13.6%; The company released first quarterly property since listing on the stock market a year ago and confirm a dip in revenue and profit. Volvo also flagged the sector-wide semiconductor shortage would continue into next year Apple shares +3.1% after reported Best Apple Cyber Monday. The tech giant is also working on a charger that powers multiple devices, an iPhone, AirPods, and Watch simultaneously. Orocobre shares rose 6% to a record high. Trading volume quadruped. The company expects lithium demand to grow materially through to 2040 due to electric vehicle adoption amid the global transition to carbon neutrality. This is expected to lead to a widening deficit over the next two decades, with demand predicted to be more than twice as great as supply by 2040. Major news, in case you missed it; Australian borders won’t reopen today (1 December), they’ll reopen 15 December Moderna CEO says current vaccines are less effective against new variant and it may take months before a new variant-specific jab is at scale. The World Health Organization said Omicron presents as ‘very high global risk’. Latest economic news: In Australia: The Australian economy is slowing: Private credit grew less than expected; showing Aussies are businesses borrowing less (credit grew 0.5% in October, vs 0.6% expected). Consumer confidence fell on a weekly basis In Asia – China’s manufacturing unexpected grew in November. First rise in activity since Aug. Japan industrial output rose for first time in four months, auto production rebounds on an easing of supply constraints Considerations for today and what to watch Volatility: New information is driving the markets short term direction, so keep an eye out. We’re in an illiquid part of the season, so volatility is high at the moment with news dictating the market moves. Some fund managers are taking money off the table and increasing their hedging To minimise volatility you could consider hedging for the next couple of weeks; perhaps consider currency options which is what we are seeing some clients trade at the moment, they are Buying dollar yen. Iron ore:  The Iron ore price to surged to a one month high, rising back above $100. Also of note, we are seeing clients increasing buy iron ore stocks (Fortescue, BHP and Rio Tinto). What’s new: Brazilian iron ore giant, Vale lowered its production outlook for year, while Rio Tinto announced it sees demand stabilizing is 2022 and underlying demand remaining robust expecting, China to take action to avoid a property hard land. Basically it seems iron ore supply will be coming out of market (from Vale), and demand is picking up in China. From a technical perspective, the iron ore price has held above its 15 and 30 day average, while the MACD technical indicator suggest that buying could pick up again in iron ore. This is definitely something to watch. It appears the 15 day moving average could also cross above the 30 day moving average, which would trigger a gold cross event, a technical event that often results in a bull run forming/continuing as quant traders/investors typically buy into positions when such an event occurs.   Source: TradingView, Saxo Markets Events to watch today: Local: Australian GPD data out 11:30am - expected to show Australian GPD slowed YoY, est. 3.0%, prior 9.6%. QoQ, est. -2.7%, prior 0.7%. So keep an eye on the Australian dollar. If the data is weaker than expected the Aussie dollar would likely fall US tonight: November ADP employment, November MBA purchase index, November ISM manufacturing PMI, crude oil inventories, Federal Chair Jerome Powell testimony What else? OPEC meets on Thursday - we could see production cuts, which could cause a rally in oil   Australian analyst rating changes to consider: CKF: Collins Foods Cut to Neutral at Jarden Securities; PT A$14.16 FMG: Fortescue Cut to Neutral at Citi GNC: GrainCorp Cut to Sell at Bell Potter; PT A$6.15 HPG: Hipages Group Rated New Overweight at Barrenjoey; PT A$4.65 JHX: James Hardie GDRs Rated New Overweight at Barrenjoey; PT A$63 TPG: TPG Telecom Rated New Overweight at Barrenjoey; PT A$7.50 TSI: Top Shelf International Rated New Speculative Buy at Canaccord   Ex-Dividends today on ASX:  Incitec Pivot, United Malt, Aristocrat Leisure

SAVILLS: PROPERTY MARKET HAS ADJUSTED TO THE NEW REALITY AND REGAINS MOMENTUM 14 December 2021 Real estate advisory firm Savills presents a preliminary summary of 2021 and predicts trends for the coming months. The commercial real estate market in Poland is regaining momentum but has changed significantly, reveals Savills. Key trends expected to dominate in the year ahead include rental growth, increasing ESG awareness and a focus on innovation. As expected, the vaccine roll-out has had a positive impact on the commercial property market in 2021. With investors remaining active, this year’s investment is likely to hit EUR 5 billion. Savills expects recent investment trends to continue and industrial assets to account for close to half of the total transaction volume by the end of the year. “Although the real estate market has undoubtedly bounced back in 2021, it has remained mired in uncertainty. In addition to concerns about the course of the pandemic, there were also geopolitical and economic risks. This did not however prevent tenants and investors from gradually resuming activity. Key metrics for the past 12 months illustrating investment volumes and office take-up are likely to remain close to last year’s levels amid a positive outlook for the future. A bright exception is the warehouse sector, which - undeterred by the pandemic - is already setting new highs. The commercial real estate market has adjusted to the new reality and is beginning to return to form,” says Tomasz Buras, CEO, Savills Poland. 2021 was the year of searching for an optimal work model on the office market. Many tenants decided to introduce a permanent hybrid scheme combining in-office work and working from home. According to Savills data, Poland’s total office stock topped 12,315,000 sq m. Flexible offices continued to gain traction with flexible office providers shifting their focus to expansion in regional cities. The Build-to-Rent (multifamily) sector is gradually gaining ground on the Polish market. According to Savills, at the end of 2021 there were close to 40 BtR developments in Poland. Projects that are currently under construction will soon double the stock of rental apartments. As high-tech and e-commerce companies continue to enjoy brisk expansion, these sectors are seeing their headcount grow. According to Savills, even though this has not translated directly into more demand for offices yet, there will be a growing requirement for modern housing as the trend of hybrid working intensifies. The online penetration rate (share of total retail sales) has risen from around 5% pre-pandemic to close to 9% in 2021. The development of omnichannel strategies combining online and offline shopping has gathered pace. The growth of e-commerce remains one of the key drivers of demand for logistics space. Retail has also seen the rise of dark stores - small in-town distribution centres helping shorten delivery times. In 2021, this format was launched in Poland, among others, by Å»abka. Such platforms are also operated by Lisek, Jokr and Swyft, while Biedronka has teamed up with Glovo. According to Savills, 2022 is expected to see another spike in construction costs and land prices, as well as an upward pressure on wages amid a risk of rising inflation. This will, first of all, push service charges up. Tenants will also be affected by exchange rate differences as euro-denominated rents remain a market standard. In addition, 2022 is likely to be the first year in many to witness warehouse and office rental rates go up. “There is potential for the investment market to see more buying in 2022. Investor demand for industrial assets will remain strong while the PRS will increase its market share. Several spectacular office projects are likely to change hands. Next year’s investment volume is expected to come close to pre-pandemic levels. Commercial real estate is considered a safe haven in times of high volatility on currency, stock exchange and bond markets, driving investor activity,” adds Tomasz Buras, Savills Poland. Next year is also shaping up to be a time when ESG strategies will begin to gain prominence on the real estate market. The importance of ESG is rising as a result of the European Union’s taxonomy, or the change of regulations on non-financial sustainability reporting and the entry into force of the CSRD, as well as tenants’ preferences. ESG is not only about a concern for the environment, but also for the human being. According to Savills, this will be visible on the warehouse market, where developers wanting to stand out will also begin to focus on the second social pillar of ESG, i.e. the human aspect, in addition to investing in energy efficiency. On the office market there will be marked differences between ESG compliant buildings and those whose owners will fail to take action in this period of change. Today, both older office buildings and properties in non-central locations are faced with refinancing challenges. Prospective buyers are, however, beginning to look for existing buildings with an intention to upgrade or sometimes repurpose them, or even to pull them down. This is true not only for office assets. Warehouse developers have also become keener to engage in brownfield projects in order to secure good locations. A dichotomy or division of properties into buildings that may soon have to be repurposed for lack of other options and those that have been upgraded will become visible for example in Warsaw’s SÅ‚użewiec district. Office buildings in that area meeting high standards will be able to attract cost-sensitive tenants with an opportunity to bring rents down. Such buildings may, therefore, become the big winners of the pandemic, says Savills. In 2022, the Warsaw office market is likely to begin to slowly switch to a landlord’s market. The office development pipeline is currently at its lowest in 10 years. Savills forecasts that as office buildings whose construction began before the pandemic are gradually filling up with tenants, the second half of the year may see the first signs of an undersupply and landlords gaining the upper hand in negotiations. This trend is already apparent in prime office buildings in Warsaw. Another top trend for 2022 according to Savills is innovation comprising the implementation of new technologies in real estate (proptech) and the use of big data in property management. The drive towards more automation is expected in manufacturing facilities, office buildings and autonomous retail stores. Looking ahead, modern data analytics tools will be used for a growing number of tasks in property management and valuation.

January 03, 2022  $USD, autos, Canada, China, Currency Movement, Inflation, jobs, Mexico, PMI, Trade Overview:  The New Year begins slowly.  Japan, mainland China, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK markets remain closed.  While Hong Kong shares traded heavily, Taiwan, South Korea, and India moved higher.  Led by consumer discretionary and staple sectors, Europe's Stoxx 600 is up about 0.6%.  US futures are 0.4%-0.6% higher.  European yields have drifted lower, with the periphery doing bettter than the core.   The US 10-year yield will begin the local session at 1.51%.  The dollar is mostly firmer, after weakening broadly at the end of last year.   The Norwegian krone and New Zealand dollar are the most resilient,  while the Canadian dollar is off nearly 0.3% to pare the year-end gains, followed by the euro, which is in the middle of its $1.1335-$1.1380 range.  The greenback is holding above JPY115.00.  Emerging market currencies are mixed but mostly softer.  Higher than expected inflation is weighing on the Turkish lira. The South Korean won leads the other softer EM currencies. It is off about 0.25%.  The South African rand (~0.7%) and Russian ruble (0.5%) lead the advancers.  The JP Morgan Emerging Market Currency Index rose by about 2.5% in the last two weeks of 2021 and is slightly firmer today (~0.2%).  Iron ore is higher for the third consecutive session and rallied more than 45% from the middle of November through Xmas, before falling 5.3% last week.  Copper has a four-week 4.6% rally in tow but is slightly softer today.  Gold is stalling near $1830, the (61.8%) retracement of its sell-off from $1880 mid-November high.  Oil rallied for the last two weeks, with February WTI gaining about 6.2%.  OPEC+ meets tomorrow and WTI is up a nearly 1.5% to push above $76.  US natural gas gained slightly more than 1% in the past two weeks and is hovering around little changed level.  Recall that diverted shipments from the US and Asia to Europe saw natural gas prices collapse from above 180 euros on December 21 to 65.5 euros at the end of last week.   Asia Pacific China's property developers remain in the spotlight. Bloomberg estimates that the sector's debt servicing costs, including deferred wages, and maturing obligations are at $197 bln this month.  Evergrande shares were suspended in Hong Kong.  When the problems, bubbling below the surface for some time, emerged last September, global risk appetites were shaken, and many observers made comparisons to the Great Financial Crisis.  However, so far, the problems seem localized and unlike the US and Europe, new lending has not frozen.   The macro data highlights include China's Caixin PMI after the official one surprised on the upside. The preliminary PMIs for Australia and Japan steal the thunder from the final report. Japan's weekly MOF report on portfolio flows may be noteworthy. Foreign investors have been on a buying spree, buying the most Japanese bonds over the first three weeks of December in at least 20 years.   The dollar has risen for the past four weeks against the Japanese yen.  It closed the last two sessions slightly above JPY115.00 and remains above it today.  Recall, last year's high, set in late November, was near JPY115.50.  Today's high thus far is about JPY115.35.  The market may be reluctant to push the dollar much higher before Tokyo returns.  The Australian dollar advanced almost 2% in the second half of December.  It is stalling near the (50%) retracement of its decline from around $0.7555 in late October, found close to $0.7275.  Support is ahead of $0.7200.  Thin trading on New Year's Eve saw the dollar plunge to its low for the year near CNY6.34 before settling slightly above CNY6.3560.  Chinese officials have signaled their desire to avoid further yuan appreciation. If the divergence of monetary policy and higher fx reserve requirements are not sufficient, investors must be wary that other tools can be deployed.   Europe The uptick in Germany's December manufacturing PMI was revised away, leaving it unchanged from November at 57.4.  The flash estimate put it at 57.9.  In contrast, the French reading was revised up to 55.6 from 54.9.  This pared the decline from 55.9 in November.   Italy's manufacturing PMI held in better than expected, slipping to 62.0 from 62.8, the post-Covid high.  Spain, on the other hand, disappointed, with its manufacturing PMI falling to 56.2 from 57.1, its lowest since last February.  The net result was the flash aggregate estimate of 58.0 was sustained (58.4 in November).   The final Eurozone aggregate PMI is of passing interest. The main takeaway from the preliminary estimate continues to resonate:  the economic activity was slowing. The flash estimate put the composite at 53.4 (down from 55.4), the lowest since March. It has risen once in the last five months. More notable for the market will be the preliminary estimate of December inflation. Consumer prices are expected to have stabilized after reaching 4.9% year-over-year in November (2.6% core).   The Turkish government has tried to absorb the currency-risk that it has unleashed by forcing the central bank to cut key interest rates by 500 bp since mid-September.  It managed to spur a powerful short-covering squeeze in the lira, which saw the dollar fall from around TRY18.36 on December 20 to nearly TRY10.25 on December 23.  The greenback recovered to nearly TRY14.00 today, its sixth consecutive advance.  Today's CPI report blew away expectations.  Just in the month of December, Turkish consumer prices jumped nearly 13.6%.  This sent the year-over-year rate to almost 36.1%.  The core rate rose about 31.9% year-over-year.  Short covering helped lifted the euro a little more than 1.1% over the past two weeks.  It reached about $1.1385 on New Year's Eve.  It has not traded above $1.14 since mid-February.  Ahead of this week's two key economic reports (EMU CPI and US employment), the market may not have the conviction necessary to extend its year-end gains.  Sterling gained about 2.1% in the last two weeks.  It reached $1.3550 at the end of last week, its best level since mid-November.  It is little changed today.  The $1.3575 area corresponds to the (50%) retracement of its sell-off from $1.3835 area in late October.  Initial support is seen in the $1.3455-$1.3465 area.   America The US economic diary is jammed packed to begin the New Year. The highlight is the jobs report at the end of the week. The median forecast (Bloomberg survey) calls for a 400k increase after being disappointed with the 210k increase in November. The unemployment rate is expected to ease to 4.1% from 4.2%, and average earnings growth likely moderated. At the end of last year, an article in the Financial Times made two important observations. First, the uniqueness of the covid-impact renders seasonal adjustments suspect. The response rate was less than two-thirds, the lowest for the month of November in more than a decade. In November, the raw establishment survey showed a 778k gain in nonfarm payrolls, but the BLS adjustment cut a record 568k. Second, also complicating the data is the participation by businesses. The response rate was less than two-thirds, the lowest for the month of November in more than a decade.   The monthly auto sales report seems under-appreciated as a broad economic indicator. The supply chain disruptions depressed auto production and, in turn, auto consumption (not just in the US). However, late in the year, there seemed to be some improvement. The median forecast (Bloomberg survey) December US auto sales (seasonally adjusted annual rate) at 13.1 mln, which would then be the most since July. Elsewhere, the preliminary goods trade balance, like the flash PMI, is the real new news. The final reading tends not to be very meaningful. In any event, the trade deficit will widen considerably. The goods deficit widened to a record $97.8 bln from $83.2 bln.   Lastly, the FOMC minutes will be looked at especially for clues about the timing of the first hike. March? It is unreasonable to expect Canada to match the nearly 154k job increase reported for November. The median forecast is 25k. Canada also reports November trade figures. Canada's trade balance has steadily improved since March 2020, and the 12-month moving average through October was the highest in around six years. The swaps market has a little more than half of the first hike (25 bp) priced in at the January 26 Bank of Canada meeting.   Mexico's data highlights include worker remittances, which could be the most important source of private capital inflows. Without meaningful fiscal support and in the face of tightening monetary policy, the economy lacks much momentum. The December CPI is expected to have edged higher toward 7.5%. Monetary policy is where the drama will be as the new central bank governor takes the reins (Rodriguez). The 50 bp hike in December lifted the overnight target to 5.5%. If the market is concerned about a policy mistake or possible erosion of its independence, you would not know it from looking at the peso. It was the strongest currency in the world in December, rising almost 4.5% against the dollar.   The Canadian dollar rallied about 2% over the past two weeks.  This saw the US dollar retrace half of its rally from the mid-October low below CAD1.23 that peaked on December 20 by CAD1.2965.  That retracement came it near CAD1.2625.  The momentum indicators are still headed down, but the greenback is recovering today.  Initial resistance is seen around CAD1.2700.  A move above CAD1.2750 warns that a low may be in place.  The Mexican peso has rallied for the past five weeks, and despite the poor close at the end of the year, it is bid today.  The US dollar was sold from near MXN20.55 to MXN20.45 in the European morning but has found a bid near midday.  The low from New Year's Eve was set around MXN20.3070 and the 200-day moving average is closer to MXN20.27.    Disclaimer

January 05, 2022  $USD, auto sales, Currency Movement, Omicron, PMI, technology Overview:  The tech sell-off in the US yesterday, ostensibly driven by higher rates, carried over into trading today.  South Korea, China, and Hong Kong led the regional sell-off.  News that China's zero Covid tolerance led to a lockdown of the city of Xian with a population of around 13 mln played on fears of more supply chain disruptions.  A second city, Yuzhou, considerably smaller, has also been lockdown.  Japan, India, and several smaller markets gain.  European bourses, where tech is less prominent have edged higher and the Stoxx 600 is extending its gain for the third consecutive session.  US futures are softer.  Asia and most European bonds yields have risen today, while the US 10-year is steady around 1.64%.  Of note, with Italian politics rising as an issue ahead of the presidential contest later this month, maybe helping lift the 10-year BTP to new six-month highs near 1.22%.  The US dollar is seeing its recent gains trimmed against the major currencies.  The Japanese yen is recovering a little after falling to five-year lows yesterday.  The Canadian dollar is the laggard today, amid a sell-off in its bonds.   The emerging market currency complex is mixed, and the JP Morgan EM FX index is recouping about half of yesterday's 0.35% loss.  Gold is firm but remains within Monday's range (~$1798.50-$1832). Among the industrial metals we monitor, iron ore bounced back after yesterday's minor loss and is at its best level since Xmas eve.  Copper is being turned back after yesterday's rally stalled near the $448 cap.  Crude oil is consolidating yesterday's gain and February WTI is near $77.00.  US LNG firm but within the $3.50-$4.00 range, while European (Dutch) is extending yesterday's dramatic gain (31.6%). Asia Pacific While China has moved quickly to impose lockdowns where cases of the virus appear, the tech sector is off to a poor start.  The Heng Seng Tech Index fell 4.6% today, the most since July, and the third consecutive drop.  Tencent is reducing its investments, and this took a toll on companies it backed.  Some link Tencent decision to Beijing's push against anti-competitive practices.  The NASDAQ Golden Dragon Index, which tracks Chinese lists companies fell 4.3% yesterday.  The tech sell-off was also clear in the US where the NASDAQ shed 1.3%.   Japan's "Mothers" gauge weighted toward small and medium-sized software and technology companies fell 5% to its lowest level since May 2020.  In the last hours of trading, after HK tightened social restrictions, the equity loss intensified.   Japan reported that December auto sales were 10.2% lower than a year ago.  Yesterday, the US reported disappointing December auto sales.  Auto sales were expected to have risen to their best level since August but instead fell to a 12.44 mln unit annual pace.  It was the lowest since September and reflects a 23.6% decline from December 2020.  Last year, US auto sales averaged 14.93 mln a month compared with 14.41 mln in 2020 and 16.91 mln in 2019.  Although supply is argued to be a bigger problem than demand, some producers, like GM, have reported a substantial rebuilding of inventories.   The dollar closed above JPY116.00 yesterday but has failed to sustain the upside momentum.  It peaked near JPY116.35 and is approaching support at the previous resistance around JPY115.50.  A break of JPY115.00, which seems unlikely ahead of the US jobs data on Friday, would lend credence to the idea that it was a false breakout.  The Australian dollar is firm near $0.7250 after recovering from the dip below $0.7200.  Still, it needs to resurface above $0.7275-$0.7280 to be notable.  We suspect the Aussie will pullback in North America and see initial support around $0.7220.  Outside of the dramatic year-end session, the Chinese yuan continues to trade quietly in a well-worn range.  The dollar continues to trade mostly between CNY6.3660 and CNY6.3830.  The PBOC set the dollar's reference rate at CNY6.3779.  The (Bloomberg) survey found a median expectation for CNY6.3773.  Note that offshore yuan (CNH) swaps/forward points are at their lowest level since April 2020 amid reports that overseas branches of state-owned banks are continuing to lend out CNH.  Lastly, we note that the China Securities Journal plays up the possibility that the PBOC eases policy ahead of the Spring Festival holiday (January 31).   Europe The main economic news from the eurozone today is the final reading of the December service and composite PMI.  The takeaway is that it is a little softer than the preliminary estimate.  On the aggregate level, the service PMI eased to 53.1 from 53.3 flash estimate and 55.9 in November.  The composite eased from 55.4 in November to 53.4 preliminary estimate and 53.3 final.  It is the lowest since March and is the fourth decline in five months.  While the German services PMI was revised higher, it remains below 50 boom/bust (48.7) and this coupled with the weakness in manufacturing saw the composite revised to 49.9 from 50.0 initially and 52.2 in November.  It is the weakest composite reading since June 2020.   France's service PMI slipped to 57.0 from the 57.1 flash reading and 57.4 in November.  The composite was revised higher to 55.8 from 55.6.  It stood at 56.1 previously.  Italy and Spain disappointed with readings of both the service and composite below expectations.  The Italian composite stands at 54.7 down from 57.6.  Spain's composite is at 55.4 from 57.6 in November.   Intervention by the Swiss National Bank draws attention as the euro traded at six-year lows at the end of last year.  Sight deposits rose by CHF3.37 bln in December after CHF2.27 bln and CHF2.57 bln in November and October, respectively.  Overall, sight deposits rose by CHF18.85 bln in 2021 after surging CHF119.3 bln in 2020.  Denmark also anchors its monetary policy in the exchange rate peg to the euro.  Its central bank sold DKK47 bln (~$7.1 bln) in December to defend the peg.  It was the largest intervention in seven years.  Although inflation is running a little below 4%, there is some speculation that the Danish central bank may have to cut rates as its next defense of the peg.   The euro is trading inside yesterday's (~$1.1270-$1.1320) range.  It is difficult for bulls or bears to find much to like with it hovering around the middle of the two-cent range that has confined it for nearly two months.  The 480 mln euro option at $1.1290 that expires today has likely been neutralized, but there are options at $1.1275 for 1.3 bln euros that expires tomorrow that may be in play still.  Sterling is steady at the upper end of yesterday's range when it briefly poked above $1.3555.  It is the highest it has been since November 10.  An option for GBP375 mln at $1.3505 expires tomorrow.  Initial support is seen near $1.3520, and a break could test support in the $1.3480-$1.3500 area.   America ADP 's private sector jobs estimate is the early feature in the US today.  The median estimate (Bloomberg survey) is for an increase of 410k after 534k in November.  The final PMI will likely draw little attention.  The FOMC minutes from last month's meeting, at which officials announced the acceleration of tapering will be looked upon for insight into the Fed's balance sheet and any signal that it may allow maturing issues to roll-off soon.  Besides the rate hikes, for which the market has priced in three this year, the balance sheet is quickly emerging as the new focus.   Also, on tap today is the EIA inventory data.  The API reportedly showed a large rise in gasoline inventories but another drop (6.4 mln barrels) in crude stocks.   Canada's build permits are not typically a market mover.  Tomorrow it reports the November trade balance, and the highlight is Friday's jobs data.  It is difficult to envision a report as strong as November’s nearly 154k increase.  Proportionately, it would be as if the US nonfarm payrolls rose by around 1.7 mln.  Mexico reports December domestic auto sales.  In November, its auto sales were off about 13.5% year-over-year.  The highlight of the week is Friday's CPI figures.  The year-over-year pace is expected to have edged up from 7.37% in November.   The US dollar is trading inside yesterday's range against the Canadian dollar (~CAD1.2665-CAD1.2765), which was inside Monday's range (~CAD1.2630-CAD1.2780).  It is trading around CAD1.2720 near midday in London.  The intraday technical indicators seem to favor a retest of the greenback's highs.  The US dollar's performance against the Mexican peso is similar.  It is inside yesterday's range, which was inside Monday's range (~MXN20.41-MXN20.65).  The US dollar looks soft and could test the December 31 low near MXN20.33.   The 200-day moving average is near MXN20.27 and the greenback has not traded below it in a little more than two months.    Disclaimer

The cryptocurrency market received moderate support from retail buyers over the weekend. Over the past 24 hours, the capitalisation of all coins rose 0.22%, according to CoinMarketCap, approaching $1.97 trillion. The top altcoins lost 11-19% over 7 days but found buyers over the weekend. The $2 trillion mark in total crypto valuation turned into local resistance last week, from where pressure has intensified. However, a strong buy-the-deep mood has kept the market from forming a downward spiral. The cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index was stuck at 23 over the weekend, indicating extreme fear. The index has been hovering at the lower half of the scale since November 18th. Optimists, however, may note that the indicator has bounced back from the 10 level. The dip here in May and July coincided with the lows within the impulse, hinting at the potential for some technical rebound. Technical analysis also suggests a rebound in BTCUSD, with the RSI on daily charts showing attempts to move up from the oversold area below 30 and the price hovering near the reversal area in September. A longer-term view of the cryptocurrency market makes one more cautious about its prospects. Bitcoin has been in a downward corridor since November last year, having fallen to its lower boundary by the end of last week. Local overselling is a chance for a rebound, but the overall trend is still downwards. Cryptocurrency investors should not dismiss the idea of 4-year cycles in Bitcoin affecting the entire sector just yet. According to this hypothesis, 2022 could turn out to be a repeat of 2018 and 2014 - bear market years after a surge in the previous two years. Thus, it is worth paying increased attention to whether the crypto market manages to return to growth in the coming days and weeks. A strong start to the year will put these fears to rest.

The Fed continued to surprise markets at the start of the year with hawkish rhetoric by unexpectedly raising discussions on balance sheet shrinking. Investors are noticing that the issue has been on the table much earlier than it was before. In the last episode of QE, it took almost two years from the start of tapering and allowing it to shrink. The pauses between regime switches gave time for the markets and the economy to adjust, and for the Central Bank to evaluate the results of the policy, because the lag between the change in policy and the peak of its impact on the economy often exceeds six months. In our view, there is a real risk that the markets and the Fed are being too hawkish in their forecasts, moving abruptly from denial of inflation to a willingness to use their entire arsenal at once to beat it. But such activity to rein in inflation could easily prove excessive. As Friday's labor market data showed, job growth in the U.S. continues to slow, at only 199K, an 11-month low and half of what was expected. The drop in the unemployment rate to 3.9%, the lowest since the pandemic began, reflects a decline in the number of people looking for work. But it hardly allows us to expect consumer spending to rise, depriving the economy of a crucial pro-inflationary factor. In addition, fertilizer prices fell at a multi-year record pace last week, container prices have retreated from their peaks, and logistical problems are slowly fading from the agenda. Rate futures are laying down a 70% chance of a Fed rate hike as early as March. Several forecasters also suggest that the rate will rise at each subsequent meeting. But this could come as an excessive shock to the economy, risking causing a recession without putting it firmly on the growth track. Interestingly, unlike the futures market, the currency market remains in a period of narrow sideways movement of just over 100 pips around 1.1300. It is unlikely that the ECB will act as quickly and decisively as the Fed. If projections for a rate hike by the latter as early as March and an accelerated move into a balance sheet reduction phase will form a strong upside potential for the dollar. However, after Friday's weak data we have a growing belief that the market has jumped ahead in expectations and a reversal of such will start soon, which will play against the dollar and relieve pressure on stocks.

  The imminent interest rate hike by the Fed is almost certain. Are investors' concerns justified and will it mean trouble for the precious metals?  While the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite recovered from sharp intraday losses on Jan. 10, investors’ mood swings signaled heightened anxiety. With the PMs whipsawing alongside the general stock market, more volatility should materialize in the weeks and months to come. To explain, with the Fed on a hawkish warpath to fight rampant inflation, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC on Jan. 10 that a resilient U.S. economy could prove problematic for the financial markets in 2022. “The consumer balance sheet has never been in better shape; they’re spending 25% more today than pre-COVID,” said Dimon. “Their debt-service ratio is better than it’s been since we’ve been keeping records for 50 years.” As for inflation and the Fed: “It’s possible that inflation is worse than they think and they raise rates more than people think. I personally would be surprised if it’s just four [interest rate] increases [in 2022],” he added. How would the financial markets react? Source: CNBC Singing a similar tune, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on Jan. 10 that the Fed’s rate hike cycle could slaughter emerging markets. Its report revealed: “For most of last year, investors priced in a temporary rise in inflation in the United States given the unsteady economic recovery and a slow unravelling of supply bottlenecks. Now sentiment has shifted. Prices are rising at the fastest pace in almost four decades and the tight labor market has started to feed into wage increases.”   Volatile Days Ahead While I warned for all of 2021 that inflationary pressures were bullish for the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasury yields and bearish for the PMs, the IMF stated: “Faster Fed rate increases in response could rattle financial markets and tighten financial conditions globally. These developments could come with a slowing of US demand and trade and may lead to capital outflows and currency depreciation in emerging markets.” As a result, even the IMF is anxiously bullish on the USD Index: For a good reason. With September, July, June, and May all gone by the wayside, now, the market-implied probability of a Fed rate hike in March has risen to nearly 83%. For context, the probability of a March liftoff was less than 10% in early November. Please see below: Likewise, the market-implied probability of four rate hikes by the Fed in 2022 has risen to nearly 87%. Again, the probability was less than 50% in early November. Please see below: Why the material shift? Well, while I’ve been warning for months that rampant inflation would elicit a hawkish about-face from the Fed, investors are finally coming around to this reality. With inflation still running hot, market participants understand that pricing pressures won’t subside without policy responses from the Fed. As a result, the “transitory” narrative is dead, and investors have lost one of their staunchest allies. This means that predicting silver and gold at higher levels in the medium term might not be the best idea. To that point, Bank of America’s dove-hawk spectrum shows that the dovish brigade has lost several soldiers. With the hawks now on the offensive, the officials preaching monetary patience are few and far between.  Please see below: For context, Bank of America still places San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly in the dovish bucket. However, I noted on Dec. 23 that she has materially shifted her stance in recent weeks: Source: The New York Times Furthermore, with inflationary pressures still bubbling, the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index hit another all-time high of 236.2 in December, as “wholesale used vehicle prices (on a mix-, mileage-, and seasonally adjusted basis) increased 1.6% month-over-month.” Please see below: On top of that, the cost of shipping from Shanghai, China, is still increasing. With the U.S. importing more goods from China than any other nation, the inflationary impact on the U.S. economy is material. Please see below: Finally, while the GDXJ ETF benefited from the NASDAQ Composite’s intraday reversal on Jan. 10, I warned on Oct. 26 that monetary policy tightening would eventually upend the junior miners. I wrote: To explain, the green line above tracks the GDXJ ETF from the beginning of 2013 to the end of 2015. If you analyze the left side of the chart, you can see that when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted at tapering on May 22, 2013, the GDXJ ETF declined by 32% from May 22 until the taper began on Dec. 18. Moreover, the onslaught didn’t end there. Once the taper officially began, the GDXJ ETF enjoyed a relief rally (similar to what we’re witnessing now), as long-term interest rates declined and the PMs assumed that the worst was in the rearview. However, as the liquidity drain caught up to the junior miners over the medium term, the GDXJ ETF declined by another 36% from when the taper was announced on Dec. 18, 2013 until the end of 2015. To that point, with part one already on the books, the second act will likely unfold once the Fed formally begins its taper in “either mid-November or mid-December.” Thus, history implies that the GDXJ ETF still has plenty of downside left. While the junior miners' ETF has declined by more than 11% since Oct. 26, Goldman Sachs has come around to our way of thinking. Please see below: To explain, Goldman Sachs told its clients last week that the yellow metal has been following its ominous path since 2013/2014 (as you may recall, I’ve been writing about the 2013-now analogy for months). For context, the red line above tracks gold’s price action from July 2010 until December 2014, while the blue line above tracks gold’s price action from July 2019 until now. If you analyze the symmetrical overlay, you can see that the pair have been in sync for some time. Moreover, if you focus your attention on the red line’s plight as time passes, it’s clear why Goldman Sachs is warning its clients about “further downside risk”. To that point, with the investment bank forecasting a real (inflation-adjusted) interest rate regime change in 2022, gold is poised to suffer along the way. To explain, the various bars above track gold’s monthly returns when the real U.S. Federal Funds Rate (dark blue), the real U.S. 5-Year Treasury yield (green), and the real U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield (light blue) begin with positive/negative values and then increase/decrease. If you focus your attention on the bars furthest to the right, you can see that when the real U.S. 5-Year Treasury yield and the real U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield are negative and then rise, gold suffers its worst monthly performances. Moreover, with the current fundamental environment presenting us with precisely that, similar results will likely materialize over the medium term. The bottom line? While investors desperately bought the dip on Jan. 10, the more than 2% intraday swing in the NASDAQ Composite screamed of monetary policy anxiety. With another hot inflation print poised to hit the wire on Jan. 12, the reprieve will likely be short-lived. Furthermore, with the PMs suffering from a similar fundamental affliction – as both the PMs and technology stocks are extremely allergic to rising interest rates – volatility is likely here to stay. As a result, the Fed should continue to break investors’ hearts over the medium term. In conclusion, the PMs rallied on Jan. 10, though their fundamental outlooks remain profoundly bearish. With interest rates poised to rise and the USD Index still undervalued, more headwinds should confront gold, silver, and mining stocks in the coming months. As a result, long-term buying opportunities are likely still a ways away. Thank you for reading our free analysis today. Please note that the above is just a small fraction of today’s all-encompassing Gold & Silver Trading Alert. The latter includes multiple premium details such as the targets for gold and mining stocks that could be reached in the next few weeks. If you’d like to read those premium details, we have good news for you. As soon as you sign up for our free gold newsletter, you’ll get a free 7-day no-obligation trial access to our premium Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. It’s really free – sign up today. Przemyslaw Radomski, CFAFounder, Editor-in-chiefSunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care * * * * * All essays, research and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses are based on data available to authors of respective essays at the time of writing. Although the information provided above is based on careful research and sources that are deemed to be accurate, Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA and his associates do not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the data or information reported. The opinions published above are neither an offer nor a recommendation to purchase or sell any securities. Mr. Radomski is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Przemyslaw Radomski's, CFA reports you fully agree that he will not be held responsible or liable for any decisions you make regarding any information provided in these reports. Investing, trading and speculation in any financial markets may involve high risk of loss. Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA, Sunshine Profits' employees and affiliates as well as members of their families may have a short or long position in any securities, including those mentioned in any of the reports or essays, and may make additional purchases and/or sales of those securities without notice.

On Monday, we saw colourful confirmation of how much stock market dynamics are affecting Ether and Bitcoin. Following the intraday fall of more than 2% in the Nasdaq, the top two cryptocurrencies surrendered their psychologically important levels, retreating at $ 3K and $ 40K, respectively. However, in all cases, the fall was redeemed. The Nasdaq closed with a nominal decline, and Bitcoin very quickly returned to levels near $ 42K. Ether is currently trading at 3100, gaining over 1% since the start of the day. The broader technical picture has not changed, indicating locally oversold, which puts buyers on the run who have been waiting for a discount in recent days. The crypto market as a whole has been losing 0.6% over the past 24 hours, but since the beginning of the day, it has been adding 1.6% to $ 1.96 trillion against the dip to $ 1.86 trillion at the peak of the decline on Monday evening. The Cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index lost 2 points in a day, dropping to 21. This is still in extreme fear, just like yesterday and a week ago. In our opinion, bitcoin and ether are bought locally by enthusiasts and a number of long-term strategic investors, while investment funds trade them based on bursts of demand or risk aversion. By and large, this puts cryptocurrencies on a par with growth stocks, sensitive to the dynamics of interest rates: the rise in profitability causes a sell-off of risks. At the same time, we must not forget that cryptocurrencies are more mobile, that is, they sometimes lose twice or three times more than Nasdaq. If so, then cryptocurrencies are far from the bottom, since the process of normalizing interest rates in financial markets is far from complete.

GBPUSD rally gains tractionThe US dollar fell after the Fed Chair’s remark that no decision has been made on quantitative tightening. The pair showed some weakness near the daily resistance at 1.3600.The RSI’s double top in the overbought area led some buyers to take chips off the table. However, a follow-up close above the resistance indicates that the bulls are still in control of the direction.Sentiment remains upbeat and 1.3700 from the start of the November sell-off would be the next target. 1.3570 is a fresh support in case of a pullback.NZDUSD bounces off major supportThe New Zealand dollar recovers as risk appetite returns following Jerome Powell’s testimony.The previous rebound towards 0.6830 met strong selling pressure. Its failure to achieve a new high suggests that the bearish bias lingers. The drop below 0.6740 further weighs on the kiwi. A bounce could still be an opportunity to sell into strength.The bulls need to clear 0.6835 in order to turn the tide, and 0.6730 is a fresh support. A bearish breakout may test the base of December’s bounce at 0.6700.EURJPY maintains uptrendThe euro recoups losses as traders dump safe-haven currencies. The fall below 130.80 has shaken out some weak hands.Nonetheless, the upward bias remains intact after the single currency saw solid demand over the psychological level of 130.00. The RSI’s oversold situation compounded the attractiveness of the discount.A rise above 131.60 would bring in momentum traders and clear the path for an extended rally to 132.55 near last October’s peak. 129.10 is the second line of defence in case of a deeper retracement.

The crypto market has again surpassed $2 trillion, adding almost 2.7% in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin, meanwhile, has not kept pace with the rise in altcoin prices: BTC strengthened by 1.45% against a 4% rise in ETH, while other leading coins added between 3% and 7%. The purchase of altcoins has intensified after the first cryptocurrency defended the $40K mark. This was like a sign of faith in the sector's short-term prospects, which again allowed enthusiasts to invest in potentially more undervalued coins and projects. The crypto Fear and Greed Index added 1 point to 22 overnight, but we can see that investors took the recent plunge as a buying opportunity. On the chart, bitcoin rebounded from a psychologically important support level for the second time since September. In addition, the RSI indicator on the daily charts came out of the oversold area, signalling a pause in the bearish momentum. However, it is too early to say that we are seeing the beginning of a new growth wave. There are several reasons for that. In this wave of decline, the RSI indicator reached lower lows than earlier in December and markedly lower levels in September and July, marking more persistent and prolonged selling than in previous episodes. Bitcoin's consolidation attempts this week is only a wobble near the bottom. A bullish reversal will be indicated by solid upward momentum in July or September. The mini rebound in December was quickly eaten away by the bears. BTCUSD is consolidating near the lower boundary of the descending channel. To say that we see more than just a bounce within this trend is only possible if it grew above 45k - where the previous local lows and the downside resistance line are concentrated. If bitcoin fails to develop an uptrend, it will seriously spoil sentiment for cryptocurrency traders, creating a toxic environment in the sector and putting selling back on the agenda, despite the prospects of individual projects.

The value of the cryptocurrency market rose almost 3% over the past 24 hours to 2.07 trillion. Exceeding the psychologically important circular mark pulled demand for coins outside the top 10. Separately, bitcoin enjoyed demand from the pull into risky assets in traditional financial markets and the weakening dollar. Bitcoin has fallen slightly short of the entire crypto market since the beginning of the week, pushing its share down to 40%. However, it is too early to say that a new rally in crypto has begun. The crypto market remains 30% below its peaks in early November, and capitalisation growth is uneven. Interestingly, the cryptocurrency fear and greed index lost 1 point to 21 overnight, despite increasing market cap. Yesterday's rise did not gain traction at the start of the day on Thursday. Fixing above $45K against $43.5K now would confirm the strength of the bulls. It is reasonable to talk about a rebound within the descending channel until that time. If the dollar goes back to growth in the nearest future, it will pressure stock markets. The cryptocurrency market, in these circumstances, risks reversing back to the downside, stopping the rebound and remaining in a prolonged downtrend channel. We should be wary of a smooth decline like this, as it drains optimists. We saw a similar descent in 2018 when the fall became uniformly smooth in the second half of the year, and a wide range of crypto-enthusiasts switched to standby mode until mid-2020.

Fundamental and technical factors on the dollar locally give opposite signals. However, after a long period of strengthening the American currency, a corrective DXY pullback looks like a logical short-term prospect. On Wednesday, the US dollar came under pressure, the sharpest loss since last May and coming out of a prolonged consolidation. The dollar index retreated below 95 for the first time in two months. EURUSD surpassed 1.1400, trading at 1.1440 at the time of writing, having consolidated beyond the narrow range where the pair had spent the previous almost two months. Often such a decisive move out of the range is followed by a further breakout move, which we may well see in the coming days. The Dollar Index closed below the 50-day moving average on Tuesday and made a further move lower on Wednesday. The fall out of the range gave an informal start to the correction after the rally from May through most of November and the sideways movement in December. A potential target for such a pullback is seen in the 93.50-94.00 area. Near 94 is the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the dollar's move amplitude in 2021 and the starting point of the last rally in November. Near 93.50, the peak area of the index last year could be equally strong support. It hardly makes sense to say now that we are seeing the start of a big wave of dollar decline, as solid fundamentals support its growth. It looks like Fed members started a competition on whose expectations and comments are the most hawkish, and consumer inflation has given little reason to change the rhetoric. Among the latest comments is Powell's reassurance that the economy can cope with rate hikes. Fighting inflation is a top priority for the US central bank. Mary Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, predicts a first rate hike as early as March. This practically rules out a pause between the end of balance buying and the first policy tightening. Furthermore, there are increasing signs that rate increases can continue to occur more frequently than once a quarter, as was the case in the previous tightening cycle. Many other central banks in developed countries are not yet prepared to tighten their policies as vigorously, which generally creates a sustained pull towards the USD on the interest rate differential in its favour.

Pressure on US tech stocks was a significant theme in US trading yesterday, dragging cryptocurrencies down. The Crypto market capitalisation adjusted 1.1% overnight to $2.05 trillion. Bitcoin is losing 2% overnight, down to $42.8K, and ether is losing about 1.5% to $3.3K. Other top coins are declining with much less amplitude, as investment fund darlings rather than crypto enthusiasts have been hit the hardest. The Doge, which has become accepted as a means of payment for some (inexpensive) Tesla goods, deserves a separate story. Some have noted that goods for Doge are selling out even faster than for dollars. On this news, the coin is adding 18% today at $0.20, near the highs for the month. This news is a good illustration of crypto's continued penetration of corporate culture. On the other hand, Tesla won't necessarily hold these coins forever. People will be more active in spending their investments in DOGE. The technical view of the ETHUSD is disappointing because the selling intensified earlier in the week while it tried to break the 200 SMA again. The dip and consolidation below suggest a break of the bullish trend formed in May 2020, when the pair consolidated above this line. In a worst-case scenario, it could be a road to $1300-1700, about half of the current levels. It is doubtful that in this bear market cycle, the price of ether will lose 95% of its peak, as it did in 2018, which could completely nullify the rise from 2020. Bitcoin's disposition is no less worrisome. A death cross forms in it as the 50-day dips below the 200-day. At the same time, the price is below these averages, which reinforces the bearish signal. Attempts earlier in the week to form a rebound are encountering more substantial selling, further indicating seller pressure. The bearish picture in Ether and Bitcoin makes the entire cryptocurrency sector appear cautious in the near term. Individual growth stories, like DOGE, run the risk of quickly losing strength today when the overall backdrop turns negative.

The Cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index has been cruising between 21-23 for the past seven days - in the extreme fear territory, finding itself in the middle of that range on Monday. Meanwhile, the value of all coins tracked by CoinMarketCap fell 0.5% in the last 24 hours to $2.05 trillion. By and large, a sideways range, $2.0-$2.1 trillion, has also been prevalent here for the past seven days, marking a lull in bull and bear fighting. It remains to be seen whether this signifies fatigue from the past months' turbulent moves or preparations for a new strong momentum. The local victory is on the bears' side, dominating the top coins now, where losses range from -0.8% for Bitcoin to -5.7% for Polkadot over the last 24 hours. Bitcoin failed to build on last week's upside momentum and is back in the $41-42K consolidation area, approaching it from above. A decline from these levels in the coming days will be a development of the downtrend since November, reversing the BTCUSD from the upper boundary of the downtrend channel. A bearish scenario suggests a dip towards $31K by the end of this week to close the July gap. But the door for such a decline will only open after the bulls surrender the $40K level they managed to hold in September and earlier in January. Ether has also encountered a sell-off in its attempts to rise above $3.3K. The 200-day moving average level is now acting as significant resistance. Bitcoin and Ether, which have a combined capitalisation of almost 60% of all cryptocurrencies, show worryingly negative dynamics. At the same time, their share has been declining since late last year. We are seeing either a shift in investor attitudes towards the sector leaders or certain inertia of altcoins compared to the flagships. Right now, it seems that crypto enthusiasts are not at all opposed to the changing landscape. However, as is often the case in nature, such changes rarely go smoothly.      

EUR/USD Current Price: 1.1351 The EU December Consumer Price Index was confirmed at 5% YoY, as previously estimated. US Initial Jobless Claims unexpectedly jumped to 286K in the week ended January 7. EUR/USD bounces from its intraday low but maintains a neutral stance in the near term. The EUR/USD pair eased from an intraday peak of 1.1368, trading in the 1.1350 area heading into the US opening. The greenback trades mixed across the FX board, weaker against commodity-linked currencies but grinding higher vs its European rivals. Financial markets are quieter on Thursday, with European stocks struggling for direction but stuck around their opening levels. The EU published the December Consumer Price Index, which was confirmed at 5% YoY, while the core reading met the preliminary estimate posting 2.6%. Also, the European Central Bank posted the Accounts of its latest meeting, which showed that policymakers are aware of a possible "higher for longer" inflation scenario. The US published Initial Jobless Claims for the week ended January 7, which unexpectedly jumped to 286K, much worse than the 220K expected. The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey surged from 15.4 to 23.2 in January, beating expectations. The news put some pressure on the greenback, now recovering from its daily low at 1.1330. EUR/USD short-term technical outlook The EUR/USD pair could resume its decline in the upcoming sessions, as there are no technical signs of buying interest. The daily chart shows that the pair is incapable of advancing beyond a flat 20 SMA for a second consecutive day, while the Momentum indicator heads lower within negative levels. Additionally, the RSI is stable, although around 49. Meanwhile, the pair keeps trading between Fibonacci levels, with immediate support at 1.1305, the 23.6% retracement of the 1.1691/1.1185 slide. The 38.2% retracement is located at 1.1385, providing strong resistance since mid-November. In the near term, and according to the 4-hour chart, the pair maintains a neutral-to-bearish stance, trading below a firmly bearish 20 SMA but between directionless 100 and 200 SMA. Technical indicators, in the meantime, remain within negative levels, the Momentum advancing but the RSI flat at around 44. Support levels: 1.1305 1.1260 1.1220 Resistance levels: 1.1385 1.1440 1.1485

GameStop stock fails to ignite despite the gaming sector being in play. GameStop is a bystander retailer, while the big activity is game makers. GME stock remains bearish in our view despite a mid-week short squeeze attempt. GameStop (GME) stock surged in early January but has since slumped consistently. At least some volatility returned to the name. GameStop was the original meme stock but has been suffering of late as investors turn their backs on high growth and high-risk names. GameStop Stock News A pop of 7% on January 7 has been about as good as it gets so far this year for GameStop (GME) holders as the stock exhibits more signs of dwindling interest in the meme stock space. The Wall Street Journal did report on January 7 that GameStop was entering the NFT and cryptocurrency market. This has echoes of another meme stock, AMC. It may smack of desperation or even bad timing given the crypto and NFT craze has also retreated in line with meme stocks. Or it may be a shrewd move. Time will tell, but so far the shares have not given the news much traction. Interest did spike in GME on the back of the mega-deal from Microsoft (MSFT) offering up $69 billion in cash to buy Activision (ATVI), but GameStop is merely a powerless bystander in the acquisition fervor sweeping the gaming sector. GameStop (GME) jumped to the top of WallStreetBets mentions, but this has not seen the correlated share price uptick. In fact, GME shares are down 17% in a week. That takes losses so far for 2022 to nearly 30%. One year on and it does not look like history is going to repeat itself. Video game sales data out yesterday was not exactly comforting with the figure in December down 1% following November's 10% fall. GameStop Stock Forecast The chart is still highly bearish, which was triggered after the double-top formation. This played out and reached our $150 target and then some. Now GME has broken the $118 level, which brings $86 firmly into focus as the next major target. Obviously, $100 along the way will generate headlines, but this is purely psychological. We also note the volume gap from $110 to $70 that could accelerate the move. Bearish unless $160 is broken. GameStop (GME) chart, daily

Yesterday’s Q4 earnings report from Netflix was seen as a major disappointment with forecasts pointing to weaker subscriber growth amid rising competition, particularly when compared to the first part of 2021. While the company referred to increased competition as a major cause of this uncertainty, rising prices of plans may also be deterring some customers who now have access to a wide range of streaming services including Disney+ and HBO Max. The company’s stock dropped around 20% in after hours trading and could be set to begin today's trading in the $400 area - the lowest level since May 2020. Despite there being a general risk-off mood in markets, which has seen many other stocks also retreat, it remains to be seen if Netflix will manage to rebound or if it will continue heading lower. Crypto markets tank as risk-off moods dominate While it may appear that the crypto market has taken a big hit today, with the majority of top 100 coins down by around 10%, it is important to note that the general sentiment across markets is quite negative when relating to risk assets. This is in part due to the increasing prospects of fiscal and monetary policy changes from central banks, in particular the FED, which would remove a significant amount of liquidity from the market and that ultimately could lead to a significant fund reallocation. Furthermore, while we have seen major cryptos like Ethereum and Bitcoin drop below key levels like $3000 and $40,000, and reach the lowest level in several months they are both testing key support areas which previously preceded significant upward moves. While the global situation may be slightly different, it is worth keeping in mind that recent negative performance is not limited to the cryptocurrency market but is being seen across many different types of asset classes, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale. UK Retails sales decline and worry investors The 3,7% decline in retail sales illustrated by today’s report continues to indicate rising prices and economic uncertainty as some of the key reasons for the slowing down of sales. Despite Non-food stores sales falling noticeably in December, food store sales managed to only drop by 1% and retail sales as a whole were able to remain above pre pandemic levels. As the situation grows more uncertain and as inflation continues to be a key factor, it remains unclear whether central banks and governments will decide to take action or if they will wait and see if things improve naturally.

The ruble remains under pressure on Monday after four weeks of decline. The USDRUB is above 77.7 and approaching the area of last year's highs. Technically, the situation looks like a moment of truth for the ruble. An easing of geopolitical tensions has the potential to turn it around on the way to 78, as it did several times last year. And we can see that Russian politicians the previous week were ready for more constructive negotiations and compromises. However, it has not yet come to de-escalation, and pressure on the rouble persists. Reports that the US and the UK are set to expel diplomats from Kyiv have created a new local momentum of pressure on the ruble. Fixing the dollar above 78 rubles today could be the starting point for a jump of USD/RUB to 80 and EUR/RUB to 90 this week. At the same time, we believe that the overheating is close to the peak. Further chances for stabilising the situation at the current level or even compromising are higher than stricter rhetoric. In this case, the ruble would have the opportunity for another turn down from 78-80 for the dollar and 88-90 for the euro. In a partial geopolitical agreement, the Russian currency would remain tied to global risk demand, which is contracting in January. Therefore, even with a favourable geopolitical scenario, one should not expect the rouble to quickly return to levels of the start of the year.

The cryptocurrency fear and greed index was down to 11 on Sunday and slightly up to 13 by early Monday. Crypto market capitalisation lost another 1.1% overnight to $1.61 trillion, the lowest since August. As is often the case with prolonged sell-offs, altcoins are falling with acceleration to the first cryptocurrency, causing BTC's share gains, which already stands at 41.3% against lows of 39.3% in mid-January. Bitcoin's share of 40% seems like a turning point, twice triggering a correction in the crypto market. This level stood like an informal threshold that optimism about altcoins had gone too far. However, the rise in bitcoin's share does little to help its price. We saw the sixth consecutive bearish daily candlestick on Monday morning, and the price rolled back to $35K. The bears may well be able to sell the price down to $32.5K, closing the gap of July and returning the rate to last summer's support area. Alarmingly, the sharp reversal on Friday was not followed by any meaningful bounce. Some observers point out that this is a worrying signal, suggesting further market declines, as we have not seen a final capitulation. Without capitulation, the markets will remain with an overhang of sellers. The price of ether has fallen to $2400, which is less than half of its peak price in November. Events are developing in a bearish scenario, so far broadly repeating what we saw in 2018 in terms of overall sentiment. Long-term buyers can avoid buying at prices above 30k for bitcoin and 2k for ether. We believe long-term investors will look out for purchases in the 20-30k per bitcoin area. Whether these purchases will be at the upper or lower boundary depends, among other things, on the situation in the stock markets. The return of buyers there will support the demand for risk among institutional investors. But as long as we see only steady selling from them, it is too early to talk about buying.

The cryptocurrency market is adding 0.2% in the last 24 hours to $1.63 trillion, experiencing some pause or rebound after a prolonged drawdown. Buyer interest in cryptocurrencies came at the expense of a rebound in US equities, where selloff hunters thought their time had come. The cryptocurrency market capitalisation without Bitcoin became less than 1 trillion last Saturday, and this round level now acts as near-term resistance. At one point on Monday, Bitcoin was down to $33K, but at the late US session, and now trades near $36.4K. Yesterday's drawdown almost closed the gap in July and also came from the lower boundary of the downward channel. The latter indicates that despite the prevalence of bears, the market is not yet ready to accelerate the decline. Bitcoin is gaining 2.8% in 24 hours, but most altcoins are losing ground. So, yesterday's rebound in bitcoin and the positive dynamics of the crypto market are more correctly attributed to technical factors: crypto investors are exiting altcoins to more liquid BTC, forming temporary bounces, but nothing more. The nearest target for BTC downside is $32.3K to close the gap entirely. However, it is worth being prepared to retest the July lows of $29.5-30K. Without support from the stock markets, these levels may not hold for long either. Ether also saw a bounce yesterday towards the end of the day, making it clear that the market is far from surrendering. After seven days of collapse, the primary altcoin managed to close Monday with a tiny gain. Nevertheless, there are no signs of breaking the downtrend yet. Moreover, a death cross is also forming over the ether, as the 50-day moving average is now only a couple of days away from crossing the 200-day from the top down. This signal is often followed by a new bearish attack.

Cardano's price action is slipping below the monthly S1 and crucial historical support. Once broken below this vital support, an area of 30% losses could be triggered. Expect bulls to await the FED meeting later this week before engaging in the market. Cardano (ADA) price action is not seeing the turn in sentiment that was expected with the start of a new trading week. Geopolitical talks are ramping up again this Monday regarding Russia, and investors are awaiting details of monetary tightening by the FED later this week, making investors an absent party in the cryptocurrency market for the first few days of the week. As $1.01 is under fire, expect a break below to open the next leg lower towards $0.69, shedding another 30% of the price value for the altcoin. Cardano price sees investors absent in the build up to the FED rate decision Cardano participants seem to be split in half, with only sellers and bears present in the market, while bulls and investors remain on the sideline. The biggest reasons for this are the political rhetoric on Russia that is ramping up again this morning after statements that NATO and the US would send in more military material and troops. Financial markets, meanwhile, are awaiting the outcome of the FED monetary policy meeting Wednesday. These two tail risks keep price action muted or further to the downside, with investors sidelined. ADA this morning is drilling down on the monthly S1 support level and the historical $1.01 level that goes back to March 05. Once this breaks, expect not much support to be present until $0.69 where the monthly S2 support level kicks in at around $0.75, but the most significant historical level is at $0.69 from February 06. Expect buyers to come in there as that would mean that ADA price action is back at 0% on a Year-To-Date (YTD) performance. ADA/USD daily chart As the FED holds the keys for a turn in sentiment short-term, expect a pop higher to unfold very quickly. A knee jerk reaction would wash out many short positions and bring price action quickly back towards $1.40, at the level of the monthly pivot and the green ascending trend line. Should the message from the FED by Wednesday be very dovish and in favour of risk-on sentiment, expect a possible test of $1.68 further to the upside for this week.

Bitcoin will create, not destroy BTC in US-Dollar, monthly chart, no rush: Bitcoin in US-Dollar, monthly chart as of January 25th, 2022. All the typical fears came forward after last week’s price decline in the crypto space. Fears on why to get out of one’s bitcoin hodls. Even to walk away from the idea of bitcoin being a good store of value. But the emotional decision in market participation is often the wrong choice to come out ahead. Bitcoin will not be regulated away. With a near 100 billion tax revenue, bitcoin is unlikely to be banned in the USA. It has established itself in size as an income stream that no one could afford to give up. The monthly chart above shows that after the recent double top bitcoin´s two year strong up move has seen three months of a price decline to the 50% Fibonacci retracement line. To the right of the chart, we portray two fictitious candles as we see a likelihood of the future to unfold over the next two months.   BTC in US-Dollar, weekly chart, sideways to up: Bitcoin in US-Dollar, weekly chart as of January 25th, 2022. On January 20th, the Federal Reserve Board released a discussion paper that examines the pros and cons of a potential U.S. central bank digital currency. News like this shakes up investor’s minds, fearing possible conversions where fiat currency savings might lose some of their value. On top, massive fear ruled the market over the last few days and weeks, a time when professionals know that opportunities are just around the corner. A look at the weekly chart reveals that the right top of the monthly double top had a substructure of a head and shoulders formation. Last week, the shoulder line broke and sent prices plummeting for a near 22% loss. Prices find themselves now in a value zone. In the histogram to the right of the chart, we see a fractal volume analysis. This analysis suggests supply in the price zone between US$36,000 and US$31,000. BTC in US-Dollar, Daily Chart, Bitcoin will create, not destroy: Bitcoin in US-Dollar, daily chart as of January 25th, 2022. As much as we expect a sideways zone for four to eight weeks before bitcoin prices head significantly higher, we already attempted three long trades on a daily time frame after prices entered into the value zone pointed out on the previous chart. Our approach of position building thanks to a quad exit strategy exploit low-risk entry points. Consequently, we were able in the past to catch bitcoin long-term trades near their price lows. News has more than once in the past accelerated price up moves for bitcoin in an unexpected fashion. As a result, we are actively scanning for low-risk opportunities already now. The price moves marked in white show how prices decline quickly in bitcoin, while typically trading sideways most of the time. Fortunately, rising prices act just the same way. The volume profile to the right of the chart shows four significant supply zones. (marked in orange dotted horizontal lines.) Bitcoin will create, not destroy: The good news is that government’s conversion of fiat money to digital might scare people into fleeing with their savings into bitcoin. Henceforth, they further stabilize this payment method. We mention this possible future for bitcoin since changes could be rapid, significant, and surprising. Consequently, bitcoin might find itself in a fast uptrend with high price targets to be expected. We also want to point out the nature of your participation in long-term bitcoin acquisitions. You are not only a speculator on a perfect investment, but also a holder of a positive value. A principle value that protects your freedom of purchasing power. A purchasing power that isn’t transparent allows you to conduct business as you please. Transactions without a controlling force casting a shadow over your choices. Feel free to join us in our free Telegram channel for daily real time data and a great community. If you like to get regular updates on precious metals and cryptocurrencies, you can also subscribe to our free newsletter. Disclosure: This article and the content are for informational purposes only and do not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone. They do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Midas Touch Consulting. By Korbinian Koller|January 25th, 2022|Tags: Bitcoin, Bitcoin bounce, Bitcoin bullish, bitcoin consolidation, crypto analysis, Crypto Bull, crypto chartbook, DeFi, low risk, quad exit, technical analysis, trading education|0 Comments About the Author: Korbinian Koller Outstanding abstract reasoning ability and ability to think creatively and originally has led over the last 25 years to extract new principles and a unique way to view the markets resulting in a multitude of various time frame systems, generating high hit rates and outstanding risk reward ratios. Over 20 years of coaching traders with heart & passion, assessing complex situations, troubleshoot and solve problems principle based has led to experience and a professional history of success. Skilled natural teacher and exceptional developer of talent. Avid learner guided by a plan with ability to suppress ego and empower students to share ideas and best practices and to apply principle-based technical/conceptual knowledge to maximize efficiency. 25+ year execution experience (50.000+ trades executed) Trading multiple personal accounts (long and short-and combinations of the two). Amazing market feel complementing mechanical systems discipline for precise and extreme low risk entries while objectively seeing the whole picture. Ability to notice and separate emotional responses from the decision-making process and to stand outside oneself and one’s concerns about images in order to function in terms of larger objectives. Developed exit strategies that compensate both for maximizing profits and psychological ease to allow for continuous flow throughout the whole trading day. In depth knowledge of money management strategies with the experience of multiple 6 sigma events in various markets (futures, stocks, commodities, currencies, bonds) embedded in extreme low risk statistical probability models with smooth equity curves and extensive risk management as well as extensive disaster risk allow for my natural capacity for risk-taking.

EURUSD grinds daily support The US dollar inches lower as traders take profit ahead of the Fed meeting. The euro’s struggle to stay above 1.1360 indicates buyers’ weak interest in holding onto previous gains. The latest rebounds have failed to clear the former support that has turned into a resistance. A break below the previous consolidation range and daily support (1.1280) could send the pair to 1.1235. The RSI’s oversold situation attracted some buying interest. But the bulls will need to lift 1.1360 first before a reversal could become a reality. EURCHF attempts reversal The safe-haven Swiss franc retreats as global panic selling takes a breather. A bullish RSI divergence shows a slowdown in the sell-off momentum. Then a rally above 1.0355 has prompted some sellers to cover, taking the heat off the single currency. A bullish MA cross is an encouraging sign for a reversal. 1.0400 is the next hurdle and its breach could be a turning point for traders’ sentiment and a launchpad towards 1.0480. On the downside, 1.0340 is fresh support and then 1.0300 a critical floor to safeguard the rebound. US 30 hits last major support The Dow Jones 30 recoups losses as traders await details on the Fed’s monetary tightening. Breaks below daily supports at 34700 and 34000 have forced buyers to liquidate in bulk. The index saw bids at last June’s low (33200) while the RSI sank into the oversold area on the daily chart. As the quote stabilizes, traders may be looking to buy the dips. A close above 34500 may lead to 35500 which is a key supply zone from a previous breakout. A break below the daily support could trigger a broader correction in the weeks to come.

Bitcoin decreased 0.6% on Tuesday, ending the day around $36,600 while Ethereum lost 1.1%. Other leading altcoins from the top ten showed mixed dynamics: from a 7.4% decline of Terra to a 2.3% rise of Polkadot. According to CoinGecko, the total capitalization of the crypto market sank 1.1% to $1.74 trillion over the past day. In total, the crypto market broke the recent days' decline after bitcoin hit lows of the last six months on Monday, dropping below $33,000. This was followed by a sharp rebound upwards to $37,500. The US market was the reason. Throughout January, stocks are falling in anticipation of the Fed's monetary policy tightening. The decline in risky assets also had a negative impact on bitcoin, which has already lost about 20% since the beginning of the month. A correlation between the benchmark cryptocurrency and Nasdaq has reached a new all-time high, according to Bloomberg. On Wednesday, all the attention will be riveted to the FOMC meeting. If the regulator tightens its rhetoric and announces the upcoming rate hike as early as March, all risky assets, including cryptocurrencies, could suffer significantly. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged El Salvador to move away from bitcoin as a legal currency. MicroStrategy has stated that it would continue to buy BTC despite its decline in recent months. Its worth noting that a week ago, crypto funds recorded the first inflow of funds into their assets in the last six weeks.

The US dollar has been gaining steadily against the developed countries' currencies since the beginning of the year. By the way, the yen was an exception: it has been adding 1.8% over the past 11 days after the stock market entered the turbulence zone due to a reassessment of the monetary policy outlook. According to historical data, the Fed often finds itself at the forefront of the monetary policy cycle. That is used to be translating into a stronger USD in the months before and after the first tightening. So the question is in what currency pairs it is most profitable to buy the dollar now. Among the developed and liquid currencies, three scenarios can be considered. The first way is to sell EURUSD. The euro is weaker than the dollar due to the ECB being on several steps behind the Fed. That means that the EU rates will remain lower for a longer period of time, and the balance of bond yields will be shifted towards the dollar. Given the pace the Fed intends to take in tightening monetary policy, this yield gap promises to widen further. Another way is to bet that monetary tightening is stressing the declining markets drag the pound down. We should keep in mind that the Bank of England has already approved its first tightening policy step, and in this case it's not far behind the Fed. At the same time, it's closely correlated with falling market indices. Need to mention that GBPUSD is still far from being oversold with a wide room for further decline. The third way is often more obvious. Traders may consider selling the currencies of developing countries, which are much more sensitive to the Fed monetary policy changes. However, EMs have been raising rates for almost a year, so selling them now is a bet on market volatility in the near term. For the longer perspective, higher interest rates promise to level out short-term gains. In this case, the dollar's down turn may be faster than in the euro.

Today’s highly anticipated FED decision could have wide ranging implications across markets as it could alter the current state of economic policy and ultimately favour some markets over others. While there are several scenarios of what’s expected today from the US central bank, the most likely one seems to be a rate increase in March while maintaining QE for the time being , which many investors could see as a slight step back compared to the tone used by the FED recently. On the other hand, if the FOMC decides to surprise investors with a more hawkish than expected approach, it could lead to significant reactions across stock markets and cryptocurrencies even after the recent corrections we have already seen so far. The FED must be very cautious today as it appears to be stuck in a challenging situation, unable to ignore record inflation levels while also having a market that relies heavily on its fiscal policy and any misstep could have greater than expected consequences. Cryptocurrencies attempt to recover ahead of FOMC decision Cryptocurrencies and tech stocks have seen the majority of the volatility and pullbacks from recent uncertainty noticed across a wide range of markets to different extents. However, due to their exceedingly volatile nature, cryptocurrency prices moved significantly with the total market cap falling around $1 Trillion as the majority of top 100 tokens dropped around 20% reaching the lowest level in several months and shaking investor confidence in the sector. On the other hand, we are seeing an attempt to recover today with most tokens trading slightly higher ahead of the FOMC decision as some investors expect the US central bank to back off after seeing the massive reaction it’s recent announcements have had. While it remains to be seen whether the FED will go through with its plan, it is clear that a significant increase in volatility has the potential to scare many investors who may not be interested in projects for the long term and are mainly attempting to speculate on their prices for short term gains. Investors await Tesla earnings report While many investors will be focusing on the FED’s key decision today, earning season has also been a main topic of discussion with several major companies already publishing their reports. We have seen a variety of contrasting results with some exceeding expectations while others disappointed and ultimately reflected that in a significant share price drop. Tesla will be publishing it’s results today and investors will be looking closely to ascertain if the company is living up to the forecasts or if it also appears to be struggling with rising inflation and supply chain issues. A better than expected result could renew investor confidence in the company that has been able to impress many since being listed on the S&P 500 not long ago, while a disappointment could impact future prospects in addition to share price in the short term.  

The rate of the Russian currency reached 80.40 per dollar and 90.70 per euro yesterday after the close of the regular session. However, from these levels, the ruble seemed attractive for purchases. This brought the price back down from the psychologically significant round marks. The dollar was temporarily near peak levels, from where it has been unfolding since the end of 2014. Of course, the fact that the ruble previously went up from 80 does not allow one to blindly hope that the same will happen this time. However, it is a good reason to closely monitor the dynamics of the Russian currency, as well as the rhetoric of officials and the central bank when approaching these levels. Now it seems that geopolitics is more than embedded in premiums, which reduces the prices of Russian assets, including the ruble. However, there are other factors playing a part. In recent weeks, there has been increased attention to the Fed, which has entered the warpath against inflation, although for most of the past year, it was simply denied. If the tough tone of the American regulator causes pressure on the markets, this will be a new reason for the ruble to fall, even if not as sharp as under the influence of geopolitics. The best tactic for investors now is to watch the dynamics of the Russian currency near significant round levels. A sharp turn down in the EURRUB and USDRUB pairs will indicate strong purchases and will be another confirmation of how unbreakable these levels are. If we see a further slide of the ruble, we can say that the lowest point for it has not yet been reached. In general, it is worth being aware that the bottom may come very soon.

Bitcoin decreased by 0.6% on Wednesday, ending the day at around $36,400. Ethereum added 0.2%, while other top-ten altcoins mostly saw declines from 3.1% (Binance Coin) to 6.6% (Terra, an outsider of the day). According to CoinGecko, the total capitalization of the crypto market sank by 0.5%, to $1.73 trillion. Bitcoin showed positive dynamics all day against the backdrop of growing stock indices. Up until the Fed meeting, the first cryptocurrency was gaining over 6%, hitting 5-day highs above $38,800. However, BTC began to fall almost immediately after the announcement of the results of the Fed's two-day meeting. The regulator announced a curtailment of bond purchases in early March, as well as an imminent rate hike, followed by a reduction in the Fed's balance sheet. The fall of bitcoin accelerated along with stock indices in half an hour when the head of the Fed, Jerome Powell, started his press conference. He noted that rising inflation could force the regulator to raise interest rates more aggressively. The first cryptocurrency may finally complete its upward correction if risky assets resume and intensify the fall after the Fed meeting. In Russia, buyers are now engaged in the withdrawal of capital and deprive the country's economy of financing, as announced by the Bank of Russia. Last week, the regulator proposed to ban the circulation and mining of cryptocurrencies in the territory of the Russian Federation. The State Duma and the Ministry of Finance, on the contrary, are in favour of regulation, not a ban on the industry. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday urged the government and the Central Bank to come to a consensus on the regulation of cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, Turkish President Erdogan instructed the ruling party to study the impact of cryptocurrencies on the economy. At the same time, the US Internal Revenue Service said that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are used for illegal activities, and celebrities are spreading this by promoting NFTs.

  The Fed finally said it: the rates are going up. The USD Index and gold heard it and reacted. The former is at new yearly highs, while gold slides. The medium-term outlook for gold is now extremely bearish. The above might sound like a gloom and doom scenario for precious metals investors, but I view it as particularly favorable. Why? Because: This situation allows us to profit on the upcoming decline in the precious metals sector through trading capital. This situation allows us to detect a great buying entry point in the future. When gold has everything against it and then it manages to remain strong – it will be exactly the moment to buy it. To be more precise: to buy into the precious metals sector (I plan to focus on purchasing mining stocks first as they tend to be strongest during initial parts of major rallies). At that moment PMs will be strong and the situation will be so bad that it can only improve from there – thus contributing to higher PM prices in the following months. Most market participants have not realized the above. “Gold and (especially) silver can only go higher!” is still a common narrative on various forums. Having said that, let’s take a look at the short-term charts. In short, gold declined significantly, and it’s now trading once again below the rising support / resistance line, the declining red resistance line, and back below 2021 closing price (taking also today’s pre-market decline into account). In other words: All important short-term breakouts were just invalidated. The 2022 is once again a down year for gold. Is this as bearish as it gets for gold? Well, there could be some extra bearish things that could happen, but it’s already very, very bearish right now. For example, gold market could catch-up with its reactions to USD Index’s strength. The U.S. currency just moved above its previous 2022 and 2021 highs, while gold is not at its 2021 lows. Yet. I wouldn’t view gold’s performance as true strength against the USD Index at this time just yet. Why? Because of the huge consolidation that gold has been trading in. The strength that I want to see in gold is its ability not to fall or soar back up despite everything thrown against it, not because it’s stuck in a trading range. In analogy, you’ve probably seen someone, who’s able to hold their ground, and not give up despite the world throwing every harm and obstacle at them. They show their character. They show their strength. Inaction could represent greater wisdom and/or love and focus on one’s goal that was associated with the lack of action. You probably know someone like that. You might be someone like that. The above “inaction” is very different from “inaction” resulting from someone not knowing what to do, not having enough energy, or willpower. Since markets are ultimately created by people (or algorithms that were… ultimately still created by people) is it any surprise that markets tend to work in the same way? One inaction doesn’t equal another inaction, and – as always – context matters. However, wasn’t gold strong against the USD Index’s strength in 2021? It was, but it was very weak compared to the ridiculous amounts of money that were printed in 2020 and 2021 and given the global pandemic. These are the circumstances, where gold “should be” soaring well above its 2011 highs, not invalidating the breakout above it. The latter, not the former, happened. Besides, the “strength” was present practically only in gold. Silver and miners remain well below their 2011 highs – they are not even close to them and didn’t move close to them at any point in 2020 or 2021. Gold has been consolidating for many months now, just like it’s been the case between 2011 and 2013. The upper part of the above chart features the width of the Bollinger Bands – I didn’t mark them on the chart to keep it clear, but the important detail is that whenever their width gets very low, it means that the volatility has been very low in the previous months, and that it’s about to change. I marked those cases with vertical dashed lines when the big declines in the indicator took it to or close to the horizontal, red, dashed line. In particular, the 2011-2013 decline is similar to the current situation. What does it mean? It means that gold wasn’t really showing strength – it was stuck. Just like 2012 wasn’t a pause before a bigger rally, the 2021 performance of gold shouldn’t be viewed as such. What happened yesterday showed that gold can and will likely react to hawkish comments from the Fed, that the USD Index is likely to rally and so are the interest rates. The outlook for gold in the medium term is not bullish, but very bearish. The above is a positive for practically everyone interested in the precious metals market (except for those who sell at the bottom that is), as it will allow one to add to their positions (or start building them) at much lower prices. And some will likely (I can’t guarantee any performance, of course) gain small (or not so small) fortunes by being positioned to take advantage of the upcoming slide. Thank you for reading our free analysis today. Please note that the above is just a small fraction of today’s all-encompassing Gold & Silver Trading Alert. The latter includes multiple premium details such as the targets for gold and mining stocks that could be reached in the next few weeks. If you’d like to read those premium details, we have good news for you. As soon as you sign up for our free gold newsletter, you’ll get a free 7-day no-obligation trial access to our premium Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. It’s really free – sign up today. Przemyslaw Radomski, CFAFounder, Editor-in-chiefSunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care * * * * * All essays, research and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses are based on data available to authors of respective essays at the time of writing. Although the information provided above is based on careful research and sources that are deemed to be accurate, Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA and his associates do not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the data or information reported. The opinions published above are neither an offer nor a recommendation to purchase or sell any securities. Mr. Radomski is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Przemyslaw Radomski's, CFA reports you fully agree that he will not be held responsible or liable for any decisions you make regarding any information provided in these reports. Investing, trading and speculation in any financial markets may involve high risk of loss. Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA, Sunshine Profits' employees and affiliates as well as members of their families may have a short or long position in any securities, including those mentioned in any of the reports or essays, and may make additional purchases and/or sales of those securities without notice.

The US dollar rewrote its 1.5-year highs on Thursday, sending EURUSD under 1.1150. After the FOMC meeting, the pair fell in total by 1.5%, leaving a two-month consolidation with a sharp movement. Friday's small rollback from extremes is likely a local profit fixation by the end of the week and month. History suggests that the US currency begins to add about 2-3 quarters before the first rate hike and continues to be in positive territory for about the same time after. We believe that this long story should be adjusted to the new reality in which interest rates are the starting point. Namely, the first point of tightening monetary conditions is now the beginning of the curtailment of purchases on the balance sheet and not the first increase. The start of the dollar's growth last year was the beginning of a public discussion of curtailment. And now, seven months later, the dollar is halfway up with an 8.5% increase from the area of last year's lows. The second half of this wave is unlikely to be as powerful. We only assume that the dollar has a 3-4% growth potential in the area of 100.3-101 due to monetary policy changes. This will return the US currency to the area of steady highs in 2020, excluding two weeks of the most violent market crash. The EURUSD rate in this scenario may fall to 1.07-1.08 before finding a more substantial base of buyers. However, investors and traders should also remember that monetary policy is far from the only driver for currencies. The markets' attention can quickly switch to the debt sustainability of the Eurozone countries and the pace of economic recovery in the world.

The Russian ruble rolled back yesterday with a sharp movement from the iconic round levels. Such a reversal often signifies the end of the previous trend and the beginning of a new movement. If you look at USDRUB only as a course chart, then the corrective momentum has the potential to return the pair to 75 from the current 78 over the next couple of weeks. Seasonality, or rather the macroeconomic environment, is also turning towards the ruble. Exporters will have to convert last year's record earnings to pay taxes, some of which are paid once a year. The weakening of the ruble since the beginning of the year is a good opportunity to add interest to profits due to exchange rate differences. This is all in addition to record oil prices for 8 years and the suspension of foreign currency purchases for the Finance Ministry. We should also not forget about the high interest rates that the Bank of Russia has been aggressively raising since March last year. And the markets are waiting for another 100-point increase in two weeks to 9.5%, which further increases the profitability of the ruble money market. But, unfortunately, fundamental and macroeconomic factors are far from being the only components of the complex exchange rate equation. Geopolitics also play an important role. A clear improvement in relations between countries and the issue around Ukraine has not yet developed. Worse still, investors remain alert that the rhetoric of US and EU officials on the one hand and Russia on the other can quickly fall out of the constructive rut. At the same time, experienced market participants know that when the level of uncertainty rolls over, market dynamics (up or down at the end of the day) is the best filter for the news noise around us.

  Despite death wishes from the doubters, the dollar took to the skies on the Fed’s hawkish wings. Gold and silver can wave from the ground for now. While Fed Chairman Jerome Powell threw fuel on the fire on Jan. 26, it’s no surprise that the USD Index has rallied to new highs. For example, while dollar bears feasted on false narratives in 2021, I was a lonely bull forecasting higher index values. Likewise, after more doubts emerged in 2022, the death of the dollar narrative resurfaced once again. However, with the charts signaling a bullish outcome for some time, my initial target of 94.5 was surpassed and my next target of 98 is near. As such, it’s crucial to avoid speculation and wait for confirmation of breakdowns and breakouts. In its absence, the price action often pulls you in the wrong direction. Remember the supposedly bearish move below 95 when the USD Index moved even below its rising support line? It’s been just 2 weeks since that development. On Jan. 14, I wrote the following: In conclusion, 2022 looks a lot like 2021: dollar bears are out in full force and the ‘death of the dollar’ narrative has resurfaced once again. However, with the greenback’s 2021 ascent catching many investors by surprise, another re-enactment will likely materialize in 2022. Moreover, since gold, silver, and mining stocks often move inversely to the U.S. dollar, their 2022 performances may surprise for all of the wrong reasons. As such, while the dollar’s despondence is bullish for the precious metals, a reversal of fortunes will likely occur over the medium term. Given yesterday’s reversal in the USD Index, it’s likely also from the short-term point of view – we could see the reversal and the return of the USD’s rally and PMs’ decline any day or hour now. Fortunately, if you’ve been following my analyses, the recent price moves didn’t catch you by surprise. What’s next? While the USD Index still needs to confirm the recent breakout and some consolidation may ensue, the bullish medium-term thesis remains intact. More importantly, though, the USD Index’s gain has resulted in gold, silver, and mining stocks’ pain. For example, the dollar’s surge helped push gold below its short-and-medium-term rising support lines (the upward sloping red lines on the bottom half of the above chart). However, since the USD Index hit a new high and gold didn’t hit a new low, is the development bullish for the yellow metal? To answer, I wrote on Jan. 27: The U.S. currency just moved above its previous 2022 and 2021 highs, while gold is not at its 2021 lows. Yet. I wouldn’t view gold’s performance as true strength against the USD Index at this time just yet. Why? Because of the huge consolidation that gold has been trading in. The strength that I want to see in gold is its ability not to fall or soar back up despite everything thrown against it, not because it’s stuck in a trading range. In analogy, you’ve probably seen someone, who’s able to hold their ground, and not give up despite the world throwing every harm and obstacle at them. They show their character. They show their strength. Inaction could represent greater wisdom and/or love and focus on one’s goal that was associated with the lack of action. You probably know someone like that. You might be someone like that. The above “inaction” is very different from “inaction” resulting from someone not knowing what to do, not having enough energy, or willpower. Since markets are ultimately created by people (or algorithms that were… ultimately still created by people) is it any surprise that markets tend to work in the same way? One inaction doesn’t equal another inaction, and – as always – context matters. However, wasn’t gold strong against the USD Index’s strength in 2021? It was, but it was very weak compared to the ridiculous amounts of money that were printed in 2020 and 2021 and given the global pandemic. These are the circumstances, where gold “should be” soaring well above its 2011 highs, not invalidating the breakout above it. The latter, not the former, happened. Besides, the “strength” was present practically only in gold. Silver and miners remain well below their 2011 highs – they are not even close to them and didn’t move close to them at any point in 2020 or 2021. The Eye in the Sky Doesn’t Lie Moreover, if we zoom out and focus our attention on the USD Index’s weekly chart, the price action has unfolded exactly as I expected. For example, while overbought conditions resulted in a short-term breather, the USD Index consolidated for a few weeks. However, history shows that the greenback eventually catches its second wind. To explain, I previously wrote: I marked additional situations on the chart below with orange rectangles – these were the recent cases when the RSI based on the USD Index moved from very low levels to or above 70. In all three previous cases, there was some corrective downswing after the initial part of the decline, but once it was over – and the RSI declined somewhat – the big rally returned and the USD Index moved to new highs. Please see below: Just as the USD Index took a breather before its massive rally in 2014, it seems that we saw the same recently. This means that predicting higher gold prices (or those of silver) here is likely not a good idea. Continuing the theme, the eye in the sky doesn’t lie, and with the USDX’s long-term breakout clearly visible, the wind remains at the dollar’s back. Furthermore, dollar bears often miss the forest through the trees: with the USD Index’s long-term breakout gaining steam, the implications of the chart below are profound. While very few analysts cite the material impact (when was the last time you saw the USDX chart starting in 1985 anywhere else?), the USD Index has been sending bullish signals for years. Please see below: The bottom line? With my initial 2021 target of 94.5 already hit, the ~98-101 target is likely to be reached over the medium term (and perhaps quite soon) Mind, though: we’re not bullish on the greenback because of the U.S.’s absolute outperformance. It’s because the region is fundamentally outperforming the Eurozone. The EUR/USD accounts for nearly 58% of the movement of the USD Index, and the relative performance is what really matters. In conclusion, the USD Index’s ascent has surprised investors. However, if you’ve been following my analysis, you know that I’ve been expecting these moves for over a year. Moreover, with the rally poised to persist, gold, silver, and mining stocks may struggle before they reach lasting bottoms. However, with long-term buying opportunities likely to materialize later in 2022, the precious metals should soar to new heights in the coming years. Thank you for reading our free analysis today. Please note that the above is just a small fraction of today’s all-encompassing Gold & Silver Trading Alert. The latter includes multiple premium details such as the targets for gold and mining stocks that could be reached in the next few weeks. If you’d like to read those premium details, we have good news for you. As soon as you sign up for our free gold newsletter, you’ll get a free 7-day no-obligation trial access to our premium Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. It’s really free – sign up today. Przemyslaw Radomski, CFAFounder, Editor-in-chiefSunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care * * * * * All essays, research and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses are based on data available to authors of respective essays at the time of writing. Although the information provided above is based on careful research and sources that are deemed to be accurate, Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA and his associates do not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the data or information reported. The opinions published above are neither an offer nor a recommendation to purchase or sell any securities. Mr. Radomski is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Przemyslaw Radomski's, CFA reports you fully agree that he will not be held responsible or liable for any decisions you make regarding any information provided in these reports. Investing, trading and speculation in any financial markets may involve high risk of loss. Przemyslaw Radomski, CFA, Sunshine Profits' employees and affiliates as well as members of their families may have a short or long position in any securities, including those mentioned in any of the reports or essays, and may make additional purchases and/or sales of those securities without notice.

Photo Credit: eflon || All in all, you’re just another brick in the wall… In some ways, the Federal Reserve is the whipping boy of Congress. Congress can’t decide on anything significant, so the Fed fills in the blanks, and keeps things moving, even if it creates humongous asset bubbles in the process. That is what we are facing today. Overvalued stocks, housing, corporate bonds, private equity, and more. Inflation in goods and services may be transitory, but asset inflation is a constant. Whether by QE or rate policy, the Fed tries to end the possibility of recessions by making financing cheap, and blowing asset bubbles in the process. What of the future? The Fed will be dragged kicking and screaming to tightening. It will follow the stupid Alan Greenspan highway of 25 basis points per meeting. It will be all too predictable, which has little to no impact until it is too late, creating pro-cyclical economic policy, something the Fed specializes in. The Fed will be surprised (again) to see that the long end of the yield curve does not respond to their efforts. Are they stupid? Yes. the yield curve hasn’t worked in the classical way for over 20 years. In an overindebted economy, long rates are sluggish. Can the Fed abandon the dead orthodoxy of neoclassical economics to embrace the reality of overindebted economics? I doubt it. I asked two Fed governors three years ago when the Fed would abandon the failed Neoclassical economics. They looked like dead sheep for a moment, before they gave some lame defenses of the theory that can’t account for financial markets or marketing. What I expect is that the Fed will tighten the Fed funds rate to 1.5% or so, the long end sinking, and then something blows up, and they return to the prior policy of 0% rates, and QE… failed policies that inflate asset bubbles and increase inequality. We’re in a “doom loop” where there is no way to purge this system of its errors. We would be better off under a gold standard, with stricter regulation of banks. Would we have a recession? Yes, but eventually the economy would grow again organically, without the pollution of stimulus. That said, the Federal Reserve is not the main problem. The main problem is American culture that will not tolerate severe recessions. We need recessions to liquidate bad debts that hinder the economy from growing rapidly in the future. We need to accept the boom-bust cycle, and not look to the government or central bank to moderate matters. Bank regulation is another matter, as loose regulation of banks led to extreme booms and busts, particularly between 1870-1913, and 2004-2008. Conclusion The Fed will tighten and fail, returning us to the same morass that we are in now. Financial repression via the Fed will continue to create inequality with no smoking gun. Stupid people will finger other causes, when the real cause is the Federal Reserve. We need to eliminate the Federal Reserve, and cause Congress and the Executive Branch to take responsibility for their failed policies. PS — there could be a currency panic, but I doubt it. Too many countries want to export to the US.

Image credit: All images belong to Aleph Blog This should be a brief post. At the end of the third quarter, the S&P 500 was poised to nominally return -0.64%/year over the next 10 years. As of the close today, that figure was -1.83%/year, slightly more than the -1.84%/year at the record high last Friday. The only period compares with this valuation-wise is the dot-com bubble. We are above dot-com level valuations. And if you view the 10-year returns from the worst time of the dot-com bubble to now, you can see that the results they obtained are milder than what I forecast here. Of course, a lot of what will happen in nominal terms will rely on the actions of the Fed. Will the Fed: Allow a real recession to clear away dud assets that are on life support from low rates? (Collapsing the current asset bubble)Change the terms of monetary policy, and start directly monetizing US Treasury debt? (Risking high inflation)Continue to dither with financial repression, leaving rates low, not caring about moderate inflation, with real growth zero-like. (Zombie economy — this is the most likely outcome for now) In some ways the markets are playing around with something I call “the last arbitrage.” Bonds versus Stocks. The concept of TINA (There is no alternative [to stocks]) relies on the idea that the Fed will be the lapdog of the equity markets. If stocks are high, the Fed is happy. Phrased another way, if the Fed maximizes wealth inequality, it is happy. And the Fed will be happy. They live to employ thousands of macroeconomists who would have a hard time finding real employment. These economists live to corrupt our understanding f the macroeconomy, justifying the actions of the Fed. The Fed just wants to scrape enough seigniorage to pay the staff, and keep Congress and the Administration mollified. All taken out of the hides of those who save. So with the last arbitrage… interest rates have to stay low to keep the stock market high, even if it means slow growth, and moderate and growing inflation. The likely change promulgated by the Fed today, raising the short rate by 0.75% in 2022 will likely flatten the yield curve, leading to a crisis of some sort, and push them back into QE and near-zero short rates. The stock market will have a pullback and a rally, but what of inflation? How will people act when there is no way to save for the short-run, without inflation eating away value? Brave new world. The Fed is stuck, and we are stuck with them. Gold does nothing, and would be a kinder mistress than the Fed. Better to live within strict limits, than the folly of an elastic currency. But as is true with all things in America, we are going to have to learn this the hard way. PS — As for me, I am living with value stocks, small stocks, and international stocks. Very little in the S&P 500 here.

By InvestMacro | COT | Data Tables | COT Leaders | Downloads | COT Newsletter Here are the latest charts and statistics for the Commitment of Traders (COT) data published by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The latest COT data is updated through Tuesday January 25th and shows a quick view of how large traders (for-profit speculators and commercial entities) were positioned in the futures markets. All currency positions are in direct relation to the US dollar where, for example, a bet for the euro is a bet that the euro will rise versus the dollar while a bet against the euro will be a bet that the euro will decline versus the dollar. Highlighting the COT currency data was the further gains of bullish bets in the Euro currency futures contracts. Euro speculators raised their bullish bets for a sixth consecutive week this week and for the seventh time in the past eight weeks. Over the last six-week time-frame, Euro bets have improved by a total of +43,439 contracts, going from -11,879 net positions on December 14th to +31,560 net positions this week. This week’s net speculator standing marks the highest level for Euro bets since August 17th, a span of twenty-three weeks. Joining the Euro (6,976 contracts) with positive changes this week were the yen (12,606 contracts), US Dollar Index (427 contracts), Australian dollar (5,181 contracts), Swiss franc (2,014 contracts), Canadian dollar (4,825 contracts) and Bitcoin (515 contracts). The currencies with declining bets were the British pound sterling (-7,516 contracts), New Zealand dollar (-2,442 contracts), Brazil real (-1,247 contracts), Russian ruble (-2,478 contracts) and the Mexican peso (-5,710 contracts). Data Snapshot of Forex Market Traders | Columns Legend Jan-25-2022OIOI-IndexSpec-NetSpec-IndexCom-NetCOM-IndexSmalls-NetSmalls-Index USD Index 52,328 72 36,861 89 -42,505 4 5,644 78 EUR 682,952 77 31,560 45 -56,258 60 24,698 15 GBP 182,040 27 -7,763 68 16,842 40 -9,079 37 JPY 197,830 53 -68,273 25 82,863 77 -14,590 18 CHF 39,742 14 -8,796 55 13,479 46 -4,683 50 CAD 146,448 28 12,317 60 -19,581 44 7,264 44 AUD 190,020 75 -83,273 8 97,749 92 -14,476 17 NZD 53,316 50 -10,773 53 13,281 51 -2,508 23 MXN 150,142 26 -790 27 -1,478 72 2,268 53 RUB 46,883 48 3,944 23 -4,288 76 344 44 BRL 46,657 54 -12,616 52 11,258 48 1,358 83 Bitcoin 11,756 64 -34 100 -478 0 512 25   US Dollar Index Futures: The US Dollar Index large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 36,861 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly rise of 427 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 36,434 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish-Extreme with a score of 89.4 percent. The commercials are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 4.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish with a score of 78.3 percent. US DOLLAR INDEX Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 79.8 3.4 14.6 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 9.4 84.6 3.8 – Net Position: 36,861 -42,505 5,644 – Gross Longs: 41,772 1,777 7,658 – Gross Shorts: 4,911 44,282 2,014 – Long to Short Ratio: 8.5 to 1 0.0 to 1 3.8 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 89.4 4.0 78.3 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish-Extreme Bearish-Extreme Bullish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 9.7 -9.8 3.0   Euro Currency Futures: The Euro Currency large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 31,560 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly rise of 6,976 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 24,584 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 44.7 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 59.8 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 15.3 percent. EURO Currency Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 31.2 55.5 11.6 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 26.6 63.8 8.0 – Net Position: 31,560 -56,258 24,698 – Gross Longs: 213,408 379,154 79,273 – Gross Shorts: 181,848 435,412 54,575 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.2 to 1 0.9 to 1 1.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 44.7 59.8 15.3 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bearish-Extreme NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 13.3 -11.2 -6.2   British Pound Sterling Futures: The British Pound Sterling large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -7,763 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly lowering of -7,516 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -247 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 68.4 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 39.6 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 36.8 percent. BRITISH POUND Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 20.1 64.7 13.7 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 24.4 55.5 18.7 – Net Position: -7,763 16,842 -9,079 – Gross Longs: 36,666 117,812 24,909 – Gross Shorts: 44,429 100,970 33,988 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.8 to 1 1.2 to 1 0.7 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 68.4 39.6 36.8 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bearish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 31.0 -31.7 22.0   Japanese Yen Futures: The Japanese Yen large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -68,273 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly advance of 12,606 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -80,879 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 24.9 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 77.3 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 18.3 percent. JAPANESE YEN Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 8.0 81.0 9.1 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 42.5 39.1 16.4 – Net Position: -68,273 82,863 -14,590 – Gross Longs: 15,866 160,178 17,950 – Gross Shorts: 84,139 77,315 32,540 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.2 to 1 2.1 to 1 0.6 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 24.9 77.3 18.3 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bearish-Extreme NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -9.3 5.9 6.4   Swiss Franc Futures: The Swiss Franc large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -8,796 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly gain of 2,014 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -10,810 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 54.6 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 46.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 49.5 percent. SWISS FRANC Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 5.0 69.4 25.2 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 27.2 35.5 36.9 – Net Position: -8,796 13,479 -4,683 – Gross Longs: 1,999 27,591 9,996 – Gross Shorts: 10,795 14,112 14,679 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.2 to 1 2.0 to 1 0.7 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 54.6 46.0 49.5 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bearish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -0.8 -1.5 5.2   Canadian Dollar Futures: The Canadian Dollar large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 12,317 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly increase of 4,825 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 7,492 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 59.6 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 43.5 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 44.2 percent. CANADIAN DOLLAR Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 36.3 39.3 21.5 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 27.9 52.6 16.6 – Net Position: 12,317 -19,581 7,264 – Gross Longs: 53,129 57,492 31,539 – Gross Shorts: 40,812 77,073 24,275 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.3 to 1 0.7 to 1 1.3 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 59.6 43.5 44.2 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bearish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 24.7 -12.1 -15.8   Australian Dollar Futures: The Australian Dollar large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -83,273 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly rise of 5,181 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -88,454 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish-Extreme with a score of 7.6 percent. The commercials are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 91.8 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 17.1 percent. AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 8.0 80.7 8.6 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 51.8 29.3 16.2 – Net Position: -83,273 97,749 -14,476 – Gross Longs: 15,121 153,386 16,371 – Gross Shorts: 98,394 55,637 30,847 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.2 to 1 2.8 to 1 0.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 7.6 91.8 17.1 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish-Extreme Bullish-Extreme Bearish-Extreme NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -4.1 -0.5 12.3   New Zealand Dollar Futures: The New Zealand Dollar large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -10,773 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly decline of -2,442 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -8,331 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 53.2 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 50.9 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 23.1 percent. NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 29.9 63.2 5.2 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 50.1 38.3 9.9 – Net Position: -10,773 13,281 -2,508 – Gross Longs: 15,948 33,712 2,784 – Gross Shorts: 26,721 20,431 5,292 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.6 to 1 1.7 to 1 0.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 53.2 50.9 23.1 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bullish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -8.2 7.9 -2.2   Mexican Peso Futures: The Mexican Peso large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -790 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly decrease of -5,710 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 4,920 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 27.0 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 72.2 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish with a score of 52.6 percent. MEXICAN PESO Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 44.3 51.6 3.9 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 44.8 52.6 2.4 – Net Position: -790 -1,478 2,268 – Gross Longs: 66,449 77,473 5,892 – Gross Shorts: 67,239 78,951 3,624 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.0 to 1 1.0 to 1 1.6 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 27.0 72.2 52.6 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bullish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 4.2 -5.8 17.0   Brazilian Real Futures: The Brazilian Real large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -12,616 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly lowering of -1,247 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -11,369 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 51.7 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 48.4 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 83.2 percent. BRAZIL REAL Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 45.9 45.6 7.6 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 73.0 21.5 4.7 – Net Position: -12,616 11,258 1,358 – Gross Longs: 21,434 21,274 3,541 – Gross Shorts: 34,050 10,016 2,183 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.6 to 1 2.1 to 1 1.6 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 51.7 48.4 83.2 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bearish Bullish-Extreme NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -10.7 8.4 21.0   Russian Ruble Futures: The Russian Ruble large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 3,944 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly decrease of -2,478 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 6,422 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 22.7 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 75.7 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 43.9 percent. RUSSIAN RUBLE Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 32.4 63.3 4.3 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 24.0 72.4 3.6 – Net Position: 3,944 -4,288 344 – Gross Longs: 15,179 29,669 2,015 – Gross Shorts: 11,235 33,957 1,671 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.4 to 1 0.9 to 1 1.2 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 22.7 75.7 43.9 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -29.8 30.5 -20.0   Bitcoin Futures: The Bitcoin large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -34 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly boost of 515 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -549 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish-Extreme with a score of 100.0 percent. The commercials are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 0.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 24.6 percent. BITCOIN Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 73.8 2.4 12.5 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 74.1 6.5 8.1 – Net Position: -34 -478 512 – Gross Longs: 8,678 285 1,469 – Gross Shorts: 8,712 763 957 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.0 to 1 0.4 to 1 1.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND:       – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 100.0 0.0 24.6 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish-Extreme Bearish-Extreme Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX:       – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 16.9 -60.9 -0.1   Article By InvestMacro – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email *COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the most recent Tuesday (data is 3 days old) and shows a quick view of how large speculators or non-commercials (for-profit traders) were positioned in the futures markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators) as well as their open interest (contracts open in the market at time of reporting).See CFTC criteria here.

Bitcoin gained 7.3% over the past week, ending last week near $37,700. Ethereum added 7%, while other leading altcoins in the top 10 showed mixed dynamics: from a decline of 25% over the week (Terra) to a rise of 4.6% (Binance Coin). Terra's collapse is linked to the scandal surrounding the Wonderland DeFi protocol. The total capitalisation of the crypto market, according to CoinGecko, rose 1.7% to $1.79 trillion for the week. The week didn't start encouragingly for bitcoin. The first cryptocurrency updated six-month lows below $33,000, but BTC sharply redeemed the short-term fall amid an equally sharp rebound in US stock indices. The US stock market interrupted last week's decline and rose for the first time after three weeks of decline. Apple's stock price jumped on Friday after a positive quarterly report and on Tim Cook's statements about the great potential of the metaverse. The rise in the stock market also contributed to the rebound in the cryptocurrency market, which again points to the strong correlation of stock and digital assets in recent times. This trend could continue at least until the end of this year. Despite stabilisation, the situation in the crypto market remains very fragile. Bitcoin could end up falling for the third month in a row. The decline in January is over 17%, and the first cryptocurrency has already lost 45% since the highs in November. The US Treasury Department plans to revisit the controversial FinCEN proposal for mandatory verification of bitcoin wallet users in 2022. If adopted, the proposal would require cryptocurrency exchanges to collect personal data from their users.

Bitcoin, the plan, and its execution The Plan: It is an election year when Democrats will project political pressure upon the Federal Reserve to not risk through aggressive policy changes a stock market collapse to keep their votes. As a result, more money printing expands inflation, which supports the interest for bitcoin as an inflation hedge. Should we see in opposition for whatever reason a rapid stock market decline, the investor would unlikely be interested in owning stock or bonds. While initially, bitcoin prices would likely fall alongside the markets, money will likely flow into bitcoin shortly afterward. The execution: With bitcoins prices suppressed from their recent decline (down 52% from its last all-time high at around US$69,000), we have another edge for minimizing exposure risk. BTC in US-Dollar, monthly chart, high likely turning points: Bitcoin in US-Dollar, monthly chart as of January 31st, 2022. The chart above depicts five supply zones we have our eye on. We will try identifying low-risk entry points on smaller time frames at or near these points and reduce risk further with our quad exit strategy. We already had entries near zone 1 and 2 and posted those live in our free Telegram channel. BTC in US-Dollar, weekly chart, bitcoin, the plan, and its execution, reload trading: Bitcoin in US-Dollar, weekly chart as of February 1st, 2022. Once the more significant time frame turning point is identified (white arrow), we will add what we call ‘reload’ trades (see chart above) on the smaller weekly time frame. We do so by identifying low-risk entries in congestion zones (yellow boxes) on the way up. We aim to arrive near the elections in November with a sizable position that is due to our exit strategy being risk-free. Playing with the market’s money will allow for positive execution psychology and ease us to observe our position through an expected volatility period, with further profit-taking into possible volatile upswings that are only temporary in nature. BTC in US-Dollar, Quarterly Chart, long-term profit potential: Bitcoin in US-Dollar, quarterly chart as of February 1st, 2022. While this year’s midterm trading on the long side of the bitcoin market could provide for substantial income from the 50% profit-taking of each individual trade and reload based on our quad exit strategy, the real goal is to have a remaining position size that could potentially go to unfathomable heights, since we see in the long term the inflation problem not going away but rather culminating in a bitcoin rise that could be substantially much larger in percentage than alternative inflation hedges like real estate, gold, silver and alike. Not to say that we find it also essential to hold these asset classes for wealth preservation. The quarterly chart above illustrates the potential of such a position. We illustrated both in time (six years) and price (US$ 134,000) our most conservative model in this chart. Bitcoin, the plan, and its execution: We see no scenario where inflation is just going away. The above narrative shows that a short-term fueling of inflation is likely. Furthermore, a high-risk scenario is fueling inflation even more. Should markets decline rapidly, it can be expected that money printing and buying up the market is the most predominant solution applied. Consequently, the average investor would wake up relieved that prices wouldn’t decline any further but liquidating their holdings in a further inflated fiat currency will have massively decreased purchasing power. Feel free to join us in our free Telegram channel for daily real time data and a great community. If you like to get regular updates on precious metals and cryptocurrencies, you can also subscribe to our free newsletter. Disclosure: This article and the content are for informational purposes only and do not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone. They do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Midas Touch Consulting. By Korbinian Koller|February 1st, 2022|Tags: Bitcoin, Bitcoin bounce, Bitcoin bullish, bitcoin consolidation, crypto analysis, Crypto Bull, crypto chartbook, DeFi, low risk, quad exit, technical analysis, trading education|0 Comments About the Author: Korbinian Koller Outstanding abstract reasoning ability and ability to think creatively and originally has led over the last 25 years to extract new principles and a unique way to view the markets resulting in a multitude of various time frame systems, generating high hit rates and outstanding risk reward ratios. Over 20 years of coaching traders with heart & passion, assessing complex situations, troubleshoot and solve problems principle based has led to experience and a professional history of success. Skilled natural teacher and exceptional developer of talent. Avid learner guided by a plan with ability to suppress ego and empower students to share ideas and best practices and to apply principle-based technical/conceptual knowledge to maximize efficiency. 25+ year execution experience (50.000+ trades executed) Trading multiple personal accounts (long and short-and combinations of the two). Amazing market feel complementing mechanical systems discipline for precise and extreme low risk entries while objectively seeing the whole picture. Ability to notice and separate emotional responses from the decision-making process and to stand outside oneself and one’s concerns about images in order to function in terms of larger objectives. Developed exit strategies that compensate both for maximizing profits and psychological ease to allow for continuous flow throughout the whole trading day. In depth knowledge of money management strategies with the experience of multiple 6 sigma events in various markets (futures, stocks, commodities, currencies, bonds) embedded in extreme low risk statistical probability models with smooth equity curves and extensive risk management as well as extensive disaster risk allow for my natural capacity for risk-taking.

November 22, 2021  $CHF, $USD, BOE, China, Currency Movement, FOMC, Japan, Philippines, Russia Overview:  The US dollar has come back bid from the weekend against most currencies following the talk by a couple of Fed governors about the possibility of accelerating the tapering at next month's FOMC meeting.  The weekend also saw protests against the social restrictions being imposed by several European countries in the face of a surge in Covid cases.  The Swedish krona, yen, and sterling are the weakest, while the dollar-bloc currencies are resisting the greenback's tug. Most of the freely accessible and liquid currencies among emerging market currencies, including Russia, Hungary, South Africa, and Mexico, are heavy. At the same time, the Turkish lira recoups a little of the ground lost last week, and the Chinese yuan shrugged off apparently warnings from the PBOC to post its first gain in three sessions.  Equity markets in the Asia Pacific area mostly fell, though China and South Korea were notable exceptions.  Europe's Stoxx 600 snapped a six-week advance last week but has begun the news week with a small gain through the European morning.  US futures are trading higher.  The bond market is heavy, with the 10-year US Treasury up about three basis points to around 1.58%.  European benchmark yields are 2-3 bp higher.  Gold finished last week on a softer note and edged lower today to trade below $1840 for the first time since November 10.  Resistance is around $1850.  News that Japan may join the US to release oil from reserves saw January WTI slip below $75 but recover back above $76.  It met the (38.2%) retracement of the rally from the late August low near $60.75.  European natural gas (Netherlands) is lower for the fourth consecutive session, during which time it has fallen around 11%.   Iron ore extended the 5.6% gains before the weekend with another 4% gain today.  On the other hand, copper rose 3.3% in the past two sessions and has come back offered today.  Lastly, the CRB Index eased less than 1% last week and is off two of the past three weeks.  Its seven-month rally is at risk.   Asia Pacific Despite China's economic success, it remains clumsy and heavy-handed.   As the US and some other countries were considering a symbolic diplomatic boycott of the winter Olympics in Beijing, the tennis star Peng Shuai is being censored or worse for allegations against a former Politburo member.  Meanwhile, at the end of last week, three Chinese coast guard vessels launched water cannons against two Filipino boats sent to resupply a garrison on the Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal), which is within the Philippines' Kalayanan Island Group.  The aggressive harassment brought a rebuke by the US, which reminded Beijing of its mutual defense agreement with Manila.   The Philippines will attempt to bring provision again this week.  Separately, note that after being notified by the US of the military nature of the Chinese construction project in the UAE, the project has been halted.   With the yuan at six-year highs against a trade-weighted basket, Chinese officials have begun expressing more concern about the one-way market.  The FX Committee, composed of industry participants, wants members to do a better job monitoring prop trading, and it follows the PBOC works of caution about risk management at the end of last week.  In its quarterly monetary review, the PBOC made a few tweaks that suggest it could ease policy.   Japan's Prime Minister Kishida acknowledged that releasing oil from its strategic reserve was under discussion.  China indicated it would tap its reserves last week for the second time since September, while it is still under review in the US.  Currently, Japan keeps reserves that are intended to last 90 days, while the private sector must hold reserves to last 70 days, according to reports.  Japan is considering selling oil and using the funds to subsidize the rising gasoline prices.  It may also reduce the duration of the reserves.   The dollar is straddling the JPY114.00 level as its hugs the pre-weekend range (~JPY113.60-JPY114.55).  The JPY114.30 area offers initial resistance, while the focus in early North America may be on the downside.  Still, it appears to be going nowhere quickly.   The Australian dollar finished last week at its lowest level since early October.  That low, just below $0.7230, held, and momentum traders covered shorts, helping lift the Aussie back to session highs near $0.7260.  A move above here allows gains into the $0.7270-$0.7290 area.  The PBOC set the dollar's reference rate at CNY6.3952 today.  The market (Bloomberg survey median) had projected a CNY6.3931 fix.  Although the dollar is softer today, it held above last week's lows as consolidation is evident.  It remains within the range set last Tuesday (~CNY6.3670-CNY6.3965).   Europe With the Swiss franc appreciating to six-year highs against the euro, it would not be surprising to see the SNB intervene.  The first place to look for it is in the weekly domestic sight deposits.  They rose by CHF2.58 bln, the second-most in the past three months.  Recall the mechanics.  The SNB buys euros but just sitting on them distorts the allocation strategy.  So it needs to either sell some euros for dollars or Swiss francs for dollars.  If it does the latter, its overall level of reserve growth accelerates.  Many suspect it will do the former, i.e., sell some euros for dollars.   The US continues to warn that Russia's troop and equipment movement is consistent with a rapid large-scale push into Ukraine from multiple spots simultaneously.  The suggestion, according to reports, is that the operation could take place early next year.  Both Ukraine and Georgia are seeking more US assistance.  Recall Russia invaded Crimea in February 2014.   Bank of England Governor Bailey has toned down his rhetoric, though he blames the market for misconstruing his remarks last month.  He warns now that next month's decision is finely balanced and that the price pressures are emanating primarily from supply-side disruptions for which monetary policy is less directly effective.   The implied yield of the December 2021 short-sterling interest rate futures contract is slipping for the fourth consecutive session.  Today's yield of about 21 bp is the lowest since early October.  The yield peaked in mid-October near 62 bp.  Lastly, while progress on the UK-EU talks has been reported, the two sides are still far apart.  Talks between Frost and Sefcovic will resume at the end of this week.   The prospect that a new German government could be announced this week has not helped the euro very much.  The single currency, which was sold through $1.14 and $1.13 last week, is struggling to find a base.  It has held above the pre-weekend low near $1.12560 but only barely (~$1.1260), and the attempt to resurface above $1.1300 was rebuffed. A move above $1.1320 may suggest some near-term consolidation, perhaps ahead of Wednesday's US PCE deflator report.  That said, tomorrow's flash PMI composite reading for the eurozone is expected to have weakened for the fourth consecutive month.  Sterling could not rise 15 ticks from its pre-weekend close (~$1.3450).  The downside was also limited (~$1.3420).  It caught a bid in the European morning that could extend into the US morning.  Still, the $1.3460-$1.3480 band may be a sufficient cap.  The market does not appear inclined to see trigger the $1.3395 option that expires today for about GBP425 mln.   America President Biden's announcement on the Fed's leadership could come as early as tomorrow, as he is set to deliver a speech on the economy tomorrow.  But it probably would be a separate announcement.  Given the expiration of the terms of the two vice-chairs, changes among a few of the regional presidents, and the challenging situation, President Biden is likely to follow Treasury Secretary Yellen's recommendation to re-appoint Powell.  Moreover, a tradition goes back to Volcker of one party making the initial nomination and the other party approving of another term.  This helped "depoliticize" monetary policy.  Trump broke with that tradition, and as Biden has done in a number of other areas, is restoring some traditions.  Lastly, we suspect that if Bernanke or Yellen, or Brainard were at the helm of the Fed, there would not be substantive monetary policy differences.   Vice-Chair Clarida and Governor Waller joined regional Fed President Bullard to suggest that Fed may consider accelerating the pace of tapering at next month's FOMC meeting.  We suspect others will be sympathetic after this week's October PCE and deflator news.  The economy is rebounding in Q4 from the disappointing 2% annualized pace in Q3 (which is likely to be revised higher on Wednesday), and a critical part is consumption.  Personal consumption expenditures are expected to rise by 1% after a 0.6% increase in September.  The headline PCE deflator, which the Fed targets 2% on average, which Governor Brainard reportedly helped devise, is expected to jump above 5% from 4.4% in September.  The core rate is expected to exceed 4%.  No Fed officials are slated to speak this week, but the minutes from the November 3 FOMC meeting will be released on November 24.   El Salvador caught the crypto world's attention again.  It is the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender.  It announced plans to issue a $1 bln bond, and half the proceeds will be used to buy Bitcoin (~2000 coins).  The other half will be used to fund infrastructure projects to build the infrastructure of more Bitcoins.  It will offer a 6.5% coupon, which is lower than current dollar issues.  It looks like one pays a lot for BTC exposures.  El Salvador is rated BB+ of the equivalent by the top three rating agencies.  This makes El Salvador bonds risky, to begin with, and adding Bitcoin on top of that would seem to preclude most retail and institutional investors.  It seems like a desperate act that only an impoverished country can try.  The idea that other countries will quickly follow seems to be a stretch.  There is a good reason why Tesla had few corporate followers to buy Bitcoins with reserve funds.  The same principle would seem to apply to countries.   The economic calendar for North America begins off slowly this week.  Today's main feature is the US existing home sales report.  A pullback after September's heady 7% gain is expected, the strongest in a year.  After a weak start to the year, existing home sales have recovered.  They averaged 5.66 mln (seasonally adjusted annual rate) last year and have averaged more than 6.0 mln for the past three months.  The Canadian dollar has weakened for the past four weeks.  It briefly poked above CAD1.2660 ahead of the weekend to reach its best level since early October.  The greenback is in about a 15-tick range on either side of CAD1.2645 today.  Support is seen in the CAD1.2600-CAD1.2620 area, but it may take a break of CAD1.2585 to boost confidence that a high is in place.  The US dollar rose 1.5% against the Mexican peso last week.  It was the third weekly gain in the past four weeks.  The greenback is trading above last week's high (~MXN20.89) and looks set to test the high set earlier this month near MXN20.98.  Lastly, the Chilean presidential election will go to a run-off next month, as widely expected between the far-right and far-left candidates.   The dollar snapped a five-week pullback against the Chilean peso last week, rising 3.6%, the most in three months.  Year-to-date, the peso is off nearly 14.25%.   Disclaimer

Traders continue to be drawn to crypto as a trading vehicle. Not just because of its ability to trend for a prolonged period, or due to the nature of impulsive momentum that traders can identify and jump on. But also, as we’re seeing now with increased two-way opportunities, and for those that will trade the flow long or short.  For those who see crypto as a vehicle to trade and not just for the long-term adoption story that investors tend to want to be involved with, then from a spread/movement (or volatility) basis crypto is one of the best vehicles out there. We’ve seen that case-in-point over the past 24 hours - A rapid flush out of longs in the market has seen $866m liquidated across exchanges - 31% of that in Bitcoin alone. Again, we look to China where authorities are warning SOEs about cryptocurrency mining, broadly detailing they would increase electricity rates and levies for companies still involved here. While China going after the crypto market is obviously not new, it reminds us that increasing the costs associated with crypto is one of the key influence’s governments can utilise to impact the crypto market, as they can with potentially influencing the fiat-to-stable coin transfer.  There has been some focus on the passing of the US infrastructure bill where a provision has been set for the exchange (or “Broker”) to report customer intel to the IRS – clearly not a popular move for those in the US participating in the crypto market, although it won’t kick in until 2024. This becomes somewhat political, given 1 in 10 Americans have bought and sold crypto in the past 12 months. It perhaps doesn’t shock then that a group of US senators are looking at exempting participants who are involved in the development and innovation of the crypto ecosystem. Either way, crypto will react just like any other asset class to news around regulation, and just as investors are inspired by news of innovation, adoption, or efficiencies - regulation will promote short sharp moves lower, as we have seen periodically.  As a trader, these headlines need to be incorporated fully into one’s risk management. Price moves are the immediate red flag, and a sudden move needs to put us on notice. Personally, when I see a move of 3% in Bitcoin or Ethereum within a 30-minute window, I will assess the headlines and the severity of the issue, as we often see a far slower burn to fully discount news than say spot FX. First movers’ advantage in crypto can therefore be genuinely beneficial and while hedge fund algorithmic activity has dramatically increased in this space over the years, with the technology to react to news far quicker than retail traders, it is still as not as efficient as other asset classes.  This can help level the playing field. The cost to movement trade-off  Our flow is predominantly always seen in Bitcoin and Ethereum – and, while we offer 16 coins in total, these two have the best liquidity, and for an average spread of $33 (on Bitcoin), $5.4 (Ethereum) we see the 12-month average high-to-low percentage range at 6.8% and 8.6% respectively over the past 12 months.  Another popular way to see this is the 5-day Average True Range (ATR). In pips, the 5-day ATR in Bitcoin is 3453 – so this is a spread as a percentage of the daily trading range of 0.96%. On our standard account (comm is incorporated into the spread) this same dynamic in EURUSD sits at 0.97%.  So, in essence, on a spread-per-movement basis Bitcoin is comparable to EURUSD and even gold.  The current set-up Bitcoin daily After a move into 58,621 in Bitcoin, we’ve seen the 50-day MA act as support and buyers stepping in. The 28 Oct swing low of 57,762 is also one to consider, and if we were to see a breakdown through the 50 day and the 28 Oct low and Bitcoin could stage a rapid move into 54,000. As it is, this has the feel that we could see some messy two-way action, and it wouldn’t surprise to see 68,000 capping the upside, 57,000 the downside.  Ethereum daily Ethereum has found support into the lower Bollinger band (20-day MA, 2.5 standard deviations) but has broken the channel support it held since late Sept. That doesn’t mean it will collapse, but the markets propensity to follow the trend is over given price is no longer making higher highs. Another where the near-term price action could get messy and chop around with better two-way price moves.  DOT is one that has seen some good volatility of late and another that is holding the 50-day MA for dear life. A close below 39.66 and this could open a deeper move – a factor which could be appealing as we pay 7.5% on shorts.  As always in trading keeping an open mind is key and for those who want to trade crypto rather than HODL, it feels like the stage is set for two-way opportunity.

Bitcoin rose 0.6% on Tuesday, ending the day around $38,700. Ethereum added 3.7%, while other leading altcoins in the top 10 are growing: from 0.5% (Binance Coin) to 12.8% (Solana). The total capitalisation of the crypto market, according to CoinGecko, rose 1.5% to $1.86 trillion overnight. Bitcoin hit a week-and-a-half high above $39,000 on Tuesday but then pulled back, offsetting almost all of the gains. The first cryptocurrency was boosted by positive stock indexes and a weakening dollar, but sellers began taking profits on long positions. Over the last eight days, BTC gained almost 20%, recouping more than half of the failure of the second half of January, and buyers decided not to take risks. Ahead is solid psychological resistance at the circular $40,000 level, which supported the first half of January. Technically, Bitcoin has stalled its gains as it approaches the upper boundary of the descending channel. Traders are waiting for new signals about whether the recovery in risk demand will continue or whether the latest rebound will soon be choked off. The result of this struggle will determine whether we will see a break from the downtrend or whether the downtrend will continue again. El Salvador president Nayib Bukele is confident that bitcoin will still show tremendous growth. It's all about the fact that there are 50 million millionaires in the world. If they wanted to buy a coin, there wouldn't be enough for everyone, as the entire bitcoin issue wouldn't exceed 21 million. MicroStrategy added another 660 BTC on the recent market decline. In total, MicroStrategy already has more than 125,000 bitcoins. Russian government officials told Bloomberg that Russians own $214 billion worth of cryptocurrencies. That's about 12% of the total crypto market capitalisation.

EUR/USD has been rising steadily since the beginning of the week. Annual HICP in the euro area came in much higher than expected in January. Euro could lose its bullish momentum if ECB downplays inflation concerns. The shared currency suffered heavy losses against the dollar last week after FOMC Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed the Fed’s hawkish stance in the face of high inflation. Following a sharp decline to its lowest level since June 2020, however, EUR/USD managed to stage a decisive rebound during the first half of the week and advanced beyond 1.1300. In addition to renewed dollar weakness, hot inflation data from the euro area helped the pair push higher mid-week. Eurostat reported that annual inflation in the euro area, as measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), rose to 5.1% in January from 5% in December. This print came in higher than the market expectation of 4.4%. The Core HICP, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, edged lower to 2.3% from 2.6% but surpassed analysts’ estimate of 1.9%. With the first FOMC meeting out of the way, markets now await the European Central Bank’s (ECB) policy announcements and the euro could find it difficult to extend its rebound if investors are reminded of the policy divergence between the Fed and the ECB. ECB on hold The ECB is widely expected to leave its policy settings unchanged following the February policy meeting. In December, the ECB confirmed that it will end the Pandemic Purchase Emergency Programme (PEPP) in March. To soften the policy transition, the ECB announced that it will increase the monthly purchases under the Asset Purchase Programme (APP) to €40 billion in Q2 and €30 billion in Q3 from the current level of €20 billion. The bank intends to maintain the APP purchases at a pace of €20 billion for “as long as necessary” from the last quarter of the year. While speaking at the press conference in December, ECB President Christine Lagarde refrained from dismissing the possibility of a rate increase before the end of 2022 and helped the common currency stay resilient against its rivals for the remainder of the year. Commenting on the inflation outlook earlier in the month, several ECB members sounded relatively optimistic and EUR/USD struggled to preserve its bullish momentum. ECB policymaker Peter Kazimir noted that inflation in the eurozone was expected to peak in the “nearest months” before starting to decline. Moreover, ECB chief economist Philip Lane said that they are not yet seeing a big response from wages to inflation. Similarly, Lagarde explained that energy costs were rising due to temporary factors and added that there were no signs of wages being “bid up.” Hawkish scenario: In case Lagarde hints at the possibility of a rate hike before the end of the year after the latest inflation report, that could be assessed as a hawkish tilt in the ECB’s policy outlook and provide a boost to the euro. Currently, eurozone money markets are pricing in 30 basis points of rate hikes by the end of the year. Dovish scenario: Lagarde might opt to communicate that inflation is close to peaking in the eurozone and outright reject a rate hike in 2022 while pushing back against market rate-hike bets. Lagarde might also mention that they don’t need to normalize the policy as fast as the Fed by highlighting the differences in economic conditions in the US and the EU. Neutral scenario: Given the fact that the ECB will not release its revised economic projections until March, it would be surprising to see an obvious shift in the ECB’s tone. The accounts of the ECB’s December meeting revealed that policymakers are divided over the inflation outlook and February's policy statement is unlikely to touch on that. The ECB should reiterate that it stands ready to act if inflation becomes persistent in the euro area and that it remains committed to ensuring price stability. EUR/USD Technical Analysis Unless the ECB delivers a hawkish surprise, the policy divergence between the Fed and the ECB should continue to favour the dollar over the euro and limit EUR/USD’s upside. At the time of press, the pair was trading near 1.1300, where the 20-day and the 50-day SMAs are located. In case EUR/USD starts using these levels as support, it could target the next static resistance at 1.1375 ahead of 1.1430 (100-day SMA). Meanwhile, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicator on the daily chart stays near 50, suggesting that the pair needs to push higher to convince investors that the latest advance is the beginning of an uptrend rather than a correction. On the flip side, a dovish ECB statement could attract bears and cause the pair to slide toward 1.1200 (psychological level, static level). If this support fails, EUR/USD (https://www.fxstreet.com/currencies/eurusd) could touch a fresh 19-month low at 1.1100.

Bitcoin fell 4.8% on Wednesday, ending the day around $37.0K. Ethereum lost 3.9%, while other top-ten altcoins fell between 4.4% (Cardano and Polkadot) and 7.8% (Solana and Terra). The total capitalisation of the crypto market, according to CoinGecko, overnight fell by 3.4% to $1.8 trillion, while Bitcoin's dominance index fell 0.2% to 39.2%. Bitcoin began a sharp decline on Wednesday as the US session opened, along with US stock index futures. After several hours of falling, stock indices reversed and regained momentum. BTC, meanwhile, broke its previous strong correlation with equity indices and did not show a meaningful rebound. The benchmark cryptocurrency came under pressure from reports of a severe snowstorm coming to Texas. A year ago, a similar weather anomaly disrupted the power supply to a quarter of households and caused loss of life, forcing authorities to impose a state of emergency. The state's association of miners, the Texas Blockchain Council, decided to de-energise mining farms on Wednesday. Texas is home to the main bitcoin network computing capacity in the US. The states themselves are the world's number one miner of the significant digital asset (around 49% of hash rate). Bitcoin again proved that it remains in a downward channel, as the recovery bounce lost strength at the upper end of the range. In theory, a bearish reversal of bitcoin opens up the possibility of updating the January lows with potential targets near 30K.

However, these gains attracted some profit-taking at prices around US$1,850. And in the aftermath of last week’s FOMC meeting, gold sold off for three days in a row. This merciless sell-off only ended at US$1,780 wiping out nearly all gains since mid of December. It was some form of the classic “the bull walks up the stairs and the bear jumps out the window” pattern, which is a typical behavior within an uptrend.Hence and exactly for this reason, the deep pullback did not necessarily end the recovery in the gold market. Of course, in the bigger picture, the entire precious metals sector is still stuck in this tenacious correction which has been ongoing since August 2020. In the short-term, however, the pullback has created an oversold setup and once again proved that there is buying interest at prices below US$1,800.US-Dollar index, daily chart as of February 3rd, 2022. False breakout?US-Dollar index, daily chart as of February 3rd, 2022.It also seems that the US-Dollar might have hit an important top last Thursday and is now moving lower, which would be very supportive for gold, of course. Everyone is expecting the US-Dollar to go up as the FED is expected to raise interest rates. But the US-Dollar has been discounting this “hike and taper scenario” for several months already. Actually, the US-Dollar index has been rallying +8.8% since May 2021! During the recent FOMC meeting, however, big money might have used the seeming breakout to sell their dollar longs into a favorable high-volume setup. At the same time, stock market sentiment was extremely bearish. Hence, last week likely triggered a top in the US-Dollar and a violent back and forth bottoming pattern for the stock-market.US-Dollar index, monthly chart as of February 3rd, 2022. A series of lower highs!US-Dollar index, monthly chart as of February 3rd, 2022.In the big picture, a top in the US-Dollar would continue the series of lower highs for the dollar. As well, the US-Dollar is moving within a huge triangle since 2001. After a series of three lower highs since December 2016, a test of the lower boundary of the triangle would give gold prices an extreme tailwind in the coming years. Hence, even if it´s hard to come up with any bearish arguments for the dollar at the moment, technically it looks like the dollar could roll over.Gold in US-Dollar, daily chart from February 3rd, 2020. Gold’s behavior is changing.Gold in US-Dollar, daily chart as of February 3rd, 2022.For gold, a weaker US-Dollar would be very helpful. In fact, since the beginning of this week, we perceive an ongoing change in gold’s behavior. We are getting impressed by its intraday strength! Every small pullback around and below US$1,800 was rather quickly bought again. So far, gold has only recovered 38.2% of last week’s nasty sell-off and currently sits pretty much exactly at its 200-day moving average (US$1,805).But the fresh buy signal from the slow stochastic oscillator on the daily chart promises more upside. Hence, we see gold fuming its way higher in the coming weeks. In the next step, gold will have to overcome the 38.2% resistance around US$1,808.50 and then continue its recovery towards US$1,830. In any case, the seasonal component is at least very favorable until the end of February. Therefore, even higher price targets are conceivable too. But gold needs to breakout above the triangle and clear US$1,850. Only then a more sustainable bullish momentum would emerge which could last further into spring.If, on the other hand, gold takes out US$1,780, the recovery since mid of December might be over already and the medium-term correction might likely pick up again.Conclusion: Seasonality favors another wave upOverall, we assume that seasonality favors another wave up in the gold market. Thus, another rally towards at least US$1,830 is realistic. We are short-term bullish, mid-term neutral to skeptic and long-term very bullish for gold.Feel free to join us in our free Telegram channel for daily real time data and a great community. If you like to get regular updates on our gold model, precious metals and cryptocurrencies you can also subscribe to our free newsletter.Disclosure: Midas Touch Consulting and members of our team are invested in Reyna Gold Corp. These statements are intended to disclose any conflict of interest. They should not be misconstrued as a recommendation to purchase any share. This article and the content are for informational purposes only and do not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone. They do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Midas Touch Consulting.By Florian Grummes|February 3rd, 2022|Tags: EUR/USD, Gold, Gold Analysis, Gold bullish, gold chartbook, Gold neutral, precious metals, Reyna Gold, US-Dollar|0 CommentsAbout the Author: Florian GrummesFlorian Grummes is an independent financial analyst, advisor, consultant, trader & investor as well as an international speaker with more than 20 years of experience in financial markets. He is specialized in precious metals, cryptocurrencies and technical analysis. He is publishing weekly gold, silver & cryptocurrency analysis for his numerous international readers. He is also running a large telegram Channel and a Crypto Signal Service. Florian is well known for combining technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis into one accurate conclusion about the markets. Since April 2019 he is chief editor of the cashkurs-gold newsletter focusing on gold and silver mining stocks. Besides all that, Florian is a music producer and composer. Since more than 25 years he has been professionally creating, writing & producing more than 300 songs. He is also running his own record label Cryon Music & Art Productions. His artist name is Florzinho.

Bitcoin fell 0.7% on Thursday, ending the day around $36,800. Ethereum lost 1.8%, while other leading altcoins in the top 10 showed mixed dynamics from a 1.5% decline (Solana and Polkadot) to a 4.3% rise (Terra). Total crypto market capitalisation, according to CoinGecko, added 0.2% to $1.79 trillion overnight. Bitcoin’s dominance index remained unchanged at 39.2%. Most cryptocurrencies were under pressure from declines in US tech stocks on Thursday. A weak report from Meta (Facebook) was published the day before, and the company’s shares lost more than 26% on the day, with the high-tech Nasdaq down almost 4%. The correlation between bitcoin and the Nasdaq stock index has recently reached a new high. The first cryptocurrency was also hit by a shutdown of mining farms in Texas, caused by bad weather and a snowstorm. The state leads bitcoin mining in the US, accounting for about half of all BTC hash rates. Bitcoin volatility has fallen to 15-month lows in recent days. With the comparative performance of traditional financial markets, bitcoin has managed to add around 2.9% since the start of the day on Friday, reaching 38,000 and again testing the upper limit of the downward channel. However, the first cryptocurrency will need to break the key $40,000 level to confirm bullish sentiment. Otherwise, the pressure on BTC will continue and may even intensify. The developers of the 14th cryptocurrency, Shiba Inu, have partnered with fast-food restaurant Wellu’s of Naples, Italy. The restaurant will use SHIB as a means of payment and has also fully rebranded its outlet in token style.

EURUSD breaks higher The euro soared as traders bet that persistent inflation could force the ECB to act sooner than later. A break below the daily support at 1.1300 had put the single currency under pressure. However, a swift rebound above this support-turned-resistance indicates strong commitment from the buy-side. The pair is rising towards the January peak at 1.1480. The RSI’s triple top in the overbought area may slow the momentum down as intraday buyers take a break. 1.1270 is a key support to keep the rebound relevant. GBPUSD tests resistance The pound popped higher after the BOE raised interest rates to 0.5%. The latest rebound above the resistance at 1.3520 has prompted sellers to cover. Then the rally is accelerating towards 1.3660 which is a major hurdle from the sell-off in late January. A bullish breakout could turn sentiment in the sterling’s favor and send the price to the previous peak at 1.3740. On the downside, 1.3500 is an important support and its breach could invalidate the recovery despite the bullish catalyst. CADJPY awaits breakout The Canadian dollar recovers over growing risk appetite. A fall below the demand zone around 90.60 weighed on sentiment as the loonie struggled to make a higher high. The pair found support at 89.70 in what used to be a former supply area on the daily chart. The current consolidation is a sign of indecision. 91.10 proves to be a tough resistance to crack. A bullish breakout could bring the price to the recent peak at 92.00. Failing that, the pair may suffer from another round of sell-off below 89.10.

Down the chain, US stock market dynamics now determine corporate investor sentiment towards Bitcoin and Ether. From the top-down, this sentiment then spreads down to altcoins. But since late last year, there has been a continuing trend that even bitcoin's calming is enough for altcoins to return to growth and outperform the first cryptocurrency. In the last 24 hours, the entire crypto market has added 3.3%, while Ether has gained 4.7% versus Bitcoin's 2.4%. Ether has strengthened by 15% in the last seven days, returning to this month's highs and trying to climb above the bottom levels at the end of September 2021. The cryptocurrency market capitalisation excluding Bitcoin has been hovering around the $1 trillion mark for over a week and approached the upper end of that range on Friday morning. The reduction in volatility in Bitcoin allows for an optimistic outlook on altcoins. At least in the short term. An essential boundary for Ether will be the $3K mark. A return in the price above this level could further encourage buyers and reject the idea of a crypto-winter following the example of 2018. Solana is showing signs of coming out of the hole it fell into at the end of January. The $90 mark has attracted sufficient buyer demand. However, it will be premature to discuss a sustained recovery to the upside, only a stabilisation after the collapse. A BTCUSD consolidation above $40k and Ethereum above $3k would shift the altcoin recovery to a new speed and restart the process of BTC share contraction in the entire market.

By InvestMacro | COT | Data Tables | COT Leaders | Downloads | COT Newsletter Here are the latest charts and statistics for the Commitment of Traders (COT) data published by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The latest COT data is updated through Tuesday February 1st and shows a quick view of how large traders (for-profit speculators and commercial entities) were positioned in the futures markets. All currency positions are in direct relation to the US dollar where, for example, a bet for the euro is a bet that the euro will rise versus the dollar while a bet against the euro will be a bet that the euro will decline versus the dollar. Highlighting the COT currency data was the decline for the US Dollar Index in the currency futures contracts. Dollar Index speculators cut back on their bullish bets this week for the third time in the past four weeks after previously pushing their bullish bets to a 117-week high on January 4th. Since that high-point, bullish bets have fallen by a total of -4,507 contracts and have now dropped the overall standing to a seven-week low. Despite the recent slide, the US Dollar Index bullish bets are still near the top of their range over the past three years with a speculator strength index score of 85.4 percent which is considered extremely bullish (strength index is the current speculator standing compared to past three years, above 80 is bullish extreme, below 20 is bearish extreme). The Dollar Index price has had a volatile couple of weeks with a sharp rise to 97.22 on January 28th and then a sharp drop to 95.23 on February 3rd and closed the week at approximately 95.48. The currencies with positive changes this week were the Japanese yen (7,633 contracts), Swiss franc (557 contracts), Canadian dollar (5,947 contracts), Russian ruble (10,207 contracts), Bitcoin (175 contracts), Australian dollar (3,444 contracts) and the Mexican peso (1,520 contracts). The currencies with declining bets were the US Dollar Index (-2,290 contracts), Euro (-1,844 contracts), British pound sterling (-15,842 contracts), Brazil real (-737 contracts) and the New Zealand dollar (-925 contracts). Data Snapshot of Forex Market Traders | Columns Legend Feb-01-2022 OI OI-Index Spec-Net Spec-Index Com-Net COM-Index Smalls-Net Smalls-Index USD Index 56,477 81 34,571 85 -41,884 5 7,313 97 EUR 685,431 78 29,716 44 -57,467 59 27,751 20 GBP 184,007 28 -23,605 57 28,891 47 -5,286 45 JPY 194,435 51 -60,640 30 79,353 76 -18,713 9 CHF 41,054 16 -8,239 56 16,541 49 -8,302 39 CAD 145,082 27 18,264 65 -25,622 39 7,358 44 AUD 196,913 80 -79,829 11 96,098 91 -16,269 13 NZD 58,467 60 -11,698 52 14,019 52 -2,321 25 MXN 141,352 22 730 28 -3,848 71 3,118 56 RUB 46,358 47 14,151 47 -14,451 52 300 43 BRL 76,175 100 -13,353 51 10,467 47 2,886 100 Bitcoin 9,948 51 141 100 -491 0 350 21   US Dollar Index Futures: The US Dollar Index large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 34,571 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly decrease of -2,290 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 36,861 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish-Extreme with a score of 85.4 percent. The commercials are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 5.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 96.5 percent. US DOLLAR INDEX Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 77.7 3.8 16.3 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 16.5 78.0 3.3 – Net Position: 34,571 -41,884 7,313 – Gross Longs: 43,897 2,141 9,203 – Gross Shorts: 9,326 44,025 1,890 – Long to Short Ratio: 4.7 to 1 0.0 to 1 4.9 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 85.4 5.0 96.5 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish-Extreme Bearish-Extreme Bullish-Extreme NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -0.9 -2.6 22.9   Euro Currency Futures: The Euro Currency large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 29,716 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly fall of -1,844 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 31,560 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 44.1 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 59.5 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 20.4 percent. EURO Currency Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 31.2 55.0 12.2 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 26.8 63.4 8.2 – Net Position: 29,716 -57,467 27,751 – Gross Longs: 213,563 376,805 83,675 – Gross Shorts: 183,847 434,272 55,924 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.2 to 1 0.9 to 1 1.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 44.1 59.5 20.4 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 12.2 -11.8 3.2   British Pound Sterling Futures: The British Pound Sterling large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -23,605 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly decline of -15,842 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -7,763 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 57.0 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 46.8 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 44.7 percent. BRITISH POUND Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 16.1 68.8 13.5 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 28.9 53.1 16.4 – Net Position: -23,605 28,891 -5,286 – Gross Longs: 29,597 126,536 24,845 – Gross Shorts: 53,202 97,645 30,131 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.6 to 1 1.3 to 1 0.8 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 57.0 46.8 44.7 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bearish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 24.6 -25.0 16.9   Japanese Yen Futures: The Japanese Yen large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -60,640 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly rise of 7,633 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -68,273 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 29.7 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 75.6 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 9.3 percent. JAPANESE YEN Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 7.5 82.5 8.2 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 38.7 41.7 17.8 – Net Position: -60,640 79,353 -18,713 – Gross Longs: 14,510 160,358 15,958 – Gross Shorts: 75,150 81,005 34,671 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.2 to 1 2.0 to 1 0.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 29.7 75.6 9.3 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bearish-Extreme NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -5.3 4.1 0.3   Swiss Franc Futures: The Swiss Franc large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -8,239 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly boost of 557 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -8,796 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 55.6 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 49.4 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 38.9 percent. SWISS FRANC Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 1.7 73.5 24.6 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 21.8 33.2 44.8 – Net Position: -8,239 16,541 -8,302 – Gross Longs: 698 30,161 10,103 – Gross Shorts: 8,937 13,620 18,405 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.1 to 1 2.2 to 1 0.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 55.6 49.4 38.9 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bearish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 1.7 0.7 -4.6   Canadian Dollar Futures: The Canadian Dollar large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 18,264 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly gain of 5,947 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 12,317 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 65.4 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 39.4 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 44.4 percent. CANADIAN DOLLAR Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 36.1 39.6 21.6 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 23.5 57.3 16.5 – Net Position: 18,264 -25,622 7,358 – Gross Longs: 52,386 57,524 31,356 – Gross Shorts: 34,122 83,146 23,998 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.5 to 1 0.7 to 1 1.3 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 65.4 39.4 44.4 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bearish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 27.3 -22.9 9.8   Australian Dollar Futures: The Australian Dollar large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -79,829 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly advance of 3,444 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -83,273 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish-Extreme with a score of 10.8 percent. The commercials are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 90.6 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 12.8 percent. AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 9.6 78.8 9.2 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 50.1 30.0 17.5 – Net Position: -79,829 96,098 -16,269 – Gross Longs: 18,835 155,124 18,128 – Gross Shorts: 98,664 59,026 34,397 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.2 to 1 2.6 to 1 0.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 10.8 90.6 12.8 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish-Extreme Bullish-Extreme Bearish-Extreme NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 0.5 -1.4 3.4   New Zealand Dollar Futures: The New Zealand Dollar large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -11,698 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly decrease of -925 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -10,773 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 51.6 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 52.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 25.3 percent. NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 32.8 61.0 4.8 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 52.9 37.0 8.7 – Net Position: -11,698 14,019 -2,321 – Gross Longs: 19,205 35,644 2,783 – Gross Shorts: 30,903 21,625 5,104 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.6 to 1 1.6 to 1 0.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 51.6 52.0 25.3 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bullish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -9.3 7.9 4.7   Mexican Peso Futures: The Mexican Peso large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 730 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly increase of 1,520 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -790 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 27.7 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 71.2 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish with a score of 56.2 percent. MEXICAN PESO Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 38.0 57.2 4.5 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 37.5 59.9 2.3 – Net Position: 730 -3,848 3,118 – Gross Longs: 53,767 80,885 6,378 – Gross Shorts: 53,037 84,733 3,260 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.0 to 1 1.0 to 1 2.0 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 27.7 71.2 56.2 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bullish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 2.4 -4.3 20.0   Brazilian Real Futures: The Brazilian Real large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -13,353 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly decline of -737 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -12,616 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 50.8 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 47.4 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 100.0 percent. BRAZIL REAL Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 47.6 46.3 6.0 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 65.2 32.6 2.2 – Net Position: -13,353 10,467 2,886 – Gross Longs: 36,293 35,263 4,562 – Gross Shorts: 49,646 24,796 1,676 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.7 to 1 1.4 to 1 2.7 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 50.8 47.4 100.0 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bearish Bullish-Extreme NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -9.1 4.3 42.4   Russian Ruble Futures: The Russian Ruble large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 14,151 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly lift of 10,207 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 3,944 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 46.9 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 52.4 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 42.7 percent. RUSSIAN RUBLE Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 54.0 41.5 4.4 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 23.5 72.7 3.7 – Net Position: 14,151 -14,451 300 – Gross Longs: 25,048 19,255 2,024 – Gross Shorts: 10,897 33,706 1,724 – Long to Short Ratio: 2.3 to 1 0.6 to 1 1.2 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 46.9 52.4 42.7 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 13.1 -10.5 -26.0   Bitcoin Futures: The Bitcoin large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 141 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly advance of 175 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -34 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish-Extreme with a score of 100.0 percent. The commercials are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 0.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 20.9 percent. BITCOIN Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 80.3 3.1 12.4 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 78.8 8.0 8.9 – Net Position: 141 -491 350 – Gross Longs: 7,984 304 1,232 – Gross Shorts: 7,843 795 882 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.0 to 1 0.4 to 1 1.4 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 100.0 0.0 20.9 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish-Extreme Bearish-Extreme Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 22.4 -43.4 -11.1   Article By InvestMacro – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email *COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the most recent Tuesday (data is 3 days old) and shows a quick view of how large speculators or non-commercials (for-profit traders) were positioned in the futures markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators) as well as their open interest (contracts open in the market at time of reporting).See CFTC criteria here.

By InvestMacro | COT | Data Tables | COT Leaders | Downloads | COT Newsletter Here are the latest charts and statistics for the Commitment of Traders (COT) data published by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The latest COT data is updated through Tuesday February 1st and shows a quick view of how large traders (for-profit speculators and commercial entities) were positioned in the futures markets. All currency positions are in direct relation to the US dollar where, for example, a bet for the euro is a bet that the euro will rise versus the dollar while a bet against the euro will be a bet that the euro will decline versus the dollar. Highlighting the COT currency data was the decline for the US Dollar Index in the currency futures contracts. Dollar Index speculators cut back on their bullish bets this week for the third time in the past four weeks after previously pushing their bullish bets to a 117-week high on January 4th. Since that high-point, bullish bets have fallen by a total of -4,507 contracts and have now dropped the overall standing to a seven-week low. Despite the recent slide, the US Dollar Index bullish bets are still near the top of their range over the past three years with a speculator strength index score of 85.4 percent which is considered extremely bullish (strength index is the current speculator standing compared to past three years, above 80 is bullish extreme, below 20 is bearish extreme). The Dollar Index price has had a volatile couple of weeks with a sharp rise to 97.22 on January 28th and then a sharp drop to 95.23 on February 3rd and closed the week at approximately 95.48. The currencies with positive changes this week were the Japanese yen (7,633 contracts), Swiss franc (557 contracts), Canadian dollar (5,947 contracts), Russian ruble (10,207 contracts), Bitcoin (175 contracts), Australian dollar (3,444 contracts) and the Mexican peso (1,520 contracts). The currencies with declining bets were the US Dollar Index (-2,290 contracts), Euro (-1,844 contracts), British pound sterling (-15,842 contracts), Brazil real (-737 contracts) and the New Zealand dollar (-925 contracts). Data Snapshot of Forex Market Traders | Columns Legend Feb-01-2022 OI OI-Index Spec-Net Spec-Index Com-Net COM-Index Smalls-Net Smalls-Index USD Index 56,477 81 34,571 85 -41,884 5 7,313 97 EUR 685,431 78 29,716 44 -57,467 59 27,751 20 GBP 184,007 28 -23,605 57 28,891 47 -5,286 45 JPY 194,435 51 -60,640 30 79,353 76 -18,713 9 CHF 41,054 16 -8,239 56 16,541 49 -8,302 39 CAD 145,082 27 18,264 65 -25,622 39 7,358 44 AUD 196,913 80 -79,829 11 96,098 91 -16,269 13 NZD 58,467 60 -11,698 52 14,019 52 -2,321 25 MXN 141,352 22 730 28 -3,848 71 3,118 56 RUB 46,358 47 14,151 47 -14,451 52 300 43 BRL 76,175 100 -13,353 51 10,467 47 2,886 100 Bitcoin 9,948 51 141 100 -491 0 350 21   US Dollar Index Futures: The US Dollar Index large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 34,571 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly decrease of -2,290 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 36,861 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish-Extreme with a score of 85.4 percent. The commercials are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 5.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 96.5 percent. US DOLLAR INDEX Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 77.7 3.8 16.3 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 16.5 78.0 3.3 – Net Position: 34,571 -41,884 7,313 – Gross Longs: 43,897 2,141 9,203 – Gross Shorts: 9,326 44,025 1,890 – Long to Short Ratio: 4.7 to 1 0.0 to 1 4.9 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 85.4 5.0 96.5 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish-Extreme Bearish-Extreme Bullish-Extreme NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -0.9 -2.6 22.9   Euro Currency Futures: The Euro Currency large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 29,716 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly fall of -1,844 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 31,560 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 44.1 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 59.5 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 20.4 percent. EURO Currency Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 31.2 55.0 12.2 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 26.8 63.4 8.2 – Net Position: 29,716 -57,467 27,751 – Gross Longs: 213,563 376,805 83,675 – Gross Shorts: 183,847 434,272 55,924 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.2 to 1 0.9 to 1 1.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 44.1 59.5 20.4 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 12.2 -11.8 3.2   British Pound Sterling Futures: The British Pound Sterling large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -23,605 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly decline of -15,842 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -7,763 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 57.0 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 46.8 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 44.7 percent. BRITISH POUND Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 16.1 68.8 13.5 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 28.9 53.1 16.4 – Net Position: -23,605 28,891 -5,286 – Gross Longs: 29,597 126,536 24,845 – Gross Shorts: 53,202 97,645 30,131 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.6 to 1 1.3 to 1 0.8 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 57.0 46.8 44.7 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bearish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 24.6 -25.0 16.9   Japanese Yen Futures: The Japanese Yen large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -60,640 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly rise of 7,633 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -68,273 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 29.7 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 75.6 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 9.3 percent. JAPANESE YEN Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 7.5 82.5 8.2 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 38.7 41.7 17.8 – Net Position: -60,640 79,353 -18,713 – Gross Longs: 14,510 160,358 15,958 – Gross Shorts: 75,150 81,005 34,671 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.2 to 1 2.0 to 1 0.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 29.7 75.6 9.3 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bearish-Extreme NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -5.3 4.1 0.3   Swiss Franc Futures: The Swiss Franc large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -8,239 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly boost of 557 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -8,796 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 55.6 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 49.4 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 38.9 percent. SWISS FRANC Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 1.7 73.5 24.6 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 21.8 33.2 44.8 – Net Position: -8,239 16,541 -8,302 – Gross Longs: 698 30,161 10,103 – Gross Shorts: 8,937 13,620 18,405 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.1 to 1 2.2 to 1 0.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 55.6 49.4 38.9 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bearish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 1.7 0.7 -4.6   Canadian Dollar Futures: The Canadian Dollar large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 18,264 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly gain of 5,947 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 12,317 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 65.4 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 39.4 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 44.4 percent. CANADIAN DOLLAR Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 36.1 39.6 21.6 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 23.5 57.3 16.5 – Net Position: 18,264 -25,622 7,358 – Gross Longs: 52,386 57,524 31,356 – Gross Shorts: 34,122 83,146 23,998 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.5 to 1 0.7 to 1 1.3 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 65.4 39.4 44.4 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bearish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 27.3 -22.9 9.8   Australian Dollar Futures: The Australian Dollar large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -79,829 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly advance of 3,444 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -83,273 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish-Extreme with a score of 10.8 percent. The commercials are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 90.6 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 12.8 percent. AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 9.6 78.8 9.2 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 50.1 30.0 17.5 – Net Position: -79,829 96,098 -16,269 – Gross Longs: 18,835 155,124 18,128 – Gross Shorts: 98,664 59,026 34,397 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.2 to 1 2.6 to 1 0.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 10.8 90.6 12.8 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish-Extreme Bullish-Extreme Bearish-Extreme NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 0.5 -1.4 3.4   New Zealand Dollar Futures: The New Zealand Dollar large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -11,698 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly decrease of -925 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -10,773 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 51.6 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 52.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 25.3 percent. NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 32.8 61.0 4.8 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 52.9 37.0 8.7 – Net Position: -11,698 14,019 -2,321 – Gross Longs: 19,205 35,644 2,783 – Gross Shorts: 30,903 21,625 5,104 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.6 to 1 1.6 to 1 0.5 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 51.6 52.0 25.3 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bullish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -9.3 7.9 4.7   Mexican Peso Futures: The Mexican Peso large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 730 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly increase of 1,520 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -790 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 27.7 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 71.2 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish with a score of 56.2 percent. MEXICAN PESO Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 38.0 57.2 4.5 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 37.5 59.9 2.3 – Net Position: 730 -3,848 3,118 – Gross Longs: 53,767 80,885 6,378 – Gross Shorts: 53,037 84,733 3,260 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.0 to 1 1.0 to 1 2.0 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 27.7 71.2 56.2 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bullish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 2.4 -4.3 20.0   Brazilian Real Futures: The Brazilian Real large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of -13,353 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly decline of -737 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -12,616 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish with a score of 50.8 percent. The commercials are Bearish with a score of 47.4 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bullish-Extreme with a score of 100.0 percent. BRAZIL REAL Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 47.6 46.3 6.0 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 65.2 32.6 2.2 – Net Position: -13,353 10,467 2,886 – Gross Longs: 36,293 35,263 4,562 – Gross Shorts: 49,646 24,796 1,676 – Long to Short Ratio: 0.7 to 1 1.4 to 1 2.7 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 50.8 47.4 100.0 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish Bearish Bullish-Extreme NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: -9.1 4.3 42.4   Russian Ruble Futures: The Russian Ruble large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 14,151 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly lift of 10,207 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 3,944 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bearish with a score of 46.9 percent. The commercials are Bullish with a score of 52.4 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 42.7 percent. RUSSIAN RUBLE Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 54.0 41.5 4.4 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 23.5 72.7 3.7 – Net Position: 14,151 -14,451 300 – Gross Longs: 25,048 19,255 2,024 – Gross Shorts: 10,897 33,706 1,724 – Long to Short Ratio: 2.3 to 1 0.6 to 1 1.2 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 46.9 52.4 42.7 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bearish Bullish Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 13.1 -10.5 -26.0   Bitcoin Futures: The Bitcoin large speculator standing this week resulted in a net position of 141 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday. This was a weekly advance of 175 contracts from the previous week which had a total of -34 net contracts. This week’s current strength score (the trader positioning range over the past three years, measured from 0 to 100) shows the speculators are currently Bullish-Extreme with a score of 100.0 percent. The commercials are Bearish-Extreme with a score of 0.0 percent and the small traders (not shown in chart) are Bearish with a score of 20.9 percent. BITCOIN Statistics SPECULATORS COMMERCIALS SMALL TRADERS – Percent of Open Interest Longs: 80.3 3.1 12.4 – Percent of Open Interest Shorts: 78.8 8.0 8.9 – Net Position: 141 -491 350 – Gross Longs: 7,984 304 1,232 – Gross Shorts: 7,843 795 882 – Long to Short Ratio: 1.0 to 1 0.4 to 1 1.4 to 1 NET POSITION TREND: – Strength Index Score (3 Year Range Pct): 100.0 0.0 20.9 – Strength Index Reading (3 Year Range): Bullish-Extreme Bearish-Extreme Bearish NET POSITION MOVEMENT INDEX: – 6-Week Change in Strength Index: 22.4 -43.4 -11.1   Article By InvestMacro – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email *COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the most recent Tuesday (data is 3 days old) and shows a quick view of how large speculators or non-commercials (for-profit traders) were positioned in the futures markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and non