economy

NZD: Non-tradeable inflation offers RBNZ a hawkish "loophole"

New Zealand’s inflation matched estimates at 0.5% quarter-on-quarter and 4.7% YoY in the 4Q print published overnight. This is a touch higher than our forecast (4.6%), but well below the 5.0% projected by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand for the period. However, non-tradeable CPI did come in hotter than expected at 1.1% QoQ, which has led to a move higher in short-term NZD rates. In FX, NZD/USD broke back above 0.6100 on the release, even though it quickly defaulted to being traded by external factors.

The stronger non-tradeable CPI may offer an excuse for the RBNZ to stick to some hawkish narrative on 28 February, although they will need to admit that general inflation pressures have declined and the economy underperformed, making any promise of higher-for-longer a harder sell to markets.

The next key release in New Zealand is the 4Q jobs report on 6 February. Until then, expect volatile Chinese sentiment and USD dyn

Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Sectors: Key Challenges and Pathways Forward

New POTUS, New Gold Bull Market?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 05.02.2021 16:34
Joe Biden’s election as president and his first economic proposal proved negative for gold prices, but the presidency might yet turn positive.The 46 th presidency of the United States has officially begun. What does that mean for the U.S. economy, politics and the precious metals market?Let’s start by noting that this will not be an easy presidency. The epidemic in the U.S. is raging, the economy is in recession , and public debt is ballooning. Foreign relations are strained while the nation is strongly polarized, as the recent riots clearly showed. So, Biden will have to face many problems, with few assets .First, as he turned 78 in November, Biden has been the oldest person ever sworn in as U.S. president. Second, his political capital is rather weak, as the 2020 election is more about Trump’s loss than Biden’s victory. In other words, many of his voters supported Biden not because of his merits but only because they opposed Trump. Third, he will have the smallest congressional majorities in several years. Democrats have only ten more seats than Republicans in the House and the same number of seats in the Senate. And even with Kamala Harris as a tie-breaker, Biden could not lose a single Democrat senator’s vote to pass any legislation in Senate.On the one hand, Biden’s tough political position seems to be negative for gold prices, as it lowers the odds of implementing the most radical, leftist political agenda. On the other hand, Biden’s difficulties also lower the chances of sound economic reforms, which is good news for the yellow metal. A divided Congress and Democratic Party with an old president at the helm, who has a weak personal base could result in political conflicts and stalemates which would prove positive for gold.When it comes to economics, Biden has already presented his pandemic aid bill, worth of $1.9 trillion. The proposal includes direct payments of $1,400 to households, $400 per week in supplementary unemployment benefits through September, billions of dollars for struggling businesses, schools, and local governments, as well as funding that would accelerate vaccination and support other coronavirus containment efforts. Biden also wants to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, which will not appeal to Republicans. The big size of the package will also be disliked by the GOP.The fact that Democrats have won the Georgia Senate runoffs, taking control over the Senate, increases the chances that Biden will implement his economic stimulus. The equity markets welcomed the idea of another large aid package, in contrast to bond investors who sell Treasuries, causing the yields to go up. The increase in real interest rates pushed gold prices down , as the chart below shows.It seems that investors liked the idea of big stimulus, hoping for acceleration in economic growth. However, printing more money (I know, the Treasury technically doesn’t print money – but it issues bonds which are to a large extent bought by the Fed ) and sending checks to people doesn’t increase economic output. Another problem is that the U.S. can’t run massive fiscal deficits forever and ever , hoping that interest rates will always stay low.So, although Biden’s economic stimulus may add something to the GDP growth in the short-term, it will not fundamentally strengthen the economy. Quite the contrary, the massive increase in government spending and public debt (as well as in taxation) will probably hamper the long-term productivity growth and make the already fragile debt-based economic model even more fragile. What is really worrisome is that Biden doesn’t seem to care about U.S. indebtedness – he has already spoken strongly against deficit worries and hasn’t proposed any actions to reduce the debt – and plans to unveil the additional economic stimulus.Hence, although gold declined initially in a response to Biden’s economic stimulus proposal, the new president could ultimately turn out to be positive for the yellow metal. After all, gold declined in the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers’ collapse , but it shined under Barack Obama’s first presidency. And Biden is likely to be even more fiscally irresponsible than Obama (or Trump), while the Fed under Powell is likely to even more monetarily irresponsible than under Bernanke (or Yellen ). Indeed, according to The Economist , Biden’s proposal is worth about nine percent of pre-crisis GDP, nearly twice the size of Obama’s aid package in the aftermath of the Great Recession . And, in contrast to previous crises, the Fed has announced the desire to overshoot its inflation target. All these factors should support gold prices in the long run.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get 7-day no-obligation trial of all our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
Asia Morning Bites: Trade Data from Australia, Taiwan Inflation, and US Fed Minutes Highlighted

Will 2021 Prompt A Big Rotation In Sector Trends? - PART I

Chris Vermeulen Chris Vermeulen 07.02.2021 19:41
An interesting question was brought to my research team recently related to sector trends in 2021 and what may shift over the next 10 to 12+ months.  It is very difficult to predict any future trends that may set up over the next year or longer, but we took the effort to consider this question and to consider where trends may change over time. The one thing my research team and I kept returning to is “how will the global economy function after COVID and how much will we return to normalcy over the next 12 to 24+ months?”  We believe this key question will potentially drive sector trends and expectations in the future.  When COVID-19 hit the globe, in early 2020, a forced transition of working from home and general panic took hold of the general public.  Those individuals that were able to continue earning while making this transition moved into a “protectionist mode” of stocking, securing, preparing for, and isolating away from risks.  This shift in our economy set up a trend where certain sectors would see benefits of this trend where others would see their economies destroyed.  For example, commercial real estate is one sector that has continued to experience extreme downside expectations while technology and Healthcare experienced greater upside expectations.Longer-term Sector Trends – What's Next?When we look at a broad, longer-term, perspective of market sectors, we can see how many sectors have rallied, some are relatively flat, and others are still moderately weak compared to pre-COVID-19 levels.  The top row of these charts, the $SPX (S&P500), XLY (Discretionary), XLC (Comm Services), and XLK (Technology) sectors have all shown tremendous rallies after the COVID-19 lows in March 2020.  We can also see that XLI (Industrials), XLB (Materials), and XLV (Healthcare) have all started to move higher recently.One needs to consider the manufacturing component of technology, S&P 500/Industrial related companies, Technology and Healthcare services/products in relationship to Materials and Material/Chemical manufacturing.  Many of these industries require massive amounts of raw materials in order to build and supply finished products to the marketplace.  This suggests a broad commodity sector rally may be setting up while other stronger sectors continue to rally.Any resurgence of the global economy after nearly a year of efforts to find an effective cure vaccine/cure for COVID-19 will likely prompt capital to search out undervalued and strong sector trends.  Given the strength of the NASDAQ & Technology sectors as well as the Discretionary sector recently, we believe a shift this likely to focus on Healthcare, Commodities (Basic Materials, Agriculture and Metals), and certain manufacturing sectors – almost like a resurgence of the manufacturing/industrial economy.SPY Monthly Chart Shows Clear Breakout Rally AttemptWhen we compare the longer-term rally in the SPY to the QQQ (see the two charts below), we can clearly see the SPY has just recently rallied above the YELLOW trend line from the lows established in 2009 & 2010.  These lows represent a critical support/resistance channel for the markets moving forward from the 2009 market bottom.  They also represent an acceleration phase cycle in price when the price moves above this level. Be sure to sign up for our free market trend analysis and signals now so you don’t miss our next special report!Throughout almost all of 2011~2020, we can clearly see the price trend stayed below this YELLOW level.  Recently, though, the SPY price has rallied above this level for the first time since early 2011.  This suggests a broad SPY rally as initiated and that further upside price trending is likely as long as prices stay above the YELLOW support level.  If this level fails in the future, then a larger downside price trend may prompt a deeper price correction.The important factor for this chart is the recent rally above the YELLOW support channel.  The resurgence of the global economy and global central bank support may be prompting a very strong upward price phase – something we have not seen in more than a decade.QQQ Has Continued A Very Strong Rally Since 2009Comparing the same levels of the SPY chart to the QQQ chart presents a very different picture.  The QQQ price activity has, almost continually, stayed above the same YELLOW support/resistance level originating from the 2009 bottom.  This suggests that the strength of the technology sector, a major component of the NASDAQ, drove quite a bit of upward market expansion over the last 10+ years and is continuing to drive market prices higher.  This incredible trend related to technology services, products, support, and infrastructure has really served as a technological revolution over the past 2 decades.  Yet, will these expectation last if the market changes dynamics?It appears the QQQ is poised to target the $356~$357 level, which would complete a full 200% Fibonacci Measured Move to the upside. If and when that happens, we may see some increased volatility/rotation in the NASDAQ/Technology sector after watching this sector rally more than 100% from the March 2020 COVID-19 lows.Of course, technology will still continue to play a major role in our lives, but we may see these sectors attempt to restructure and re-balance if a new Commodity/Basic Material/Manufacturing phase takes root.  This process may take place over many months or years, but we believe it is very likely given the extent of the rally phases of these sectors and the process of rebuilding a functioning global economy.In Part II of this article, we'll dive deeper into the trends and setups that make this shift in global market sector a real potential for future profits.  Remember, we are not making any call that the market it topping or collapsing from these levels.  We believe the resurgence in the global economy may prompt a restructuring of value in many sectors over the next 2 to 3 years – where Commodities, Basic Materials, and Manufacturing may suddenly become hot sectors as the global economy attempt to rebuild after COVID-19.  This does not detract from the bullish trending in current sectors, it just means many undervalued sectors may become very hot over the next 15+ months.Don’t miss the opportunities in the broad market sectors over the next 6+ months, which will be an incredible year for traders of the BAN strategy.  You can sign up now for my FREE webinar that teaches you how to find, enter, and profit from only those sectors that have the most strength and momentum. Learn how the BAN strategy can help you spot the best trade setups because staying ahead of sector trends is going to be key to success in volatile markets. For those who believe in the power of trading on relative strength, market cycles, and momentum but don’t have the time to do the research every day then my BAN Trader Pro newsletter service does all the work for you with daily market reports, research, and trade alerts. More frequent or experienced traders have been killing it trading options, ETFs, and stocks using my BAN Hotlist ranking the hottest ETFs, which is updated daily for my premium subscribers.Have a relaxing Sunday!
California Leads the Way: New Climate Disclosure Laws Set the Standard for Sustainability Reporting

Gold About To Spring As Stocks Cool Off At Highs

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 08.02.2021 16:15
Stock bulls aren‘t yielding an inch of ground, and technically they have precious few reasons for doing so. It‘s still strong the stock market bull, and standing in its way isn‘t really advisable. With the S&P 500 at new highs, and the anticipated slowdown in gains over Friday, where is the momentary balance of forces? As the proverbial rubber bands gets pushed upwards still, what about those rising probabilities of seeing at least a short-term pause in the stellar pace of gains since last Monday? Gold did recover on Friday, and didn‘t disappoint after Thursday‘s slide. The weak non-farm employment data certainly helped, sending the dollar bulls packing. It‘s my view that we‘re on the way to making another dollar top, after which much lower greenback values would follow. Given the currently still prevailing negative correlation between the fiat currency and its shiny nemesis, that would also take the short-term pressure of the monetary metal(s). What would you expect given the $1.9T stimulus bill, infrastructure plans of similar price tag, and the 2020 debt to GDP oh so solidly over 108%? Inflation is roaring – red hot copper, base metals, corn, soybeans, lumber and oil, and Treasury holders are demanding higher yields especially on the long end (we‘re getting started here too). Apart from the key currency ingredient, I‘ll present today more than a few good reasons for the precious metals bull to come roaring back with vengeance before too long. Let‘s dive into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com). S&P 500 Outlook and Its Internals Stocks keep pushing higher, and the bulls are strong regardless of the little contraction in the daily volume. The daily indicators attest to the strength of the uptrend, but the pace of daily increases looks set to slow down as minimum though. Imagine that all the constituent shares in the S&P 500 had equal weight (i.e. forget about $NYFANG) – this is the chart you get. RSP ETF is only now challenging its highs, which is however not a disappointment or a red light flashing divergence at all. The march to new highs in the S&P 500 still looks satisfactorily broad based. Market breadth confirms that very clearly. Both the advance-decline line and advance-decline volume aren‘t disappointing in the least, and new highs new lows have made a strong comeback from preceding setback. The intermediate picture is one of strength. Credit Markets and S&P 500 Sectoral Ratios High yield corporate bonds to short-term Treasuries (HYG:SHY) ratio with S&P 500 overlaid (black line) shows that the two are tracking each other tightly in recent days. Stocks haven‘t yet yielded in their attempt at taking leadership position, regardless of their performance since the start of November (which makes the attempt suspect in the very short-term, as stocks have lagged a little relative to the credit markets back then). Bearish prospects? No way, dips are still to be bought. The financials to utilities (XLF:XLU) ratio still broadly supports the stock market advance. Looking at the bond market dynamics, I expect utilities to remain under pressure while financials would gain faster. I‘m not worried by the current relatively depressed ratio‘s value, and don‘t consider it a warning sign for the S&P 500 in the least. Consumer discretionaries to consumer staples (XLY:XLP) is another leading ratio worth watching. It‘s currently at quite elevated levels, as I view the discretionaries as extended while the staples have undergone an appealing pullback. Even though that makes for short-term headwinds in the ratio, it‘s still primed to support the stock market bulls. Gold & Silver Friday‘s gold session still is cause enough for optimism among the gold bulls about an important low being made. The other option would be a brief dip below Thursday‘s lows, which I however due to more powerful $USD reversal on Friday (erasing all Thursday‘s gains on the heels of poor non-farm payrolls data), don‘t look at as the more likely scenario currently. For now, it still remains most probable that Thursday‘s bottom in gold won‘t be overcome by much, not going down to more than $1760 (though I am obviously not betting all in my trading plans on this strong support) – if at all. It‘s the „if at all“ part that I subscribe to most heavily. Silver‘s chart is the livelier one, less under pressure but given the recent squeeze-driven run, the white metal might need to cool down a bit here. The 1H real economy recovery outlook is though guaranteed to put a solid floor below any sub $26 dip should that – which is as questionable as in case of gold – happen at all. Base building at roughly current levels would be a healthy development for the bulls to rejoice. Precious Metals Ratios Checking out on the gold to all corporate bonds ($GOLD:$DJCB) ratio reveals relative strength in the yellow metal currently. It‘s trading much farther above its late Nov low than the metal itself. Similarly to the case junior miners to senior ones are making, this is a hidden sign of strength in the precious metals sector, whose next upleg is knocking on door. The miners to gold ($HUI:$GOLD) ratio‘s false breakdown announcing another upleg that I discussed on Feb 01 already, is still intact, and sending the very same signals of internal strength inside the precious metals complex. The 1H 2021 future is bright, and approaching fast. Summary The stock market keeps powering higher, and despite the rather clear skies ahead, a bit of short-term caution given the speed of the recovery and its internals presented, is in place. I wouldn‘t be surprised to see today or tomorrow a brief and weak whiff of lower prices – nothing to call home about if you were a bear, that is. The gold and silver bulls apprear to be staging a return, slowly but surely, which is consistent with the price damage repair pattern frequently experienced after sizable red candles that felt to at least part of the marketplace as out of the left field. The case for the next upleg remains as strong as it has ever been in my view. Thank you for having read today‘s free analysis, which is available in full here at my homesite. There, you can subscribe to the free Monica‘s Insider Club, which features real-time trade calls and intraday updates for both Stock Trading Signals and Gold Trading Signals.
European Central Bank's Potential Minimum Reserve Increase Sparks Concerns

Platinum Begins Big Breakout Rally

Chris Vermeulen Chris Vermeulen 10.02.2021 21:58
If you were not paying attention, Platinum began to rally much higher over the past 3+ days – initiating a new breakout rally and pushing well above the $1250 level.  What you may not have noticed with this breakout move is that commodities are hot – and inflation is starting to heat up.  What does that mean for investors/traders?DAILY PLATINUM CHART SHOWS CLEAR BREAKOUT TRENDFirst, Platinum is used in various forms for industrial and manufacturing, as well as jewelry and numismatic functions (minting/collecting).  This move in Platinum is more likely related to the increasing inflationary pressures we've seen in the Commodity sector coupled with the increasing demand from the surging global economy (nearing a post-COVID-19 recovery).  The most important aspect of this move is the upward pricing pressure that will translate into Gold, Silver, and Palladium.We've long suggested that Platinum would likely lead a rally in precious metals and that a breakout move in platinum could prompt a broader uptrend in other precious metals.  Now, the combination of this type of rally in Platinum combined with the Commodity rally and the inflationary pressures suggests the global markets could be in for a wild ride over the next 12 to 24+ months.This Daily Platinum chart highlights the recent upside breakout rally that has prompted a rally from $1050 to $1250+.  If this rally continues to target the 100% Fibonacci price extension, near $1300, then it will become very clear that Platinum is rallying away from other precious metals.  If this coincides with a continued general Commodity price rally, then we may start to see an inflationary cycle setting up that really change things – very quickly.This type of “triple-whammy” is very similar to the commodity/inflationary price rally that took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  For those of you that don't remember this trend, commodities started to rally in the early/min-1970s, prompting Gold to rally a low price near $100 (in 1976) to a higher level near $195 (in 1978) – but that was just the beginning.  After that rally stalled a bit, a bigger commodity price rally took place in 1979 that prompted a much bigger Gold price rally and started an inflationary price cycle that prompted the US Fed to take aggressive action in curtailing inflation.  Gold rallied from $169 in late 1978 to over $870 in early 1980 – a 420% increase.PLATINUM MAY LEAD A COMMODITY PRICE RALLYWe believe the rally in Platinum is a strong signal that a Commodity price rally is initiating and that an inflationary price cycle may be starting.  If our research is correct, evidence of this cycle phase will continue over the next 6+ months where commodities will continue to rally overall and where market inflation will become very tangible in the US and across the globe.  This will prompt the US Fed, and global central banks, to begin to take immediate action to contain any potential run-away inflation concerns – obviously tightening monetary policy and raising interest rates.Be sure to sign up for our free market trend analysis and signals now so you don’t miss our next special report!Platinum may rally above $1500 if this rally extends to the 200% Fibonacci price extension level – and that move may come very quickly.  This weekly Platinum chart, below, shows a green arrow that points to the 200% Fibonacci price extension level (near $1500). Remember, the commodity price rally in 1979/1980 lasted more than 24 months and prompted a big 400%+ rally in Gold.  If that type of rally were to happen today, Gold would rally to levels near $7500 (or higher).Pay attention to what is happening with Platinum and you'll start to understand the inflationary/institutional demand for this unique metal.  If our research is correct, we may see a new rally in Gold and Silver fairly quickly as Platinum acts as a catalyst for an inflationary cycle paired with a Commodity rally (very similar to the 1979 to 1980 rally). It is a great time to be an active trader in these markets.  One of our recent BAN trades just closed out for a 47% gain.  These big trends may be here for the next 24+ months and 2021 is going to be full of these types of trends and setups.  Quite literally, hundreds of these setups and trades will be generated over the next 3 to 6 months using the BAN Trader Pro technology.  The BAN Trader Pro technology does all the work for us.Don’t miss the opportunities in the broad market sectors over the next 6+ months, which will be an incredible year for traders of the BAN strategy.  You can sign up now for my FREE webinar that teaches you how to find, enter, and profit from only those sectors that have the most strength and momentum. Learn how the BAN strategy can help you spot the best trade setups because staying ahead of sector trends is going to be key to success in volatile markets. For those who believe in the power of trading on relative strength, market cycles, and momentum but don’t have the time to do the research every day then my BAN Trader Pro newsletter service does all the work for you with daily market reports, research, and trade alerts. More frequent or experienced traders have been killing it trading options, ETFs, and stocks using my BAN Hotlist ranking the hottest ETFs, which is updated daily for my premium subscribers.Have a great day!
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

Will Tesla Charge Gold With Energy?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 11.02.2021 17:08
Tesla has supported the price of Bitcoin, but it can affect gold as well.The bull market in cryptocurrencies continues. As you can see in the chart below, the price of Bitcoin has recently increased to almost $47,000 (as of February 10). The parabolic rise seems to be disturbing, as such quick rallies often end abruptly.However, it’s worth noting that the price of Bitcoin has partially jumped because of the increased acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a legitimate form of currency by the established big companies. In particular, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has recently published a series of tweets that significantly affected the price of Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and other cryptocurrencies.Furthermore, Tesla updated its investment policy to include alternative assets as possible investments. In the last 10-k filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission in January 2021, Tesla stated:In January 2021, we updated our investment policy to provide us with more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash that is not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity.Importantly, these assets also include gold :As part of the policy, which was duly approved by the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, we may invest a portion of such cash in certain alternative reserve assets including digital assets, gold bullion, gold exchange-traded funds, and other assets as specified in the future.This means that Tesla wants to diminish its position in the U.S. dollar and to diversify its cash holdings. In other words, the company lost some of its confidence in the greenback and started to look for alternatives. So, it seems that Musk and other investors are afraid of expansion in public debt , higher inflation , and the dollar’s debasement .And rightly so! The continued fiscal stimulus will expand the fiscal deficit even further, ballooning the federal debt. With the budget resolution passed last week, only a simple majority will be needed in the Senate to get Biden’s $1.9 trillion package approved, a majority that Democrats have.Remember also that the U.S. economy added only 49,000 jobs in January , while 227,000 jobs were lost in December (revised down by 87,000!). The poor non-farm payrolls will strengthen the odds of a larger fiscal stimulus and easier fiscal and monetary policies.Hence, combined with the ultra-dovish monetary policy and a Fed more tolerant to inflation, the upcoming fiscal support could ultimately be a headwind for the dollar. Initially, the prospect of fiscal support caused positive reactions on the financial markets, but as the euphoria passes, investors start to examine the long-term consequences of easy money and the large expansion of government spending. Importantly, the larger the debt, the deeper the debt trap , and the longer the zero interest rates policy will stay with us, as the Fed won’t try to upset the Treasury.Implications for GoldWhat does Tesla’s move imply for the precious metals market? Well, we are not observing the kind of rally in gold that we are currently witnessing in the cryptocurrencies sphere (see the chart below). And – given the size of the gold market – it’s unlikely that Musk & Co. could ignite a mania similar to the one seen in Dogecoin. The gold market is simply too big. Even the silver market could be too large for similar speculative plays – as the failure of the recent attempt of a short squeeze has shown.However, the update of Tesla’s investment policy is a confirmation of gold as a safe-haven asset and portfolio diversifier . If other big companies follow suit, and we see an actual reallocation of funds from the U.S. dollar towards gold, the price of the yellow metal will get an invigorating electric impulse .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
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z Team Up to Offer Bitcoin Development Trust

BeInCrypto (BeIn News Academy Ltd), we're writing about crypto. BeInCrypto (BeIn News Academy Ltd), we're writing about crypto. 12.02.2021 09:12
Twitter CEO and Bitcoin bull Jack Dorsey is creating a new Bitcoin development fund alongside rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z. Dorsey initially announced the “₿trust” Bitcoin fund via a tweet on Feb. 12, 2021, which he describes as a “blind irrevocable trust.” The 500 BTC endowment will initially focus on Bitcoin development in Africa and India. Attached to the tweet, Dorsey added a short document where people can apply to join as a board member, of which they will be choosing three. JAY-Z/@S_C_ and I are giving 500 BTC to a new endowment named ₿trust to fund #Bitcoin development, initially focused on teams in Africa & India. It‘ll be set up as a blind irrevocable trust, taking zero direction from us. We need 3 board members to start: https://t.co/L4mRBryMJe— jack (@jack) February 12, 2021At current BTC prices of $47,650, this endowment equates to nearly $24 million, making ₿trust one of, if not the largest, fund of this nature in relative dollar terms. While Jay-Z may not have much experience in the realm of global Bitcoin development, Dorsey remains one of its top proponents. Dorsey is the CEO of the Square digital payments platform. Through Square, Dorsey offers a cryptocurrency grant program that gives funding to select Bitcoin development projects. While the tweet doesn’t explain why the fund will focus on Africa and India specifically, one can assume that the underdeveloped and restrictive financial sectors in parts of those regions are a major factor. Akon, another famous musician from the early-2000s, has also made massive efforts in cryptocurrency development in Africa. The rapper and songwriter is planning an entire smart city that he’s dubbed “Akon City” in his home country of Senegal. The city is slated to be built over the next decade and will have its own microeconomy based on a digital currency called “AKoin.” The post Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z Team Up to Offer Bitcoin Development Trust appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Gold During the Pandemic Winter

Gold During the Pandemic Winter

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 12.02.2021 14:36
The pandemic winter will take longer than we thought. The longer we struggle with the coronavirus, the brighter gold could shine.A long, long time ago, there was a bad virus, called the coronavirus , that killed many people all around the world and severely hit the global economy. Luckily, smart scientists developed vaccines that defeated the coronavirus and ended the pandemic . Since then, humankind lived happily – and healthy – ever after.Sounds beautiful, doesn’t it? This is the story we were all supposed to believe. The narrative was that the development of vaccines would end the pandemic and we would quickly return to normalcy. However, it turns out that this was all a fairy tale – the real struggle with the coronavirus is more challenging than we thought .First, the rollout of vaccinations has been very, very slow . As the chart below shows, on February 1, 2021, only about 1.77 percent of Americans became fully vaccinated against COVID-19.Of course, full protection requires two doses, so it takes some time. But in many countries, the share of the population which received at least one dose of the vaccine is also disappointingly low, as the chart below shows.It means that our progress towards herd immunity is really sluggish . At such a pace, we are losing the race between injections and infections. And we will not reach herd immunity until the second half of the year or even the next winter…Second, there is the problem of mutations . The new strains are rapidly popping up which poses a great risk in our fight with the coronavirus. One of these new variants was identified in the United Kingdom and quickly spread through the country. Although it’s not more lethal, it’s more infectious, which makes it more dangerous overall. And the more variants emerge, it’s more likely that we could see a mutation resistant to our current treatments and vaccines. Indeed, some of the mutations change the surface protein, spike, and have been shown to reduce the effectiveness of combating the coronavirus by monoclonal antibodies.The really bad part is that these two problems are strongly connected. The longer the vaccinations take, the more active cases we have. The more active cases we have, the more mutations happen, as each new infection implies more copies of the coronavirus, which gives it more chances to mutate. The more mutations occur, the higher the odds of a really nasty strain. Therefore, the longer the vaccination process takes, the more probable it is that it will not work and that vaccine-resistant variants might emerge.Given that in many countries vaccinations are practically the only rational strategy to fight the virus, the vaccine-resistant strain would be a serious blow. Surely, some vaccines could be relatively easily updated, but their rollout would still require time – time we don’t have.What does it all imply for the gold market? Well, the more sluggish the vaccinations, the higher the risk that something goes wrong and that our battle with COVID-19 will take more time. The longer the fight, the slower the economic recovery. The longer and bumpier road toward herd immunity, the slower lifting sanitary restrictions and social distancing measures, and the later we come back to normalcy. The longer we live in Zombieland, the easier fiscal and monetary policies will be, and the brighter gold will shine.Another issue is that we shouldn’t forget about the possibility of the pandemic’s long economic shadow. A recent paper has examined the effects of 19 major previous pandemics, finding a long shadow of the economic carnage. Although financial markets are still (wrongly, I believe) betting on a V-shaped recovery, the history suggests that a double dip is likely, as eight of the last 11 recessions experienced it. Recessions sound golden, don’t they?However, there is one caveat here. The sensitivity of economic activity to COVID-19 infections and restrictions has significantly diminished since the Great Lockdown in the spring of 2020. There are three reasons for that. First, people fear the coronavirus less. Second, epidemic restrictions are better targeted and implemented. Third, entrepreneurs adopted better to cope with the epidemic.The greater resilience of the economy means a smaller downturn and fewer long-term scars, which will limit any upward COVID-19 related impact on gold prices . But a softer economic impact also implies a quicker recovery, which – together with the upcoming big government stimulus – could increase consumer prices, thus supporting gold prices through the inflation channel. Indeed, commodity prices have been surging in 2021, so gold may follow suit.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get 7-day no-obligation trial of all our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

A Sleepy Week for the Indices?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 12.02.2021 15:45
For once, we have a week in 2021 where the market really didn't move all that much.Except for weed stocks that whipsawed GameStock-like and Bitcoin and Dogecoin making waves thanks to Lord Elon, it's really been kind of a boring week for the major indices.The S&P and Nasdaq closed at another record high Thursday (Feb. 11), while the Dow barely retreated from its own record high. The red-hot Russell has lagged this week.However, it’s all relative. No index has moved upwards or downwards more than about 0.30% week-to-date.It’s about time we had a week of relative quiet in the market.The sentiment is indeed still rosy right now. The economic recovery appears to be gaining steam, and the Q1 GDP decline everyone predicted might not be as sharp as we anticipated. We could also be days away from trillions of dollars of much-needed stimulus getting pumped into the economy.Earnings continue to impress, too, and are on pace to rise by over 20% in 2021. Since 1980, only 12 years have earnings increased by 15% or more. Except for 2018, the market gained an average of 12% in all of those years.We could also days away from FDA approval of a one-dose vaccine from Johnson and Johnson (JNJ).The COVID numbers and vaccine trend could truly turn the tide of things. More people in the U.S. have now been vaccinated than total cases, and the week kicked off (Feb. 8) with vaccine doses outnumbering new cases 10-1. Dr. Fauci also claims that vaccines could be available to the general public by April.But we're not out of the woods yet. Sure this week has been calm.But it’s almost been “too calm.”I still worry about complacency, valuations, and the return of inflation.“You wouldn’t know it from the sedate action in the averages,” but Wall Street is on “a highway to the danger zone,” CNBC ’s Jim Cramer said.“In a frothy market, stocks will have enormous rallies that are totally disconnected from the underlying fundamentals.”He’s not wrong.Look at the Buffett Indicator as of February 4. Where I track this indicator usually updates once a week and shows the total U.S. stock market valuation to the GDP. If you take the US stock market cap of $48.7 trillion and the estimated GDP of $21.7 trillion, we're nearly 224% overvalued and 84% above the historical average. This ratio has not been at a level like this since the dotcom bubble.Worse? This chart was dated February 4. The market’s only risen since then.This is what I mean by don’t be fooled by the relative calm of this week.The S&P 500’s forward 12-month P/E ratio is also well above its 10-year average of 15.8. The Russell 2000 is also back at a historic high above its 200-day moving average. Tech stock valuations are again approaching dotcom bust levels.Still not sold? Look at Goldman’s non-profitable tech index. It’s approaching an absurd 250% year-over-year performance.Bank of America also believes that a market correction could be on the horizon due to signs of overheating.While I don’t foresee a crash like we saw last March, I still maintain that some correction before the end of Q1 could happen.Corrections are healthy and normal market behavior, and we are long overdue for one. They are also way more common than most realize. Only twice in the last 38 years have we had years WITHOUT a correction (1995 and 2017).A correction could also be an excellent buying opportunity for what could be a great second half of the year.Bank of America also echoed this statement and said that “We expect a buyable 5-10% Q1 correction as the big ‘unknowns’ coincide with exuberant positioning, record equity supply, and ‘as good as it gets’ earnings revisions.”The key word here- buyable.My goal for these updates is to educate you, give you ideas, and help you manage money like I did when I was pressing the buy and sell buttons for $600+ million in assets. I left that career to pursue one where I could help people who needed help, instead of the ultra-high net worth.With that said, to sum it up:While there is long-term optimism, there are short-term concerns. A short-term correction between now and the end of Q1 2021 is possible. I don't think that a decline above ~20%, leading to a bear market will happen.Hopefully, you find my insights enlightening. I welcome your thoughts and questions and wish you the best of luck. The Streaky S&P Is Back at a Record Figure 1- S&P 500 Large Cap Index $SPXThe S&P continues to trade as a streaky index. It seemingly rips off multiple-day winning streaks or losing streaks weekly.After the S&P 500 ripped off a streak of gains in 6 of 7 days, it promptly went on a 3-day losing streak, followed by another record close.I would hardly call that a 3-day losing streak, though. I’d even say it was a boring week for the S&P 500 with muted moves.The outlook is healthy, though, especially when you consider earnings. More than 80% of S&P stocks that have reported earnings thus far have beaten estimates.What could be on tap for next week? Who even knows anymore. But if earnings keep on outperforming, and the sentiment remains stable, it could be another strong week.The S&P’s RSI is ticking up towards overbought. However, because it’s still below 70, and because of the streaky manner in which the index has traded, it remains a HOLD.A short-term correction could inevitably occur by the end of Q1 2021, but for now, I am sticking with the S&P as a HOLD.For an ETF that attempts to directly correlate with the performance of the S&P, the SPDR S&P ETF (SPY) is a good option.For more of my thoughts on the market, such as red-hot small-caps and emerging market opportunities, sign up for my premium analysis today.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. I encourage you to sign up for our daily newsletter - it's absolutely free and if you don't like it, you can unsubscribe with just 2 clicks. If you sign up today, you'll also get 7 days of free access to the premium daily Stock Trading Alerts as well as our other Alerts. Sign up for the free newsletter today!Thank you.Matthew Levy, CFA Stock Trading Strategist Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care* * * * *All essays, research, and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Matthew Levy, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses were 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 believed to be accurate, Matthew Levy, 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. Levy is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Matthew Levy, CFA’s 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. Matthew Levy, 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.
S&P 500 Correction Looming, Just as in Gold – Or Not?

S&P 500 Correction Looming, Just as in Gold – Or Not?

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 12.02.2021 16:50
Stocks are clinging to the 3,900 level, and the bulls aren‘t yielding. Without much fanfare, both the sentiment readings and put/call ratio are at the greed and compacent end of the spectrum again. How long can it last, and what shape the upcoming correction would have? Right now, the warning signs are mounting, yet the bears shouldn‘t put all their eggs into the correction basket really, for it shapes to be a shallow one – one in time, rather than in price.Gold‘s hardship is another cup of tea, standing in stark comparison to how well silver and platinum are doing. At the same time, the dollar hasn‘t really moved to the upside – there is no dollar breakout. If the greenback were to break to the upside, that would mean a dollar bull market, which I don't view as a proposition fittingly describing the reality – I called the topping dollar earlier this week. The world reserve currency will remain on the defensive this year, and we saw not a retest, but a local top.This has powerful implications for the precious metals, where the only question is whether we get a weak corrective move to the downside still, or whether we can base in a narrow range, followed by another upleg (think spring). February isn't the strongest month for precious metals seasonally, true, but it isn't a disaster either. As has been the case throughout the week, I‘ll update and present the evidence of internal sectoral strength also today.One more note concerning the markets – in our print-and-spend-happy world, where the give or take $1.9T stimulus will sooner or later come in one way or another, we better prepare on repricing downside risk in the precious metals, and also better not to fixate on the premature bubble pop talk too closely. I have been stating repeatedly that things have to get really ridiculous first, and this just doesn‘t qualify yet in my view. All those serious correction calls have to wait – in tech and elsewhere, for we‘re going higher overall – like it or not.Let‘s get right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 Outlook and Its InternalsThird day of hesitation, this time again with a thrust to the downside. Marginally increasing volume, which speaks of not too much conviction by either side yet. As the very short-term situation remains tense, my yesterday‘s words still apply today:(…) I think this corrective span has a bit further to run in time really. (…) the bears are just rocking the boat, that‘s all.The market breadth indicators are deteriorating, without stock prices actually following them down. Thus far, the correction is indeed shaping to be one in time and characterized by mostly sideways trading. Unless you look at the following chart.Volatility has died down recently, yet a brief spike (not reaching anywhere high, just beating the 24 level) wouldn‘t be unimaginable to visit us by the nearest Wednesday. In all likelihood, it would be accompanied by lower stock prices. Well worth watching.Credit Markets and TechThere is a growing discrepancy between high yield corporate bonds (HYG ETF) and its investment grade counterpart (LQD ETF). Both leading credit market ratios have been diverging not only since the end of Jan, but practically throughout 2021. The theme of rising yields is exerting pressure on the higher end of the debt market as the stock investment fever goes on – that‘s my take.No, this is not a bubble – not a parabolic one. The tech sector is gradually assuming leadership in the S&P 500 advance, accompanied by microrotations as value goes into favor and falls out of it, relatively speaking. Higher highs are coming, earnings are doing great, and valuations aren‘t an issue still.Gold, Silver and RatiosUnder pressure right as we speak ($1,815), the yellow metal‘s technical outlook hasn‘t flipped bearish. Should we get to last Thursday‘s lows, it would happen on daily indicators ready to flash a bullish divergence once prices stabilize. But for all the intense bearish talk, we haven‘t broken below the late Nov lows.For those inclined so, I am raising the arbitrage trade possibility. Long silver, short gold would be consistent with my prior assessment of the gold-silver ratio going down. Similarly to bullish gold bets, that‘s a longer-term trade, which however wouldn‘t likely take much patience to unfold and stick.A bullish chart showing that gold isn‘t following the rising yields all that closely these days. Decoupling from the Treasury yields is a positive sign for the sector, and exactly what you would expect given the (commodity) inflation and twin deficits biting.Silver continues to trade in its bullish consolidation, and unlike in gold, its short-term bullish flag formation remains intact. The path of least resistance for the white metal remains higher.Gold juniors (black line) keep their relative strength vs. the senior gold miners, and the mining sector keeps sending bullish signals, especialy when silver miners enter the picture.SummaryThe stock market tremors aren‘t over, and the signs of deterioration keep creeping in. The bull run isn‘t however in jeopardy, and there are no signals thus far pointing to an onset of a deeper correction right now.The gold bulls find it harder to defend their gains, unlike the silver ones. That‘s the short-term objective situation, regardless of expansive monetary and fiscal policies, real economy recovery, returning inflation and declining U.S. dollar. The new upleg keeps knocking on the door, and patience will be richly rewarded.
European Central Bank's Potential Minimum Reserve Increase Sparks Concerns

S&P 500 Correction Delayed Again While Silver Runs

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 15.02.2021 14:15
The window of opportunity for the stock bears is slowly but surely closing down as Friday‘s gentle intraday peek higher turned into a buying spree before the closing bell. The sentiment readings and put/call ratio are at the greed, euphoric and compacent end of the spectrum again. I asked on Friday:(…) How long can it last, and what shape the upcoming correction would have? Right now, the warning signs are mounting, yet the bears shouldn‘t put all their eggs into the correction basket really, for it shapes to be a shallow one – one in time, rather than in price.Today, I‘ll say that waiting for a correction is like waiting for Godot. Trust me, I have come to experience quite some absurd and Kafkaesque drama not too long ago. What an understatement.One week ago, I called the dollar as making a local top, and look where we are in the process. Coupled with the steepening pace of rising long-dated Treasury yields, that‘s a great environment for financials (XLF ETF) as they benefit from the widening yield curve.Gold remains a drag on the precious metals performance, with silver and platinum flying. The miners‘ outlook and internal dynamics between various mining indices, provides a much needed proof to those short on patience. Little wonder, after 5+ months of downside correction whose target I called on Aug 07 in the article S&P 500 Bulls Meet Non-Farm Payrolls. Little wonder given the monstrous pace of new money creation beating quite a few prior interventions combined.Yet, the precious metals complex is coming back to life as the economic recovery goes on, and will get new stimulus fuel. Commodity prices are rising steeply across the board, yet inflation as measured by CPI, will have to wait for the job market to start feeling the heat, which it obviously doesn‘t in the current pace of job creation and low participation rate. Until labor gets more powerful in the price discovery mechanism (through market-based dynamics!), the raging inflationary fire will be under control, manifesting only in (financial) asset price inflation. That‘s precisely what you would expect when new money is no longer sitting on banks‘ balance sheets, but flowing into the economy. Again quoting my Friday‘s words:(…) One more note concerning the markets – in our print-and-spend-happy world, where the give or take $1.9T stimulus will sooner or later come in one way or another, we better prepare on repricing downside risk in the precious metals, and also better not to fixate on the premature bubble pop talk too closely. I have been stating repeatedly that things have to get really ridiculous first, and this just doesn‘t qualify yet in my view. All those serious correction calls have to wait – in tech and elsewhere, for we‘re going higher overall – like it or not.Let‘s get right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 Outlook and Its InternalsThe weekly S&P 500 chart is still one of strength, without a top in sight. And the lower volume, I don‘t view as concerning at all.After a three day sideways consolidation, stock bulls forced a close higher on Friday. Low volume, but still higher prices. The bears missed an opportunity to act, having hesitated for quite a few days. Not that the (big picture) path of least resistance weren‘t higher before that, though.The market breadth indicators got a boost on Friday, but it‘s especially the new highs new lows that have a way to go. One would expect a bigger uptick given Friday‘s price advance, but the overall message is still one of cautious but well grounded optimism.Credit Markets, Treasuries and DollarThe high yield corporate bonds to short-term Treasuries (HYG:SHY) ratio performance is lining up nicely with the S&P 500 one, and definitely isn‘t flashing a warning sign for the days to come.Long-term Treasuries are declining at a faster pace than has been the case in late 2020, which is (not immediately right now, but give it time and it‘ll turn out to be) concerning. Thus far though, the money flows are positive for the stock (and other risk on) markets as the liquidity tide keeps hitting the tape.Who suffers? The dollar. No, it‘s not breaking higher (retracing breakout before a run higher – no) above the 50-day moving average or any way you draw a declining resistance line on higher time frames. The greenback is getting ready for another powerful downleg.Gold and SilverGold bulls have repelled another selling wave, which was however not the strongest one. The fact there was one in the first place even, is more (short-term) concerning for the gold bulls. But please remember that it was first gold that got it right in jumping higher on the unprecedented money printing spree as we entered spring 2020, followed by copper, base metals, agricultural commodities, and also oil now (remember my recent bullish calls for over $80 per barrel in less than 2 years). Gold keeps catching breath, frustrating the bulls who „know“ it can only go higher, but its spark isn‘t there at the moment. A perfect example is Monday‘s session thus far – spot gold 0.25% down, spot silver 1.25% up. It‘s been only on Friday when I touted the gold-silver spread trade idea as not having exhausted its potential yet, not by a long shot:(…) For those inclined so, I am raising the arbitrage trade possibility. Long silver, short gold would be consistent with my prior assessment of the gold-silver ratio going down. Similarly to bullish gold bets, that‘s a longer-term trade, which however wouldn‘t likely take much patience to unfold and stick.Silver keeps acting in a bullish way, tracking commodities ($CRB) performance much better than gold does at the moment. While both are a bullish play with the many factors arrayed behind their upcoming rise, it‘s silver that will reap the greatest rewards – today and in the days and weeks ahead. Gold and Silver MinersBack to the beaten down and underperforming gold. See that the yellow metal still isn‘t following the rising yields all that closely these days. Decoupling from the Treasury yields bodes well for precious metals universally, and it‘s precisely what you would expect given the (commodity) inflation, twin deficits biting, and the dollar balancing on the brink.The miners examination also proves no change in the underlying bullish dynamic that is largely playing out below the surface. We‘re seeing the continued outperformance of junior gold miners vs. the seniors, and also the great burst of life in the silver miners – these are outperforming ever more visibly the rest of the mining companies.This is a long awaited chart to flip bullish. Thus far, we have had one recent bullish divergence only (the GDX refusal to break to new lows when gold broke below its Jan lows) – once gold miners start leading the yellow metal, the sentiment in the precious metals community would get different compared to today really.SummaryThe deterioration in stock market got postponed with the latter half of Friday bringing in fresh buying pressure. Would the bears appear, at least to rock the boat a little? They had a good chance all the prior week, but didn‘t jump at the opportunity. Their window is closing, slowly but surely. The stock bull run is on, and there are no signals thus far pointing to an onset of a deeper correction soon.The gold bulls continue lagging behind their silver counterparts, predictably. That‘s the objective assessment regardless of unprecendented monetary and fiscal policies, unfolding real economy recovery, inflation cascading through the system, and the dollar struggling to keep its head above water. The new upleg keeps knocking on the door, and patience will be richly rewarded (unless you took me up on the gold-silver arbitrage trade, and are popping the champagne already).
European Central Bank's Potential Minimum Reserve Increase Sparks Concerns

Still No S&P 500 Correction, Still No Real Change in the Metals

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 16.02.2021 16:11
Yesterday‘s thin volume session didn‘t bring any material changes as the window of opportunity for the stock bears to act, is slowly but surely closing down. Friday‘s intraday move brought increasingly higher prices, and Monday‘s trading extended gains even more. Euphoric, complacent greed as evidenced by the sentiment readings and put/call ratios, is on.I asked on Friday:(…) How long can it last, and what shape the upcoming correction would have? Right now, the warning signs are mounting, yet the bears shouldn‘t put all their eggs into the correction basket really, for it shapes to be a shallow one – one in time, rather than in price.Both on Monday and today, I‘ll say that waiting for a correction is like waiting for Godot. Right from the horse‘s mouth as my personal experience with quite some absurd and Kafkaesque drama got richer recently.The dollar keeps topping out, which I called it to do a week ago – and its losses have been mounting since. Long-dated Treasury yields are rising in tandem, which is a great environment for financials (XLF ETF) and emerging markets (EEM ETF). The former benefit from the widening yield curve, the latter from plain devaluation.Gold performance is still short-term disappointing, and silver and platinum are leading. But it‘s the miners and the moves between various mining indices, that work to soothe the bulls‘ impatience. Understandable as we are in 5+ months of downside correction whose target I called on Aug 07 in the article S&P 500 Bulls Meet Non-Farm Payrolls, witnessing record pace of new money creation.The ongoing economic recovery will get new stimulus support, and that will work to broaden the precious metals advance. Commodity prices are universally rising, and over time, inflation as measured by CPI, will do so too. But not until the current pace of job creation picks up and participation rate turns – we‘re far from that moment. Until then, inflation will be apparent only in (financial) asset prices, which is in line with new money no longer sitting on banks‘ balance sheets, but flowing into the real economy. Again quoting my Friday‘s words:(…) One more note concerning the markets – in our print-and-spend-happy world, where the give or take $1.9T stimulus will sooner or later come in one way or another, we better prepare on repricing downside risk in the precious metals, and also better not to fixate on the premature bubble pop talk too closely. I have been stating repeatedly that things have to get really ridiculous first, and this just doesn‘t qualify yet in my view. All those serious correction calls have to wait – in tech and elsewhere, for we‘re going higher overall – like it or not.Let‘s get right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 Outlook and Its InternalsThe bulls had an opportunity to act for quite a few days in a row, yet missed it. Their inaction confirms that the path of least resistance for stocks is to still rise.The market breadth indicators have improved on Friday, but especially the new highs new lows has a way to go. It could have ticked upwards more given Friday‘s price advance, but didn‘t. The put/call ratio has moved upwards (see chart below), but the overall message is still one of cautious yet reasonable optimism – not enough to trigger the sizable correction quite some participants are constantly awaiting.Credit Markets, Treasuries and DollarThe high yield corporate bonds to short-term Treasuries (HYG:SHY) ratio performance isn‘t out of whack with the S&P 500, but the investment grade corporate bonds to longer dated Treasuries (LQD:IEI) are not confirming exactly. Before the corona crash, the high yield ones were leading the investment grade ones for countless quarters. From the Mar 2020 bottom, the investment grade ones were in the pool position. And since the end of Dec 2020, the high yield ones are leading again, but investment grade ones aren't going up anymore, but down the way long-term Treasuries do. One more sign of the euphoric stage in stocks we're in.Long-term Treasuries are the chart to watch for the market to throw a fit – or not. They‘re declining at a faster pace than has been the case in late 2020, which can bring about trouble - not immediately right away, but over time it can turn out so. The dynamic of money moving into the stock market is thus far still positive as the many risk on assets are gaining on the fast pace of new money creation. The worry about a sudden, sharp reversal is misplaced for now.The dollar is on the receiving end – there is no breakout verification before a run higher in progress – no. Neither above the 50-day moving average, nor any way you draw a declining resistance line on higher time frames. The greenback is about to test and break below its 2021 lows. Solidly below.Gold and SilverGold bulls stood their ground on Friday, yet their yesterday‘s and today‘s performance is rather weak. Not disastrously so, but still indicative of the headwinds gold bulls face. Gold‘s spark isn‘t there at the moment. Putting it into context, please remember that it was first gold that jumped in the unrivalled money printing era arrival in spring 2020, followed by copper, base metals, agricultural commodities, and also oil now (remember my recent bullish calls for over $80 per barrel in less than 2 years). Silver price action is the bullish one, in line with commodities ($CRB) performance being much stronger now. Silver is definitely better positioned to benefit from the upcoming precious metals rise – today and in the days and weeks ahead. Gold and Silver MinersThe heat gold is taking from rising Treasury yields, is also progressively weaker. The decoupling from rising nominal (real) yields bodes well for precious metals universally, and it‘s precisely what you would expect given the (commodity) inflation, twin deficits, and the dollar on the brink.Gold to all corporate bonds chart reflects the current dillydallying nicely. Gold isn‘t breaking down into a bearish downtrend. The miners examination also proves no change in the underlying bullish dynamic playing out below the surface. Junior gold miners are oputperforming. the seniors, and there is also the great burst of life in the silver miners – these are outperforming ever more visibly the rest of the crowd.Once this chart flips bullish, we have the new upleg clearly visible. Thus far, we have had one recent bullish divergence only (the GDX refusal to break to new lows when gold broke below its Jan lows) – once gold miners start leading the yellow metal, the sentiment in the precious metals community would get different compared to today really.SummaryThe deterioration in stocks got postponed as both Friday and Monday brought new buyers into the market. Would the bears appear, at least to rock the boat a little? I stand by my call that they had a good chance all the prior week, but didn‘t jump at the opportunity – their window is closing, slowly but surely. The stock bull run is on, and there are no signals thus far pointing to an onset of a deeper correction soon.The gold bulls continue lagging behind their silver counterparts, predictably, with both under pressure in Tuesday‘s premarket. Coupled with the miners‘ signals, and unprecendented monetary and fiscal stimulus, unfolding real economy recovery, inflation making its way through the system, and the dollar struggling to keep its head above water, the new PMs upleg is a question of time.
Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Sectors: Key Challenges and Pathways Forward

Is That the S&P 500 And Gold Correction Finally?

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 17.02.2021 16:21
The stock bears finally showed they aren‘t an extinct species – merely a seriously endangered one. Yesterday‘s close though gives them a chance to try again today, but they should be tame in expectations. While there is some chart deterioration, it‘s not nearly enough to help fuel a full on bearish onslaught in the S&P 500. There is no serious correction starting now, nothing to really take down stocks seriously for the time being.The Fed remains active, and monetary policy hasn‘t lost its charm (effect) just yet. Commodities and asset price inflation has been in high gear for quite some time, yet it‘s not a raging problem for the Main Street as evidenced by the CPI. Food price inflation, substitution and hedonistic adjustments in its calculation, are a different cup of tea, but CPI isn‘t biting yet.Meanwhile, the real economy recovery goes on (just check yesterday‘s Empire State Manufacturing figures for proof), even without the $1.9T stimulus and infrastructure plans. Once we see signs of strain in the job market (higher participation rate, hourly earnings and hours worked), then the real, palpable inflation story can unfold. But we‘re talking 2022, or even 2023 to get there – and the Fed will just let it overshoot to compensate for the current and prior era.Meanwhile, the wave of new money creation (we‘re almost at double the early 2020 Fed‘s balance sheet value - $4T give or take then vs. almost $7.5T now – and that‘s before the multiplier in commercial banks loan creation kicks in) keeps hitting the markets, going into the real economy, predictably lifting many boats. It‘s my view that we have to (and will) experience a stock market bubble accompanied by the precious metals and commodities one – to a degree, simultaneously, for the stock market is likely to get under pressure first. Again, I am talking the big picture here – not the coming weeks.Meanwhile, the intense talk of S&P 500 correction any-day-week-now is on, just as outrageous gold, silver and miners‘ drop projections. Let‘s examine the bear market is gold – some say that the late 2015 marked bottom, I‘m of the view that the 2016 steep rally was a first proof of turning tide. But the Fed got serious about tightening (raising rates, shrinking its balance sheet), and gold reached the final bottom in Aug 2018. Seeing through the hawks vs. dove fights at the Fed in the latter half of 2018 (December was a notable moment when Powell refused to the markets‘ bidding, remained hawkish in the face of heavy, indiscriminate selling across the board – before relenting).Since then, gold was slowly but surely gathering steam, and speculation in stocks was on. The repo crisis of autumn 2019 didn‘t have a dampening effect either – the Fed was solidly back to accomodative back then. These have all happened well before corona hit – and it wasn‘t able to push gold down really much. The recovery from the forced selling, this deflationary episode (which I had notably declared back in summer 2020 to be a one-off, not to be repeated event), was swift. Commodities have clearly joined, and the picture of various asset classes taking the baton as inflation is cascading through the system, is very clear.Quoting from my yesterday‘s analysis:(…) The dollar keeps topping out, which I called it to do a week ago – and its losses have been mounting since. Long-dated Treasury yields are rising in tandem, which is a great environment for financials (XLF ETF) and emerging markets (EEM ETF). The former benefit from the widening yield curve, the latter from plain devaluation.Gold performance is still short-term disappointing, and silver and platinum are leading. But it‘s the miners and the moves between various mining indices, that work to soothe the bulls‘ impatience. Understandable as we are in 5+ months of downside correction whose target I called on Aug 07 in the article S&P 500 Bulls Meet Non-Farm Payrolls, witnessing record pace of new money creation.The ongoing economic recovery will get new stimulus support, and that will work to broaden the precious metals advance. Again quoting my Friday‘s words:(…) in our print-and-spend-happy world, where the give or take $1.9T stimulus will sooner or later come in one way or another, we better prepare on repricing downside risk in the precious metals, and also better not to fixate on the premature bubble pop talk too closely. I have been stating repeatedly that things have to get really ridiculous first, and this just doesn‘t qualify yet in my view. All those serious correction calls have to wait – in tech and elsewhere, for we‘re going higher overall – like it or not.Let‘s get right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookFinally, there is a whiff of bearish activity. Will it last or turn out a one day event as thus far in Feb? The chances for a sideways correction to last at least a little longer, are still on, however the short- and medium-term outlook remains bullish.Credit Markets and TreasuriesHigh yield corporate bonds (HYG ETF) wavered yesterday, trading in a sideways pattern during recent days. Encouragingly, yesterday‘s session attracted increasing volume, which I read as willingness to buy the dip. One dip and done?Long-term Treasuries (TLT ETF) are the key chart on my radar screen right now. The rise in yields is accelerating, and if progressing unmitigated, would throw a spanner into many an asset‘s works. Even though it‘s not apparent right now, there is a chance that we‘ll see a slowdown, even a temporary stabilization, over the coming sessions. The larger trend in rates is higher though, and in the dollar to the downside.Gold, Silver and CommoditiesThe heat gold is taking from rising Treasury yields, has gotten weaker recently, with the decoupling from rising nominal (real) yields being a good omen for precious metals universally. The dynamics of commodity price inflation, dollar hardly balancing under the weight of unprecedented economic policy and twin deficits, attests to the gold upleg arriving sooner rather than later.Let‘s step back, and compare the performance of gold, silver, copper and oil. The weekly chart captures the key turns in monetary policy, the plunge into the corona deflationary bottom, and crucially the timing and pace of each asset‘s recovery. Gold and silver were the first to sensitively respond to activist policies, followed by copper, and finally oil. Is their current breather really such a surprise and reversal of fortunes? Absolutely not.SummaryThe bearish push in stocks has a good chance of finally materializing today. How strong will its internals be, will it entice the bulls to step in – or not yet? The stock bull run is firmly on, and there are no signals thus far pointing to an onset of a deeper correction with today‘s price action.The gold bulls continue lagging behind their silver counterparts, predictably, with both under continued pressure. The yields are rising a bit too fast, taking the metals along – temporarily, until they decouple to a greater degree. Combined with the miners‘ signals, and unprecendented monetary and fiscal stimulus, unfolding real economy recovery, inflation making its way through the system, and the dollar struggling to keep its head above water, the new PMs upleg is a question of time.
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

S&P 500 Correction – No Need to Hold Onto Your Hat

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 18.02.2021 16:09
Yesterday‘s bearish price action in stocks was the kind of shallow, largely sideways correction I was looking for. Not too enthusiastic follow through – just rocking the boat while the S&P 500 bull run goes on. Stocks are likely to run quite higher before meeting a serious correction. As I argued in yesterday‘s detailed analysis of the Fed policies, their current stance won‘t bring stocks down. But it‘s taking down long-term Treasuries, exerting pressure on the dollar (top in the making called previous Monday), and fuelling commodities – albeit at very differnt pace. The divergencies I have described yesterday, center on weak gold performance – not gaining traction through the monetary inflation, instead trading way closer in sympathy with Treasury prices. Gold has frontrunned the other commodities through the corona deflationary shock, and appears waiting for more signs of inflation. It didn‘t make a final top in Aug 2020, and a new bear market didn‘t start. It‘s my opinion that thanks to the jittery Treasury markets, we‘re seeing these dislocations, and that once the Fed focuses on the long end of the curve in earnest, that would remove the albatross from gold‘s back.I can‘t understate how important the rising yields are to the economy (and to the largest borrower, the government). Since 1981, we‘ve been in one long bond bull market, and are now approaching the stage of it getting questioned before too long. The rates are rising without the real economy growing really strongly, far from its potential output, and characterized by a weak labor market. Not exactly signs of overheating, but we‘ll get there later this year still probably.It‘s like with generating inflation – the Fed policies for all their intent, can‘t command it into happening. The Treasury market is throwing a fit, knowing how much spending (debt monetization) is coming its way, and the Fed‘s focus is surely shifting to yields at the long end. Bringing it under control would work to dampen the rampant speculation in stocks, and also lift gold while not hurting commodities or real economy recovery much. Sounds like a reasonable move (yield curve control), and I believe they‘re considering it as strongly as I am talking about it.Let‘s quote yesterday‘s special report on gold, inflation, and commodities:(…) the wave of new money creation (we‘re almost at double the early 2020 Fed‘s balance sheet value - $4T give or take then vs. almost $7.5T now – and that‘s before the multiplier in commercial banks loan creation kicks in) keeps hitting the markets, going into the real economy, predictably lifting many boats. It‘s my view that we have to (and will) experience a stock market bubble accompanied by the precious metals and commodities one – to a degree, simultaneously, for the stock market is likely to get under pressure first. Again, I am talking the big picture here – not the coming weeks.Let‘s examine the bear market is gold – some say that the late 2015 marked bottom, I‘m of the view that the 2016 steep rally was a first proof of turning tide. But the Fed got serious about tightening (raising rates, shrinking its balance sheet), and gold reached the final bottom in Aug 2018. Seeing through the hawks vs. dove fights at the Fed in the latter half of 2018 (December was a notable moment when Powell refused to the markets‘ bidding, remained hawkish in the face of heavy, indiscriminate selling across the board – before relenting).Since then, gold was slowly but surely gathering steam, and speculation in stocks was on. The repo crisis of autumn 2019 didn‘t have a dampening effect either – the Fed was solidly back to accomodative back then. These have all happened well before corona hit – and it wasn‘t able to push gold down really much. The recovery from the forced selling, this deflationary episode (which I had notably declared back in summer 2020 to be a one-off, not to be repeated event), was swift. Commodities have clearly joined, and the picture of various asset classes taking the baton as inflation is cascading through the system, is very clear.Let‘s get right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 Outlook and Its InternalsFinally, a daily downswing – not meaningful, but it‘s as good as it gets. The slightly lower volume though shows that there is not a raging conviction yet that this sideways move is over.The market breadth indicators aren‘t at their strongest. Both the advance-decline line and advance-decline volume dipped negative, which isn‘t worrying unless you look at new highs new lows as well. While still positive, $NYHL is showing a divergence by moving below the mid-Feb lows. Seeing its decline to carve a rounded bottom a la end Jan would be a welcome sight to the stock bulls. Before then, nothing stands in the way of muddling through in a shallow, corrective fashion.Credit Markets and TreasuriesThe divergence in both leading credit market ratios – high yield corporate bonds to short-term Treasuries (HYG:SHY) and investment grade corporate bonds to longer-dated Treasuries (LQD:IEI) – show the bond market strains. HYG:SHY clearly supports the S&P 500 rally, while LQD:IEI isn‘t declining in tandem with long-term Treasuries. Instead, it‘s carving out a bullish divergence as it‘s trading well above the Sep and Oct lows – unlike the TLT.Speaking of which, such were my words yesterday, calling for a Treasury reprieve to happen soon:(…) Long-term Treasuries (TLT ETF) are the key chart on my radar screen right now. The rise in yields is accelerating, and if progressing unmitigated, would throw a spanner into many an asset‘s works. Even though it‘s not apparent right now, there is a chance that we‘ll see a slowdown, even a temporary stabilization, over the coming sessions. The larger trend in rates is higher though, and in the dollar to the downside.The dollar is still topping out, and a new daily upswing doesn‘t change that – I look for it to be reversed, and for the new downleg reasserting itself.Gold, Silver and CommoditiesThe encouraging, budding short-term resilience of gold to rising Treasury yields, got a harsh reality check yesterday. While the latter ticked higher, gold declined regardless. Closing at the late Nov lows, it‘s still relatively higher given the steep rise in long-term Treasury yields since. A bullish divergence, but a more clear sign of (directional) decoupling (negating this week‘s poor performance) is needed.Let‘s look again at gold, silver, and commodities in the medium run. Silver decoupled from gold since the late Nov bottom in both, while commodities haven‘t really looked back since early Nov. Till the end of 2020, gold wasn‘t as markedly weak as it has become since, and actually tracked the silver recovery from the late Nov bottom. And the reason it stopped, are the long-term Treasury yields, which quickened their rise in 2021. It looks like an orderly decline in TLT is what gold would appreciate – not a rush to the Treasury exit door.SummaryThe bearish push in stocks has a good chance of finally materializing also today. How strong will its internals be, will it entice the bulls to step in again? Signs are for this correction to run a bit longer in time – but the stock bull run is firmly on, and there are no signals thus far pointing to an onset of a deeper correction right away.The gold bulls recovered a little of the lost ground, but that doesn‘t flip the short-term picture their way in the least. While the yellow metal is leading silver today, its overall performance in the short run remains disappointing, and the silver-gold spread trade I introduced you to a week ago, a much stronger proposition. Still, given the miners‘ signals, unprecendented monetary and fiscal stimulus, unfolding real economy recovery, inflation making its way through the system, and the dollar struggling to keep its head above water, the new PMs upleg is a question of time.
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

Will Biden Overheat the Economy and Gold?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 19.02.2021 13:14
Under the Biden administration the economy could overheat, thereby increasing inflation and the price of gold.In January, Biden unveiled his plan for stimulating the economy, which is struggling as the epidemic in the U.S. continues to unfold. Pundits welcomed the bold proposal of spending almost $2 trillion. Some expenditures, especially on vaccines and healthcare, sound pretty reasonable. However, $1.9 trillion is a lot of money! And a lot of federal debt , as the stimulus would be debt-funded!So, there is a risk that Biden’s package would overheat the economy and increase inflation . Surprisingly, even some mainstream economists who support the deficit spending, notice this possibility. For instance, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, said that Biden’s stimulus could lead the economy to overheat, and that the conventional wisdom is underestimating the risks of hitting capacity. Although he doesn’t oppose the idea of another stimulus, Summers noted that “if we get Covid behind us, we will have an economy that is on fire”.Indeed, this is a real possibility for good reasons. First, the proposed package would not only be large in absolute terms (the nominal amount), but also relative to the GDP . According to The Economist , Biden’s proposal is worth about nine percent of pre-crisis GDP, nearly twice the size of Obama’s aid package in the aftermath of the Great Recession .And the stimulus is also large relative to the likely shortfall in the aggregate demand. I’m referring here to the fact that the winter wave of the coronavirus would be less harmful for the economy – and that there have already been big economic stimuli added last year, including a $900 billion package passed no earlier than in December.Oh yes, politicians were really spendthrift in 2020, and – without counting the aid passed in December – they injected into the economy almost $3 trillion, or about 14 percent of pre-crisis GDP, much more than the decline in the aggregate demand. In other words, the policymakers added to the economy more money that was destroyed by the pandemic .But the tricky part is that Americans simply piled up most of this cash in bank accounts, or they used it for trading, for instance. Given the social-distancing measures and limited possibilities to spend money, this outcome shouldn’t actually be surprising. However, the hoarding of stimulus shows that it has not yet started to affect the economy – but that can change when the economy fully reopens and people unleash the hoarded money. If all this cash finally reaches the markets, prices should go up.You see, the current economic downturn is unusual. It doesn’t result from the fact that Americans don’t have enough income and cannot finance their expenditures. The problem is rather that people cannot spend it even if they wanted to. Indeed, economic disruption and subdued consumer spending are concentrated in certain sectors that are most sensitive to social distancing – such as the leisure, transport and hospitality industries – rather than spread widely throughout the whole economy. So, when people will finally be able to spend, they will probably do so, possibly accelerating inflation .As well, normally the Fed would tighten its monetary policy to prevent the rise in prices. But now the U.S. central bank wants to overshoot its inflation target, so it would not hike interest rates only because inflation raises to two percent or even moderately above it.Another potential inflationary driver is dollar depreciation, which seems likely, given the zero-interest rates policy and the expansion in the U.S. twin deficit .Hence, without the central bank neutralizing the fiscal exuberance, it’s possible that Biden’s plan would overheat the economy, at least temporarily. Of course, that’s not certain and given the small Democrats’ majority in Congress, the final stimulus could be lower than the proposed $1.9 trillion. But it would remain large and on top of previous aid packages and pent-up demand, which makes the overheating scenario quite likely.Actually, investors have already started to expect higher inflation in the future – as the chart below shows, the inflationary expectations have already surpassed pre-pandemic levels.From the fundamental perspective, this is good news for the gold market. After all, gold is bought by some investors as an inflation hedge . Moreover, the acceleration of inflation would lower real interest rates , keeping them deeply in negative territory, which would also be positive for the yellow metal.So, although the expectations of higher fiscal stimulus plunged gold prices in January, more government spending – and expansion in budget deficits and public debt – could ultimately turn out to be supportive factors for gold. Especially if easy fiscal policy will be accompanied by the accommodative monetary policy – in particular quantitative easing and a rising Fed’s balance sheet – and inflation.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get 7-day no-obligation trial of all our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Sectors: Key Challenges and Pathways Forward

Why the Sky Is Not Falling in Precious Metals

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 19.02.2021 16:03
Stocks are predictably staging a continued recovery from the mostly sideways correction – a shallow one not strong enough to break the bulls‘ back. Credit markets are largely behaving – with the exception of long-term Treasuries, which I see as highly likely to draw the Fed‘s attention – just as I discussed in detail yesterday. The S&P 500 keeps doing fine, and so does my open position there – in the black again. On one hand, volatility remains low regardless of intraday attempts to rise, on the other hand, the put/call ratio has risen quite high yesterday – it‘s as if the traders are expecting a shoe to drop, similarly to the end of Jan. Will it, is there any on the horizon?Treasuries at the long-end are falling like a stone, and those on the short end (3-months) are seeing higher prices in 2021. The bond market is clearly under pressure, and exerting influence primarily upon precious metals (and commodities such as oil, which are experiencing a down day today, after quite a string of foreseeable gains). The bearish sentiment in gold and miners is running rampant, and it‘s been only yesterday when I answered a question on ominous head and shoulders patterns in the making, at my own site. This clearly illustrates the razor edge we‘re at in precious metals:(…) This is more often than not the case with H&S patterns – they are not the most reliable ones, highly judgemental at times, and their targets are more often than not far away, which makes them a not fully reliable trading proposition when a long enough time (trade) series is taken. I rather look at what is driving individual moves – which asset classes influence it the most at a given time? Where to look for so as to get most precise information? With gold and gold miners (they still trade quite tightly together), it's the Treasury yields on the long end.As I wrote in today's (Feb 18) precious metals report, despite the new 2021 lows in TLT, gold isn't amplifying the pressure – it's trading well above the $1,770 level, and enjoys a stronger session today than silver. Look at the gold – TLT evolving relationship, as that's the key determinant right now. The post-Nov dynamic speaks in gold's favor – under the surface. Don't underestimate the Fed either.Plenty to talk and cover in the precious metals really – just as usual at such crossroads. Let‘s briefly recap all the ducks lining up in stocks first.Let‘s get right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 and VolatilityRepeated lower knots mark a refusal to decline as the daily dips keep being bought. Given the constructive developments in high yield corporate bonds and its key ratio (HYG and HYG:SHY), I fully expect the uptrend to keep reasserting itself once again. The talk about a top, imminent correction or stretched valuations, is still premature.The best known volatility measure is still refusing to rise on a lasting basis, indicating that the environment remains favorable to higher stock prices.Dollar and TreasuriesThe world reserve currency is on the doorstep of another powerful decline, and not initiating a bull market run. The caption says it all – this is the time for antidollar plays to thrive in our era of ample credit, unprecedented money creation that‘s triggering a Roaring Twenties style of speculative environment, not a Kondratieff winter with a deflationary shock as you might hear some argue.Look around, check food, energy, or housing prices, and you‘ll see how connected to reality are the calls of those writing that inflation isn‘t a problem (monetary inflation lifting many asset classes). Check that against Fed President Daly stating that the inflationary pressures now point downwards… and make your own conclusions about the new money wave hitting the real economy.Gold, Silver and MinersJust as gold is challenging (resting on) the late Nov lows, so is the miners to gold ratio. That‘s a key one – I mentioned at the very end of Jan that I would like to see it start to lead higher. Seeing the latest two-day losing streak, it‘s not happening, and the late Jan breakdown which might have turned out to be false, may not materialize in the short run. Let‘s get a proper perspective by displaying this chart in weekly format.Is this the dreadful breakdown threating doom and gloom in the precious metals? Zooming out definitely provides a very different take – a more objective one than letting (fear) emotions run high and tickitis to take over.We‘re still consolidating, and not making lower lows – regardless of this week‘s increased gold sensitivity to rising yields as seen in the plunging TLT values. Inflation is making its way through the system as surely as Titanic‘s watertight compartments were filled with water. I‘ve discussed on Wednesday at length inflation, past Fed action and asset appreciation, and yesterday explained why the central bank will be tied into a war on two fronts as it gets to seek control over the yield curve at the long end too.Another short-term worrying chart as silver miners are caught in last days‘ selling whirlwind. Even the juniors lost their short-term edge over the seniors, making me think that a potential washout event before a more universal sectoral rebound, might be at hand.Pretty worrying for those who are all in gold – unless they took me up on last Friday‘s repeated idea that silver is going to outperform gold in the next precious metals upleg, which I formulated that day into a spread (arbitrage) trade long silver, short gold. Check out the following chart how that would have worked out for you.The dynamics favoring silver are unquestionable – starting from varied and growing industrial applications, strengthening manufacturing and economy recovery, poor outlook in silver above ground stockpile and recycling, to the white metal being also a monetary metal. Silver is bound to score better gains than gold, marred by the Bitcoin allure, would. SummaryThe bearish push in stocks didn‘t indeed take the sellers far – just as I wrote yesterday, there was no reason to hold on to your hat. The stock bull run is firmly entrenched, and there are no signals thus far pointing to an onset of a deeper correction right away as all we‘re going through, is a shallow correction (in time especially).Bearish dollar, $1.9T or similar stimulus not priced in, and yet gold isn‘t taking a dive. Amid very positive fundamentals, it‘s the technicals that are short-term challenging for gold – we‘re in truly unchartered territory given the economic policies pursued. I stand by my call to watch the TLT chart very closely – it looks like an orderly TLT decline is what gold needs, not a selling stampede. Despite the current disclocation with gold being the weakest of the weak (I am looking at commodities for cues), I still stand by the call that a new PMs upleg is only a question of time – a shortening one, at that.
European Central Bank's Potential Minimum Reserve Increase Sparks Concerns

Kiss of Life for Gold

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 22.02.2021 16:24
The narrow trading range in stocks continues, and the shallow sideways correction will eventually resolve itself with another upleg. The signs are countless, and the riskier part of the credit market spectrum agrees. As money flows from the Tresury markets, and sizable cash balances are sitting on many a balance sheet, there is plenty of fuel to power the S&P 500 advance.With volatility in the tame low 20s and the put/call ratio again moving down, the bears‘ prospects are bleak. As I wrote last week, their time is running out, and a new stock market upleg approaches. It‘s the bond market that‘s under pressure, with both investment grade corporate bonds and long-dated Treasuries suffering in the accelerated decline.Gold is the most affected, as the sensitivity of its reaction to the rising long-tern yields, has picked up very noticeably. How long before these draw both the Fed‘s attention and action – what will we learn from Powell‘s testimony on Tue and Wed? And when will the much awaited stimulus finally arrive, and force repricing beyond the metals markets?Before that, gold remains on razor‘s edge, while silver leads and platinum flies for all the green hydrogen promise. The dollar has given back on Thu and Fri what it gained two days before, and remains in its bear market. Not even rising yields were able to generate much demand for the world reserve currency. Its lower prices stand to help gold thanks to the historically prevailing negative correlation, counterbalancing the Treasury yields pressure.Plenty of action that‘s bound to decide the coming weeks‘ shape in the precious metals. And not only there as oil experienced 2 days of lossess in a row – practically unheard of in 2021 so far. On Saturday, I‘ve added a new section to my site, Latest Highlight, for easier orientation in the milestone calls and timeless pieces beyond the S&P 500 and gold. Enjoy!Let‘s get right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookThe weekly indicators suggest that a reversal is still not likely. There is no conviction behind the weekly decline, and signs are still pointing to a sideways consolidation underway.The daily chart reflects the relatively uneventful trading – we‘re in a phase of bullish base building before powering off to new highs. See how little the daily indicators have retreated from their extended readings, and the barely noticeable price decline associated.S&P 500 InternalsAll the three market breadth indicators show improved readings, and my eyes are on new highs new lows throwing their weight behind the prior two indicators‘ advance. The overall impression is one of balance.The value to growth (VTV:QQQ) ratio shows that tech (XLK ETF) has fallen a bit out out of step recently – we‘re undergoing another microrotation into value stocks. The stock market leadership is thus broadening, confirming the findings from the advance-decline line (and advance-decline volume) examination.Credit MarketsOne chart to illustrate the bond market pressures – high yield corporate bonds are holding gained ground while investment grade corporate bonds and long-dated Treasuries are plunging like there is no tomorrow. With each of their rebound attempt sold, the dislocations are increasing – a great testament to the euphoric stage of the stock market advance. Gold and TreasuriesGold price action isn‘t as bearish as it might seem based on last week‘s moves. Yes, the readiness to decline in sympathy with rising yields, is diconcerting, but the yellow metal stopped practically at the late Nov lows, and refused to decline further. Low prices attracted buying interest, and due to the overwhelmingly negative sentiment for the week ahead, the yellow metal may surprise on the upside. Time for the bulls to prove themselves as the tone of coming weeks‘ trading in gold is in the balance.The daily chart‘s correlation coefficient has moved into strongly positive territory in 2021, illustrating the headwinds gold faces. Despite the prevailing wisdom, such strongly positive correlation isn‘t the rule over extended periods of time. That‘s the message of the daily chart – but let‘s step back and see the bigger picture similarly to the way I did on Friday witht the $HUI:$GOLD ratio.Not an encouraging sight at the moment. The tightness of mutual relationship is there, and given the decreased focus on timing (one candle representing one week) coupled with the correlation coefficient being calculated again over a 20 period sample, the week just over shows that regardless of the post-Nov resilience, gold is clearly getting under more pressure.Gold and DollarLet‘s do the same what I did about long-term Treasuries and gold, also about the dollar and gold. Their historically negative correlation is receding at the moment as the two face their own challenges. The key question is when and from what level would the fiat currency and its nemesis return to trading in the opposite directions. Such a time is highly likely to be conducive to higher gold prices.On the weekly chart, the negative correlation periods are winning out in length and frequency. Certainly given the less sensitive timining component through weekly candlesticks and 20-period calculation, the current strength and level of positive correlation is rather an exception and not a rule. Combining this chart‘s positive correlation between the two with the daily chart‘s negative yet rising readings, highlights in my view a potential for seeing an upset in the momentary relationship.In other words, the gold decline over the past now almost 7 months going hand in hand with mostly sliding dollar, would turn into higher gold prices accompanied by lower dollar values. How much higher gold prices, that depends on the long-term Treasuries market – that‘s the one playing the decisive role, not the dollar at the moment.Gold, Silver and MinersSilver is doing fine, platinum very well, while gold struggles and needs to prove itself. That‘s the essence of the long silver short gold trade idea – the silver to gold ratio attests to that.Quoting from Friday‘s analysis:(…) The dynamics favoring silver are unquestionable – starting from varied and growing industrial applications, strengthening manufacturing and economy recovery, poor outlook in silver above ground stockpile and recycling, to the white metal being also a monetary metal. Silver is bound to score better gains than gold, marred by the Bitcoin allure, would. Final chart of today‘s extensive analysis is about the two miners to gold ratios, and the divergencies they show. The ETF-based one (GDX:GLD) is sitting at support marked by both the late Nov and late Jan lows, while $HUI:$GOLD is probing to break below its late Jan lows, and these were already lower than the respective late Nov lows.Both ratios are sending a mixed picture, in line with the theme of my latest reports – gold is on razor‘s edge, and the technical picture is mixed given its latest weakness. That‘s the short run – I expect that once the Fed‘s hand is twisted enough in TLT and TLH, and speculation on yield curve control initiation rises, the focus in the precious metals would shift to inflation and its dynamics I‘ve described both on Wed and Fri. SummaryThe sellers in stocks aren‘t getting far these days, and signals remain aligned behind the S&P 500 advance to reassert itself. Neither the Russell 2000, nor emerging markets are flashing divergencies, and the path of least resistance in stocks remains higher.Gold‘s short-term conundrum continues - positive fundamentals that are going to turn even more so in the near future, yet the key charts show the king of metals under pressure, with long-term Treasury yields arguably holding the key to gold‘s short-term future. The decoupling events seen earlier this month, got a harsh reality check in the week just over. Yet, that‘s not a knock-out blow – the medium- and long-term outlook remains bright, and too many market players have rushed to the short side in the short run too.
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

FOMC Minutes Disappoint Gold Bulls

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 22.02.2021 17:26
The recent FOMC minutes are hawkish and negative for the price of gold, but the Fed will remain generally dovish for some time.Last week, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) published minutes from its last meeting in January . They reveal that Fed officials became more optimistic about the economy than they were in December. The main reasons behind the more upbeat economic projection were the progress in vaccinations, the government’s stimulus provided by the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021, and the expectations of an additional sizable tranche of fiscal support in the pipeline:Most participants expected that the stimulus provided by the passage of the CAA in December, the likelihood of additional fiscal support, and anticipated continued progress in vaccinations would lead to a sizable boost in economic activity.The Committee members were so convinced that the longer-run prospects for the economy had improved, that they decided to skip reference to the risks to the outlook in their official communications:in light of the expected progress on vaccinations and the change in the outlook for fiscal policy, the medium-term prospects for the economy had improved enough that members decided that the reference in previous post-meeting statements to risks to the economic outlook over the medium term was no longer warranted.Hence, the recent minutes are generally hawkish and bad for gold . They show that the FOMC participants turned out to be more optimistic about the U.S. economy over the medium-term, as they started to expect “strong growth in employment, driven by continued progress on vaccinations and an associated rebound of economic activity and of consumer and business confidence, as well as accommodative fiscal and monetary policy.”And, although they acknowledged that inflation may rise somewhat in 2021, the Fed officials generally were not concerned about strong upward pressure, with “most” participants still believing that inflation risks were weighted to the downside rather to the upside. In other words, they expect more growth than inflation.Implications for GoldThe Fed officials that have become more optimistic about the economy are proving negative for gold prices. Gold shines most when the Fed is pessimistic about GDP growth and the labor market, as these two factors are more prone to loosen the Fed’s monetary policy . In other words, gold prices need more inflation than economic growth in order to grow. Alternatively, gold needs the Fed to do something and expand its monetary accommodation.Indeed, the last week hasn’t been good for the price of the yellow metal. As the chart below shows, it declined below $1,800 to $1,773 on Thursday (Feb. 18), the lowest level since November 2020.Of course, the decline in the gold prices was more related to the significant selloff in the U.S. bond market than to the FOMC minutes. The bond yields increased sharply. For instance, the 10-year TIPS yields rose from -1.06 on February 10 to -0.87 on February 18, 2021, as one can see in the chart below.However, both events clearly show elevated expectations about the medium-term economic growth. Both investors and central bankers have become more optimistic about the future amid progress in vaccinations and greater prospects for additional fiscal stimulus. The strengthened risk appetite has supported equity prices, making some investors head for the exits in the gold market .Having said that, although gold prices still have some room to go lower – especially if real interest rates rally further – the fundamentals are still positive . I’m referring here to the fact that the U.S. economy has fallen into the debt trap . Both private and public debt is enormous. In such an environment, the interest rates cannot significantly increase, as they would pose a great risk to an overvalued equity market and Treasury. So, the Fed wouldn’t allow for really high interest rates and would intervene, either through expanding its quantitative easing program or through capping the yield curve .Another issue is that the Fed is not going to change its dovish monetary policy anytime soon. Even in the recent, relatively upbeat minutes, Fed officials acknowledged that economic conditions were far from the central banks’ targets:Participants observed that the economy was far from achieving the Committee’s broad-based and inclusive goal of maximum employment and that even with a brisk pace of improvement in the labor market, achieving this goal would take some time (…) Participants noted that economic conditions were currently far from the Committee’s longer-run goals and that the stance for policy would need to remain accommodative until those goals were achieved.Moreover, the Fed’s staff assessed the financial vulnerabilities of the U.S. financial system as being notable . The asset valuation pressures are elevated, and vulnerabilities associated with business and household debt increased over the course of 2020, from levels that were already elevated before the outbreak of the pandemic . So, given all these fragilities, it is unlikely that we will see a really hawkish Fed or significantly higher interest rates. There is also a possibility of the next financial crisis, given the high debt levels. All these factors should support gold prices in the long-term, although more declines in the short-term are possible of course, due to the more positive sentiment among investors and rising bond yields.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
Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Sectors: Key Challenges and Pathways Forward

GBPUSD Steadies On Lockdown Lifting Optimism

John Benjamin John Benjamin 24.02.2021 07:26
USD turns volatile as Powell testifies to CongressEURUSD Perched In Resistance Area The euro currency is strongly consolidating within the resistance levels of 1.2177 and 1.2144.Price action managed to rise to the upper level of the range before giving back the gains. The volatility in the tight range comes as the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies to Congress.A breakout above 1.2177 could open the way for the common currency towards wider gains. This will potentially see price action rising to test the highs from January this year.Alternately, if prices fail near the resistance level then we expect a move back lower.To the downside, support at 1.2050 should hold the declines for the moment.The British pound sterling, which has already seen a strong bull run got another boost on Tuesday.The UK Government prepared a roadmap towards re-opening its economy. This puts further upside pressure on the currency pair which is already enjoying a strong rally.Price action is trading outside the rising price channel currently. With the Stochastics oscillator firmly in the overbought levels, the upside momentum could fail.Any downside corrections could stall near the 1.3951 level of support for the moment.Given that the currency pair has been pushing higher on a steady note, we could expect a brief pullback in the near term.WTI Crude Oil Pulls Back From A New 13-Month High Oil prices surged higher intraday on Tuesday. Prices tested a new 13-month high of 62.96 in the early Asian trading session.However, since then, oil prices gradually drifted back lower. The test of support near 60.87 confirms that prices are well supported at this level.However, for the short term, oil prices will need to breakout higher and continue further to maintain the bullish trend.The Stochastics oscillator on the four-hour chart is also likely to signal another push to the upside.For the moment, the line in the sand is the 60.87 technical support. If oil prices lose this support, then we expect a deeper correction down to 57.35 or toward the 19 Feb lows of 58.56.Gold Gains Slow As Price Approaches 1817.79 The precious metal pulled back just a few points away from the 1817.79 level of technical resistance.The Stochastics oscillator which is currently signaling a hidden bearish divergence could see a continuation in price to the downside.This is unless, of course, the precious metal manages to breakout above the 1817.79 price level. Such a move will potentially open the way toward the 1850 handle.Meanwhile, if prices drift lower then we could expect a move closer to the 1764 level of support. However, it is unlikely that this level of support will be tested once again.
How Bond Yields Are Affecting Gold

How Bond Yields Are Affecting Gold

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 24.02.2021 17:54
As U.S. Treasury yields rise, gold, which is seen as an inflation hedge, is hurting. Despite the obvious warning signs, investors remain bullish.After Monday’s (Feb. 22) supposedly “groundbreaking” rally, the situation in gold developed in tune with what I wrote yesterday . The rally stopped, and miners’ decline indicated that it was a counter-trend move.Figure 1Despite Monday’s (quite sharp for a daily move) upswing, the breakdown below the neck level of the broad head-and-shoulders remains intact. It wasn’t invalidated. In fact, based on Monday’s rally and yesterday’s (Feb. 23) decline, it was verified. One of the trading guidelines is to wait for the verification of the breakdown below the H&S pattern before entering a position.What about gold stocks ratio with other stocks?Figure 2It’s exactly the same thing. The breakdown below the rising long-term support line remains intact. The recent upswing was just a quick comeback to the broken line that didn’t take it above it. Conversely, the HUI to S&P 500 ratio declined once again.Consequently, bearish implications of the breakdowns remain up-to-date . Having said that, let’s consider the more fundamental side of things.Swimming Against the CurrentAfter trading lower for six consecutive days, gold managed to muster a three-day winning streak. However, with the waves chopping and the ripple gaining steam, every swim higher requires more energy and yield’s decelerating results.For weeks , I’ve been warning that a declining copper/U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield ratio signaled a further downside for gold. And with the ratio declining by 2.88% last week, gold suffered a 2.51% drawdown.Please see below:Figure 3Over the long-term, the ratio is a reliable predictor of the yellow metal’s future direction. And even though the weekly reading (3.04) hit its lowest level since May 2020, it still has plenty of room to move lower.Figure 4For context, I wrote previously:To explain the chart above, the red line depicts the price of gold over the last ~21 years, while the green line depicts the copper/U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield ratio. As you can see, the two have a tight relationship: when the copper/U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield ratio is rising (meaning that copper prices are rising at a faster pace than the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield), it usually results in higher gold prices. Conversely, when the copper/U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield ratio is falling (meaning that the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield is rising at a faster pace than copper prices), it usually results in lower gold prices.As the star of the ratio’s show, the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield has risen by more than 47% year-to-date (YTD) and the benchmark has surged by more than 163% since its August trough.Please see below:Figure 5On Jan. 15 , I warned that the U.S. Federal Reserve (FED) had painted itself into a corner. With inflation running hot and Chairman Jerome Powell ignoring the obvious, I wrote that Powell’s own polices (and their impact on real and financial assets) actually eliminate his ability to determine when interest rates rise.As a result, the central bank had two options:If they let yields rise, the cost of borrowing rises, the cost of equity rises and the U.S. dollar is supported (all leading to shifts in the bond and stock markets and destroying the halcyon environment they worked so hard to create).To stop yields from rising, the U.S. Federal Reserve (FED) has to increase its asset purchases (and buy more bonds in the open market). However, the added liquidity should have the same net-effect because it increases inflation expectations (which I mentioned yesterday, is a precursor to higher interest rates). Opening door #2, Powell’s deny-and-suppress strategy is now playing out in real time. On Feb. 23 – testifying before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee – the FED Chairman told lawmakers that inflation isn’t an issue.“We’ve been living in a world for a quarter of a century where the pressures were disinflationary,” he said.... “The economy is a long way from our employment and inflation goals.”And whether he’s unaware or simply ill-informed, commodity prices are surging. Since the New Year, oil and lumber prices have risen by more than 24%, while corn and copper prices are up by more than 14%.Please see below:Figure 6In addition, relative to finished goods, the entire basket of inputs is sounding the alarm.Figure 7To explain the chart above, the blue line is an index of the price businesses receive for their finished goods. Similarly, the green line is an index of the price businesses pay for raw materials. As you can see, the cost of doing business is rising at a torrent pace.More importantly though, Powell’s assertion that inflation is an urban legend has been met with eye rolls from the bond market . To repeat what I wrote above: Powell’s own policies (and their impact on real and financial assets) actually eliminate his ability to determine when interest rates rise.Case in point: the U.S. 10-year to 2-year government bond spread is now at its highest level since January 2017.Please see below:Figure 8To explain the significance, the figure is calculated by subtracting the U.S. 2-Year Treasury yield from the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield. When the green line is rising, it means that the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield is increasing at a faster pace than the U.S. 2-Year Treasury yield. Conversely, when the green line is falling, it means that the U.S. 2-Year Treasury yield is increasing at a faster pace than the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield.And why does all of this matter?Because the above visual is evidence that Powell has lost control of the bond market.At the front-end of the curve, Powell can control the 2-year yield by decreasing the FED’s overnight lending rate (which was cut to zero at the outset of the coronavirus crisis). However, far from being monolithic, the 5-, 10-, and 30-year yields have the ability to chart their own paths.And their current message to the Chairman? “We aren’t buying what you’re selling.” As such, the yield curve is likely to continue its steepening stampede.Circling back to gold, all of the above supports a continued decline of the copper/U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield ratio. With yields essentially released from captivity, even copper’s 8.02% weekly surge wasn’t enough to buck the trend.As a result, gold’s recent strength is likely a mirage. The yellow metal continues to bounce in fits and starts, thus, it’s only a matter of time before the downtrend continues. Furthermore, with the USD Index still sitting on the sidelines, a resurgent greenback would add even more concrete to gold’s wall of worry.And speaking of gold’s wall of worry, the sentiment surrounding it is far from being negative.Figure 9 - Source: Investing.comThe above chart shows the sentiment of Investing.com’s members. 64% of them are bullish on gold. As you can see above, there are also other popular markets listed: the S&P 500, Dow Jones, DAX, EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD Index, and Crude oil. The sentiment for gold is the most bullish of all of them. Yes, the general stock market is climbing to new all-time highs every day now, and yet, people are even more bullish on gold than they are on stocks.When gold slides, the sentiment is likely to get more bearish and particularly high “bearish” readings – say, over 80% would likely indicate a good buying opportunity. Naturally, this is not the only factor that one should be paying attention to.The bottom line? As it stands today, being long the precious metals offers a poor risk-reward proposition. However, in time (perhaps over the next several months), the dynamic will reverse, and the precious metals market will shine once again.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, CFA Founder, 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.
California Leads the Way: New Climate Disclosure Laws Set the Standard for Sustainability Reporting

Why Tech Is Giving Me Jeepers – Watch Out, Gold

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 25.02.2021 16:08
Powell testimony is over, with markets rejoicing the promise of still accomodative Fed. Value keeps surging over growth, and regardless of yesterday‘s great performance, tech has a vulnerable feel to it – semiconductors lead higher, fine, but communications didn‘t confirm, and the healthcare-biotech dynamic isn‘t painting an outperformance picture either. Real estate isn‘t taking as strong a cue while consumer discretionaries recovery could also be stronger. Thus far though, no need to think about taking losses to optimize your gains elsewhere.Just as I wrote yesterday:(…) the financials benefiting from the greater spread, won‘t save the day, as the key chart to watch now is technology and also healthcare. … The sectoral outlook remains mixed, even as value continues greatly outperforming growth this month. … Long-term Treasuries are starting to hold greater sway over the stock market fate now, too. The dollar‘s woes thus far continue playing out largely in the background.Did gold shake off the TLT shackles? I‘m getting increasing doubts that only a strong move to the upside would dispel. As long-term Treasuries were staging an intraday reversal, gold took an intraday plunge before recovering. Not a good sign of internal intraday strength. Could it be a bullish flag? Still possible, but again, gold would have to rally from here. Doing so would result in a bullish divergence in its daily indicators.The precious metals sectoral dynamics remains positive though – silver and platinum are bullishly consolidating, and as I‘ll show you in today‘s final chart, the many mining indices are doing fine as well. The overly strong reflationary (I would call a spade a spade, and say inflationary) efforts are driving commodities higher in a supercycle just starting out.Not to get complacent, GameStop (GME) squeeze has made a comeback yesterday. Will it coincide with broader stock market woes on par with late Jan? Way too early to say – let‘s jump right into the charts for an objective momentary view instead.Here they are, all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com.S&P 500 and Its InternalsStrong S&P 500, everything looks fine on the surface – just as should be, befitting buy the dip mentality. Strong volume, no meaningful intraday setback, so far so good.The equal weight S&P 500 chart is looking better and better day by day. New highs, strong uptrend, broadening leadership. It‘s a mirror reflection of the big names‘ woes, and a testament to value outperforming growth. This bull run is far from making a top.Credit MarketsHigh yield corporate bonds (HYG ETF) had a good day yesterday, and so did the high yield corporate bonds to short-dated Treasuries (HYG:SHY) ratio. Yet it‘s the daily stock market outperformance that is noticeable here – optimistic sign of an all clear signal. I‘m not taking it totally at face value given tech performance – in a short few days, I can easily become more convinced though.TechnologyStrong daily tech (XLK ETF) upswing, yet only half the prior downside erased so far, and the volume could be higher compared to the preceding downswing. Semiconductors (XSD ETF) are leading again, fine. Yet it‘s the heavyweight names that matter the most to me right now – check out yesterday‘s observations:(…) The tech jury is still out, and this heavyweight sector remains vulnerable, with consequences to the S&P 500 if it doesn‘t keep on the muddle through recovery path at the very least.DollarLook how little the Powell tremors achieved – the dollar bulls are still on the run. Upswings are being sold as the greenback remains on the defensive, targeting much lower lows this year. The technical rebound is over, and not even higher yields can help the greenback much.Gold, Silver and MinersFor a second day in a row, gold‘s performance isn‘t convincing – the willingness to clearly and directionally decouple from rising yields, is being questioned. On the other hand, e.g. the 10-year UST yield is approaching the summer 2019 lows – it‘s at 1.38% now. I‘m looking for the rising rates to slow down and possibly even pull back a little from here over the coming weeks. Or would the market just like to slice through that resistance? Inflation isn‘t universally that strong right now yet I think – just look at the velocity of money.Everything silver related is doing fine, silver miners (SIL ETF) rebounded strongly, First Majestic Silver Corp (AG) and Hecla (HL) are in clearly bullish patterns. The white metal‘s every dip is being bought, the silver-to-gold ratio keeps improving, and even gold juniors (GDXJ) started once again outperforming the seniors (GDX). The bullish signals under the surface keep increadingly more coming to the fore, and the miners to gold ratio‘s ($HUI:$GOLD and GDX:GLD) is the final ingredient missing.SummaryStock bulls did great yesterday, but everything isn‘t fine yet in the tech realm. Due to its sheer weight in the S&P 500 index, pulling the cart a bit more enthusiastically is what the 500-strong index needs to take on new highs, because value stocks can‘t do it all.Gold and silver fared mostly well during the Powell testimony part II, yet gold didn‘t convince me really again. I look for the yellow metal bulls to get tested soon. The wildcard is reaction to the rising Treasury yields as they‘re in a key resistance zone of summer 2019 lows overall (10-year approaching it, and as regards 30-year, it‘s been overcome already). Plunging dollar and short-term gold-dollar correlation moving to positive figures, isn‘t a pleasant sight for coming days.
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

Gold Declines Despite Powell’s Easy Stance

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 25.02.2021 18:13
Powell testified before Congress and reiterated the Fed’s dovish stance, but nevertheless, gold continued to slide.On Tuesday, Powell testified before the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. He offered no big surprises, so the markets were little changed. But the price of gold ended that day with a slight loss, as the chart below shows – perhaps just because Powell didn’t surprise, and struck a dovish tone.Anyway, what did the Fed Chair say? In his prepared remarks, Powell acknowledged the improved outlook for later this year . As I noted in the last edition of the Fundamental Gold Report about the recent FOMC minutes , a more optimistic Fed about the U.S. economy is bad news for gold.Additionally, Powell downplayed concerns about the recent rises in the bond yields (see the chart below), calling them “a statement of confidence” for an improving U.S. economic outlook, or “a robust and ultimately complete recovery”. This is also a negative comment for the yellow metal, as it would prefer the Fed reacting more aggressively to the increasing rates, and, for instance, implementing the yield curve control . The higher the yields, the worse it is for gold, which is a non-interest bearing asset.However, Powell also made some dovish comments . First of all, he reiterated that the Fed’s easy stance will last very long – longer than it used to be in the past . This is because the Fed implemented last year a new monetary framework, according to which the U.S. monetary policy will be informed by the assessments of shortfalls of employment from its maximum level, rather than by deviations from its maximum level. Moreover, the Fed will seek to achieve inflation that averages two percent over time. These changes imply that the Fed will not tighten monetary policy solely in response to a strong labor market, but only to an increase in inflation . However,But inflation must not merely reach two percent – it should rise moderately above two percent for some time in order to prompt the U.S. central bank to taper the quantitative easing and hike the federal funds rate .The second reason why the interest rates will stay lower for longer is that the economy is a long way from the Fed’s employment and inflation goals, and “it is likely to take some time for substantial further progress to be achieved”. On Wednesday, Powell acknowledged that it may take more than three years to reach these goals. This means that the Fed will treat any possible increases in inflation this year as temporary and will leave interest rates unchanged.Implications for GoldWhat does Powell’s testimony imply for the gold market? Well, gold bulls may be disappointed as the Fed Chair didn’t sound too dovish . He neither announced an expansion in the quantitative easing, nor the yield curve control, nor negative interest rates , nor a “whatever it takes” approach. And it seems that the yellow metal needs such things right now in order to survive – just like fish need water.However, the rising bond yields could become a problem at one point for the Fed. If they continue to rise, Uncle Sam will not be happy, and the Fed will have to step into the market to buy government bonds. The central bank and Treasury are good old friends and the close relationship between Powell and Yellen may only strengthen this beautiful friendship – and support gold prices.Moreover, the increasing bond yields (despite an ultra-dovish Fed) imply that reflation trade is strong. So far, investors just expect a return of inflation to a moderate level, but given the enormous surge in the broad money supply (see the chart below) and Biden’s mammoth fiscal plan, the risk of overheating is non-negligible.It would be really strange if such an aggressive monetary expansion wouldn’t affect the prices. As one can see, the growth in the M2 money supply is 2.5 times faster than during the Great Recession . Actually, we are already seeing inflation – but in the asset markets, not the CPI . The stock and house prices are surging. The commodity sector has also already been gaining and gold may follow suit .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
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

GBPUSD Holds Steady Above 1.41

John Benjamin John Benjamin 26.02.2021 09:21
USD gives back gains as risk currencies riseEuro Rises To A Three-Month High The euro currency finally broke past the resistance area of 1.2177 – 1.2144. The breakout pushed the common currency to a three-month high on an intraday basis.The gains come as the US dollar failed to maintain its reversal on Wednesday.If the current momentum continues then we might get to see the Euro once again attempting to test the 6 January highs of 1.2349.However, ahead of these gains, a pullback to establish support near 1.2177 would be ideal.For the moment, the EURUSD is still not out of the woods unless we see a higher low forming above the resistance area.The British pound sterling is giving back the gains from Wednesday. The declines come as the cable rose to a new three and half year high earlier this week.The current declines come as investors head into the weekend with the drop likely coming as a result of profit-taking.The GBP currency has enjoyed a strong rally and got an additional boost as the UK is already preparing plans for re-opening its economy.For the moment the pullback is likely to be met with skepticism. A continuation below Wednesday’s low of 1.4080 could, however, see the currency pair making a short-term correction.The downside could be supported near the round number 1.4000 level.Crude Oil Holds Steady At A 13-Month High Oil prices are steady after rising to a new 13-month high. The gains come as the latest report shows a drop in US Crude oil output.The weaker dollar is also helping the commodity to maintain its hold. For the moment, prices are supported near the trendline.Still, even a close below the trendline could keep the upside bias intact.The support area near 60.87 will hold the prices from posting further declines.But a close below 60.87 could potentially open the way for oil prices to fall further. This could see the 57.35 level coming under scrutiny next.Gold Prices Slip As Treasury Yields Rise The precious metal continues to trade weak with price action extending declines for a third consecutive day.The declines come as Treasury yields are rising higher. Investors are betting that the global economy will re-open quicker than anticipated with appetite for further stimulus falling.Gold prices have been trading within the 1817 and 1764 levels since the middle of February.We expect this sideways range to continue.To the downside, gold prices will likely retest the previously formed support at 1764.22.
Asia Morning Bites: Trade Data from Australia, Taiwan Inflation, and US Fed Minutes Highlighted

Finally- the Stock Market Tanks

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 26.02.2021 16:07
Surging bond yields continues to weigh on tech stocks. When the 10-year yield pops by 20 basis points to reach a 1-year high, that will happen.Tuesday (Feb. 23) saw the Dow down 360 points at one point, and the Nasdaq down 3% before a sharp reversal that carried to Wednesday (Feb. 24).Thursday (Feb. 25) was a different story and long overdue.Overall, the market saw a broad sell-off with the Dow down over 550 points, the S&P falling 2.45%, the Nasdaq tanking over 3.50%, and seeing its worst day since October, and the small-cap Russell 2000 shedding 3.70%.Rising bond yields are a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, bond investors see the economy reopening and heating up. On the other hand, with the Fed expected to let the GDP heat up without hiking rates, say welcome back to inflation.I don’t care what Chairman Powell says about inflation targets this and that. He can’t expect to keep rates this low, buy bonds, permit money to be printed without a care, and have the economy not overheat.He may not have a choice but to hike rates sooner than expected. If not this year, then in 2022. I no longer buy all that talk about keeping rates at 0% through 2023. It just can’t happen if bond yields keep popping like this.This slowdown, namely with the Nasdaq, poses some desirable buying opportunities. The QQQ ETF, which tracks the Nasdaq is down a reasonably attractive 7% since February 12. But there still could be some short-term pressure on stocks.That correction I’ve been calling for weeks? It may have potentially started, especially for tech. While I don’t foresee a crash like we saw last March and feel that the wheels are in motion for a healthy 2021, I still maintain that some correction before the end of March could happen.I mean, we’re already about 3% away from an actual correction in the Nasdaq...Bank of America also echoed this statement and said, “We expect a buyable 5-10% Q1 correction as the big ‘unknowns’ coincide with exuberant positioning, record equity supply, and as good as it gets’ earnings revisions.”Look. This has been a rough week. But don’t panic, and look for opportunities. We have a very market-friendly monetary policy, and corrections are more common than most realize.Corrections are also healthy and normal market behavior, and we are long overdue for one. Only twice in the last 38 years have we had years WITHOUT a correction (1995 and 2017), and we haven’t seen one in a year.A correction could also be an excellent buying opportunity for what could be a great second half of the year.My goal for these updates is to educate you, give you ideas, and help you manage money like I did when I was pressing the buy and sell buttons for $600+ million in assets. I left that career to pursue one to help people who needed help instead of the ultra-high net worth.With that said, to sum it up:While there is long-term optimism, there are short-term concerns. A short-term correction between now and the end of Q1 2021 is possible. I don’t think that a decline above ~20%, leading to a bear market, will happen.Hopefully, you find my insights enlightening. I welcome your thoughts and questions and wish you the best of luck. Nasdaq- To Buy or Not to Buy?Figure 1- Nasdaq Composite Index $COMPThis downturn is so overdue. More pain could be on the horizon, but this road towards a correction was needed for the Nasdaq.Before February 12, I would always discuss the Nasdaq’s RSI and recommend watching out if it exceeds 70.Now? As tracked by the Invesco QQQ ETF , the Nasdaq has plummeted by nearly 7% since February 12 and is trending towards oversold levels! I hate to say I’m excited about this recent decline, but I am.While rising bond yields are concerning for high-flying tech stocks, I, along with much of the investing world, was somewhat comforted by Chairman Powell’s testimony the other day (even if I don’t totally buy into it). Inflation and rate hikes are definitely a long-term concern, but for now, if their inflation target isn’t met, who’s to fight the Fed?Outside of the Russell 2000, the Nasdaq has been consistently the most overheated index. But after its recent slowdown, I feel more confident in the Nasdaq as a SHORT-TERM BUY.The RSI is king for the Nasdaq . Its RSI is now under 40, which makes it borderline oversold.I follow the RSI for the Nasdaq religiously because the index is simply trading in a precise pattern.In the past few months, when the Nasdaq has exceeded an overbought 70 RSI, it has consistently sold off.December 9- exceeded an RSI of 70 and briefly pulled back.January 4- exceeded a 70 RSI just before the new year and declined 1.47%.January 11- declined by 1.45% after exceeding a 70 RSI.Week of January 25- exceeded an RSI of over 73 before the week and declined 4.13% for the week.I like that the Nasdaq is almost the 13100-level, and especially that it’s below its 50-day moving average now.I also remain bullish on tech, especially for sub-sectors such as cloud computing, e-commerce, and fintech.Because of the Nasdaq’s precise trading pattern and its recent decline, I am making this a SHORT-TERM BUY. But follow the RSI literally.For an ETF that attempts to directly correlate with the performance of the NASDAQ, the Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) is a good option.For more of my thoughts on the market, such as the streaky S&P, inflation, and emerging market opportunities, sign up for my premium analysis today.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. I encourage you to sign up for our daily newsletter - it's absolutely free and if you don't like it, you can unsubscribe with just 2 clicks. If you sign up today, you'll also get 7 days of free access to the premium daily Stock Trading Alerts as well as our other Alerts. Sign up for the free newsletter today!Thank you.Matthew Levy, CFA Stock Trading Strategist Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care* * * * *All essays, research, and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Matthew Levy, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses were 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 believed to be accurate, Matthew Levy, 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. Levy is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Matthew Levy, CFA’s 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. Matthew Levy, 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.
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

Will There Be Roaring Twenties for Gold?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 26.02.2021 16:59
The 2020s might be less roaring than the 1920s, which seems like good news for gold.The United States is strongly polarized, with blue versus red, liberals versus conservatives, and so on. People are divided along many lines, but the biggest division line is between those who count decades from 0 to 9 and those who count them from 1 to 10. It is intuitive for many people to adopt the first method, especially that we think of decades as ‘the 20s’, ‘the 30s’, and so on. However, the catch is that there was no Year Zero, so the first decade of the common era was years 1 to 10. Following this logic, the current decade started on January 1, 2021, not January 1, 2020.So, I feel fully entitled to investigate how gold will behave in the new decade. The issue is especially interesting as some analysts claim that we are entering the Roaring Twenties 2.0. Are they correct?On the surface, there are some similarities. The 1920s were a decade that followed the nightmare of World War I and the Spanish Flu pandemic . It was a time of quick economic growth (the U.S. GDP grew more than 40 percent in that period) and rapid technological innovation fueled predominantly by the rising access to electricity and big improvements in transportation (automobiles and planes).Fast forward one century and we land in the 2020s, which is a decade following the nightmare of the coronavirus pandemic . There are hopes for an acceleration in technological progress driven mainly by the rising scope of remote work, digital solutions, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, 5G networks, robotization, super-batteries, electric vehicles, and so on. And given the pent-up demand and months spent in lockdowns, consumers are ready to congregate and spend!However, there are good reasons to be skeptical about the narrative of the Roaring Twenties 2.0 . The era of post-war prosperity was fueled by the return to the normalcy in the sphere of economic policy. I refer here to the fact that after WWI, there was a successful transition from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy. In contrast, in the aftermath of the Great Recession , there is a gradual transition from the peacetime economy to a wartime economy, that was only accelerated during the epidemic and the Great Lockdown .In particular, both the government spending and the fiscal deficits were sharply reduced in the post-war era. In consequence, the U.S. public debt declined, especially in real terms. Similarly, the Fed reversed its monetary policy and allowed for monetary contraction (and quick recession) in 1919-20 to reverse wartime inflation .In other words, the tighter monetary and fiscal policies led to an environment of economic prosperity. Also helpful for the U.S. were developments such as trustbusting and an economic recovery in Germany after its hyperinflation – all developments that will not replay in the 2020s.In contrast, neither the fiscal policy nor the monetary policy are going to normalize anytime soon , even if the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control. The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion under Trump’s presidency – a level that rivals Italy’s. The debt-to-GDP ratio has soared, as the chart below shows. And Joe Biden doesn’t worry about deficits – instead, with his plan of $1.9 trillion economic stimulus, he is going to balloon the public debt even further by increasing government spending.But maybe we shouldn’t worry about the debt? After all, after WW2, the public debt was even higher, but the economy didn’t collapse – actually, it grew so rapidly that the debt-to-GDP ratio diminished significantly. Yup, that’s correct, but after the pandemic, the economy will not recover as quickly as in the aftermath of WW2. Oh, and by the way, the economy grew its way out of debt only thanks to several years of high inflation .Therefore, the current complacency and naïve belief in low- interest rates and debt-driven economic recovery makes the scenario of the Roaring Twenties 2.0 not very likely, despite all the fantastic technological progress we are observing. So, instead of acceleration, we could rather observe an economic slowdown due to the poor economic policy that hampers the expansion of the private sector. Indeed, the recent report by the World Bank warns about the lost decade: “If history is any guide, unless there are substantial and effective reforms, the global economy is heading for a decade of disappointing growth outcomes.” This is good news for the gold market.But even if the Roaring Twenties 2.0 do happen, it wouldn’t have to be very bad for the yellow metal. It’s true that the 1920s was a period of wealth, prosperity, and decadence in which people didn’t think about preserving capital and investing in safe-haven assets such as gold . In contrast, there was a lot of risk-taking fueling the boom in the stock market. However, the Roaring Twenties were an inflationary period of debt-driven growth that ended in the systemic economic crisis called the Great Depression – and gold can shine in such an macroeconomic environment .Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get 7-day no-obligation trial of all our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

Stocks, Gold – Rebound or Dead Cat Bounce?

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 01.03.2021 15:10
None of Friday‘s intraday attempts to recapture 3,850 stuck, and the last hour‘s selling pressure is an ill omen. Especially since it was accompanied by high yield corporate bondsh weakening. It‘s as if the markets only now noticed the surging long-end Treasury yields, declining steeply on Thursday as the 10y Treasury yield made it through 1.50% before retreating. And on Friday, stocks didn‘t trust the intraday reversal higher in 20+ year Treasuries either.Instead, the options traders took the put/call ratio to levels unseen since early Nov. The VIX however doesn‘t reflect the nervousness, having remained near Thursday‘s closing values. Its long lower knot looks encouraging, and the coming few days would decide the shape of this correction which I have not called shallow since Wed‘s suspicious tech upswing. Here we are, the tech has pulled the 500-strong index down, and remains perched in a precarious position. Could have rebounded, didn‘t – instead showing that its risk-on (high beta) segments such as semiconductors, are ready to do well regardless.That‘s the same about any high beta sector or stock such as financials – these tend to do well in rising rates environments. Regardless of any coming stabilization / retreat in long-term Treasury yields, it‘s my view that we‘re going to have to get used to rising spreads such as 2y over 10y as the long end still steepens. The markets and especially commodities aren‘t buying Fed‘s nonchalant attitude towards inflation. Stocks have felt the tremors, and will keep rising regardless, as it has been historically much higher rates that have caused serious issues (think 4% in 10y Treasuries).In such an environment, the defensives with low volatility and good earnings are getting left behind, as it‘s the top earners in growth, and very risk-on cyclicals that do best. They would be taking the baton from each other, as (micro)rotations mark the stock market bull health – and once tech big names join again, new highs would arrive. Then, the $1.9T stimulus has made it past the House, involves nice stimulus checks, and speculation about an upcoming infrastructure bill remains. Coupled with the avalanche of new Fed money, this is going into the real economy, not sitting on banks‘ balance sheets – and now, the banks will have more incentive to lend out. Margin debt isn‘t contracting, but global liquidity hasn‘t gone pretty much anywhere in February. Coupled with the short-term dollar moves, this is hurting emerging markets more than the U.S. - and based on the global liquidity metrics alone, the S&P 500 is oversold right now – that‘s without the stimulus package. It‘s my view that we‘re experiencing a correction whose shape is soon to be decided, and not a reversal of fortunes.Just like I wrote at the onset of Friday:(…) Would we get a bounce during the U.S. session? It‘s possible to the point of likely. The damage done yesterday though looks to have more than a few brief sessions to run to repair. True, some stocks such as Tesla are at a concerning crossroads, and in general illustrate the vulnerability of non-top tech earners within the industry. Entering Mon‘s regular session, the signs are mixed as there hasn‘t been a clear reversal any way I look at it. Still, this remains one of the dips to be bought in my view – and the signs of it turning around, would be marked by strengthening commodities, and for all these are worth, copper, silver and oil especially.As for gold, it should recover given the retreating long-term yields, but Fri didn‘t bring any signs of strength in the precious metals sector, to put it mildly. Look for TLT for directions, even as real rates, the true determinant, remain little changed and at -1%, which means very favorable fundamentals for the yellow metal. And remember that when the rate of inflation accelerates, rising rates start to bite the yellow metal less.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 and Its InternalsFriday‘s session doesn‘t have the many hallmarks of a reversal. Slightly higher volume, yet none of the intraday upswings held. The Force index reveals that the bears just paused for a day, that there wasn‘t a true reversal yet. The accumulation is a very weak one thus far, and the sellers can easily show more determination still.Credit MarketsHigh yield corporate bonds (HYG ETF) are plain and simple worrying here. The decent intraday upswing evaporated as the closing bell approached. A weak session not indicative of a turnaround.The high yield corporate bonds to short-dated Treasuries (HYG:SHY) performance was weaker than the stock market performance, which isn‘t a pleasant development. Should the bond markets keep trading with a more pessimistic bias than stocks, it could become quite fast concerning. As said already, the shape of the correction is being decided these days.Stocks, Smallcaps and Emerging MarketsAfter having moved hand in hand, emerging markets (EEM ETF) have weakened considerably more over the prior week than both the S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 (IWM ETF). EEM is almost at its late Jan lows – given Fri‘s spike, watching the dollar is key, and not just here.TechnologyTechnology (XLK ETF) didn‘t reverse with clarity on Friday, regardless of positive semiconductors (XSD ETF) performance. At least the volume comparison here is positive, and indicates accumulation. Just as I was highlighting the danger for S&P 500 and gold early Thursday, it‘s the tech sector that holds the key to the 500-strong index stabilization.Gold and SilverReal rates are deeply negative, long-dated Treasuries indeed turned higher on Friday, yet gold plunged right to its strong volume profile support zone before recovering a little. Its very short-term performance is disappointing, It was already its Tue performance that I called unconvincing – let alone Wed‘s one. I maintain that it‘s long-dated Treasury yields and the dollar that are holding the greatest sway. Rates should retreat a little from here, and the gold-dollar correlation is only slightly positive now, which translates into a weak positive effect on gold prices.But it‘s silver that I am looking to for earliest signs of reversal – the white metal and its miners have the task clear cut. Weeks ago, I‘ve been noting the low $26 values as sufficient to retrace a reasonable part of prior advance, and we‘ve made it there only this late. Thu and Fri‘s weakness has much to do with the commodities complex, where I wanted still on Thu to see copper reversing intraday (to call it a risk-on reversal), which it didn‘t – and silver suffered the consequences as well. Likewise now, I‘m looking to the red metal, and will explain in today‘s final chart why.Precious Metals RatiosThere is no better illustration of gold‘s weakness than in both miners to gold ratios that are bobbing around their local lows, rebounding soundly, and then breaking them more or less convincingly again. The gold sector doesn‘t yet appear ready to run.Let‘s get the big picture through the copper to oil ratio. Its current 8 months long consolidation has been punctured in the middle with oil turning higher, outperforming the red metal – and that brought the yellow one under pressure increasingly more. Yet is the uptick in buying interest in gold a sign of upcoming stabilization and higher prices in gold that Fri‘s beaten down values indicate? Notably, the copper to oil ratio didn‘t break to new lows – and remains as valuable tool to watch as real, nominal interest rates, and various derivatives such as copper to Treasury yields or this very ratio.SummaryStock bulls are almost inviting selling pressure today with the weak finish to Fri‘s session. While the sectoral comparisons aren‘t disastrous, the credit markets indicate stress ahead just as much as emerging markets do. Still, this isn‘t the end of the bull run, very far from it – new highs are closer than quite a few might think.Gold and silver took an even greater beating on Fri than the day before. Naturally, silver is much better positioned to recapture the higher $27 levels than gold is regarding the $1,800 one. With the long-dated Treasuries stabilization indeed having resulted in a short-term dollar upswing, the greenback chart (and its effects upon the metals) is becoming key to watch these days. Restating the obvious, gold is far from out of the woods, and lacking positive signs of buying power emerging.
California Leads the Way: New Climate Disclosure Laws Set the Standard for Sustainability Reporting

Worst for Stocks Over?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 01.03.2021 15:39
Is the worst of what the last few weeks brought over? February started off with so much promise, only to be ruined by surging bond yields.The way that bond yields have popped has weighed heavily on growth stocks. Outside of seeing a minor comeback on Friday (Feb. 26), the Nasdaq dropped almost 7% between February 12 and Friday’s (Feb. 26) close.Other indices didn’t fare much better either.The spike bond yields, however, in my view, are nothing more than a catalyst for stocks to cool off and an indicator of some medium to long-term concerns. But calling them a structural threat is a bit of an overstatement.Rising bond yields are a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, bond investors see the economy reopening and heating up. On the other hand, with the Fed expected to let the GDP heat up without hiking rates, inflation may return.I don’t care what Chairman Powell says about inflation targets this and that. He can’t expect to keep rates this low, buy bonds, permit money to be printed without a care, and have the economy not overheat.He may not have a choice but to hike rates sooner than expected. If not this year, then in 2022. I no longer buy all that talk about keeping rates at 0% through 2023. It just can’t happen if bond yields keep popping like this.So was the second half of February the start of the correction that I’ve been calling for? Or is this “downturn” already over?Time will tell. While I still do not foresee a crash like we saw last March and feel that the wheels are in motion for a healthy 2021, I still maintain that some correction before the end of this month could happen.Corrections are also healthy and normal market behavior, and we are long overdue for one. Only twice in the last 38 years have we had years WITHOUT a correction (1995 and 2017), and we haven’t seen one in almost a year.A correction could also be an excellent buying opportunity for what could be a great second half of the year.Pay attention to several things this week. The PMI composite, jobs data, and consumer credit levels will be announced this week.We have more earnings on tap this week too. Monday (March 1), we have Nio (NIO) and Zoom (ZM), Tuesday (March 2) we have Target (TGT) and Sea Limited (SE), Wednesday (March 3), we have Okta (OKTA) and Snowflake (SNOW), and Thursday (March 3) we haveBroadcom (AVGO).My goal for these updates is to educate you, give you ideas, and help you manage money like I did when I was pressing the buy and sell buttons for $600+ million in assets. I left that career to pursue one to help people who needed help instead of the ultra-high net worth.With that said, to sum it up:The downturn we experienced to close out February could be the start of a short-term correction- or it may be a brief slowdown. A further downturn by the end of the month is very possible, but I don’t think that a decline above ~20%, leading to a bear market, will happen.Hopefully, you find my insights enlightening. I welcome your thoughts and questions and wish you the best of luck. Nasdaq- a Buyable Slowdown?Figure 1- Nasdaq Composite Index $COMPThe Nasdaq’s downturn was so overdue. Even though more pain could be on the horizon, I like the Nasdaq at this level for some buying opportunities.If more losses come and the tech-heavy index dips below support at 13000, then it could be an even better buying opportunity. It can’t hurt to start nibbling now, though. If you waited for that perfect moment to start buying a year ago when it looked like the world was ending, you wouldn’t have gained as much as you could have.Plus, if Cathie Wood, the guru of the ARK ETFs that have continuously outperformed, did a lot of buying the last two weeks, it’s safe to say she knows a thing or two about tech stocks and when to initiate positions. Bloomberg News ’ editor-in-chief emeritus Matthew A. Winkler wouldn’t have just named anyone the best stock picker of 2020.Before February 12, I would always discuss the Nasdaq’s RSI and recommend watching out if it exceeds 70.Now? As tracked by the Invesco QQQ ETF , the Nasdaq has plummeted almost 7% since February 12 and is closer to oversold than overbought. !While rising bond yields are concerning for high-flying tech stocks, I, along with much of the investing world, was somewhat comforted by Chairman Powell’s testimony last week (even if I don’t totally buy into it). Inflation and rate hikes are definitely a long-term concern, but for now, if their inflation target isn’t met, who’s to fight the Fed?Outside of the Russell 2000, the Nasdaq has been consistently the most overheated index. But after its recent slowdown, I feel more confident in the Nasdaq as a SHORT-TERM BUY.The RSI is king for the Nasdaq . Its RSI is now around 40.I follow the RSI for the Nasdaq religiously because the index is merely trading in a precise pattern.In the past few months, when the Nasdaq has exceeded an overbought 70 RSI, it has consistently sold off.December 9- exceeded an RSI of 70 and briefly pulled back.January 4- exceeded a 70 RSI just before the new year and declined 1.47%.January 11- declined by 1.45% after exceeding a 70 RSI.Week of January 25- exceeded an RSI of over 73 before the week and declined 4.13% for the week.I like that the Nasdaq is almost at its support level of 13000, and especially that it’s below its 50-day moving average now.I also remain bullish on tech, especially for sub-sectors such as cloud computing, e-commerce, and fintech.Because of the Nasdaq’s precise trading pattern and its recent decline, I am making this a SHORT-TERM BUY. But follow the RSI literally.For an ETF that attempts to directly correlate with the performance of the NASDAQ, the Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) is a good option.For more of my thoughts on the market, such as the streaky S&P, inflation, and emerging market opportunities, sign up for my premium analysis today.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. I encourage you to sign up for our daily newsletter - it's absolutely free and if you don't like it, you can unsubscribe with just 2 clicks. If you sign up today, you'll also get 7 days of free access to the premium daily Stock Trading Alerts as well as our other Alerts. Sign up for the free newsletter today!Thank you.Matthew Levy, CFA Stock Trading Strategist Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care* * * * *All essays, research, and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Matthew Levy, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses were 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 believed to be accurate, Matthew Levy, 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. Levy is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Matthew Levy, CFA’s 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. Matthew Levy, 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.
Asia Morning Bites: Singapore Industrial Production and Global Market Updates

Gold Continues Declines on Bond Yield Jitters

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 02.03.2021 16:30
The economy seems to be recovering, while bond yields are increasing again, sending gold prices down.Not good. Gold bulls can be truly upset. The yellow metal continued its bearish trend last week. As the chart below shows, the price of gold has declined from $1,807 on Monday (Feb. 22) to $1,743 on Friday (Feb. 26).What happened? Well, last week was full of positive economic news. In particular, personal income surged by 10 percent in January, compared to only 0.6-percent rise in the previous month. Meanwhile, consumer spending increased 2.4 percent, following a 0.4-percent decline in December. This means that, on an absolute basis, personal consumption expenditures have almost returned to the pre- pandemic level, as the chart below shows.Additionally, durable goods orders jumped by 3.4 percent in January versus a 1.2-percent increase one month earlier. Moreover, initial jobless claims declined from 841,000 to 730,000 in the week ending February 20, as the chart below shows. It means that the economic situation is improving, partially thanks to the December fiscal stimulus.And, on Saturday (Feb. 27), the House of Representatives passed Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package. Although the bill has yet to be approved by the Senate, the move by the House brings us one step closer to its implementation. Although the additional fiscal stimulus may overheat the economy and turn out to be positive for gold prices in the long-term, the strengthened prospects of higher government expenditures can revive the optimism in the financial markets, negatively affecting the safe-haven assets such as gold .Finally, on Saturday, the FDA authorized Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine against COVID-19. This decision expands the availability of vaccines, which brings us closer to the end of the epidemic in the U.S. and offers hope for a faster economic recovery. The new vaccine is highly effective (it provides 85-percent protection against severe COVID-19 28 days after vaccination) and most importantly, requires only one dose, which facilitates efficient distribution. So, the approval of another vaccine is rather bad news for gold and could add to the metal’s problems in the near future.However, the most important development from the last week was the jump in the bond yields . As the chart below shows, after a short stabilization in the first half of the week, the yields on the 10-year Treasuries indexed by inflation rose from -0.79 to -0.60 percent on Thursday (Feb. 25). This surge in the real interest rates is negative for the price of gold.Implications for GoldWhat does this all mean for the price of gold? Well, the increase in the bond yields is clearly bad for the yellow metal. Although they have partially risen to strengthened inflation expectations, the real interest rates have also soared. It means that investors expect wider fiscal deficits and expanding vaccination to accelerate inflation only partially, but in a large part, it will speed up real economic growth. This is a huge problem for gold, as real interest rates are a key driver of gold prices.An additional issue is that the expectations of higher economic growth and inflation create accompanying expectations for the Fed to tighten its monetary policy and hike the federal funds rate , which exerts downward pressure on gold prices.This is what we were afraid of at the beginning of the year. We noted that the real interest rates were so low that the next move could be up. Importantly, there is further room for upward trajectory, as the real interest rates are still importantly below the pre-pandemic level.However, we wouldn’t bet on the return to the levels seen last year. After all, interest rates didn’t return to the pre-crisis level after the Great Recession , so it’s unlikely that they will do it now. Additionally, investors should remember that the U.S. government is now so heavily indebted that if Treasury yields continue to increase, the Fed would have to intervene. A failure to do so would mean that the interest expenses would grow too much, creating serious problems for the Treasury. So, the current bearish trend in gold may not last forever – although it may still take some time.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
Asia Morning Bites: Singapore Industrial Production and Global Market Updates

What Correction in Stocks? And Gold?

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 02.03.2021 16:30
Stocks thoroughly rebounded yesterday, and corporate credit markets did even better. These are optimistic signs as the shape of the correction has been decided – again, as shallow, less than 5% one. Long-termTreasuries are no longer in a free fall, volalility has retreated back to the low 20s, and the put/call ratio swung back towards the bottom of its recent range.Technology has rebounded as well, and the microrotations in the stock market keep being the haollmark of stock bull‘s health, and the risk-on (high beta) sectors and segments such as financials, semiconductors, or capex (capital expenditure such as construction and engineering) - and airlines are catching breath too.Such was the sectoral themes likely to do well that I mentioned yesterday:(…) That‘s the same about any high beta sector or stock such as financials – these tend to do well in rising rates environments. Regardless of any coming stabilization / retreat in long-term Treasury yields, it‘s my view that we‘re going to have to get used to rising spreads such as 2y over 10y as the long end still steepens. The markets and especially commodities aren‘t buying Fed‘s nonchalant attitude towards inflation. Stocks have felt the tremors, and will keep rising regardless, as it has been historically much higher rates that have caused serious issues (think 4% in 10y Treasuries).In such an environment, the defensives with low volatility and good earnings are getting left behind, as it‘s the top earners in growth, and very risk-on cyclicals that do best. They would be taking the baton from each other, as (micro)rotations mark the stock market bull health – and once tech big names join again, new highs would arrive. Then, the $1.9T stimulus has made it past the House, involves nice stimulus checks, and speculation about an upcoming infrastructure bill remains. Coupled with the avalanche of new Fed money, this is going into the real economy, not sitting on banks‘ balance sheets – and now, the banks will have more incentive to lend out. Margin debt isn‘t contracting, but global liquidity hasn‘t gone pretty much anywhere in February. Coupled with the short-term dollar moves, this is hurting emerging markets more than the U.S. - and based on the global liquidity metrics alone, the S&P 500 is oversold right now – that‘s without the stimulus package. It‘s my view that we‘re experiencing ... not a reversal of fortunes. … this remains one of the dips to be bought in my view.All right, we‘re seeing a rebound in progress, on the way to new highs – but what about the embattled gold? Its seasonality component was „slated“ to help the bulls in Feb, and the king of metals instead succumbed to nominal yields pressure. Would the Mar historically negative slant be likewise invalidated – and again precisely for the reason called long-dated Treasuries?Regardless of the immensely positive fundamentals behind the precious metals (including real rates, the true determinant, little changed and at -1%), it has thus far been commodities and Bitcoin who rose and held on to their gains since the 2H 2020. Please remember the big picture chart about commodities and precious metals taking turns in rising that I presented on Feb 17. The bullish case for gold (let alone silver) isn‘t lost – merely thoroughly questioned these weeks of sordid $HUI:$GOLD underperformance.Are we seeing signs of decreasing financial asset price inflation – or an accelerating one? It‘s the inflation and inflation expectations that are weighed against the nominal rates trajectory. As the rate of inflation accelerates, rising nominal rates would bite the yellow metal less – and there is no denying that the risk of inflation is running as high as can be.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookSo far, so (very) good in stocks – volume is lagging but the Force index still flipped positive, indication that at worst, we‘re likely to muddle through in a sideways to higher trading pattern over the nearest days.Credit MarketsAfter a worrying move on Friday, high yield corporate bonds (HYG ETF) are once again assuming leadership, and I see this chart as the one with more bullish implications for the coming days than the S&P 500 alone. That‘s the dynamic I am looking for in a good run.Both leading credit market ratios – high yield corporate bonds to short-dated Treasuries (HYG:SHY) and investment grade corporate bonds to longer-dated ones (LQD:IEI) – are looking to get back in closer sync than has been the case in 2021 thus far. It would take time, but would prove that the stock market can still keep on rising when faced with even higher nominal rates than we saw thus far.TechnologyTechnology (XLK ETF) clearly reversed, and while the volume isn‘t convincing on a standalone basis, coupled with semiconductors (XSD ETF) and other value stocks performance, it‘s encouraging enough to treat any significant correction calls heard elsewhere, as again plain wrong and premature, for the full picture view didn‘t support such calls in the first place, and you know what is being said about every broken clock being right twice a day…Having said so, let‘s turn to precious metals, which offered more than a few bullish signs way earlier in Feb. Based on the evolving charts and gold‘s failure to gain credible traction, I was at least able to time most of the downside before it happened – such as last week. Still, there has been little bullish that could be said about the PMs complex, as encouraging signs emerged only to be gone shortly. So, where do we stand at the moment?Gold and Copper to Oil RatioRising TLT rates are turning a corner, but the yellow metal is staying at the strong volume profile support zone that marks the April-May consolidation zone. Earlier today, gold cut all the way to its lower end (that‘s low $1,700s) before rebounding. The danger zone hasn‘t been cleared in the least yet, but the signs of silver reversing once again from a double test of $26, is as encouraging as copper rising again, and oil not tanking.The copper to oil ratio whose long-term perspective I featured yesterday, is making a clear turn on the daily chart. Coupled with the TLT stabilization, and the dollar trading with relatively little correlation to gold these days, the table is set for a short-term rebound in the metals. How far would these take the sector? The numerous bears would have you believe that not too far & that another downleg to ridiculously low values is at hand, but I am not convinced and prefer reading the tape instead. Yes, even in the mostly bearish PMs chart setups where nothing bullish has stuck for longer than several day over the past weeks. I repeat that the $1.9T stimulus bill (and infrastructure bill, even slavery reparations if we get that far really) hasn‘t been truly factored in by the markets – and yesterday‘s S&P 500 action proves that.Silver and MinersSilver keeps consolidating in a bullish pattern well above $26 still (not that it would be the line in the sand though), and when the silver miners (SIL ETF) start leading again, a new silver upleg would be born. For now, these are still mirroring the weak gold miners‘ performance, which is free from bullish signals for the yellow metal still. The gold sector isn‘t yet ready to run, plain and simple.SummaryStock bulls are on a solid recovery path, and new all time highs are again closer in sight. Crucially, the corporate credit markets and S&P 500 sectoral performance confirm, and once emerging markets join (the dollar weakens again), more fuel to the rally would be available.Gold remains precariously perched, yet isn‘t breaking down – the bull run off last spring‘s consolidation remains intact – regardless of the short-term gloom and doom. I see the metals as likely to recover next as the Treasury yields stop biting. Restating the obvious, gold is far from out of the woods.
Mixed Start for Stocks in March

Mixed Start for Stocks in March

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 03.03.2021 15:08
After March kicked off with a session that indicated the worst for stocks may be over (for now), Tuesday saw the indices sell-off towards the close.At least Rocket Mortgage (RKT) had a good day, though! And, at least the 10-year yield didn’t spike either. But that could change. Yields ticked up overnight to 1.433%, after President Biden pledged enough vaccine supply to inoculate every American adult by the end of May.So, where do we go from here? This positive economic and health news is excellent for reopening. But rising bond yields are a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, bond investors see the economy reopening and heating up. On the other hand, with the Fed expected to let the GDP scorch without hiking rates, inflation may return.I don’t care what Chairman Powell says about inflation targets this and that. The price of gas and food is increasing already. In fact, according to Bloomberg, food prices are soaring faster than inflation and incomes.For January, Consumer Price Index data also found that the cost of food eaten at home rose 3.7 percent from a year ago — more than double the 1.4 percent year-over-year increase in the prices of all goods included in the CPI.Can you imagine what this was like for February? Can you imagine what it will be like for March? I’m not trying to sound the alarm - but be very aware. These are just the early warning signs.So about March. Will it be more like Monday or Tuesday? Was the second half of February the start of the correction that I’ve been calling for? Or is the “downturn” already over? Only time will tell. While I still do not foresee a crash like we saw last March and feel that the wheels are in motion for a healthy 2021, I still maintain that some correction before the end of this month could happen.Rising bond yields are concerning. Inflation signs are there. But structurally, I don’t think it will crash the market (yet).Corrections are also healthy and normal market behavior, and we are long overdue for one. It’s been almost a year now. Only twice in the last 38 years have we had years WITHOUT a correction (1995 and 2017).A correction could also be an excellent buying opportunity for what could be a great second half of the year.My goal for these updates is to educate you, give you ideas, and help you manage money like I did when I was pressing the buy and sell buttons for $600+ million in assets. I left that career to pursue one to help people who needed help instead of the ultra-high net worth.With that said, to sum it up:There is optimism but signs of concern. A further downturn by the end of the month is very possible, but I don’t think that a decline above ~20%, leading to a bear market, will happen.Hopefully, you find my insights enlightening. I welcome your thoughts and questions and wish you the best of luck. Nasdaq- a Buyable Slowdown?Figure 1- Nasdaq Composite Index $COMPThe Nasdaq’s slowdown has been long overdue. Even though more pain could be on the horizon, I like the Nasdaq at this level for some buying opportunities.But I’d prefer it drop below support at 13000 for real buying opportunities.But it can’t hurt to start nibbling now. If you waited for that perfect moment to start buying a year ago when it looked like the world was ending, you wouldn’t have gained as much as you could have.Plus, it’s safe to say that Cathie Wood, the guru of the ARK ETFs, is the best growth stock picker of our generation. Bloomberg News ’ editor-in-chief emeritus Matthew A. Winkler seems to think so too. Her ETFs, which have continuously outperformed, focus on the most innovative and disruptive tech companies out there. Not to put a lot of stock in one person. But it’s safe to say she knows a thing or two about tech stocks and when to initiate positions- and she did a lot of buying the last few weeks.I also remain bullish on tech, especially for sub-sectors such as cloud computing, e-commerce, and fintech.Before February 12, I would always discuss the Nasdaq’s RSI and recommend watching out if it exceeds 70.Now? As tracked by the Invesco QQQ ETF , the Nasdaq has plummeted almost 5.5% since February 12 and is closer to oversold than overbought!But it’s still not enough.Outside of the Russell 2000, the Nasdaq has been consistently the most overheated index. But after its recent slowdown, I feel more confident in the Nasdaq as a SHORT-TERM BUY.The RSI is king for the Nasdaq . Its RSI is now around 45.I follow the RSI for the Nasdaq religiously because the index is merely trading in a precise pattern.In the past few months, when the Nasdaq has exceeded an overbought 70 RSI, it has consistently sold off.December 9- exceeded an RSI of 70 and briefly pulled back.January 4- exceeded a 70 RSI just before the new year and declined 1.47%.January 11- declined by 1.45% after exceeding a 70 RSI.Week of January 25- exceeded an RSI of over 73 before the week and declined 4.13% for the week.Again- if the index drops below 13000, and the RSI hits undeniably overbought levels, get on the train.But because we haven’t declined just enough, I am making this a SHORT-TERM BUY. But follow the RSI literally and take profits once you have the chance to.For an ETF that attempts to directly correlate with the performance of the NASDAQ, the Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) is a good option.For more of my thoughts on the market, such as the streaky S&P, inflation, and emerging market opportunities, sign up for my premium analysis today.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. I encourage you to sign up for our daily newsletter - it's absolutely free and if you don't like it, you can unsubscribe with just 2 clicks. If you sign up today, you'll also get 7 days of free access to the premium daily Stock Trading Alerts as well as our other Alerts. Sign up for the free newsletter today!Thank you.Matthew Levy, CFA Stock Trading Strategist Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care* * * * *All essays, research, and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Matthew Levy, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses were 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 believed to be accurate, Matthew Levy, 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. Levy is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Matthew Levy, CFA’s 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. Matthew Levy, 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.
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

Gold Approaches $1,700 on Rising Economic Confidence

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 04.03.2021 16:39
Gold remains in a bearish trend as economic confidence has improved, however, inflation can change all that around.The chart presenting gold prices in 2021 doesn’t look too encouraging. The yellow metal continued its bearish trend at the turn of February and March. So, as one can see, the price of gold has declined from $1,943 on January 4 to $1,711 on Wednesday (Mar. 3) This means a drop of 232 bucks, or 12 percent since the beginning of the year.What is happening in the gold market? I would like to blame the jittering bond market and increasing bond yields , but the uncomfortable truth is that the yellow metal has slid in the past few days despite the downward correction in the bond yields. If you don’t believe, take a look at the chart below. This is an important bearish signal, given how closely gold is usually linked to the real interest rates .So, it seems that there are more factors at work than just the bond yields. One of them is the recent modest strengthening of the greenback , probably amid rising U.S. interest rates and ECB officials’ remarks about possible expansion of the ECB’s accommodative stance if the selloff in the bond market continues.Another piece of bearish news for the gold market is that President Joe Biden struck a last-minute stimulus deal with Democratic Senators that narrows the income eligibility for the next round of $1,400 stimulus checks. It means that the upcoming fiscal stimulus will be lower than previously expected, negatively affecting inflation expectations and, thus, the demand for gold as an inflation hedge .Lastly, I have to mention the high level of confidence in the economy. Indeed, the recent rise in the bond yields may just be a sign of more optimism about the economic recovery from the pandemic recession . Hence, despite all the economic problems the U.S. will have to face – mainly the huge indebtedness or actually the debt-trap – investors have decided to not pay too much attention to the elephants in the room. As the chart below shows, the credit spread (ICE BofA US High Yield Index Option-Adjusted Spread), which is a useful measure of economic confidence, has returned to the pre-pandemic level, indicating a strong belief in the state of the economy. This is, of course, bad for safe-haven assets such as gold.Implications for GoldWhat does this all mean for gold prices? Well, from the long-term perspective, the recent slide to almost $1,700 could just be noise in the marketplace. But gold’s disappointing performance is really disturbing given the seemingly perfect environment for the precious metals . After all, we live in a world of negative interest rates , a weak U.S. dollar, rising fiscal deficits and public debt , soaring money supply and unprecedented dovish monetary and fiscal policies . So, the bearish trend may be more lasting, as market sentiment is still negative. Investors usually turn to gold, a great portfolio diversifier and a safe haven , when other investment are falling. But the worst is already behind us, the economy has already bottomed out, so confidence in the economy is now high, and equities are rising.Having said that, the recent jump in the bond yields also means rising inflation expectations . Indeed, as the chart below shows, they have already surpassed the levels seen before the outbreak of the pandemic .Actually, the 5-year breakeven inflation rate has reached 2.45 percent, the highest level since the midst of the Great Recession . So, in some part, investors are selling bonds, as they are preparing for an reflation environment marked by higher inflation . At some point, if the fear of inflation strengthens, then economic confidence will waver, and investors could again turn toward gold.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
Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Sectors: Key Challenges and Pathways Forward

Correction for Nasdaq- More Indices to Follow?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 05.03.2021 15:31
I called Jay Powell's bluff a week ago. Remember when he said last week that we're still far from The Fed's inflation targets?Well, I was right to doubt him. The market didn't like his change in tone Thursday (Mar. 5).You see, when bond yields are rising as fast as they have, and Powell is maintaining that Fed policy won't change while admitting that inflation may " return temporarily ," how are investors supposed to react? On the surface, this may not sound like a big deal. But there are six things to consider here:It's a significant backtrack from saying that inflation isn't a concern. By admitting that inflation "could" return temporarily, that's giving credence to the fact that it's inevitable.The Fed can't expect to let the GDP scorch without hiking rates. If inflation "temporarily returns," who is to say that rates won't hike sooner than anyone imagines?Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice...you know the rest. If Powell changed his tune now about inflation, what will he do a few weeks or months from now when it really becomes an issue?Does Jay Powell know what he's doing, and does he have control of the bond market?A reopening economy is a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing for value plays and cyclicals that were crushed during COVID and a curse for high-flying tech names who benefitted from "stay-at-home" and low-interest rates.The Senate will be debating President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan. If this passes, as I assume it will, could it actually be worse for the economy than better? Could markets sell-off rather than surge? Once this passes, inflation is all but a formality.Look, it's not the fact that bond yields are rising that are freaking out investors. Bond yields are still at a historically low level, and the Fed Funds Rate remains 0%. But it's the speed at which they've risen that are terrifying people.According to Bloomberg , the price of gas and food already appear to be getting a head start on inflation. For January, Consumer Price Index data also found that the cost of food eaten at home rose 3.7 percent from a year ago — more than double the 1.4 percent year-over-year increase in all goods included in the CPI.The month of January. Can you imagine what this was like for February? Can you imagine what it will be like for March?I'm not trying to sound the alarm- but be very aware. These are just the early warning signs.So, where do we go from here? Time will tell. While I still do not foresee a crash like we saw last March and feel that the wheels remain in motion for a healthy 2021, that correction that I've been calling for has already started for the Nasdaq. Other indices could potentially follow.Finally.Corrections are healthy and normal market behavior, and we have been long overdue for one. Only twice in the last 38 years have we had years WITHOUT a correction (1995 and 2017).Most importantly, this correction could be an excellent buying opportunity.It can be a very tricky time for investors right now. But never, ever, trade with emotion. Buy low, sell high, and be a little bit contrarian. There could be some more short-term pain, yes. But if you sat out last March when others bought, you are probably very disappointed in yourself. Be careful, but be a little bold right now too.There's always a bull market somewhere, and valuations, while still somewhat frothy, are at much more buyable levels now.My goal for these updates is to educate you, give you ideas, and help you manage money like I did when I was pressing the buy and sell buttons for $600+ million in assets. I left that career to pursue one to help people who needed help instead of the ultra-high net worth.With that said, to sum it up:There is optimism but signs of concern. A further downturn by the end of the month is very possible, but I don't think that a decline above ~20%, leading to a bear market, will happen.Hopefully, you find my insights enlightening. I welcome your thoughts and questions and wish you the best of luck. Nasdaq- From Overbought to Oversold in 3 Weeks?Figure 1- Nasdaq Composite Index $COMPThe Nasdaq is finally in correction territory! I have been waiting for this. It’s been long overdue and valuations, while still frothy, are much more buyable. While more pain could be on the horizon until we get some clarity on this bond market and inflation, its drop below 13000 is certainly buyable.The Nasdaq has also given up its gains for 2021, its RSI is nearly oversold at about 35, and we’re almost at a 2-month low.It can’t hurt to start nibbling now. There could be some more short-term pain, but if you waited for that perfect moment to start buying a year ago when it looked like the world was ending, you wouldn’t have gained as much as you could have.Plus, it’s safe to say that Cathie Wood, the guru of the ARK ETFs, is the best growth stock picker of our generation. Bloomberg News ’ editor-in-chief emeritus Matthew A. Winkler seems to think so too. Her ETFs, which have continuously outperformed, focus on the most innovative and disruptive tech companies out there. Not to put a lot of stock in one person. But it’s safe to say she knows a thing or two about tech stocks and when to initiate positions- and she did a lot of buying the last few weeks.I think the key here is to “selectively buy.” I remain bullish on tech, especially for sub-sectors such as cloud computing, e-commerce, and fintech.I also think it’s an outstanding buying opportunity for big tech companies with proven businesses and solid balance sheets. Take Apple (AAPL), for example. It’s about 30% off its all-time highs. That is what I call discount shopping.What’s also crazy is the Nasdaq went from overbought 3 weeks ago to nearly oversold this week. The Nasdaq has been trading in a clear RSI-based pattern, and we’re at a very buyable level right now.I like the levels we’re at, and despite the possibility of more losses in the short-run, it’s a good time to start to BUY. But just be mindful of the RSI, and don’t buy risky assets. Find emerging tech sectors or high-quality companies trading at a discount.For an ETF that attempts to directly correlate with the performance of the NASDAQ, the Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) is a good option.For more of my thoughts on the market, such as the streaky S&P, inflation, and emerging market opportunities, sign up for my premium analysis today.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. I encourage you to sign up for our daily newsletter - it's absolutely free and if you don't like it, you can unsubscribe with just 2 clicks. If you sign up today, you'll also get 7 days of free access to the premium daily Stock Trading Alerts as well as our other Alerts. Sign up for the free newsletter today!Thank you.Matthew Levy, CFA Stock Trading Strategist Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care* * * * *All essays, research, and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Matthew Levy, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses were 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 believed to be accurate, Matthew Levy, 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. Levy is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Matthew Levy, CFA’s 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. Matthew Levy, 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.
Stimulus And Consumers Are The Keys To Further US/Global Economic Recovery – Part I

Stimulus And Consumers Are The Keys To Further US/Global Economic Recovery – Part I

Chris Vermeulen Chris Vermeulen 08.03.2021 03:55
At this point in our lives, we are hoping the new COVID-19 vaccines will do their part to help move the world towards more normal consumer and economic activities.  The US Senate recently a new $1.9 Trillion stimulus package that should continue to provide assistance to various levels of consumer, state governments, and corporate enterprises.  The next question in our mind is “what will the recovery look like if/when it happens?”.  We need to look at three critical components of the global economy to help answer this question: Consumer Activity, Debt, and Supply/Demand Functions.Consumer activity makes up more than 60% of the US GDP.  It also drives money flow as consumers engage in economic activity, create credit for new purchases and help to balance the supply/demand equilibrium functioning properly.  The participation of the consumer within an economy is essential for a healthy growing economy.WHERE ARE CONSUMERS NOW & WHERE WILL THEY BE IN THE FUTURE?The US has passed more than $4 Trillion in COVID-19 stimulus over the past 12+ months.  At the same time, global central banks have also engaged in various easy money policies to spark global economic activity.  When we combine the efforts of world governments and central banks, we've seen an unprecedented amount of money deployed throughout the globe recently – and that money needs to find its purpose and use in the global economy quickly of the global economy is going to recover enough to spark a new wave of economic growth.We believe two key components of consumer engagement are at play right now; investing/trading in the US and global markets and Real Estate.  Whereas US consumers have been reducing debt exposure on credit cards and tightening their spending in other ways, trading volumes in the stock market Indexes and ETFs have increased dramatically over the past 12 months.  Additionally, low supply and low interest rates have kept the US housing market active, in addition to the boost in activity from people moving to more rural areas as the work-from-home phenomenon settles into the new normal.CASE-SHILLER HOME PRICE INDEXThis Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index chart, below shows how quickly home prices have rallied over the past 12 months. Just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this index was flattening.  Then the moratorium on foreclosures and extended assistance for homeowners pulled many homes back off the market in early 2020.  That reduced supply and prompted a rally in home prices across the US.The assistance provided to these “at-risk” homeowners accomplished two very important economic benefits.  It eliminated a wave of new foreclosures (albeit possibly temporarily) and it prompted a seller's market because supply had been constricted.  The result is that many homeowners witnessed a 6% to 10% increase in their home values over the last 12+ months.DELINQUENCY RATES ON CONSUMER LOANSUnlike in 2006-2008 when delinquency rates skyrocketed during the housing crisis, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, delinquency rates collapsed to the lowest levels over the past 25+ years.  Consumers took their extra capital, stimulus checks, and federal assistance and used the past 12+ months to eliminate certain debts.  Even though we are starting to see an uptick in delinquency rates in Q4 2020, these levels would have to climb considerably before we get close to the levels before the COVID-19 pandemic.Be sure to sign up for our free market trend analysis and signals now so you don’t miss our next special report!This suggests that a broad spectrum of US consumers are in a much better economic position related to revolving debt, or credit card debt, than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.  If these consumers begin to engage in a new economic recovery by engaging in a healthy credit expansion, we may see a boost to certain sectors of the economy over the next 24 to 36+ months.REAL PERSONAL CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURESUnlike many other indicators, Real Personal Consumption has risen past the pre-COVID-19 peak levels.  This suggests that consumers are still spending money on Durable Goods and are continuing to buy essential items to support their lifestyles and families.  Yes, there are a number of people that are unemployed or have transitioned to other types of work, but the stimulus efforts and extended unemployment assistance has translated into real consumer engagement for Durable Goods, as we can see from the chart below.Remember, Durable Goods are not typically found at Grocery Stores or Walmart.  They are items that have extended life-cycles (greater than three years); such as cars, planes, trains, furniture, appliances, jewelry, and books.  This rise in Durable Goods suggests that a large segment of the US consumer is actively engaged in making bigger-ticket purchases recently – possibly as a result of buying a new home, transitioning away from traditional work environments, and/or repositioning family essentials in preparation for a post COVID-19 world.  This type of economic engagement may continue for many months forward.CONSUMER PRICE INDEX – ALL URBAN CONSUMERSThe following Consumer Price Index chart shows that general consumer prices briefly dipped when COVID-19 hit in March 2020, but they have since rallied to new highs.  This is partially a result of the rise in home prices and rising commodity prices, which contribute to a rise in price levels for consumers.All of this data is showing that the US consumer is actually much more economically healthy than consumers were in the midst of the 2007-08 housing crisis. The stimulus efforts and partial economic shutdown did result in a large number of displaced or disadvantaged consumers, but it also shows that many US consumers were able to quickly transition into a different type of economic environment with very little extended economic risks.The new $1.9 Trillion stimulus package will offer even more assistance to consumers.  This new stimulus will be spent as new COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out, suggesting the US is quickly moving away from extended risks related to the pandemic.  This means consumers will likely start attempting to go back to normal in certain ways.  Does this mean that the recovery efforts will strengthen the bullish price trend in the future and the US stock markets will continue to rally?In our effort to better identify opportunities for traders and investors as the post-COVID-19 recovery unfolds, we will continue to identify various market sectors that my research team and I believe have a strong potential for increased bullish price trends.  All of the data we've presented so far suggests the US consumer is much healthier than many people consider and that many US consumers are still actively engaged in some type of work/income solution.  The only reason why housing, durable goods, CPI, and other economic indicators continue to rise is because US consumers are actively engaged in buying/consuming bigger, durable goods.  This suggests the new $1.9 Trillion COVID relief effort may begin to push the US economy further into overdrive, and possibly pushing the supply/demand balance even further beyond the equilibrium zone.Don’t miss the opportunities to profit from the broad market sector rotations we expect this year, which will be an incredible year for traders of my Best Asset Now (BAN) strategy.  You can sign up now for my FREE webinar that teaches you how to find, enter, and profit from only those sectors that have the most strength and momentum. Staying ahead of sector trends is going to be key to success in volatile markets.For those who believe in the power of trading sectors that show relative strength and momentum but don’t have the time to do the research every day, let my BAN Trader Pro newsletter service do all the work for you with daily market reports, research, and trade alerts. More frequent or experienced traders have been killing it trading options, ETFs, and stocks using my BAN Hotlist ranking the hottest ETFs, which is updated daily for my BAN Trader Pro subscribers.In Part II of this article, we'll take the data we've reviewed already and apply it to current market conditions, trends, and technical setups as we look for new opportunities in consumer-based sectors.  My team and I believe some very big sector trends are going to set up as a result of everything that is converging on the US and global markets.  It's time to get ready for some big trends. 
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

No More Rocking the Boat in Stocks But Gold?

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 08.03.2021 15:23
Stocks sharply reversed intraday, and closed just where they opened the prior Friday. That indicates quite some pressures, quite some searching for direction in this correction that isn‘t over just yet. Stocks have had a great run over the past 4 months, getting a bit ahead of themselves in some aspects such as valuations. Then, grappling with the rising long-term rates did strike.So did inflation fears, especially when looking at commodities. Inflation expectations are rising, but not galloping yet. What to make of the rising rates then? They‘re up for all the good reasons – the economy is growing strongly after the Q4 corona restrictions (I actually expect not the conservative 5% Q1 GDP growth, but over 8% at least) while inflation expectations are lagging behind. In other words, the reflation (of economic growth) is working and hasn‘t turned into inflation (rising or roughly stable inflation expectations while the economy‘s growth is slowing down). We‘re more than a few quarters from that – I fully expect really biting inflation (supported by overheating in the job market) to be an 2022-3 affair. As regards S&P 500 sectors, would you really expect financials and energy do as greatly as they do if the prospects were darkening?So, I am looking for stocks to do rather well as they are absorbing the rising nominal rates. It‘s also about the pace of such move, which has been extraordinary, and left long-term Treasuries trading historically very extended compared to their 50-day moving averages. Thus, they‘re prone to a quick snapback rally over the next 1-2 weeks, which would help the S&P 500 regain even stronger footing. And even plain temporary stabilization of theirs would do the trick.This is taking me directly to gold. We have good odds of long-term rates not pressuring the yellow metal as much as recently, and inflation expectations are also rising (not as well anchored to 2% as the Fed thinks / says). As I‘ll show you in the charts, the signs of decoupling have been already visible for some time, and now became more apparent. And that‘s far from the only suggestion of an upcoming gold upswing that I‘ll bring you today.Just as I was calling out gold as overheated in Aug 2020 and prone to a real soft patch, some signs of internal strength in the precious metals sector were present this Feb already. And now as we have been testing for quite a few days the first support in my game plan, we‘re getting once again close to a bullish formation that I called precisely to a day, and had been banging the bearish gold drum for the following two days, anticipating the downside that followed. Now, that‘s what I call welcome flexibility, extending to accentuated, numerous portfolio calls.And the permabears keep (losing capital through many bullish years in a row in some cases) calling for hundreds bucks more downside after a respite now, not even entertaining the thought that gold bottom might very well not be quarters ahead. It‘s easier to try falsely project own perma stickers onto others. Beware of wolves in ill-fitting sheep clothing. Look at full, proven track records, compare varying perspectives of yesteryear too, and wave off cheap halo effects.It‘s the above dynamic between nominal rates taking a breather, dollar getting back under pressure, commodities continuing their rise and stocks gradually resuming theirs – see the ebbing and flowing that I‘m laying down in the daily analyses on the revamped homepage, and you‘ll get a knack for my timings of local tops or bottoms just the way I did in the early Sep buying climax or in the corona crash.True mastery is in integrating and arguing opposing views with experience and adaptability daily. People are thankfully able to recognize these characteristics on their own – and they have memory too. Who needs to be told what to read and consider by those embracing expertise only to turn against it when the fruits were no longer theirs? Sour grapes. Narrow thinking is one of the dangers of our era replete with empty and shallow shortcuts. Curiosity, ingenuity and diligence are a gift to power mankind – and what you get from financial analysts – forward in a virtuous circle.If gold prices rise from here, they have bounced off support. Simple as that, especially given the accompanying signs presented. There is time to run with the herd, and against the herd – in both bull and bear trends, constantly reevaluating the rationale for a position, unafraid to turn on a dime when justified.Whatever else bullish or bearish I see technically and fundamentally in rates, inflation and dollar among much else, I‘ll be duly reporting and commenting on as always. It‘s the markets‘ discounting mechanism of the future that counts – just as gold cleared the deflationary corona crash in psring 2020, just as it disregarded the tough Fed tone of 2H 2018, just as it sprang vigorously higher in early 2016 stunning bears in all three cases with sharp losses over many months, or just as stocks stopped declining well before economic news got better in April 2020 or March 2009. Make no mistake, the markets consider transitioning to a higher inflation environment already now (the Fed timidly says that reopening will spike it, well, temporarily they say), when inflation expectations are still relatively low, yet peeking higher based on the Fed‘s own data. Such were my Friday‘s words:(…) Let‘s keep the big picture – gold is in a secular bull market that started in 2018 (if not in late 2015), and what we‘re seeing since the Aug 2020 top, is the soft patch I called. The name of the game now, is where the downside stops – I am not capitulating to (hundreds dollars) lower numbers below $1,650 on a sustainable basis. The new precious metals upleg is a question of time even though the waiting is getting longer than comfortable for many, including myself. Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 Outlook and Its InternalsStrong rebound after more downside was rejected, creating a tweezers bottom formation, with long lower knots. This is suggestive of most of the downside being already in. The Feb 25 upswing had a bearish flavor to it, while the Mar 1 one looked more constructive – and Friday‘s one is from the latter category. That doesn‘t mean though this correction won‘t be in the 5% range. The 3,900 zone is critical for the bulls to pass so as to clear the current precarious almost no man‘s land.The market breadth indicators are actually quite resilient given how far this correction has reached. New highs new lows are holding up still very well, yet they too indicate that this correction has further to go in time. While the bullish percent index still remains in the bullish territory, it indicates how far the correction has progressed technically, and that we can‘t declare the bullish spirits as having returned just yet.Credit MarketsHigh yield corporate bonds (HYG ETF) ilustrate this fragility for they haven‘t rebounded as strongly as stocks. This correction doesn‘t appear to be as really over just yet, also given the sectoral picture that I am showing you next.S&P 500 Sectoral LookTech reversed, but higher volume would be welcome to lend the move more credibility. This sector is still the weakest link in the whole S&P 500 rebound, and not until I see the $NYFANG carve out a sustainable bottom (this needn‘t happen at the 200-day moving average really), I can declare this correction as getting close to over. The bullish take on the volume is that the value sector has undergone strong accumulation, as can be readily seen in the equal weight S&P 500 index (RSP ETF). The above chart shows that cyclicals are performing strongly – with industrials (XLI ETF) and energy (XLE ETF) leading the charge as the tech and defensives are trying to stabilize, and the same is true about consumer discretionaries (XLY ETF).Gold‘s Big Picture ViewGold‘s weekly chart shows two different stages in the reaction to rising long-term rates. The first half was characterized by the two tracking each other rather closely, yet since late Dec, the nominal rates pressure has been abating in strength within the mutual relationship. While TLT plunged, gold didn‘t move down as strongly. Real rates are negative, nominal rates rose fast, and inflation expectations have been trending higher painfully slowly, not reflecting the jump in commodities or the key inflation precursor (food price inflation) just yet – these are the factors pressuring gold as the Fed‘s brinkmanship on inflation goes on. Once the Fed moves to bring long-term rates under control through intervention – hello yield curve control or at least twist – then real rates would would be pressured to drop, which would be a lifeline for gold – the real questions now are how far gold is willing to drop before that, and when that Fed move would happen. Needless to add as a side note regarding the still very good economic growth (the expansion is still young), staglation is what gold would really love.Copper and Silver Big Picture ViewThe red metal keeps rising without end in sight, reflecting both the economic recovery and monetary intervention. This is a very bullish chart with strong implications for other commodities and silver too. That‘s the essence of my favorite play in the precious metals – long silver short gold spread, clearly spelled out as more promising than waiting for gold upswing to arrive while the yellow metals‘ bullish signs have been appearing through Feb only to disappear, reappear, and so on.As you can see, silver performance approximates commodity performance better than gold one. And as the economic recovery goes on, it‘s indeed safer to be a silver bull than a gold bull – another of my early Feb utterances.Miners to Gold Big Picture ViewThis gold sectoral ratio made an encouraging rebound last week, but isn‘t internally as strong as it might appear, because the juniors (GDXJ ETF) aren‘t yet outperforming the seniors (GDX ETF), which had been the case in early 2021 and late in Feb as well – right till I sounded the alarm bells on Feb 23-24. This is precisely why I was not bullish in tone at all in the past week, as gold hadn‘t been acting as strongly now as it had been right before the Feb 22 upswing that I called. And I am missing this ingredient at the moment still.SummaryStock bulls stepped in and repaired much of Thursday‘s damage, flipping the balance of power as more even at the moment. While the medium-term factors favor the bulls, this correction is slated to go on still for longer, as all eyes are on tech (big names) as the deciding sector.Gold still remains acting weak around the lower border of its support zone, silver is refusing to decline more, and signs overall favoring a rebound, are appearing. It‘s still a mixed bag though, with especially gold being far from out of the woods yet.
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

How to Join the Mining Party… Before it Ends

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 08.03.2021 18:39
Forget gold and silver for a moment. Do you hear the music? Yes, it’s coming from the mining ETFs club. But how long will the party last?And more importantly, why miners, you may ask? Because miners tend to outperform in the early days of a major rally.After closing only $0.10 below my initial downside target of $31 on Mar. 1 , the GDX ETF could be ripe for an upward revision. Able to ignore much of last week’s chaos, the GDX ETF’s outperformance of gold and silver signals that the tide has likely turned.Please see below:Figure 1To that point, I warned on Mar. 1 that help was on the way:The GDX ETF has garnered historical support at roughly $29.52. The level also coincides with the early-March high, the mid-April low and the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level. As a result, a corrective upswing to ~$33/$34 could be the miners’ next move.Furthermore, after alerting subscribers on Mar. 4 – writing that when gold moves to $1,692, we’ll automatically open long positions in the miners – the GDX ETF ended Friday’s (Mar. 5) session up by 3.2% from my initial entry of ~$30.80 - $31. Thus, from here, the GDX ETF has roughly 3.8% to 7.0% upside (as of Friday’s close) before the $33/$34 levels signals that the momentum has run its course.For now, though, positioning for more upside offers a solid risk-reward proposition . Prior to the initial decline, miners were weak relative to gold . However, after outperforming on Mar. 5, their steady hand was a sign of short-term strength. If you analyze the chart below, you can see that the size and shape of the current price action actually mirrors what we witnessed back in April.Please see below:Figure 2 - VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX), GDX and Slow Stochastic Oscillator Chart Comparison – 2020For context, I wrote on Mar. 5:Miners stopped their decline practically right in my target area, which I based on the 50% Fibonacci retracement and the 2020 highs and lows. Moreover, the proximity of the $31 level corresponds to the 2019 high and the 2016 high. Since so many support levels coincide at the same price (approximately), the latter is likely to be a very strong support. Moreover, the RSI was just close to 30, which corresponded to short-term buying opportunities quite a few times in the past.In addition, a short-term upswing could provide a potential pathway to $35 – as this level also corresponds with the GDX ETF’s late-February high, its monthly declining resistance line and its 50-day moving average. The abundance of resistance levels – combined with the fact that an upswing would further verify the GDX ETF’s breakdown below the neckline of its potential head and shoulders pattern – should keep the upward momentum in check.Over the medium-term, the potential head and shoulders pattern – marked by the shaded green boxes above – also deserves plenty of attention.For context, I wrote previously:Ever since the mid-September breakdown below the 50-day moving average , the GDX ETF was unable to trigger a substantial and lasting move above this MA. The times when the GDX was able to move above it were also the times when the biggest short-term declines started.(…)The most recent move higher only made the similarity of this shoulder portion of the bearish head-and-shoulders pattern to the left shoulder (figure 2 - both marked with green) bigger. This means that when the GDX breaks below the neck level of the pattern in a decisive way, the implications are likely to be extremely bearish for the next several weeks or months.Due to the uncanny similarity between the two green rectangles, I decided to check what happens if this mirror-similarity continues. I used purple, dashed lines for that. There were two important short-term price swings in April 2020 – one shows the size of the correction and one is a near-vertical move higher.Copying these price moves (purple lines) to the current situation, we get a scenario in which GDX (mining stocks) moves to about $31 and then comes back up to about $34. This would be in perfect tune with what I wrote previously. After breaking below the head-and-shoulders pattern, gold miners would then be likely to verify this breakdown by moving back up to the neck level of the pattern. Then, we would likely see another powerful slide – perhaps to at least $24.This is especially the case, since silver and mining stocks tend to decline particularly strongly if the stock market is declining as well. And while the exact timing of the market’s slide is not 100% clear, stocks’ day of reckoning is coming . And it might be very, very close.As I explained previously, based on the similarities to the 1929 and 2008 declines, it could be the case that the precious metals sector declines for about 3 months after the general stock market tops. And it seems that we won’t have to wait long for the latter. In fact, the next big move lower in stocks might already be underway, as the mid-Feb. 2021 top could have been the final medium-term top.In conclusion, the gold miners should continue to glisten as oversold conditions buoy them back to the $33-$35 range. Due to the GDX ETF’s recent strength, combined with gold rallying off of the lows on Mar. 5, the PMs could enjoy a profitable one-week (or so) party. However, with the celebration likely to be short-lived, it’s important to keep things in perspective. While this week’s performance may elicit superficial confidence, medium-term clouds have already formed. As a result, positioning for an extended rally offers more risk than reward.(We normally include the "Letters to the Editor" section in the full version of Gold & Silver Trading Alerts only, but today I decided to include it also in this free version of the full (about 10x bigger than what you just read) analysis, so that you get the idea of how this part of the analysis looks like. It might be quite informative too. Enjoy:)Letters to the EditorQ: Could you update your thoughts regarding physical [gold and silver] for those looking to acquire additional positions - specifically, what do you think premiums and availability are going to look like when/if spot goes a $100 or $200 down from here? By way of example, I bought some U.S. gold buffaloes at $1854 spot at $1954. Those same coins at $1710 spot are still around $1930, if there are any to be found.A: It’s a tough call, because the premium values don’t follow the technical patterns. Still, based on the analogy to situations that seem similar to what we saw recently, it seems that we can indeed say something about the likely physical values close to the likely $1,450 bottom.Figure 43 - Source: didthesystemcollapse.orgThe above chart shows the eBay premium for 1 oz Gold American Eagle coins over the spot gold price.In April 2020, the premium spiked at about 14%. It was likely even higher in March (we don’t have the direct data), but the volatility back then was bigger than it is right now, so it seems that the current premium and the April 2020 premium values are a better proxy for the future bottoming premiums than the March 2020 bottom premium would be. If the volatility increases, one could see the premium at about 15% or so.With gold at about $1,450, the above-mentioned information means Gold American Eagle coins can cost about $1,670.Still, since gold futures prices seem more predictable than the prices of bullion coins, I’d focus on the former even while timing the purchase of the latter.Moreover, please note that I’m planning to focus on buying mining stocks close to the bottom and move to metals only later. The reason is that miners tend to outperform in the early days of a major rally (just like they did in the first quarter of 2016). The fact that the premium is likely to be high when gold bottoms in a volatile manner is yet another reason for the above. When switching from mining stocks to physical holdings several weeks or months later, one might be buying at a smaller premium over the spot, and also after having gained more on miners than on the metals. Of course, the above is just my opinion, and you can purchase whatever you want – after all, it’s your capital and your investment decisions.Q: Please note that I am glad to see gold moving downwards but I am a little confused – the trading report I just received recommends selling at 1690ish but the mailing previously said 1450ish - please see attached.Could you please investigate and advise.A: If anything in the Gold & Silver Trading Alerts seems confusing, please refer to the “Summary”, the trading/investment positions, and the “Overview of the Upcoming Part of the Decline” sections for clarification. In this case, we exited the remaining short positions when gold hit $1,693 and almost immediately entered long ones (when gold hit $1,692). We now have long positions in the mining stocks with the plan to exit them in a week or so, and re-enter short positions then, because the next big move is likely to be to the downside (perhaps as low as $1,450 or so). Also, the above is just my opinion, not a recommendation or investment advice.Q: Hi P.R., thanks for the advice on this trend, it’s been an amazing trade.As I’m trading on XAUUSD, are you also able to advise the targets for a gold long entry,or should I wait for the final bottom before opening any longs?A: I’m very happy that you’re making profits thanks to my analyses. While I think that the very short-term (for the next 5 trading days or so) outlook for gold, silver and mining stocks is bullish, I think the targets are more predictable for mining stocks than they are for gold and – especially – silver. Still, this time, the short-term upside target for gold is also relatively clear – at about $1,770. That’s why I put the $1,758 in the “For-your-information target” for gold in the “Summary” section below.Q: Are we looking for the short-term upside move to be 1-5 weeks before the final decline into the 1350-1500 zone? I'm a little unsure of the timing you're laying out.A: I’m looking for the short-term upswing to take place between 1 and 3 weeks – that’s the part of the “Overview of the Upcoming Part of the Decline” section about it:It seems to me that the initial bottom has either just formed or is about to form with gold falling to roughly $1,670 - $1,680, likely this week.I expect the rebound to take place during the next 1-3 weeks.After the rebound (perhaps to $33 - $34 in the GDX), I plan to get back in with the short position in the mining stocks.In my opinion it’s most likely that this counter-trend rally will take about 1 – 1.5 weeks. Then, I think that the decline to about $1,450 in gold will start.Q: Thank you for sending out the Alert # 2 with the new changes in the Gold and Silver trades today. This is necessary, so please send out the alert once you enter back to the short positions, please.A: I’m happy that you enjoyed this intraday Alert. I will indeed send you – my subscribers – an intraday confirmation that the long positions were closed and when we enter new short positions. Still, please note that we already have binding profit-take exit prices in place, which means that when prices move to the target levels (e.g., GDX to $33.92), the long positions should be automatically closed, and profits should be taken off the table – even without an additional confirmation from me (it takes time for me to write and send the message and then some time usually passes before one is able to act on my message).Q: You have informed us to make the move when the Gold price “REACHES” $1693.00. My question is; Does the word “Reach” mean when the price touches that point, if only for a moment, or does “Reach” mean when it closes the day at or below $1693.00?Thank you for your response to this question.A: “Reaching” a price means the same thing as “touching” the price or “moving to” the price. This means moving to this price level on an intraday basis – even for just one tick . If I mean closing prices, I will specifically describe them as such.For instance, I currently have binding exit positions for the current long position in the mining stocks – and these are exactly the price levels that I have put in my brokerage account as a limit sell order.Q: Please comment on the Hindenburg Omen for stocks:Figure 44 - Source: RefinitivA: Thanks. The Hindenburg omen is not one of the most reliable indicators - even on the above chart, it’s clear that most of the signals were not followed by declines. Please note how many fake initial signals there were before stocks finally declined in 2019 or 2020. There are many other reasons to think that stocks are going to move much lower, though. In the very short-term they could still move higher, but this move could be fake and could turn out to be the right shoulder of the head-and-shoulders top formation.Q: 1) for shorter-term trades such as the potential 10% pop in the GDX, is NUGT better?2) the plan after we re-enter a short trade when the GDX gets to $33/$34 might mean a longer haul before we hit rock bottom . You have mentioned time-scales up to 20 weeks (ish). Due to a longer holding period , would the CFD route be a cheaper route when compared to NUGT? I’m asking in general terms because each provider imposes different fees and I don’t expect you to comment on the fees charged by IG, which is the service I use.I also recognize that NUGT only offers 2 X leverage, whereas CFD’s offer up to five times leverage.Finally, the manner in which you detail the rich tapestry of the economic forces that impact PMs is revealing and educational. I find this all fascinating.I have my own views which can be summed up like this: How many inflationary false-dawns and panics has the bond market had? Ever since 2008, when the FED launched QE, there have been numerous bouts and hissy fits of inflationary expectations that have subsequently sunk like a dodgy soufflé. I think this time is no different and it’s entirely possible the 30-year bond could drop to ZERO. I am in the deflationary camp.How might the 10 year at zero or possibly sub-zero and longer, out on the duration curve to (TLT ETF) dropping to 0.5%, affect the price of gold?Your thoughts as ever, are much appreciatedA: 1) That depends on whether one seeks leverage or not, and how much thereof. Please note that some short-term trades could sometimes become medium-term trades if the market decides to consolidate or move in the other direction before continuing the predicted trend. In this case, non-leveraged instruments are at an advantage over the leveraged ones, because they don’t suffer from the back-and-forth trading as much as the leveraged ones do.If one’s desired exposure to the GDX ETF wouldn’t exceed the cash that one dedicated to trading, then in order to have the same exposure one would simply have half of the capital employed in NUGT (which is 2x leveraged). This way, the exposure would be identical, but the NUGT would imply additional risk of losing more capital if the trade takes much longer than planned and/or if the price moves adversely first.Please note that there is also an additional way to gain leverage (it’s not available for everyone, though) and that is through the use of margin on one’s brokerage account. I’d prefer to use margin for the GDX before aiming to gain leverage through NUGT.In other words, I’d first use more cash for GDX before I’d go into NUGT. If I wanted to have even bigger exposure than the one achieved by employing more capital to GDX, I would then consider using margin, and then I would consider using NUGT if I still wanted to get more leverage.There might be some traders who would seek to combine both for even bigger leverage (buying NUGT on margin), but this is definitely not something that I’d recommend to most people. In fact, it seems that in many cases, sticking to the GDX would be a good way to go.2) I think I already replied to the first part of your question (NUGT vs. CFD) above. Also, for other people reading this reply – please note that CFDs (contracts for difference) are not available in many areas, including the USA and Canada.I’m glad to read that you enjoy reading my explanations of the current situation in the markets (precisely, my opinions on it).Real interest rates are one of the most important drivers for gold (along with the USD Index), so a drop in the 10-year rates to zero or sub-zero levels would likely be very beneficial for the gold prices.Figure 45Also, based on the pace at which the rates have rallied recently, they might be topping here, but… There was no decline in the previous 40 years that was as big as what we saw between 2018 and 2020. Consequently, the corrective upswing might be bigger as well. Also, the above chart is not necessarily the scale that is big enough to make very long-term conclusions.Figure 46Over the past centuries, whenever the rates fell very low, they then rallied back up with vengeance. After WW2, it theoretically would have been a “good idea” to keep stimulating the economy with low rates – and yet, they soared. Right now, the monetary authorities strive to be very dovish and keep pumping liquidity into the system, and yet the rates are rallying anyway.So, while the analogy to the previous years – or the past few decades – suggests that the rally in the rates might be over or close to being over, the very long-term chart suggests otherwise.To make the situation even more complicated, if the stock market has already topped in February, and we have already entered the Kondratiev winter cycle, it means that we can theoretically expect the rates to fall, then rise in a credit crunch, and then fall much lower.All in all, the outlook for the interest rates is anything but simple and clear. Perhaps what we see right now already IS the credit crunch and the 10-year rates are on their way to above 2% - after all, they used to return above their 200-day moving average after the previous medium-term declines. It seems to me that the move above 2% in the 10-year rates could correspond with gold’s decline below $1,500.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, CFA Founder, 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.
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

9 March 2021

Stock market news Stock market news 09.03.2021 11:47
Savills: 2021 will see the stars align for sale and leaseback transactionsSale and leaseback transactions (S&LB) in Europe reached a total of €8.4bn in 2020, 8.5% higher than the five year average, with the trend set to continue into 2021 according to Savills. Also in Poland, Savills sees an increasing number of companies willing to take the sale and lease back route mainly in industrial and retail sectors.Data from the international real estate advisor shows that although the 2020 volume was 10% lower than 2019, historically there has been a significant correlation between property prices and S&LB activity, which translates into an increasing number of S&LB transactions when yields are moving in. This current period is indeed an ideal time for S&LB transactions to take place as rising prices trigger owner-occupiers’ interest in selling their properties, whilst investment opportunities are scarce on the market.Oli Fraser Looen, Joint Head of Regional Investment Advisory, EMEA, Savills, commented: “The increased need for businesses to find liquidity to shore up balance sheets or make acquisitions in the current and post-Covid environment, will help S&LB transactions to become increasingly popular during 2021. Our view is that H2 2021 will see a record number of corporate-led S&LB deals. These sales will be welcomed by the increasing wall of capital which will be hunting long income assets as they try to match liabilities.”Logistics leadsIn terms of sector breakdowns, logistics popularity continues to gain momentum off the back of rising e-commerce. Lydia Brissy, Director, European Research, Savills, commented: “With limited product on the market, strong competition has naturally driven down yields by around 312 bps to as low as 3% in core locations, over the past 10 years. With strategic footprint, omnichannel improvement and the integration of automation processes to consider, many ecommerce operators are having to inject large investment volumes to maintain market share. As such, a S&LB transaction makes strong commercial sense for some logistics owner-occupiers.”As a result, European logistics S&LB activity increased regularly since the end of 2013 and reached a record level last year, €3.4bn, approximately 15% higher than in 2019. At the same time, the overall logistics investment market increased by 4% only, confirming that limited supply is restraining the overall activity in the sector.In terms of other sectors, retail S&LB transactions were largely confined to supermarket and hypermarket retailers with the grocery sector proving its resilience during country lockdowns. Such resilience has caught investors’ attention seeking to maintain their retail exposure resulting in the compression of supermarket yields. On average across Europe, prime supermarket yields moved in by 14bps between 2019 and 2020 whilst during the same period, prime shopping centre yields softened by 39bps. For offices, despite a strong prime yield compression recorded since 2009 (270bps on average across the major European cities), office S&LB has only risen slightly and sporadically since 2013. Nevertheless last year the office S&LB investment totalled €3.4bn.Lydia Brissy continued: “The office sector has gone through a reassessment of its fundamental role over the past 12 months, leaving most office occupiers in a status quo situation. Although S&LB is one potential exit towards flexibility, potential investors will be wanting to asses the combination of location, occupier sector and covenant in order to consider a purchase.”Location location locationIn terms of geographical spread, it was France that led the charge, by a number of large transactions , including most notably the sale of the future large office scheme named Harmony located in La Garenne-Colombes, which will be the headquarters of Engie.In Germany, which follows as the second biggest S&LB beneficiary, the volume was predominantly boosted the sale of the Hamburg Commercial Bank HQ bought buy Signa Holding and the sale of Randome House from Bertelsmann to Allianz Real Estate.In the Netherlands, the S&LB volume nearly tripled last year, predominantly due to many sales from logisticians, including notably the sale from DSV of a 115,0000 warehouse to Savills IM. Nevertheless, the sale & leaseback of the Jumbo supermarket portfolio was the largest deal recorded last year.In the UK, S&LB activity was also mainly driven by the logistics sector although supermarket brands including most notably Waitrose and LondonMetric have also been active in selling.Focus on PolandLukasz Frominski, Associate Director, Investment, Savills Poland, commented: Over the past two years we have observed that owner occupiers in Poland are becoming more educated in understanding and in turn pursuing a SLB strategy. They see the benefit in this solution to help them boost and grow their business faster in our dynamically expanding and developing economy. Also professional net lease investors are conducting deals in a fast track mode that is particularly attractive to companies who otherwise have to deal with often slow performing banks. To succeed the property owner needs a good story, a strong covenant and attractive real estate.John Palmer, Director, Head of Industrial Investment, Savills Poland, adds: Despite the downward pressure on yields across all jurisdictions, Poland still benefits from a significant and appealing pricing gap compared to Western European opportunities. Therefore a purchaser acquiring a S&L in Poland can purchase an investment, often with the same named corporate covenant found on similar deals in Western Europe, whilst delivering significantly better returns to the ultimate investors.-ends-For further information, please contact:Isabel Stoddart, Savills press office Tel: +44 (0) 7580 587746Jan Zaworski, Communication Manager Tel: +48 (0) 666 363 302Founded in the UK in 1855, Savills is one of the world's leading property agents with 600 offices across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East offering a broad range of specialist advisory, management and transactional services.Should you not wish to receive Savills press releases, please email us at: kontakt.rodo@savills.pl. Click here for our Privacy Policy.
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

STIMULUS AND CONSUMERS ARE THE KEYS TO FURTHER US/GLOBAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY – PART II

Chris Vermeulen Chris Vermeulen 09.03.2021 13:46
This is a continuation of our extended technical review of what my research team and I believe will be required for the US/Global markets to enter a stronger post-COVID-19 recovery phase. If you missed Part I of this research series then you can find it here: www.thetechnicaltraders.com/stimulus-and-consumers-are-the-keys-to-further-us-global-economic-recovery-part-i/. In this Part II, we will look at how potential currency shifts will prompt new trending in various economic sectors.   The past 20+ years have really changed how the markets operate from a standpoint of capital deployment and capital function.  We certainly live in interesting times from a trader and investor perspective. There is more capital floating around the globe right now than ever before... and that changes certain things.The Components Of A Frenzied Global MarketThe first and most notable change is to create volatility at levels we have really never seen before.  The average daily price range on the QQQ or SPY charts is more than 3x historical price range levels.  This simple fact shows that a 1% price range, which used to be considered a moderately large price range for the price to move, is now considered a below normal range.  This new level of volatility has applied to many of the largest SPY and NASDAQ-related stock symbols over the past few years as capital was deployed into various sectors with increasing speed and volition.We profit from volatility by using non-directional options trading strategies.Watch our webinar on How To Become An Options Strategy Master now!The US and global central banks have continued to deploy easy money policies since the 2008-09 Housing/Credit crisis which has perpetuated a Roaring-20s type of mentality throughout the world.  Even though we could point out certain nations that are underperforming economically, generally the world has seen an unprecedented rise in credit, debt, and associated spending capabilities over the past 10+ years.  This level of unusual economic expansion comes with certain consequences, similar to the expansion that led up to the 2008-09 Housing/Credit crisis.It also has to be noted that COVID-19 has really altered the way consumers are engaging in the economy right now.  Online, stay-at-home, avoid outside risks type of activities have really become the new normal. Many sociologists continue to suggest consumers may be slower to move back into old economic habits (pre-COVID-19 spending habits).  This change in how people perceive risks and adopt new economic processes will likely lead to a rise in digital productivity, the adoption of technology solutions, and a change of spending habits, which could prompt a much bigger transition for certain market sectors that have been overlooked recently.Watch Chris and Neil Present at The Mad Hedge Traders and Investors Summit - Click to Register for FREE!One thing that has certainly benefited from COVID-19 is the number of new investors/traders plying their skills (and hard-earned cash) in the markets.  We've never seen anything like this explosive growth in retail market participation over the past 20+ years.  The closest we've come to this level of retail trader participation in the equities and financial markets was in 1998~99 during the height of the DOT COM bubble.  This incredible consumer participation in the global equities trends/trading has helped propel many US major indexes/sectors to incredible heights – and it may not end any time soon.The following Monthly ratio chart, comparing the growth in the QQQ, SPY, and GOLD since January 1, 2009 (the anchor price) highlights how the frenzy of investing really started to accelerate after 2012 and began to move into a parabolic trend in 2016.  If you follow the MAGENTA QQQ ratio after the vertical dateline on this chart, you will see how early 2017 started a dramatic acceleration in volatility and trending as the QQQ accelerated higher by more than +186%.  Meanwhile, the SPY, which was somewhat overlooked throughout this rally phase, moved higher by only +85%.Where is the Consumer?  Has The Consumer Really Retreated Because Of COVID-19?One prime example of this frenzy is this recent Yahoo! Finance story about burned Banksy Art which sold for over $390,000 as a Non-Fungible Token. The idea that anyone would buy a burned piece of art for this price shows that money has turned into a game for some people.  The gamification of wealth has likely transitioned into global social thinking in ways that we have not even considered yet.Even though we've highlighted how the global equity/financial markets have rallied considerably over the past 5+ years, we still need to see the consumer reenter the economy in a more traditional sense. This M1 Velocity of Money chart shows that after the 2009 peak, the velocity of money, the rate at which money is exchanged within an economy, has collapsed to levels we have not seen in 60+ years, and quite possibly below levels relative to the Great Depression (1930s).So, what's happening in the world right now to present these types of charts/data?  How can the world be flush with capital/cash and the data show that the consumer is still actively engaged in purchasing various items, which include very active engagement in the global equity markets and speculative trading positions, while the M1 Velocity of Money data shows an incredible collapse after COVID-19 hit?The answer is simple.  The US Federal Reserve has pushed more cash into the global economy over the past 10+ years than at any time in history (more than $16 Trillion since 2009).  Prior to that date the total amount of capital/debt the US Fed only pushed a total of $10.6 Trillion into the economy over a 40-year time span.  There is nearly 3x the total number of US dollars floating around the globe right now than at any time since prior to the 1950s.Eventually, we are certain that, this extended cash will translate into GDP growth – which will strengthen the Velocity of Money ratio over time.  What it will take is for the economy and the consumer to transition into a new form of expansion related to the post-COVID-19/post Technology euphoria that is currently taking place.Over the next 20 to 30+ years, we are going to see some very big trends in various sectors and commodities.  The global central banks have pushed so much capital out into the world that, once it finds its true economic purpose, we believe the function of this capital will be deployed into various economic components in ways we have not even considered yet.  New industry, new forms of consumer products, and consumer participation will likely evolve where capital can be put to use to improve the GDP levels.  Cryptos may be the start, a stepping stone, toward a much more dynamic solution for how capital is used and deployed within the global marketplace.Don’t miss the opportunities to profit from the broad market sector rotations we expect this year, which will be an incredible year for traders of my Best Asset Now (BAN) strategy.  You can sign up now for my FREE webinar that teaches you how to find, enter, and profit from only those sectors that have the most strength and momentum. Staying ahead of sector trends is going to be key to success in volatile markets.For those who believe in the power of trading sectors that show relative strength and momentum but don’t have the time to do the research every day, let my BAN Trader Pro newsletter service do all the work for you with daily market reports, research, and trade alerts. More frequent or experienced traders have been killing it trading options, ETFs, and stocks using my BAN Hotlist ranking the hottest ETFs, which is updated daily for my BAN Trader Pro subscribers.In Part III of this research article, my team and I will continue to explore the future possibilities and make some suggestions as to how you can prepare for these big trends right now.  Remember, this is a longer-term outlook of opportunities for traders/investors.  The real gains related to this research will come 5 to 10+ years out into the future if you are able to identify how and where capital is being deployed for gains. Have a great day!
Asia Morning Bites: Singapore Industrial Production and Global Market Updates

Gold Drops below $1,700, while Senate Passes Biden’s Plan

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 09.03.2021 14:14
Gold remains inert to President Biden’s large and hazardous economic plan, and ended up dropping below $1,700.President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus is coming! On Saturday, the U.S. Senate passed the American Rescue Plan on a party-line 50-49 vote. This means that after the House’s vote on Tuesday, Biden could sign the bill into law soon, and those $1,400 payments to most Americans could start to go out as soon as this month.The final bill includes not only $400 billion in checks of $1,400 to most Americans, but also $300 a week in extended unemployment benefits, and $350 billion in aid to state and local governments.The American Rescue Plan would be one of the largest stimulus packages in U.S. history. It would also be one of the most frivolous and superfluous economic programs. There is simply no need for such a large plan. Please take a look at the chart below.As one can see, U.S. personal income has increased during the pandemic, not decreased. Once again, people are now receiving higher income than one year ago. So, Biden’s stimulus with another round of $1,400 checks is not economically or socially justified.Indeed, the U.S. economy is already recovering. On Friday (Mar. 5), we got surprisingly good data about the American labor market , that showed the economy added 379,000 jobs in February, much above expectations. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has slightly decreased further, as one can see in the chart below. Employment is still down by 9.5 million, or 6.2 percent, from the pre-pandemic level seen one year ago, but additional unemployment benefits or plain checks will not help bring people back into employment – in fact, the effect may turn out to be the reverse.Hence, Biden’s fiscal stimulus will bring little benefit to the economy, while significantly expanding the federal debt and risking overheating the economy. Indeed, the plan is estimated to increase the already high public debt (see the chart below) by an additional ten percentage points as a share of GDP .Implications for GoldWhat does this all mean for gold prices? From the fundamental point of view, Biden’s plan should be positive for the yellow metal. This is because it can increase inflation in the long-run, if people finally decide to spend all the money they got from Uncle Sam. It will not happen in the immediate future, as households will initially save the received payments, and some of them will repay their debts, but they are likely to spend more this year, to compensate for curbed consumption in 2020.However, whether Biden’s plan turns out inflationary or not, it will expand the already mammoth public debt. It should weaken the position of the greenback and increase the odds for a debt crisis or paying out this debt through inflation or financial repression. The higher the debt, the more difficult it will be for the Fed to normalize interest rates (welcome to the debt trap , my friends). All these factors should support gold prices in the long run.However, gold remains deaf to Biden’s disharmonious symphony. Indeed, as the chart below shows, the yellow metal has declined below the important level of $1,700 last week. It seems that the fiscal stimulus (together with the rollout of vaccinations and the economic recovery) has so far strengthened the risk appetite among investors who don’t focus on long-term consequences of the fiscal stimulus.This may change one day, but the sentiment in the gold market is clearly negative right now, and the fundamentals are more positive. The fundamentals may come to the fore in the end. However, gold may struggle further, especially if real interest rates go up again.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
Stocks Shaking Off Weak Tech As Gold Bottoms?

Stocks Shaking Off Weak Tech As Gold Bottoms?

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 09.03.2021 15:28
Stocks spiked higher, but not before going sideways to down prior on the day. And the close to the session hasn‘t been convincing either – does it count as a reversal? In my view, we haven‘t seen one yesterday really, regardless of this correction not being over just yet. There are still some cracks I tweeted yesterday about in need closing first, such as the worrying corporate bonds performance, manifest in the HYG:SHY ratio, or the tech searching for the bottom (it‘s $NYFANG precisely). Quoting from yesterday‘s extensive analysis spanning beyond stocks, metals and the Fed:(…) Stocks have had a great run over the past 4 months, getting a bit ahead of themselves in some aspects such as valuations. Then, grappling with the rising long-term rates did strike.So did inflation fears, especially when looking at commodities. Inflation expectations are rising, but not galloping yet. What to make of the rising rates then? They‘re up for all the good reasons – the economy is growing strongly after the Q4 corona restrictions (I actually expect not the conservative 5% Q1 GDP growth, but over 8% at least) while inflation expectations are lagging behind. In other words, the reflation (of economic growth) is working and hasn‘t turned into inflation (rising or roughly stable inflation expectations while the economy‘s growth is slowing down). We‘re more than a few quarters from that – I fully expect really biting inflation (supported by overheating in the job market) to be an 2022-3 affair. As regards S&P 500 sectors, would you really expect financials and energy do as greatly as they do if the prospects were darkening?Stocks are well positioned to keep absorbing the rising nominal rates. What has been the issue, was the extraordinarily steep pace of such move, leaving long-term Treasuries trading historically very extended compared to their 50-day moving averages. While they can snap back over the next 1-2 weeks, the 10y Treasury bond yield again breaking 1.50% is a testament to the Fed not willing to do anything at the moment. Little does the central bank care about commodities moves, when it didn‘t consider any market moves thus far as unruly.Gold market offered proof of being finally ready for a rebound, and it‘s visible in the closing prices of the yellow metal and its miners. Being more than a one day occurence, supported by yesterday presented big picture signals, the market confirmed my yesterday‘s suggestion of an upcoming gold. It appears we‘ll get more than a few days to assess the legs this rally is made of, facilitating nimble charting of the waters ahead my usual way:(…) Just as I was calling out gold as overheated in Aug 2020 and prone to a real soft patch, some signs of internal strength in the precious metals sector were present this Feb already. And now as we have been testing for quite a few days the first support in my game plan, we‘re getting once again close to a bullish formation that I called precisely to a day, and had been banging the bearish gold drum for the following two days, anticipating the downside that followed. Flexibility and broad horizons result in accentuated, numerous other portfolio calls – such as long Bitcoin at $32,275 or long oil at $58 practically since the great return with my very own site. We‘re now on the doorstep of visible, positive price outperformance in the gold miners (GDX ETF) as gold prices didn‘t break the higher bullish trend by declining through both the Mar 4 presented supports of my game plan. As I wrote yesterday, if prices move higher from here, they have simply bounced off support, especially given the accompanying signs presented, not the least of which is the dollar getting back under pressure. Make no mistake, the greenback isn‘t in a bull market – it‘s merely consolidation before plunging to new 2021 lows. I have not been presenting any USDX declining resistance lines and breakout arguments, because prices can be both above such a line, and lower than at the moment of „breakout“ at the same time – ultimately, rising and declining supports and resistances are a play on the speed of the move, where pure inertia / deceleration / reprieve doesn‘t break the prior, higher trend. And as I called in summer 2020 the dollar to roll over and keep plunging, that‘s still what‘s unfolding.How does it tie in to commodities and stocks? We‘re not at extreme moves in either, and I see copper, iron, oil, agrifoods as benefiting from the reflationary efforts greatly. Similarly and in spite of the $NYFANG travails, it would be ill-advised to search for stock market tops now (have you seen how well the Dow Industrials is doing?) – no, we‘re not approaching a top that I would need to call the way I did in the early Sep buying climax. This is still the time to be running with the herd, and not against it – you can ignore the noise to the contrary for both the S&P 500 and commodities have a good year ahead. As for precious metals, we might have seen the bottom already – and in any case by the current shape of things, I don‘t see it occuring quarters ahead and hundreds buck lower.Bringing up the constant reevaluation of position‘s rationale, market reactions and narratives:(…) It‘s the markets‘ discounting mechanism of the future that counts – just as gold cleared the deflationary corona crash in psring 2020, just as it disregarded the tough Fed tone of 2H 2018, just as it sprang vigorously higher in early 2016 stunning bears in all three cases with sharp losses over many months, or just as stocks stopped declining well before economic news got better in April 2020 or March 2009. Make no mistake, the markets consider transitioning to a higher inflation environment already now (the Fed timidly says that reopening will spike it, well, temporarily they say), when inflation expectations are still relatively low, yet peeking higher based on the Fed‘s own data. Gold is in a secular bull market that started in 2018 (if not in late 2015), and what we‘re seeing since the Aug 2020 top, is the soft patch I called. The name of the game now, is where the downside stops – and it‘s one of the scenarios that it has just happened, especially if gold convincingly closed back above $1,720 without undue delay.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookWe have seen two intraday reversals to the downside yesterday, yet I think the effects would prove a temporary obstacle to the bulls only. Such candlestick patterns usually slow down the advance, but don‘t end it – and that‘s consistent with my yesterday‘s words of most of the downside being already in. Once the 3,900 zone is confidently passed, the bears would have missed the chance to reach below Thursday‘s lows.Credit MarketsHigh yield corporate bonds (HYG ETF) still ilustrate ongoing fragility for they have plunged below their Feb lows. This correction doesn‘t appear to be as totally over just yet, also given the sectoral picture that I am showing you next.Put/Call Ratio and VolatilityOption players clearly aren‘t concerned by yesterday‘s S&P 500 price action, and the VIX is painting a similarly neutral picture – just as the sentiment overall. Very good, we‘re primed to go higher next, from a starting position far away from the extreme greed levels.Technology and ValueThe sectoral divergence continues, and tech is still the weakest link in the whole S&P 500 rebound. The big $NYFANG names, the Teslas of this world, are the biggest drag, and not until these carve out a sustainable bottom (this needn‘t happen at the 200-day moving average really), I can declare this correction as getting close to over. It‘s the cyclicals, it‘s value stocks that is pulling the 500-strong index ahead, with financials (XLF ETF), industrials (XLI ETF) and energy (XLE ETF) leading the charge.Treasuries and DollarNominal, long-term Treasury rates have at least slowed their quickening Feb pace, even in the face of no action plan on the table by the Fed – the dollar moved higher on the realization next, and it‘s my view that once new Fed intervention is raised, it would have tremendous implications for the dollar, and last but not least – the precious metals.Gold and SilverFinally, this is the much awaited sign, enabling me to sound some bullish tone in gold again – the miners are outperforming the yellow metal with more than a daily credibility, which I view as key given the lackluster gold price action before yesterday (absence of intraday rebounds coupled with more downside attempts). It would turn stronger once the gold juniors start outperforming the seniors, which is not the case yet.Coupled with the 4-chart big picture view from yesterday, it‘s my view that the gold market is laying the groundwork for its turning:(…) Real rates are negative, nominal rates rose fast, and inflation expectations have been trending higher painfully slowly, not reflecting the jump in commodities or the key inflation precursor (food price inflation) just yet – these are the factors pressuring gold as the Fed‘s brinkmanship on inflation goes on. Once the Fed moves to bring long-term rates under control through intervention – hello yield curve control or at least twist – then real rates would would be pressured to drop, which would be a lifeline for gold – the real questions now are how far gold is willing to drop before that, and when that Fed move would happen. Needless to add as a side note regarding the still very good economic growth (the expansion is still young), stagflation is what gold would really love.Silver is carving out a bottom while both copper and platinum are turning higher already – these are That‘s the essence of one of my many profitable plays presented thus far – long silver short gold spread – clearly spelled out as more promising than waiting for gold upswing to arrive while the yellow metals‘ bullish signs have been appearing through Feb only to disappear, reappear, and so on.SummaryStocks haven‘t seen a real reversal yesterday, but more backing and filling till the tech finds bottom, appears due. The medium-term factors favor the bulls, but this correction isn‘t over yet, definitely not in time.Now, gold can show some strength – and silver naturally even more. The signs overall favoring a rebound, are appearing with increasing clarity for the short term, and the nearest weeks will show whether we have made a sustainable bottom already, or whether the $1,670 zone will get tested thoroughly. The bulls have the upper hand now.
European Central Bank's Potential Minimum Reserve Increase Sparks Concerns

That’s Why You Buy the Dips

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 10.03.2021 14:41
Days like Tuesday (Mar. 9) are why you buy the dips. It was nothing short of a reverse rotation from what we’ve seen as of late. Bond yields moved lower; tech stocks popped.That’s why I called BUY on the Nasdaq.Inflation fears and the acceleration of bond yields are still a concern. But it looks as if things are stabilizing, at least for one day. The lesson here, though, is to be bold, a little contrarian, and block out the noise.Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that recent sessions have been characterized by accelerating bond yields driving a rotation out of high growth tech stocks into value and cyclical stocks that would benefit the most from an economic recovery. The Nasdaq touched correction territory twice in the last week and gave up its gains for the year.But imagine if you bought the dip as I recommended.The Nasdaq on Tuesday (Mar. 9) popped 3.7% for its best day since November. Cathie Wood’s Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) surged more than 10% for its best day ever after tanking by over 30%. Semiconductors also rallied 6%.Other tech/growth names had themselves a day too: Tesla (TSLA) +20%, Nvidia (NVDA) +8%, Adobe (ADBE) +4.3%, Amazon +3.8%, Apple (AAPL) +4.1%, and Facebook (FB) +4.1%.In keeping with the theme of buying the dip, do you also know what happened a year ago yesterday to the date? The Dow tanked 7.8%!There’s no way to time the market correctly. If you bought the Dow mirroring SPDR DJIA ETF (DIA) last March 9, you’d have still seen two weeks of pain until the bottom. However, you’d have also seen a gain of almost 36% if you bought that dip and held on until now.Look, I get there are concerns and fears right now. The speed at which bond yields have risen is concerning, and the fact that another $1.9 trillion is about to be pumped into a reopening economy makes inflation a foregone conclusion. But let’s have a little perspective here.Bond yields are still at a historically low level, and the Fed Funds Rate remains 0%.So is the downturn overblown and already finished?Time will tell. I think that we could still see some volatile movements over the next few weeks as bond yields stabilize and the market figures itself out. While I maintain that I do not foresee a crash like what we saw last March and feel that the wheels remain in motion for an excellent 2021, Mr. Market has to figure itself out.A correction of some sort is still very possible. I mean, the Nasdaq’s already hit correction territory twice in the last week and is still about 3-4% away from returning to one. But don’t fret. Corrections are healthy and normal market behavior. Only twice in the last 38 years have we had years WITHOUT a correction (1995 and 2017).Most importantly, a correction right now would be an excellent buying opportunity. Just look at the Nasdaq Tuesday (Mar. 9).It can be a very tricky time for investors right now. But never, ever, trade with emotion. Buy low, sell high, and be a little bit contrarian. There could be some more short-term pain, yes. But if you sat out last March when others bought, you are probably very disappointed in yourself. Be cautious, but be a little bold too.You can never time the market.My goal for these updates is to educate you, give you ideas, and help you manage money like I did when I was pressing the buy and sell buttons for $600+ million in assets. I left that career to pursue one to help people who needed help instead of the ultra-high net worth.With that said, to sum it up:There is optimism but signs of concern. The market has to figure itself out. A further downturn is possible, but I don’t think that a decline above ~20%, leading to a bear market, will happen any time soon.Hopefully, you find my insights enlightening. I welcome your thoughts and questions and wish you the best of luck. Nasdaq- That’s Why I Called BUYFigure 1- Nasdaq Composite Index $COMPFor the second time in a week, the Nasdaq hit correction territory and rocketed out of it. It saw its best day since November and proved once again that with the Nasdaq, you always follow the RSI. There could be more uncertainty over the next few weeks as both the bond market and equity market figure themselves out. However, the Nasdaq declines were very buyable, as I predicted.If you bought the dip before Tuesday’s (Mar. 9) session, good on you. Be a little bit bold and fearless right now. Take Ark Funds guru Cathie Wood, for example. Many old school investors scoffed at her comments on Monday (Mar. 8) after she practically doubled down on her bullishness for her funds and the market as a whole. After crushing 2020, her Ark Innovation Fund (ARKK) tanked over 30%. Many called her the face of a bubble. Many laughed at her.Tuesday, March 9, ARKK saw its best day in history.I’m not saying that we’re out of the woods with tech. All I’m saying is don’t try to time the market, don’t get scared and have perspective.The Nasdaq is once again roughly flat for the year, its RSI is closer to oversold than overbought, and we’re still below the 50-day moving average, near a 2-month low, and right around support at 13000.It can’t hurt to start nibbling now. There could be some more short-term pain, but if you waited for that perfect moment to start buying a year ago when it looked like the world was ending, you wouldn’t have gained as much as you could have.I think the key here is to “selectively buy.” I remain bullish on tech, especially for sub-sectors such as cloud computing, e-commerce, and fintech.Mike Wilson , chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley, had this to say about recent tech slides- “I don’t think this is the end of the bull market or the end of tech stocks per se, but it was an adjustment that was very necessary.”I like the levels we’re at, and despite the possibility of more “adjustments” in the short-run, it’s a good time to BUY. But just be mindful of the RSI, and don’t buy risky assets. Find emerging tech sectors or high-quality companies trading at a discount.For an ETF that attempts to correlate with the performance of the NASDAQ directly, the Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) is a good option.For more of my thoughts on the market, such as when small-caps will be buyable, more thoughts on inflation, and emerging market opportunities, sign up for my premium analysis today.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. I encourage you to sign up for our daily newsletter - it's absolutely free and if you don't like it, you can unsubscribe with just 2 clicks. If you sign up today, you'll also get 7 days of free access to the premium daily Stock Trading Alerts as well as our other Alerts. Sign up for the free newsletter today!Thank you.Matthew Levy, CFA Stock Trading Strategist Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care* * * * *All essays, research, and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Matthew Levy, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses were 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 believed to be accurate, Matthew Levy, 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. Levy is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Matthew Levy, CFA’s 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. Matthew Levy, 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.
Big Trading Week for Stock Markets

Big Trading Week for Stock Markets

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 15.03.2021 14:51
Last week went a lot better than the week before. Especially if you’re a Nasdaq bull and bought the dip ( like I recommended Feb 24 ).The real story, though? We’ve still got the Dow, S&P, and Russell firmly at record highs.This week should be full of excitement for the indexes. Will we see more record highs? Will the Nasdaq catch up and recover? How will the newly signed $1.9 trillion “America Rescue Plan” impact the market? Will inflation fears and accelerating bond yields spook investors again?As you can see, there are clearly questions right now for stocks- despite the wheels in motion for pent-up consumer spending and a strong stock rally. Plus, we’ll start having many retail investors with an extra $1,400 to spend looking to have a little fun.Inflation fears and surging bond yields are still a concern and have caused significant volatility for growth stocks. But let’s have a little perspective here. Bond yields are still at a historically low level, and the Fed Funds Rate remains 0%. Plus, jobless claims beat estimates again and came in at 712,000. This is nearly the lowest they’ve been in a whole year. Last week’s inflation data also came in more tamer than expected.So what should you pay attention to this week?More inflation data, jobless claims, and consumer sentiment will be released throughout the week, for one.But pay incredibly close attention to the Fed. Bonds still remain the market’s biggest wild card. With the Fed meeting Tuesday and Wednesday, bond yields could take their cue from what they say. No action is expected to be taken, and the Fed is expected to indicate more substantial growth. Fed officials are also not expected to alter their interest rate outlook and may stick to the plan of keeping rates this low through 2023.If this goes as expected, bond yields could potentially pop again, reinvigorating the rotation into value and cyclical plays and out of tech and growth plays.Time will tell what happens.My goal for these updates is to educate you, give you ideas, and help you manage money like I did when I was pressing the buy and sell buttons for $600+ million in assets. I left that career to pursue one to help people who needed help instead of the ultra-high net worth.With that said, to sum it up:There is optimism but signs of concern. The market has to figure itself out. A further downturn is possible, but I don’t think that a decline above ~20%, leading to a bear market, will happen any time soon.Hopefully, you find my insights enlightening. I welcome your thoughts and questions and wish you the best of luck. Is the Dow *Gulp* Overbought?Figure 1- Dow Jones Industrial Average $INDUNot much new to report on this. Except for that, it keeps ticking up towards overbought territory and hitting record highs. Year-to-date, we’re now up about 7.1%- almost double what the S&P and Nasdaq have done so far this year.It also managed to gain over 4% this past week.I don’t feel that we’re buyable at all right now. If you have exposure, HOLD and let it ride. Maybe start to consider taking some profits too.The index could greatly benefit from the stimulus package due to all of the cyclical stocks it holds. I can definitely foresee some pops in the index as investors digest the unprecedented amount of money being pumped into the economy, coupled with reopening excitement. But you can’t expect the index to keep going up like this and setting records every day. Plus, the RSI is almost 69 and showing overbought signs.So, where do we go from here?Many analysts believe the index could end the year at 35,000, and the wheels are in motion for a furious rally. But you could do better for a buyable entry point.From my end, I’d prefer to stay patient, assess the situation, and find better buying opportunities.My call on the Dow stays a HOLD, but we’re approaching SELL.For an ETF that aims to correlate with the Dow’s performance, the SPDR Dow Jones ETF (DIA) is a reliable option.For more of my thoughts on the market, such as tech, if small-caps are buyable, inflation, and emerging market opportunities, sign up for my premium analysis today.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. I encourage you to sign up for our daily newsletter - it's absolutely free and if you don't like it, you can unsubscribe with just 2 clicks. If you sign up today, you'll also get 7 days of free access to the premium daily Stock Trading Alerts as well as our other Alerts. Sign up for the free newsletter today!Thank you.Matthew Levy, CFA Stock Trading Strategist Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care* * * * *All essays, research, and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Matthew Levy, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses were 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 believed to be accurate, Matthew Levy, 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. Levy is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Matthew Levy, CFA’s 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. Matthew Levy, 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.
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

Are The US Markets Sending A Warning Sign?

Chris Vermeulen Chris Vermeulen 16.03.2021 01:05
After an incredible rally phase that initiated just one day before the US elections in November 2020, we've seen certain sectors rally extensively.  Are the markets starting to warn us that this rally phase may be stalling?  We noticed very early that some of the strongest sectors appear to be moderately weaker on the first day of trading this week.  Is it because of Triple-Witching this week (Friday, March 19, 2021)?  Or is it because the Treasury Yields continue to move slowly higher?  What's really happening right now and should traders/investors be cautious?The following XLF Weekly chart shows how the Financial sector rallied above the upper YELLOW price channel, which was set from the 2018 and pre COVID-19 2020 highs.  Early 2021 was very good for the financial sector overall, we saw a 40%+ rally in this over just 6 months on expectations that the US economy would transition into a growth phase as the new COVID vaccines are introduced. Be sure to sign up for our FREE market trend analysis and signals now so you don’t miss our next special report!We are also concerned about an early TWEEZERS TOP pattern that has set up early this week.  If price continues to move lower as we progress through futures contract expiration week, FOMC, and other data this week, then we may see some strong resistance setting up near $35.25.  Have the markets gotten ahead of themselves recently?  Could we be setting up for a moderately deeper pullback in price soon?The following SSO, ProShares S&P 500 ETF Weekly chart, shows a similar setup.  Although the rally in the SSO is not quite the same range as the XLF, we are seeing a solid TWEEZERS TOP pattern setup on the SSO chart over a period of many weeks.  We also found the moderate weakness in the US indexes interesting this morning.  Last week, we continued to see very strong buying trends.  Today, we see those trends have almost vanished.  Are the markets setting near highs waiting for some announcement or news to push them into a new trend?The US stock markets have not experienced a moderate price pullback since August 2020 – when the SPY pulled back almost 11%.  Volatility is still quite high with 2% to 3%+ swings between trading days.  A moderate pullback from these levels could represent another -8.5% to -14% decline before true support is found.Watching the Yields, Precious Metals, and the moderate weakness in trend that started this trading week, we can only suggest that active traders/investors remain moderately cautious.  Our BAN Trader Pro strategy is currently 100% CASH (no trades) for a reason.  Pay attention to this rotation in the markets and the moderate weakness recently.Don’t miss the opportunities to profit from the broad market sector rotations we expect this year, which will be an incredible year for traders of my Best Asset Now (BAN) strategy.  You can sign up now for my FREE webinar that teaches you how to find, enter, and profit from only those sectors that have the most strength and momentum. Staying ahead of sector trends is going to be key to success in volatile markets.For those who believe in the power of trading sectors that show relative strength and momentum but don’t have the time to do the research every day, let my BAN Trader Pro newsletter service do all the work for you with daily market reports, research, and trade alerts. More frequent or experienced traders have been killing it trading options, ETFs, and stocks using my BAN Hotlist ranking the hottest ETFs, which is updated daily for my BAN Trader Pro subscribers.Have a great week!
Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Sectors: Key Challenges and Pathways Forward

ECB Accelerates Its Asset Purchases. Gold Needs Fed to Follow Suit

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 16.03.2021 16:16
The ECB accelerated its asset purchases, but unless the Fed follows suit, gold may continue its bearish trend.On Thursday (Mar. 11), the European Central Bank decided to accelerate its asset buying under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program :Based on a joint assessment of financing conditions and the inflation outlook, the Governing Council expects purchases under the PEPP over the next quarter to be conducted at a significantly higher pace than during the first months of this year.The decision came after a rise in the European bond yields that has mirrored a similar move in the U.S. Treasuries (see the chart below). Christine Lagarde , the ECB President, was afraid that increasing borrowing costs could hamper the economic recovery, so she decided to talk down the bond yields.Indeed, the growth forecasts for the EU have deteriorated recently amid the persistence of the pandemic and painfully slow rollout of the vaccines. According to the ECB, the real GDP of the bloc is likely to contract again in the first quarter of the year. So, the increase in the market interest rates could additionally drag down the already fragile economic recovery:Market interest rates have increased since the start of the year, which poses a risk to wider financing conditions. Banks use risk-free interest rates and sovereign bond yields as key references for determining credit conditions. If sizeable and persistent, increases in these market interest rates, when left unchecked, could translate into a premature tightening of financing conditions for all sectors of the economy. This is undesirable at a time when preserving favourable financing conditions still remains necessary to reduce uncertainty and bolster confidence, thereby underpinning economic activity and safeguarding medium-term price stability.Implications for GoldWhat does this all mean for gold prices? Well, the ECB’s move should prove rather negative for the price of gold , at least initially. This is because the loosening of the European monetary policy could weaken both the euro and gold against the U.S. dollar. Indeed, as the chart below shows, although the price of gold increased on Thursday, it declined one day later.Moreover, the acceleration in the ECB’s quantitative easing could further widen the divergence in the interest rates (that started rising in the third quarter of 2020, as one can see in the chart below) between the U.S. and the EU, which should also support the greenback at the expense of the yellow metal.On the other hand, the fact that the ECB has intervened in the markets – announcing acceleration in the pace of its asset buying program, after a certain rebound in the bond yields – could turn out to be positive for gold prices, at least in the long-run. This is because it shows how fragile the modern economies are and how dependent they have become on cheap borrowing guaranteed by the central banks.As I noticed earlier in the past, we are in the debt trap – and the central banks will not allow for the true normalization of the interest rates. The latest ECB’s action is the best confirmation that suppression of the real interest rates will continue, thus supporting gold prices. After all, the ECB has effectively put a cap on bond yields, introducing an informal yield curve control.So far, only the ECB has intervened in the markets, but other central banks could follow suit. This week, the Fed will announce its decision on the monetary policy. And we cannot exclude that the American central bank will also signal a more dovish stance to calm the turmoil in the bond markets and prevent further increases in the interest rates. One thing is certain: gold needs some fresh dovish hints from the Fed to go up. Unless the Fed further eases its stance, I’m afraid that gold will continue its bearish trend .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
Asia Morning Bites: Singapore Industrial Production and Global Market Updates

Intraday Market Analysis – Gold Consolidates Gains

John Benjamin John Benjamin 17.03.2021 08:27
XAUUSD builds support for a comebackA weaker US dollar has offered gold the opportunity to make a comeback just ahead of the Fed meeting later today.After having established a base at the round number 1700 the precious metal is struggling to clear the resistance at 1740, which coincides with the 20-day moving average. A neutral RSI suggests there is still room on the upside and a bullish breakout could add an extra $20 to the ounce (1760).However, in the case of a retreat below 1700, the price action is likely to go sideways and test the previous support at 1675.USDCAD capped by the falling trendlineThe Canadian dollar rises further as improvements in the domestic economy may lead the central bank to cut back on its QE.The bearish trendline from March 2020 has so far contained the US dollar’s multiple rebounds. The break below 1.2470 has confirmed that sellers are still in control.As the RSI dipped into the oversold area, short-term traders may take profit and cause a brief bounce. The zone between the psychological level of 1.2600 and the trendline is where strong selling interests would be.EURJPY tumbles to the trendlineThe euro took a hit after the suspension of the AstraZeneca shots caused a hiatus in the vaccine campaign across the continent.A diverging RSI in the overbought zone suggests an overextension and a loss in the bullish momentum. The pair is testing the rising trendline as the RSI goes into oversold. A failure to bounce back could send the price to the 20-day moving average (128.85).On the upside, 130.40 may keep a lid on the price action for the next few days.
Asia Morning Bites: Trade Data from Australia, Taiwan Inflation, and US Fed Minutes Highlighted

Stock March Madness - Who you got?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 17.03.2021 14:42
Prepare yourself. March Madness could be here. No, I’m not talking about the college basketball tourney either.Stocks will be hanging onto Jay Powell’s every word and every breath on Wednesday (Mar. 17) and scrutinize his thoughts on interest rates and inflation.Pretty much, we’re the Fed’s hostages until this thing gets some clarity. Even if Powell says nothing, the markets will move. That’s just how it’s going to work.Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s CIO for global fixed income, echoed this statement. “I think the last press conference, I think I watched with one eye and listened with one ear. This one I’m going to be tuned in to every word and the markets are going to be tuned in to every word. If he says nothing, it will move markets. If he says a lot, it will move markets.”Jay Powell is the biggest market mover in the game now. What’s coronavirus anymore?So far, it’s been a relatively tame week for the indices. The Nasdaq’s continued playing catch-up and has outperformed, while the Dow and S&P are still hovering around record highs.The wheels are in motion for pent-up consumer spending and a strong stock rally. Plus, we have that $1.9 trillion stimulus package heating up the economy and an army of retail traders with an extra $1,400 to play with.Inflation fears and surging bond yields are still a concern and have caused significant volatility for growth stocks. But let’s have a little perspective here. Plus, jobless claims beat estimates again and came in at 712,000. This is nearly the lowest they’ve been in a whole year. Last week’s inflation data also came in more tamer than expected.But bonds yields still remain the market’s biggest wild card. Yes, yields are still at a historically low level, and the Fed Funds Rate remains 0%. But depending on how things go around 2 pm Wednesday (Mar. 17), yields could potentially pop again, reinvigorating the rotation into value and cyclical plays and out of tech and growth plays.Time will tell what happens.My goal for these updates is to educate you, give you ideas, and help you manage money like I did when I was pressing the buy and sell buttons for $600+ million in assets. I left that career to pursue one to help people who needed help instead of the ultra-high net worth.With that said, to sum it up:There is optimism but signs of concern. The market has to figure itself out. A further downturn is possible, but I don’t think that a decline above ~20%, leading to a bear market, will happen any time soon.Hopefully, you find my insights enlightening. I welcome your thoughts and questions and wish you the best of luck. Russell 2000- Lessons LearnedFigure 1- iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM)The Russell 2000 was the biggest laggard on Tuesday (Mar. 16). I think I’m starting to figure this index out, though, for a solid entry point.I have been kicking myself for not calling BUY on the Russell after seeing a minor downturn when the markets got rocked in the second half of February. I may have broken my own rule about “not timing the market” also. I’ve wanted to buy the Russell 2000 badly forever but never thought it dipped hard enough (whenever it did). I was waiting for it to at least approach a correction.But I think I figured out a pattern now. Notice what happened with the Russell almost every time it touched or minorly declined below its 50-day moving average. It reversed. Look at the above chart. Excluding the large crash and subsequent recovery in late-March and April 2020, 5 out of the last 6 times the Russell did this with its 50-day, it saw a sharp reversal. The only time it didn’t was in October 2020, when the distance between its 50-day and its 200-day moving average was a lot more narrow.Now, look at the index. As tracked by iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) , its rally since November and year-to-date have been mind-blowing. Pretty much, this is the one reason why I’m more cautious about buying the index.Since the market’s close on October 30, the IWM has gained about 51.04% and more than doubled ETFs’ returns tracking the more major indices.Not to mention, year-to-date, it’s already up 19.12% and around at an all-time high.With that $1.9 trillion stimulus package set to greatly benefit small businesses, the Russell 2000 could pop even more.Unfortunately, I’m keeping this a HOLD. But I am monitoring the Russell 2000 closely.Aggressive stimulus, friendly policies, and a reopening world bode well for small-caps in 2021. I think this is something you have to consider for the Russell 2000 and maybe overpay for. The next time the index approaches its 50-day moving average, I will be a little more aggressive.For more of my thoughts on the market, such as tech, if small-caps are buyable, inflation, and emerging market opportunities, sign up for my premium analysis today.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. I encourage you to sign up for our daily newsletter - it's absolutely free and if you don't like it, you can unsubscribe with just 2 clicks. If you sign up today, you'll also get 7 days of free access to the premium daily Stock Trading Alerts as well as our other Alerts. Sign up for the free newsletter today!Thank you.Matthew Levy, CFA Stock Trading Strategist Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care* * * * *All essays, research, and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Matthew Levy, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses were 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 believed to be accurate, Matthew Levy, 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. Levy is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Matthew Levy, CFA’s 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. Matthew Levy, 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.
Squaring the Bets Prior to the Fed

Squaring the Bets Prior to the Fed

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 17.03.2021 15:14
Barely visible, but still a red candle – does yesterday mark a turning point? Even the volatility index refused to decline further on the day, and the option traders increased their put allocations. Is this a real reason to be cautious, or it represents mere window dressing before the Fed?When it comes to the sectoral view, not much has really changed in the S&P 500. Technology rose yesterday but gave up all intraday gains. Value stocks appear ready for a breather, and financials, energy and industrials all declined. That doesn‘t bode extraordinarily well for today‘s session, but this is not the place to look at when it comes to trading today‘s markets.It‘s the long-term Treasuries that I am focused on the most. Still as extended as lately ever relative to their 50-day moving average, they‘re weighing heavily on the markets. Stocks have gotten used to their message of rising inflation and economic recovery as we‘re still in the reflation phase, and not in the inflation one – but it‘s the precious metals that are suffering here, showing best in the copper to 10y Treasury yield ratio.I am not looking for the Fed to act today by adjusting its forward guidance stance or language, or taking a U-turn on inflation. No, they‘ll maintain the transitory stance even though markets are transitioning to a higher inflation environment already. The Fed won‘t do much this time.My prior Monday‘s words ring true also today:(…) Inflation expectations are rising, but not galloping yet. What to make of the rising rates then? They‘re up for all the good reasons – the economy is growing strongly after the Q4 corona restrictions (I actually expect not the conservative 5% Q1 GDP growth, but over 8% at least) while inflation expectations are lagging behind. In other words, the reflation (of economic growth) is working and hasn‘t turned into inflation (rising or roughly stable inflation expectations while the economy‘s growth is slowing down). We‘re more than a few quarters from that – I fully expect really biting inflation (supported by overheating in the job market) to be an 2022-3 affair. As regards S&P 500 sectors, would you really expect financials and energy do as greatly as they do if the prospects were darkening?So, I am looking for stocks to do rather well as they are absorbing the rising nominal rates. And this still translates into yesterday‘s throughts:(…) Global liquidity isn‘t retreating exactly, emerging markets are building a solid base regardless of the dollar going higher two days in a row, and emerging market bonds are fighting to recover just as much as long-dated Treasuries. Coupled with the sectoral analysis, this is conducive for the unfolding stock market upswing and for commodities as well. We‘re still in a constructive environment for both, and I look within the latter at especially copper, nickel and iron to do well. For gold, the key question remains whether copper upswings will outpace any yield increases on the long end, which have moderated their increases in Mar compared to Feb. That‘s good but not nearly enough given that even gold afficionados have come to expect lower prices lately quite en masse. Sign of capitulation off which the upswing was born? Yes, and the key questions now are whether we‘re seeing a pause, or a top in the upswing, and whether the next selling pressure would break below the $1,670 zone or not – see my early March game plan. The volume profile thin zone around $1,760 appears out of reach for now, without a Fed catalyst. I don‘t look for the central bank to invite any speculation on when the next rate hike might come (forget Brazil‘s example). They might not even talk about bringing down rates at the long end through a twist program. I certainly don‘t look for clues as to increasing the $120bn monthly pace of monetary injections. Unless the market perceives the Fed as underplaying the threat of inflation and showing tolerance to its palpable overshoot, the overall mix of positions and conference statements might bring gold under renewed pressure as it meanders a little below $1,730 as we speak.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookThe S&P 500 upswing took another daily breather yesterday in the end, and the volume doesn‘t send clear signals either way. Consolidation followed by new highs appears though the most likely scenario.Credit MarketsAfter quite some time, stocks are trading at very elevated levels relative to the high yield corporate bonds to short-term Treasuries (HYG:SHY) ratio. Now, it‘s three days in a row that the latter doesn‘t confirm the stock market upswing. The bulls better be cautious here over at least a few sessions as the latest historical evidence shows that Fed pronouncements haven‘t been accompanied by fully risk-on moves exactly.Let‘s not forget the big picture, and that‘s of the stock market rising at the expense of debt instruments. Please note how little has the early Mar correction achieved in denting the S&P 500 appeal. The stock market bull is alive and well, very well actually.Gold in the StraitsGold still remains resilient to rising yields, but its inability to rally convincingly is worrying for the bulls. After all, this $1,730 zone shouldn‘t have been any real obstacle after three days of the rally, yet the yellow metal had to rise from the dead on Friday to fight another day. And given that it hasn‘t progressed since, it makes me think the bulls are hanging around for a remotely possible Fed surprise only.It‘s only the miners that are kind of still positive here. Yet, even their upswing was challenged yesterday, but that was on low volume. And that‘s constructive for the bulls when it comes to interpreting yesterday‘s events.The lack of silver outperformance before the sellers take over, is another sign why the upswing might not be over just yet. Still, these are just secondary clues, for nothing is more bullish than rising prices, which is what we obviously haven‘t seen in the metals much really.Key Ratio SpeaksWhile not tracking each other as closely as lately, the copper to 10y Treasury yield is sending an ominous signal still. The key question is whether long-dated Treasuries rise, or gold falls – I am not looking for copper to deviate from the current steeply rising trajectory much.SummaryS&P 500 is again entering daily consolidation mode, justifying my decision to take some of the prior profits off the table earlier today. While the Fed won‘t likely deliver real surprises later today, the credit markets are flashing warning signs more noticeably than yesterday. Still, the stock market bull is very far from making a top.Gold is being increasingly more challenged and stuck in the $1,730 zone, instead of clearing it.The yellow metal awaits today‘s Fed pronouncements, and barring a dovish(ly perceived) surprise, it looks ready to give up a portion of recent gains. All eyes on long-term Treasuries remains the battle cry.
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

Reversing the Fed Moves?

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 18.03.2021 15:22
Fed messaging was rightfully interpreted as dovish – full employment is in effect its single mandate now. Yes, the central bank will tolerate higher inflation, and has prepped the markets for its advent (as if these didn‘t know already). Powell managed to walk the fine line between economic optimism, pushback on the idea of raising rates or taper, and yet implicitly acknowledged the growing liquidity concerns with one little, gentle prod. Markets naturally liked the tone, overlooking no mention of action on rising yields, and stocks, metals and commodities turned positive on the day – quite strongly so. The dollar declined visibly as long-term Treasuries recovered intraday losses on high volume. Highly charged finish to the day, but today‘s analysis will show that little has actually changed in its internals. Rates are rising for the good reason of improving economy and its outlook, reflation (economic growth rising faster than inflation and inflation expectations) hasn‘t given way to all out inflation, and stocks with commodities remain in a secular bull market. We‘re in the decade of real assets outperforming paper ones, but that will become apparent only much later into the 2020s.So, the central bank confirmed my yesterday‘s assessment of its tone and Treasuries take:(…) I am not looking for the Fed to act today by adjusting its forward guidance stance or language, or taking a U-turn on inflation. No, they‘ll maintain the transitory stance even though markets are transitioning to a higher inflation environment already. The Fed won‘t do much this time.They might not even talk about bringing down rates at the long end through a twist program. I certainly don‘t look for clues as to increasing the $120bn monthly pace of monetary injections. Unless the market perceives the Fed as underplaying the threat of inflation and showing tolerance to its palpable overshoot, the overall mix of positions and conference statements might bring gold under renewed pressure as it meanders a little below $1,730 as we speak.Long-term Treasuries … are weighing heavily on the markets. Stocks have gotten used to their message of rising inflation and economic recovery... – but it‘s the precious metals that are suffering here, showing best in the copper to 10y Treasury yield ratio.For gold, the key question remains whether copper upswings will outpace any yield increases on the long end, which have moderated their increases in Mar compared to Feb. That‘s good but not nearly enough given that even gold afficionados have come to expect lower prices lately quite en masse. Sign of capitulation off which the upswing was born? Yes, and the key questions now are whether we‘re seeing a pause, or a top in the upswing, and whether the next selling pressure would break below the $1,670 zone or not – see my early March game plan. The volume profile thin zone around $1,760 appears out of reach for now, without a Fed catalyst.And while we got a good confidence building one yesterday, I don‘t see it as strong enough to power precious metals higher immediately. It‘s nice that gold is decoupling from the rising yields but I view its upswing as demanding on current and future patience. Gold miners are still showing the way, and will be a key barometer in telling whether today‘s premarket downswing in antidollar, risk-on plays is a meaningful turn or not. For now, the renewed long-term Treasury yield increases (and tech selloff to a degree) point to reemergence of lingering Fed doubts.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookThe upper knot in the S&P 500 upswing spells short-term caution. The chart posture would be stronger without it, but at the same time, the volume and candle itself aren‘t ones of reversal. The most likely outcome of upcoming sessions still appears as resumption of the prior grind higher, which is in line with my yesterday‘s message of consolidation followed by new highs as the most likely scenario.Credit MarketsThe long upper knot in the high yield corporate bonds to short-term Treasuries (HYG:SHY) ratio shows that the bond market isn‘t on board with the Fed – at a time when stocks aren‘t panicking in the least. Given the big picture in the economy and the combo of monetary and fiscal policy initiatives, I look for this to be a storm in the tea cup when it comes to (higher future) stock prices, and I am keenly on the lookout for possible deterioration in the corporate bond markets as relates to the S&P 500.Technology and ValueThe tech upswing wasn‘t really convincing, but it‘s been value stocks‘ turn to drive higher S&P 500 prices. No change in dynamic here. It‘s however the relation to not as strong Russell 2000 or emerging markets yesterday that hints at headwinds in stocks for today. A play on patience, again.Inflation ExpectationsYesterday‘s Fed message gave no reason for these to decline, and prior uptrend continues unabated. Bond yields haven‘t though frontrunned them yesterday, which I however look to see changed today.Precious MetalsThe gold ETF formed a bullish candle, tracking the rising miners well. But likewise to the HYG:SHY ratio‘s upper knot message, this one is concerning as well. The key question is about the staying power of GDX outperformance – the key argument for the gold market character having changed with the Mar 08 bottom, which might very well be THE bottom, and not a local one. The decoupling of the yellow metal from rising yields is even more visible now than when I first showed you the weekly $GOLD - TLT overlay chart two weeks ago.Platinum goes down while the copper engine runs (and silver did join in yesterday). This chart sends a message of short-term indecision extending to other commodities, including oil. SummaryS&P 500 is in my view merely testing the buyers‘ resolve, and doesn‘t want to turn the consolidation on declining VIX into a rush to the exit door. Despite the surprisingly early turn against the Fed day move, this doesn‘t represent a trend change or arrival of the dreaded steep correction. The stock market bull is very far from making a top.Gold is again under pressure today, back in the $1,730 zone instead of having cleared it. Understandable given the dollar and Treasuries reversal of yesterday‘s Fed moves, but not rushing to the downside head over heels.
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

Return of the Rising Yields

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 19.03.2021 14:47
March Madness started on Thursday (Mar. 18), but stocks got the jump on their own brackets this week. Let’s dive in.Although Wednesday (Mar. 17) saw the indices have a nice St. Patrick’s day green reversal thanks to Jay Powell babying us on inflation thoughts again, Mr. Market isn't stupid. Manic, but not stupid. We saw a return to the strong rotation trend out of growth stocks the day after Powell's testimony (Mar. 18).Thursday (Mar. 18) saw bond yields surge to their highest levels in what seems like forever. The 10-year yield popped 11 basis points to 1.75% for the first time since January 2020, while the 30-year rate climbed 6 basis points and breached 2.5% for the first time since August 2019.Predictably, the Nasdaq tanked by over 3% for its worst session in 3-weeks.Jay Powell and bond yields are the most significant market movers in the game now. Get ready for the market next week when he testifies to Congress. That'll be a beauty. What's coronavirus anymore?So after what's been a relatively tame week for the indices, we can officially say bye-bye to that.Bond yields, though, are still at historically low levels, and the Fed Funds Rate remains at 0%. With the Fed forecasting a successful economic recovery this year, with GDP growth of around 6.5% -- the fastest in nearly four decades -- the wheels could be in motion for another round of the Roaring '20s.The problem, though, is that the Great Depression came right after the first Roaring '20s.Many are sounding the alarm. However, like CNBC's Jim Cramer, others think the current headwinds are overblown, and a mirror of the 2015-2016 downturn is based on similar catalysts.Figure 1: Jim Cramer TwitterCramer argued that Powell is a talented central banker willing to "let the economy continue to gain strength so that everyone has a chance to do well."Nobody can predict the future, and these growth stock jitters from rising bond yields may be overblown. But for now, it's probably best to let the market figure itself out and be mindful of the headwinds.My goal for these updates is to educate you, give you ideas, and help you manage money like I did when I was pressing the buy and sell buttons for $600+ million in assets. I left that career to pursue one to help people who needed help instead of the ultra-high net worth.With that said, to sum it up:There is optimism but signs of concern. The market has to figure itself out. A further downturn is possible, but I don’t think that a decline above ~20%, leading to a bear market, will happen any time soon.Hopefully, you find my insights enlightening. I welcome your thoughts and questions and wish you the best of luck. Nasdaq- Another Buyable Dip?Figure 2- Nasdaq Composite Index $COMPThe last time I switched my Nasdaq call to a BUY on Feb 24 , that worked out very well. I will use the same criteria again for the Nasdaq as the market figures out bond yields: The RSI and the 13000 support level. I need the Nasdaq’s RSI to dip below 40 while also falling below 13000 before buying.We’re not quite there. This is an excellent dip, but it’s really only one down day and its worst down day in weeks. I think we may have some more buying opportunities next week if bond yields pop due to Jay Powell’s testimony. I mean, it seemingly always happens after he speaks.Pay very close attention to the index and its swings.If the tech sector takes another big dip, don’t get scared, don’t time the market, monitor the trends I mentioned and look for selective buying opportunities. If we hit my buying criteria, selectively look into high-quality companies and emerging disruptive sub-sectors such as cloud computing, e-commerce, and fintech.HOLD, and let the RSI and 13000-support level guide your Nasdaq decisions. See what happens over subsequent sessions, research emerging tech sectors and high-quality companies, and consider buying that next big dip.For an ETF that attempts to correlate with the performance of the NASDAQ directly, the Invesco QQQ ETF (QQQ) is a good option.For more of my thoughts on the market, such as a potentially overbought Dow Jones, small-caps, inflation, and emerging market opportunities, sign up for my premium analysis today.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. I encourage you to sign up for our daily newsletter - it's absolutely free and if you don't like it, you can unsubscribe with just 2 clicks. If you sign up today, you'll also get 7 days of free access to the premium daily Stock Trading Alerts as well as our other Alerts. Sign up for the free newsletter today!Thank you.Matthew Levy, CFA Stock Trading Strategist Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care* * * * *All essays, research, and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Matthew Levy, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses were 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 believed to be accurate, Matthew Levy, 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. Levy is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Matthew Levy, CFA’s 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. Matthew Levy, 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.
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

Breaking the Spell of Rising Yields

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 19.03.2021 15:00
Markets didn‘t buy into the Fed messaging, and quite a few moves were reversed. Stocks declined, commodities got under pressure, and oil took it on the chin. Long-dated Treasuries plunged again as the dollar reversed Wednesday‘s losses. Overall picture is one of nervousness as the Fed‘s statements and their consistency are getting a second look. Plus, triple witching can exaggerate today‘s trade swings, getting reversed in subsequent sessions too.The greatest adjustment is arguably in the inflation projections – what and when is the Fed going to do before inflation raises its ugly head in earnest. There is still time, but the market is transitioning to a higher inflation environment already nonetheless. In moments of uncertainty that hasn‘t yet turned into sell first, ask questions later, let‘s remember the big picture. Plenty of fiscal support is hitting the economy, the Fed is very accomodative, and all the modern monetary theory inspired actions risk overheating the economy later this year. As I wrote yesterday:(…) Rates are rising for the good reason of improving economy and its outlook, reflation (economic growth rising faster than inflation and inflation expectations) hasn‘t given way to all out inflation, and stocks with commodities remain in a secular bull market. We‘re in the decade of real assets outperforming paper ones, but that will become apparent only much later into the 2020s.The largely undisturbed rise in commodities got checked yesterday just as stocks did, but the higher timeframe trends (technical and fundamental drivers) hadn‘t changed, which will be apparent once the dust settles. As I‘ll lay out in today‘s analysis, the gold market is springing back to life, and the precious metals upswing rationale is still very much on the table, and the decoupling from rising nominal yields goes on – I view yesterday‘s selloff in the miners as partially equity markets driven.Bottom line, I made good decisions to subscribers‘ benefit by closing profitable stock market positions before the downswing hit, and not writing off gold.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookOrderly downswing yesterday that wouldn‘t stand out on the chart in a few weeks really. The only stunning thing about it is how soon after Wednesday‘s FOMC it came. Yet, this chart isn‘t sending signals of a key reversal just in.Credit MarketsThe non-confirmation in the high yield corporate bonds to short-term Treasuries (HYG:SHY) ratio caught up with the 500-strong index yesterday. Is a new downtrend starting here? While high yield corporate bonds for the all the Treasuries market turmoil haven‘t arguably bottomed yet, the degree to which they can pull stocks down still, is an open question. Conversely, once HYG swings higher again, stocks would get on a firmer footing.Technology and ValueThe tech sold off again, and the interest-rate sensitive defensives (utilities, consumer staples and REITs) suffered yesterday. Yes, even the sharply recovering real estate sector did. Coupled with value stocks giving up intraday gains, the stock market internals have (not insurmountedly, but temporarily) deteriorated.Gold and SilverGold not following the declining TLT path is the most important green shoot within the market. The yellow metal held up very well in yesterday‘s selling pressure across the board, and not even gold miners (viewed through a $HUI overlay or $HUI:$GOLD ratio) gave up on the upswing – more downside price action in the latter would have to come today to cast real doubts.Weekly chart examination of essentially equivalent metrics (enriched with the key copper ingredient) shows clearly the PMs decoupling stage – silver cast off the shackles still in 2020 while gold is doing so now. It‘s still early on in the process, but invalidating excessively bearish targets – gold has the benefit of my doubt, until I call that one off. I don‘t think that would happen today.Crude OilThe one-way trip starting in Nov met its largest downswing yesterday, signifying we better get used to oil no longer moving in one direction only. Amid the reports of excess stockpiles and European lockdowns denting the demand, OPEC+ is keeping up with the production cuts, undermined largely by Iranian exports only. But look how little has the oil index ($XOI) declined – it‘s relative position shows the excessive nature of yesterday‘s move. In my view, oil would be rangebound once it bottoms, before breaking higher again. The world economy is improving, leading indicators are rising, and the only fly in the ointment are yields, and a stronger dollar pressuring emerging markets. The forces of reflation, liquidity and demand growth will outweigh this unfolding, temporary setback. SummaryS&P 500 is once again experiencing downswing, yet the VIX hasn‘t truly spiked – and neither has the put/call ratio. While there is no stampede to the exit door, the market internals have deteriorated, and may take more than a few sessions to get repaired. For one, tech is again in the driving seat.Gold has been quite resilient lately, and yesterday‘s developments also outside of the bonds arena are boding well for the $1,670 bottom hypothesis. Especially given the hints presented above, and that stock market weakness coupled with safe haven play attraction, might help here further.
Tide Is Turning in Stocks and Gold

Tide Is Turning in Stocks and Gold

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 22.03.2021 13:51
Friday‘s session ended in a tie, but it‘s the bears who missed an opportunity to win. Markets however dialed back their doubting of the Fed, which has been apparent in the long-term Treasuries the most. One daily move doesn‘t make a trend change likely though, especially since the Mar pace of TLT decline is on par with Feb‘s and higher than in Jan. While Treasuries paused in early Mar, they‘re now once again as extended vs. their 50-day moving average as before.And that poses a challenge for interest rate sensitive stocks and to some degree also for tech - while I expect value to continue to lead over growth, technology would recover some of the lost ground on rates stabilization. And it‘s true that the $UST10Y move has been a very sharp one, more than tripling from the Aug 2020 lows.Inflation expectations are rising, and so is inflation – PPI under the hood thus far only. Financial assets are rising, perfectly reflected in (this month consolidating) commodity prices. Cost-driven inflation is in our immediate future, not one joined at the hip with job market pressures – that‘s waiting for 2022-3. The story of coming weeks and months is the stimulus avalanche hitting while the Fed still merrily ignores the bond market pressures.And stocks are going to like that – with tech participating, or at least not standing too much in the way, S&P 500 is primed to go to new highs rather shortly. Given the leadership baton being firmly in the hands of value, smallcaps are likely to outperform the 500-strong index over the coming weeks and months. The volatility index is confirming with its general downtrend, commodities, including oil, will be the 2021+ place to be in – just see how fast is Thursday‘s steep correction being reversed. I‘ll be covering black gold more often based on popular demand, so keep your questions and requests coming!The precious metals upswing goes on, and landed the yellow metal comfortably above $1,740. Not too spectacular, but the miners are still painting a bullish picture. I view the increasing appeal of the yellow metal (alongside the bullish sentiment hitting both Wall and Main Street) as part of the inflation trades, as decoupling from rising yields which increased really fast. As gold is arguably the first asset to move in advance of a key policy move, it might be sensing the Fed being forced (i.e. the markets betting against the Fed) to moderate its accomodative policy. Twist, taper – there are many ways short of raising the Fed funds rate that would help put pressure off the sliding long-dated Treasuries, not that these wouldn‘t be susceptible to move higher from oversold levels. And just like the yellow metal frontrunned the Fed before the repo crisis of autumn 2019, we might be seeing the same dynamic today as well.For the cynical and clairvoyant ones, we might sit here in 3-6 months over my notes on „the decoupling that wasn‘t“ - all because rates might snap back from the current almost 1.8% on the 10-year bond.For now, my Friday‘s words remain valid also today:(…) The greatest adjustment is arguably in the inflation projections – what and when is the Fed going to do before inflation raises its ugly head in earnest. There is still time, but the market is transitioning to a higher inflation environment already nonetheless. In moments of uncertainty that hasn‘t yet turned into sell first, ask questions later, let‘s remember the big picture. Plenty of fiscal support is hitting the economy, the Fed is very accomodative, and all the modern monetary theory inspired actions risk overheating the economy later this year. Rates are rising for the good reason of improving economy and its outlook, reflation (economic growth rising faster than inflation and inflation expectations) hasn‘t given way to all out inflation, and stocks with commodities remain in a secular bull market. We‘re in the decade of real assets outperforming paper ones, but that will become apparent only much later into the 2020s.The largely undisturbed rise in commodities got checked yesterday just as stocks did, but the higher timeframe trends (technical and fundamental drivers) hadn‘t changed, which will be apparent once the dust settles.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 Outlook and InternalsFriday‘s session on understandably high volume and with some intraday volatility, closed with prices little changed. While the daily indicators are weakening, I see that as a temporary move that would be followed by higher highs in the index.Market breadth indicators are largely constructive, attesting to the broad base of the current S&P 500 advance. Even on little changed days such as Friday, both the advance-decline line and advance-decline volume have risen. I wouldn‘t be concerned with the weak new highs new lows here much as the sectoral structure remains positive – both technology (XLK ETF) and value stocks (VTV ETF) have rejected further intraday declines.Credit MarketsHigh yield corporate bonds have turned higher, and so did their ratio to short-dated Treasuries (HYG:SHY). This is a positive factor for further gains in stock prices.Smallcaps and Emerging MarketsThe Russell 2000 (IWM ETF) isn‘t flashing any warning signs, and continues performing as robustly as the 500-strong index. Given the stage of the bull market we‘re at, smallcaps can be expected to start outperforming at some point in the future, just the same way their underperformance was over since early Nov. As regards emerging markets, their base building accompanied with Friday‘s upswing when faced with rising yields and solid dollar, is encouraging.Gold and SilverThe gold upswing is progressing along, and the daily consolidation in the miners (GDX ETF) isn‘t an issue when compared to a stronger gold performance. Friday was also characterized by a bigger upswing in the junior miners (GDXJ ETF) than in the seniors (GDX ETF), which is positive. The overall impression is of GDX readying a breakout above late Jan and early Feb lows, which bodes well for the precious metals sector as such next – especially given that this decoupling is happening while nominal yields aren‘t truly retreating.Both silver and platinum continue their base building while copper, the key ingredient within the copper to Treasury yields ratio, keeps bullishly consolidating. Silver miners aren‘t sending signals of underperformance, which means that the precious metals upswing dynamics remain still healthy on a closing basis. As regards premarket silver weakness, putting it into context with other markets is key – thus far, it‘s the odd weak one, so I am not jumping to conclusions yet.SummaryS&P 500 trading was undecided on Friday, yet didn‘t bring any clues invalidating the bullish outlook. Volatility remains low, but the put/call ratio has risen, even without a corresponding downswing (or danger of seeing one). The Fed doubting induced pullback appears more than likely in its closing stages.Gold had another resilient week, and the precious metals upswing examination bodes well for the move higher to still continue. Miners are leading, and the yellow metal keeps breaking the spell of higher Treasury yields, supported by copper not yielding ground either.
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

Will Trump-Biden Twin Deficit Support Gold?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 22.03.2021 17:48
Twin deficits could negatively affect the U.S. economy, thereby supporting the yellow metal.Twins. Many parents will tell you that they double the blessing. But economists would disagree, claiming that twins – i.e., twin deficits – could be negative for the economy. The recent deterioration in the U.S. current account and fiscal balance has sparked renewed debate over the twin deficit and its impact on the exchange rate – and the price of gold.A twin deficit occurs when large fiscal deficits coexist with big trade deficits . The former happens when the government spends more money than it raises with taxes, while the latter is the result of imports exceeding exports. A historical example of the U.S. twin deficit occurred in the 1980s, when a significant expansion in the federal budget deficit accompanied a sharp deterioration in the nation’s current account balance. According to the Institute for International Economics’ report , “from 1980 to 1986, the federal budget deficit increased from 2.7 percent of GDP to 5 percent of GDP ($220 billion) and the current account deficit increased from 0 to 3.5 percent of GDP ($153 billion).”Another example might be the 2000s. According to the New York Fed’s research paper , from 2001 to 2005, the U.S. current account and fiscal balances plunged by 3 and 4 percent of GDP , respectively. So, there is some correlation between these two. And some economists even believe that there is a causal relationship, i.e., that increases in budget deficits cause an increase in current account deficits. The link is believed to work as follows: higher deficits increase consumption, so imports expand and the trade deficit widens. However, both deficits actually have a common root: the increase in the money supply . When the Fed creates money ex nihilo to monetize the federal debt , it enables America to both borrow and consume more goods from abroad.Regardless, in absolute terms, these old twin deficits were miniscule compared to the current one. As the chart below shows, the U.S. current account deficit (green line) has expanded significantly under Trump (despite all the trade wars !) and is approaching the historical record of $800 billion seen in 2006.But what happened to the U.S. trade deficit is nothing compared to the fiscal deficit! As you can see in the chart above, it ballooned from $984 billion in fiscal year of 2019 to $3.1 trillion in 2020!So, if we simply add these two deficits together, we will see that that the U.S. twin deficits have reached a record level . As the chart below shows, it has expended from $850 billion in 2014 to $3.8 trillion in 2020!Now, the question is how the twin deficits could affect the price of gold. Well, from looking at the chart above, it’s hard to tell. Gold rallied in the 1970s, when the twin deficit was miniscule, while it entered a bear phase when the twin deficit started to increase. However, the yellow metal skyrocketed both in the 2000s and in the 2020s, when the twin deficit ballooned.The key issue is what distinguishes the 1980s from the 2000s (and 2020)? I’ll tell you. In the former period, expansionary fiscal policy coincided with tight monetary policy . In consequence, the real interest rates increased, which encouraged capital inflows and strengthened the U.S. dollar. So, gold was melting.Luckily for the yellow metal, this time, the easy fiscal policy is accompanied by the accommodative monetary policy . The Fed has already slashed the federal funds rate and it’s conducting quantitative easing to suppress the bond yields . Actually, some analysts believe that the U.S. central bank will implement the yield curve control to prevent any significant increases in the interest rates .Hence, the combination of American monetary drunkenness and fiscal irresponsibility that largely contributed to the great expansion in the twin deficits should result in the weakening of the greenback . This, at least, is what we observed in the 2000s, as the chart below shows.And this depreciation of the U.S. dollar should ultimately support gold prices , especially if we see reflation and the next commodity boom. It’s true that since its peak in August 2020, gold has been positively correlated with the greenback, but the inverse relationship can be restored one day. Investors shouldn’t forget that the dollar is not the only driver of gold prices – other factors also play a role. In the second half of the past year, both the real yields and the risk appetite increased, which outweighed the impact of the weakening dollar. Luckily, the Fed is ready to prevent any significant upward pressure on the Treasury yields coming from the twin deficits. That’s good for gold.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get 7-day no-obligation trial of all our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Sectors: Key Challenges and Pathways Forward

Powell Sounds Dovish, but Is He Dovish Enough for Gold?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 23.03.2021 16:13
Although dovish, Powell downplayed the bond yield rally. The Fed’s more tolerant stance on inflation is good for gold, but the metal may continue its bearish trend in the short-term.In the last edition of the Fundamental Gold Report, I analyzed the latest FOMC statement on monetary policy and economic projections . Today, I would like to focus more on Powell’s press conference . My reading is that the Fed Chair sounded like a dove. First of all, he emphasized several times that the jump in inflation this year will be only transient , resulting from the base effects and rebound in spending as the economy continues to reopen. And Powell explicitly stated that the US central bank will not react to this rise in consumer prices (emphasis added):Over the next few months, 12-month measures of inflation will move up as the very low readings from March and April of last year fall out of the calculation. Beyond these base effects, we could also see upward pressure on prices if spending rebounds quickly as the economy continues to reopen, particularly if supply bottlenecks limit how quickly production can respond in the near term. However, these one-time increases in prices are likely to have only transient effects on inflation (…) I would note that a transitory rise in inflation above 2 percent, as seems likely to occur this year, would not meet this standard [i.e., the Fed’s goals of maximum employment and stable prices].Second, Powell also pointed out that we are still far, far away from reaching the Fed’s employment and inflation goals. So, investors shouldn’t expect any hikes in the interest rates or any taper tantrum anytime soon. He was very clear on that, saying that it’s not yet time to start talking about tapering, and that the Fed will announce well in advance any decision to taper its quantitative easing program. Indeed, in a response to the question “is it time to start talking about talking about tapering yet”, he said:Not yet. So, as you pointed out, we’ve said that we would continue asset purchases at this pace, until we see substantial further progress. And that's actual progress, not forecast progress. (…) We also understand that we will want to provide as much advance notice of any potential taper as possible. So, when we see that we’re on track, when we see actual data coming in that suggests that we're on track to perhaps achieve substantial further progress, then we'll say so. And we'll say so well in advance of any decision to actually taper.Third, the Fed Chair reiterated a few times that the Fed’s changed its approach and it will not react to the forecast progress, but only to the actual progress , stating that:the fundamental change in in our framework is that we’re not going to act preemptively based on forecasts for the most part. And we’re going to wait to see actual data (…) And we’re committed to maintaining that patiently accommodative stance until the job is well and truly done.It makes some sense, of course, but it also increases the risk that the Fed’s response to rising inflation will be delayed. The same stance was adopted in the 1970s, when the central bankers believed that they would have plenty of time to react to any dangerous increases in consumer prices. But such an approach resulted in inflation getting out of control, leading to great stagflation . Gold shined then.Implications for GoldWhat does this all mean for the gold prices? Well, latest Powell’s remarks were dovish, which should support the yellow metal. But, as the chart below shows, we don’t see such a support reflected in the gold prices (London P.M. Fix).Part of the problem is that the bond yields continued to rise, after a short pullback amid the FOMC statement, exerting further downward pressure on the gold prices. A related issue here is that although Powell sounded generally dovish , he expressed a relaxed view on the current rally in the interest rates. Indeed, when replying to a question on the bond selloff, Powell just said that “we think the stance of our monetary policy remains appropriate”. So, his comments imply that the bond yields have room to move further up in the near-term, thus hurting the price of gold .However, there is certainly a level of interest rates that would be uncomfortable for the Fed (and Treasury), forcing it to intervene more decisively in the financial markets, and we’re not necessarily far from this level. Furthermore, given the rising inflation and inflation expectations, the real interest rates should rise at a slower pace than the nominal yields, and if they do actually fall, they would support the price of gold.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
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

How to Stop Being Scared or Shaken Out Of Winning Trades

Chris Vermeulen Chris Vermeulen 24.03.2021 23:29
The markets really frightened a lot of people in the last month. We've received lots of emails and comments from people wondering what's happening in the markets and why thedeeper downtrend didn't prompt new trade triggers. Well, the quick answer is “this downtrend did prompt new BAN trade triggers and this pullback is still quite mild compared to historical examples”. Allow me to explain my thinking.The recent FOMC meeting as well as the expiration of the future contracts usually prompts some broad market concerns. Many professional traders refuse to trade over the 7+ days near an FOMC meeting – the volatility levels are usually much higher and this can throw some trading strategies into chaos. Our BAN Trader Pro strategy handles volatility quite well most of the time.Recently, theBAN Trader Pro strategyinitiated new trade triggers of subscribers and myself. Our members are engaged in the best-performing assets for the potential upside price rally that may take place over the next couple of months. Our strategies target opportunities based on proven quantitative technology – not emotions and use proven position management to maximize gains while reducing drawdowns.Transportation Index Daily Chart Is BullishThis leading index shows early strength in the market with an upside target of $14,668. That is a 3.5%-4.5% upside move ahead of us.Recently, we've seen some substantial support in the Transportation Index that aligns with our BAN Trader Pro strategy. The rally in the Transportation Index, which usually leads the US economy by at least 2 to 4 months, suggests the markets are actively seeking out a support level/momentum base for another rally phase. Using a Fibonacci Extension tool, we can clearly see the TRAN has another 3.5% to 4.5% to rally before reaching the 100% measured move target near $14,668. This level represents a full 100% rally phase equaling the initial rally from levels near $12,000 which started back in February 2021.Dow Jones Industrial Index Daily Chart is BullishThe Dow Jones Industrial Average has already reached the 100% Fibonacci Measured move – and broken above that level. If the markets rally from this recent pullback, webelieve a 4% to 5%+ rally in the Dow index is very possible. This type of bullish price trend suggests a target level near $34,000.One thing, many traders fail to consider is these 4% to 5% rallies in the Transportation Index and/or the Dow Jones Industrial Average will likely prompt an 8% to 20%+ rally in some of the best-performing assets/sectors. For example, after the bottom in early February, during a time when the index rallied less than 1%, the best-performing assets we tracked rallied more than 7% to 25%. The strength of these top-performing sectors/symbols can be very powerful – even while the US major indexes are drifting sideways.If the Transportation and Dow Index rally 4% or more over the next few weeks, then some of the best performing sectors will strong gains in our favor. It depends on how strong these top-performing sectors react to the underlying momentum associated with each symbol though.How to Avoid Emotional Trading DecisionsTrading based on emotions can lead to early, and sometimes foolish, entry and exits of positions. The market has a way of faking/shaking price which often prompt traders to react to the 2% to 4% swings in the markets as if they are catastrophic. Some of the best advice we can offer active traders other than becoming part of our trading group and pre-market analysis and trade alerts are..._ Trust your system/strategy and follow it from entry to exit trigger._ Define your risks and run the strategy efficiently_ Develop ways to identify andresolve strategy failure early and often_ Trading involves risks – learn to execute the strategy within your risk parameters (position sizing)_ Don't let emotions control you. Trade rules should protect you during high & low volatility conditions.If you don't have a strategy and can't see yourself sticking to these simple rules, then maybe it is time to find a better strategy or to attempt to develop some of these tactics into your existing strategy. You can follow me to success with my ETF Swing Trading Strategy, or our Options Trading Strategy at any time if you want all the work done for you.Be sure to sign up for our free market trend analysis and signals now|soyou don’t miss our next special report!Far too many people get lucky with a strategy then leverage their trading because they feel they will never fail. Failure of any strategy, often represented as the largest drawdown amount, should be multiplied by at least 3x when comparing risks. Just because your strategy showed one period of drawdown representing a -$5,500 loss does not mean that type of price activity is an isolated event. That type of drawdown could happen repeatedly, over a very short period of time, representing a -$16,500loss.The strongest strategy components are those that help to contain losses, manage risks and allow for the protection of capital. Remember, “living to trade another day” is far more important than huge gains off of one or two trades followed by a string he big losers that blow up your account.In closing, get ready for a recovery in stock prices. With the indexes poised to move higher by another 3.5% - 5% before reaching the next 100% measured move suggests some sectors will post spectacular gains. Don't let emotions dictate your decisions – run your strategy (or find a better strategy to trade with). The best performing sectors/symbols usually continue to outperform the US major indexes when trending higher.Don't miss the opportunities in the broad market sectors over the next 6+ months. 2021 and beyond are going to be incredible years for traders and investors. Staying ahead of these sector trends is going to be key to developing continued success. As some sectors fail, others will begin to trend higher. Learn how BAN Trader Pro can help you spot the best trade setups and deliver alerts to your phone and inbox.We've built this technology to help us identify the strongest and best trade setups in any market sector. Every day, we deliver these setups to our subscribers along with the BAN Trader Pro system trades. You owe it to yourself to see how simple it is to trade 30% to 40% of the time to generate incredible results.
California Leads the Way: New Climate Disclosure Laws Set the Standard for Sustainability Reporting

Powell and Yellen Sound Upbeat. Don’t They Like Gold?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 25.03.2021 14:40
Both Powell and Yellen testified before Congress. They sounded upbeat on the U.S. economy, but gold’s reaction was weak.What a combo! Both Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testified before Congress this week. They spoke about the economic response to the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Great Lockdown .In his prepared remarks , Powell sounded rather hawkish , as he noted that “the recovery has progressed more quickly than generally expected and looks to be strengthening.” As well, during the Q&A session, the Fed Chair seemed to be very confident about the economy and the central bank’s monetary policy . In particular, Powell told senators that 2021 was “going to be a very, very strong year in the most likely case.”He also downplayed worries about higher inflation expressed by some lawmakers, arguing that the environment of low inflation we have observed for years before the epidemic won’t change anytime soon:We think the inflation dynamics that we’ve seen around the world for a quarter-century are essentially intact — we’ve got a world that’s short of demand, with very low inflation. We think those dynamics haven’t gone away overnight, and won’t.And Powell dismissed concerns about the supply disruptions as well, saying that “a bottleneck, by definition, is temporary”.In a sense, Powell is right. A lot of supply disruptions are short-lived. But there are more inflationary factors operating right now, to name just a surge in the broad money supply . So, I’m afraid that he might be too conceited and understated the risk of higher inflation. You know, a lot of economic trends last – until they don’t. I’m referring here to the fact that the macroeconomic conditions change not gradually but rather abruptly. Inflation may remain low as long as inflation expectations are well-anchored, but if they become unanchored, inflation may rise quickly.Importantly, Powell was also unmoved by the recent rally in the bond yields :Rates have responded to news about vaccination, and ultimately, about growth (…) In effect there’s been an underlying sense of an improved economic outlook (…) That has been an orderly process. I would be concerned if it were not an orderly process, or if conditions were to tighten to a point where they might threaten our recovery.Yellen also sounded rather hawkish in her prepared remarks , as she wrote that “we may see a return to full employment next year.” Yellen also admitted that asset valuations are high, but that she wasn’t worried about financial stability, nevertheless: “I’d say that while asset valuations are elevated by historical metrics, there’s also belief that with vaccinations proceeding at a rapid pace, that the economy will be able to get back on track”. However, she argued that economy needed more help to recover fully.Importantly, Yellen admitted that higher taxes would be likely needed to raise revenues for increased government spending: “But longer run, we do have to raise revenue to support permanent spending”. Tax hikes could be negative for Wall Street and the economy, and thus, supportive for the price of gold.Implications for GoldWhat do Powell and Yellen’s testimonies imply for the gold prices? Well, the two most important economic figures in the U.S. didn’t surprise the markets, so the yellow metal reacted little to their statements, as the chart below shows.However, as both Powell and Yellen sounded rather optimistic about economic growth this year, their remarks might prove negative for the yellow metal. What can be particularly bad for gold is Powell’s calm stance regarding the rising bond yields. Of course, he could just put a good face on higher interest rates , but gold would prefer a more dovish stance. However, gold’s lack of a larger bearish reaction to rather upbeat testimonies from Powell and Yellen can actually be taken as an optimistic symptom. Anyway, a more accommodative stance of the Fed would be very helpful for the yellow metal.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
Asia Morning Bites: Singapore Industrial Production and Global Market Updates

Is Silver the New Gold?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 26.03.2021 14:30
Many analysts expect silver to outperform gold this year. It’s possible, but investors shouldn’t count on improving economic conditions and industrial demand.Silver has recently become a hot investment theme. For months, if not years, some analysts claimed that silver is undervalued relative to gold. Then, at the beginning of 2021, Reddit revolutionaries tried to trigger a short squeeze in silver. Although that attempt failed, silver has, so far, clearly been outperforming gold this year , as the chart below shows. So, is silver now a better investment than gold?Well, why would it be? After all, many investors buy silver for the same reasons that they purchase gold – it’s a rare, monetary metal which may be used as an inflation hedge , a safe-haven asset against tail risks , or a portfolio diversifier . It’s just cheaper than gold – and this is why it’s often called the poor man’s gold.Indeed, silver has a very high positive correlation with gold . Just take a look at the chart below, which illustrates the movement of gold and silver prices since April 1968. The shapes of the lines are very similar and the correlation coefficient is as high as 0.90!On the other hand, silver may indeed outperform gold. After all, silver has a dual nature. It is not only a monetary asset – like gold – but also an industrial commodity. This implies that silver is more business cycle -sensitive than gold. Therefore, given that the global economy is recovering from the deep recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the Great Lockdown , silver may outperform gold. In other words, although both gold and silver could benefit from reflation during the recovery, improving economic conditions could support the latter metal more .Another argument for silver shining brighter than gold in 2021 is the historical pattern according to which silver prices tend to follow gold prices with some lag, just to catch up with them later – often overreacting compared with gold’s behavior.So much for theory. Let’s move on to the data now and analyze the previous economic crisis , i.e., the Great Recession , and the following recovery. As the chart below shows, both metals moved generally in tandem, however, silver was more volatile than gold .For example, from its local bottom in mid-2007 to its local peak in early 2008, silver rose 79 percent, while gold “only” 57 percent. Then, in the first phase of the global financial crisis , silver plunged 58 percent (from $20.92 to $8.88), while gold slid 30 percent (from $1011.25 to $712.5). Subsequently, silver skyrocketed 448 percent, reaching a peak of $48.7 in April 2011. Meanwhile, the price of gold reached its peak of $1875 a little bit later, in September 2011, gaining 166 percent. Finally, silver plunged 46 percent by the end of 2011, while gold dropped only 19 percent. This shows that the economic recovery and industrial revival that followed the Great Recession didn’t help silver to shine. Actually, the bluish metal underperformed gold .Similarly, silver plunged more than gold (25 versus 17 percent) in the run-up to the burst of the dot-com bubble , as one can see in the chart below. It also gained less than gold in the aftermath of the 2001 recession (25.4 versus 27.5 percent), and then it plunged in the third quarter of 2002, significantly underperforming gold.Therefore, the recent history doesn’t confirm the view that silver should be outperforming gold in the early stages of a recovery, because it’s an industrial commodity that benefits from improving economic conditions. Silver was never in a bullish mode when gold was in a bear market, and it rather tends to rally rapidly in the late stage of the commodity cycle, like in the 2000s.Actually, one can argue that silver has the best period behind itself. After all, it soared 141 percent from late March to September 2020, while gold rallied “only” 40 percent. So, it might be the case that the catch-up period, in which silver outperforms gold, is already behind us. Indeed, as the chart below shows, the gold-to-silver ratio has recently declined to a more traditional range of 60-70.This, of course, doesn’t mean that silver cannot rise further. However, it seems that the metal has already caught up somewhat with its more precious cousin . So, it’s possible that silver can outperform gold in 2021, as Biden’s focus on renewable energy may help silver – as a major part of the metal used in industry is now linked to solar panels and electronics, but history teaches us that investors shouldn’t count on industrial demand . Silver didn’t outperform gold during recoveries from the previous recessions. Although silver has a dual nature, its price is highly correlated with gold prices. Therefore, macroeconomic factors, such as the U.S. dollar , real interest rates , risk appetite, inflation , public debt , monetary policy , fiscal policy , etc., should have a stronger impact on silver than industrial demand . As always, those entering the silver market should remember that silver price movements are more violent than in the gold market.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get 7-day no-obligation trial of all our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
Why It‘s Reasonable to Be Bullish Stocks and Gold

Why It‘s Reasonable to Be Bullish Stocks and Gold

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 26.03.2021 15:02
Another day, another reversal – and a positive one for stocks. Universal sectoral weakness gave way to a unison rebound amid constructive outside markets. After weeks of on and off fits over rising Treasury yields, S&P 500 ran into headwinds on their retreat, and recaptured its luster yesterday as long-dated Treasuries (TLT ETF) rolled over to the downside. I guess nothing boosts confidence as much a troubled 7-year Treasury auction.While it‘s far from full steam ahead, it‘s a welcome sight that the reflation trade dynamic has returned, and that technology isn‘t standing in the way. I think we‘re on the doorstep of another upswing establishing itself, which would be apparent latest Monday. Credit markets support such a conclusion, and so does the premarket turn higher in commodities – yes, I am referring also to yesterday‘s renewed uptick in inflation expectation.Neither running out of control, nor declaring the inflation scare (as some might term it but not me, for I view the markets as transitioning to a higher inflation environment) as over, inflation isn‘t yet strong enough to break the bull run, where both stocks and commodities benefit. It isn‘t yet forcing the Fed‘s hand enough, but look for it to change – we got a slight preview in the recent emergency support withdrawal and taper entertainment talking points, however distant from today‘s situation.Now, look for the fresh money avalanche, activist fiscal and moterary policy to hit the markets as a tidal wave. Modern monetary theorists‘ dream come true. Unlike during the Great Recession, the newly minted money isn‘t going to go towards repairing banks‘ balance sheets – it‘s going into the financial markets, lifting up asset prices, and over to the real economy. So far, it‘s only PPI that‘s showing signs of inflation in the pipeline – soon to be manifest according to the CPI methodology as well.Any deflation scare in such an environment stands low prospects of success. That concerns precious metals – neither rising, nor falling, regardless of the miners‘ message. After the upswing off the Mar 08 lows faltered, the bears had quite a few chances to ambush this week, yet made no progress. And the longer such inaction draws on, the more it is indicative of the opposite outcome.Yes, that‘s true regardless of the dollar continuing down for almost a month since my early Feb call before turning higher. When I was asked recently over Twitter my opionion on the greenback, I replied that its short-term outlook is bullish now – while I think the world reserve currency would get on the defensive and reach new lows this year still, it could take more than a few weeks for it to form a local top. Once AUD/USD turns higher, that could be among its first signs.Regarding gold, yesterday‘s words are true also today:(…) Gold is again a few bucks above its volume profile $1,720 support zone, and miners aren‘t painting a bullish picture. Resilient when faced with the commodities selloff, but weak when it comes to retreating nominal yields. The king of metals looks mixed, but the risks to the downside seem greater than those of catching a solid bid.That doesn‘t mean a steep selloff in a short amount of time just ahead – rather continuation of choppy trading with bursts of selling here and there. What could change my mind? Decoupling from rising TLT yields returning – in the form of gold convincingly rising when yields move down. Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookYesterday‘s reversal was overall credible – more so in its internals than as regards the daily volume. On a positive and contrarian note, the put to call ratio reached higher highs yesterday, leaving ample room to power a swift upswing should it come to that. And it could as quite many investors are positioned for a downswing in stocks.Credit MarketsThe high yield corporate bonds to short-dated Treasuries (HYG:SHY) ratio gave up all of yesterday‘s gains, but isn‘t leaving stocks as extended here. Much depends upon whether squaring the risk-on bets would continue, or not. Both stocks and the ratio appear consolidating here, and not rolling over to the downside.Value and TechnologyValue stocks (VTV ETF) finally showed clear leadership yesterday, the volume didn‘t disappoint, and technology (XLK ETF) recovered from prior downside on top. Closing about unchanged, it‘s key to the S&P 500 upswing continuation with force as opposed to muddling through.Gold in the SpotlightThe troubled miners got a little less problematic yesterday. The GDX ETF recovered from intraday losses while gold didn‘t exactly plunge. Its opening strength was a pleasant sight as more often than not, miners‘ weakness while gold goes nowhere, is a signal for going short the metal. But as this sign didn‘t result in a gold slide, my viewpoint is turning bullish again because we might be seeing fake miners weakness that would be resolved over the coming week with an upswing. Now that the Wall and Main Street expectation for the coming week aren‘t probably as bullish as for the week almost over, an upswing would be easier to pull off (should it come to that).Big picture view remains (positively) mixed – the selling pressure is retreating but gold isn‘t yet reacting to declining yields. Once it clearly does, the waiting for a precious metals upswing would be over.Silver and MinersSilver staged an intraday reversal, which copper couldn‘t pull off. Not that it attempted to, but still the commodities selloff appears a bit overdone, given that nothing has fundamentally changed. Both gold and silver miners stabilized on the day, meaning that the sector is in a wait and see mode, unwilling to turn bearish just yet.SummaryThe odds of an S&P 500 upswing have gone up, and volatility made a powerful retreat below 20 once again. Value stocks have turned upwards, and the stock bulls appear readying another run.Miners closed at least undecided yesterday, but gold and silver miners showing outperformance again is missing. Both metals still remain vulnerable to short-term downside. Once gold strengthens on declining yields, that would be another missing ingredient in the precious metals bull market.
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

Precious Metals Miners Setting Up For A Breakout Rally – Wait For Confirmation

Chris Vermeulen Chris Vermeulen 26.03.2021 19:23
Precious Metals have continued to slide sideways as the US stock markets have rallied into the FOMC meeting last week.  Not by coincidence, metals have continued to base/bottom near recent lows as concerns about the global debt/credit markets, central banks, and precious metal supplies continue to linger.  The US Fed indicated it will do whatever is necessary to support the recovering economy.  The question my research team asks in relation to the basis for a move in metals/miners is “do the global markets believe the global central banks still have control of the underlying global banking/credit markets well enough to prevent another massive rally in metals?”.This question should be first and foremost for metals precious metals enthusiasts.  Recently, there has been quite a bit of concern related to a Silver Squeeze and COMEX deliveries.  Currently, there is some speculation that the Perth Mint has a very limited supply of physical metals on hand and nearly 60x that amount on their balance sheets (Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Wallstreetsilver/comments/mc18no/perth_mint_unallocated_silver_is_not_backed_by/).  We're no expert related to this lack of physical inventory, but if it is true, then a breakout rally in metals (a true metals SQUEEZE) could be just days or weeks away.Wait For Confirmation Of Miners Bullish BreakoutThe charts we are including in this article suggest “Wait For Breakout Confirmation” because we believe the current technical/price setup may prompt a bit of an extended bottoming formation.  If and when the breakout in miners happens, the upside price move could be very quick and efficient.The Weekly NUGT chart, below, shows how well price has consolidated near the $51 level and how the extended downside trend line (originating from the 2016 peak) aligns with the current price level.  Our researchers believe once this trend line is breached to the upside, NUGT may attempt a rally to levels above $108, the 0.618 Fibonacci Price Extension level, fairly quickly (possibly within 3 to 6+ months).  The $146 target level, a full 100% Fibonacci measured move, would represent a massive +167% price rally in NUGT (if it happens).  Quite literally, this breakout setup could be very explosive if and when it happens.Junior Silver Miners Showing Stronger Support – Waiting For Breakout ConfirmationThe following Weekly SILJ Junior Silver Miners chart shows a different type of price setup.  Junior Silver Miners have held up much stronger than Gold Miners over the past 6 months.  The reported Silver Squeeze could prompt a really big breakout trend IF and WHEN the current Pennant/Flag formation completes (which appears to be only a few weeks away).Be sure to sign up for our free market trend analysis and signals nowso you don’t miss our next special report!The first (0.618) Fibonacci target is near $20.50 – a 40% increase from current price levels.  The second target, a100% Fibonacci measured move, is near $25.25 – a 74% increase from current price levels.  Ideally, this type of breakout move in Metals Miners will happen as a pause in the upward movement of the US Dollar takes place.I believe the US stock market will continue to rally 4% to 8%, or more, over the next (3 to 5+) few weeks.  After that, we may start to see more weakness in the US stock market and the price trends leading up to this period of weakness is where we think Metals and Miners may start to rally.Again, we need to wait for confirmation of these breakout moves.  The technical/price setup we are seeing in both NUGT and SILJ suggests a potential breakout move may happen within the next 2 to 5+ weeks. There could be a deeper downside price move, a washout price low, that happens as the APEX of this move completes.  It is not uncommon for a “washout” trend to happen near a Flag/Pennant APEX.Overall, the next few weeks in the markets suggest we are likely to see fairly big sector trends and moderately strong support for Metals and Miners.  The strength of the US Dollar will likely keep metals from attempting any type of breakout move for a few more weeks.  When the Metals/Miners breakout move starts, though, it could be VERY EXPLOSIVE.Don’t miss the opportunities to profit from the broad market sector rotations we expect, which will be an incredible year for traders of my Best Asset Now (BAN) strategy.  You can sign up now for my FREE webinar that teaches you how to find, enter, and profit from only those sectors that have the most strength and momentum. Staying ahead of sector trends is going to be key to success in volatile markets.For those who believe in the power of trading sectors that show relative strength and momentum but don’t have the time to do the research every day, let my BAN Trader Pro newsletter service do all the work for you with daily market reports, research, and trade alerts. More frequent or experienced traders have been killing it trading options, ETFs, and stocks using my BAN Hotlist ranking the hottest ETFs, which is updated daily for my BAN Trader Pro subscribers.Have a great weekend!
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

Intraday Market Analysis – Bullish Case

John Benjamin John Benjamin 29.03.2021 08:00
USDJPY accelerates rallyThe US dollar climbs as the US economy is gaining steam while other parts of the world face new Covid restrictions.The pair has shot up to last June’s high at 109.85 after it broke out of the consolidation range under 109. The bias remains strongly bullish, though an overbought RSI would suggest a temporary pullback as traders take profit.In that case, the rising trendline and 20 and 30-hour moving averages would become the demand zone. A deeper retracement may find support from the former resistance at 109.20.XAUUSD awaits breakout catalystA firm US dollar is weighing on gold as Treasury yields hold ground. The recovery stalled after the price broke below the rising trendline, denting the optimism for a swift rebound.The precious metal is likely to stay range-bound until a catalyst, be it fundamental or technical, triggers a breakout.1718 is a key support and a bearish breakout could deepen the correction towards 1700.To the upside, bulls will need to remove 1745 to bring back confidence. After that, an extended rally may carry the price to 1780.GER 30 surges to new highEquity markets recovered swiftly after lower-than-expected US personal consumption expenditure quelled the fear of reflation.The DAX has bounced off the key short-term support at 14430 to challenge the all-time high at 14800.Solid momentum above a bullish MA cross confirms that buyers are still in control of the price action. A close above 14800 may convince more trend followers to join in and push the index higher.To the downside, 14590 would be the immediate support for the RSI to cool off.
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What Could Slay the Stock & Gold Bulls

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 29.03.2021 15:31
Put/call ratio didn‘t lie, and the anticipated S&P 500 upswing came on Friday – fireworks till the closing bell. Starting on Thursday, with the rising yields dynamic sending value stocks higher – and this time technology didn‘t stand in the way. What an understatement given the strong Friday sectoral showing, acocmpanied by the defensives swinging higher as well. And that‘s the characterization of the stock market rise – it‘s led by the defensive sectors with value stocks coming in close second now.Still last week, the market confirmed my early Friday‘s take:(…) While it‘s far from full steam ahead, it‘s a welcome sight that the reflation trade dynamic has returned, and that technology isn‘t standing in the way. I think we‘re on the doorstep of another upswing establishing itself, which would be apparent latest Monday. Credit markets support such a conclusion, and so does the premarket turn higher in commodities – yes, I am referring also to yesterday‘s renewed uptick in inflation expectation.Neither running out of control, nor declaring the inflation scare (as some might term it but not me, for I view the markets as transitioning to a higher inflation environment) as over, inflation isn‘t yet strong enough to break the bull run, where both stocks and commodities benefit. It isn‘t yet forcing the Fed‘s hand enough, but look for it to change – we got a slight preview in the recent emergency support withdrawal and taper entertainment talking points, however distant from today‘s situation.Commodities have indeed turned again higher on Friday, as seen in both copper and oil – and so did inflation expectations. While some central banks (hello, Canada) might be ahead in attempting to roll back the emergency support, the Fed isn‘t yet forced by the bond market to act – which I however view as likely to change over the coming months.With 10-year Treasury yields at 1.67%, last week‘s decline didn‘t reach far before turning higher. Remembering stock market woes the first breach of 1.50% caused, stocks have coped well with the subsequent run up – while in the old days of retirees actually being able to live off interest rate income, a level of 4% would bring about trouble for S&P 500, now the level is probably just above 2%. Yes, that‘s how far our financialized economy has progressed – and I look for volatility to rise, and stocks to waver and likely enter a correction at such a bond market juncture. As always, I‘ll be keeping a close eye on the signs, emerging or not, as we approach that yield level.Again quoting my Friday‘s words, what else to expect as the bond markets takes notice:(…) Now, look for the fresh money avalanche, activist fiscal and moterary policy to hit the markets as a tidal wave. Modern monetary theorists‘ dream come true. Unlike during the Great Recession, the newly minted money isn‘t going to go towards repairing banks‘ balance sheets – it‘s going into the financial markets, lifting up asset prices, and over to the real economy. So far, it‘s only PPI that‘s showing signs of inflation in the pipeline – soon to be manifest according to the CPI methodology as well.Any deflation scare in such an environment stands low prospects of success. For deflation to succeed, a stock market crash followed by a depression has to come first. And as inflation is firing on just one cylinder now (asset price inflation not accompanied by labor market pressures), it isn‘t yet strong enough to derail the stock bull run. The true inflation is a 2022-3 story, which is when we would be likely in a full blown financial repression and bond yields capped well above 2% while inflation rate could run at double that figure. Then, the Fed wouldn‘t be engaged in a twist operation, but in yield curve control, which the precious metals would love, for they love low nominal and negative real rates.Gold might be already sensing that upcoming pressure on the Fed to act – remember their run for so many months before the repo crisis of autumn 2019 broke out:(…) After the upswing off the Mar 08 lows faltered, the bears had quite a few chances to ambush this week, yet made no progress. And the longer such inaction draws on, the more it is indicative of the opposite outcome.Not only that gold miners outperformed the yellow metal on Friday, with their position relative to silver, the king of metals is sending a signal that it would be the one to take leadership in the approaching precious metals upswing. And the dollar wouldn‘t be standing in the way – let‘s continue with my Friday‘s thoughts:(…) When I was asked recently over Twitter my opionion on the greenback, I replied that its short-term outlook is bullish now – while I think the world reserve currency would get on the defensive and reach new lows this year still, it could take more than a few weeks for it to form a local top. Once AUD/USD turns higher, that could be among its first signs.Once higher rates challenge the stock market bull, the dollar would do well in whiff of deflationary environment (remember the corona runup of spring 2020), but it would be the devaluation that would break it – and it‘s my view that devaluation would not happen against other fiat currencies, but against gold (and by extension silver). With devaluation (it‘s still far away in the future), a true inflation would arrive and stay, which forms a more drastic scenario to the more orderly one I discussed earlier in today‘s article.Another challenge for the stock market bull comes from taxes, as the current and upcoming infrastructure stimuli (wait, there is the $2T one to move the U.S. to a carbon-neutral future on top) would result in higher tax rates next year, which would further hamper productive capital allocation as people and institutions would seek to negate their effect. Needless to say, gold, miners and real assets would do very well in such an environment.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookStrong S&P 500 upswing on Friday, on a not too shabby volume. The key question is whether the bulls can keep the momentum on Monday, and ideally extend the gains at least a little. Signs are they would be able to achieve that.Credit MarketsHigh yield corporate bonds (HYG ETF) reached the mid-Mar highs, and need to confirm Friday‘s upswing – odds are they would continue higher on Monday as well, because the volume comparison is positive and daily indicators don‘t appear yet ready to turn down.Inflation ExpectationsInflation expectation as measured by Treasury inflation protected securities to long-dated Treasuries (TIP:TLT) ratio, keep making higher highs and higher lows – the market is recalibrating towards a higher inflation environment, but not yet running ahead of the Fed as the 10-year Treasury yield (black line) shows. It‘s so far still orderly.Smallcaps and Emerging MarketsThe Russell 2000 (IWM ETF, upper black line) is underperforming the S&P 500, and so are the emerging markets (EEM ETF) – both signals of the defensive nature of the stock market upswing. The animal spirits aren‘t there to the full extent (don‘t be fooled by the strong VTV showing), but have been making a return since Thursday.Gold, Silver and MinersA new turn is taking shape within the Tuesday-challenged precious metals upswing – the miners appear yet again assuming leadership. The call I made on Thursday, hinting at a change, appears materializing to the bulls‘ benefit.Comparing gold and silver at the moment, results in the conclusion of the yellow metal leading higher after all – and the positive turn in copper (which is also reflected in the copper to 10-year Treasury yield ratio) confirms that.Crude OilBlack gold keeps defending the 50-day moving average, showing the reflation trade in both commodities and stocks isn‘t over yet. The oil index ($XOI) is once again pointing higher, and so is the energy ETF (XLE). While Friday‘s volume was relatively modest, oil has good prospects to keep recovering this week.SummaryThe odds of an S&P 500 upswing were confirmed by the Friday‘s upswing, in line with the put/call ratio indications. Credit markets concur, and while the sectoral constellation isn‘t totally bullish, it can still carry the index to new highs.Miners made an important turn higher relative to gold, and the sector can enter today‘s trading on a stronger footing than was the case on Friday. The green shoots in the precious metals sector appear likely to take a turn for the better this week and next. As always, keeping a close eye on the gold‘s relationship to nominal yields, is essential – be it decoupling from rising ones, or a strong upswing on retreating ones.
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

How To Spot Boom and Bust Cycles

Chris Vermeulen Chris Vermeulen 29.03.2021 16:04
One of the most important aspects of trading is being able to properly identify major market cycles and trends. The markets will typically move between four separate stages: Bottoming/Basing, Rallying, Topping/Distribution, and Bearish Trending.  Each of these phases of market trends is often associated with various degrees of market segment trending as well.  For example, one of the most telling phrases of when the stock market is nearing an eventual Topping/Distribution phase is when the housing market gets super-heated.  Yet, one of the most difficult aspects of this Excess Phase rally trend is that it can last many months or years, and usually longer than many people expect.Until Gold Really Starts To Rally, Expect A Continued Rally In The Stock MarketWhen an Excess Phase rally is taking place in the stock market, we expect to see the Lumber vs. Gold ratio moving higher and typically see the RSI indicator stay above 50.  Demand for lumber, a commodity necessary for building, remodeling, and other consumer essential spending, translates well as an economic barometer for big-ticket consumer spending. Extreme peaks in this ratio can often warn of a pending shift in consumer spending and how the stock market reacts to an Excess Phase Peak.  Let's take a look at some of the historical reference points on this longer-term Weekly Lumber vs. Gold chart below.First, the 1992 to 2005 ratio levels represent a moderately low Gold price level compared to a somewhat inflated Lumber price level.  You can see how that dramatically changed between 2005 and 2012 – this was a time when Gold started a historic rally phase just before the Housing/Credit crisis of 2008-09.Since that time, the Lumber to Gold ratio has stayed below historical low reference points (near 0.6).  This shift in the Lumber to Gold ratio suggests that demand for Gold outpaced demand for Lumber over the past 10+ years.  Now, the Lumber to Gold ratio is climbing back to levels near or above that 0.6 level and may soon move higher if the post-COVID economic recovery continues while demand for Gold stays somewhat muted.Traders need to pay attention to this current rally in the Lumber vs. Gold ratio because a breakout rally above the 0.60 level would likely mean a continued rally phase for the US stock market and strong sector trending related to consumer spending, housing, and speculative sectors.  Whereas, a failure to rally above the 0.60 level at this stage may indicate that the US stock market will begin to stall and potentially move into a sideways correction before starting a new trend.Be sure to sign up for our free market trend analysis and signals nowso you don’t miss our next special report!Lastly, we have drawn some Std Deviation channels on this longer-term Lumber to Gold Weekly chart above.  It is very important to understand that a continued rally in the Lumber to Gold ratio will break above the upper downward sloping channel from the 1999 peak and potentially prompt a big upside price rally – likely pushing the US stock market to extended new highs.A Closer Look At The Current SetupWhen we zoom into the current price trends on the following Lumber to Gold ratio chart below, we can clearly see the two recent rally trends; the first after the 2016 US elections and the second after the COVID-19 bottom.  The most important aspect of this chart right now is that any continued rally in the Lumber to Gold ratio may quickly breach the 0.60 historical range and potentially prompt a very big rally in the US stock market over the next few months.The new COVID stimulus and the continued efforts to pass an Infrastructure Bill in the US Congress may prompt enough of a capital injection into the US economy to set off a “booster phase” rally at this stage in the economic recovery.  One simply can't rely on the fact that the Lumber to Gold ratio is near a historically critical level, we need to actually wait to see confirmation of a breakdown in this trend before we can say what is likely to happen in the near future.  If the ratio climbs above 0.60 and continues to rally higher, then it is very likely that the US and Global stock market trends will also continue much higher.Historical Peaks & Rallies – When To Be ConcernedThis longer-term Lumber to Gold ratio chart shows how the SPY continued to rally through various stages of the rally in the ratio level. We also have to remember the peak in 2000 was related to two important economic events; the DOT COM bubble burst and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  Subsequently, the breakdown in the Lumber to Gold ratio that started in 2004 was related to a broadly weakening housing market trend – prompted by an ever-increasing Fed Funds Rate which began in 2004-05.  Currently, we have the US Fed promising “near-zero” rates through 2022 and an easy money policy throughout that time to support stronger global market recovery.  Barring any unforeseen credit, economic, or global market event, we believe a breakout rally in the Lumber to Gold ratio, assuming Gold stays below $2250 and does not enter a breakout rally phase, will coincide with a moderately strong US stock market rally.When should you start to be concerned that a top is setting up based on this ratio?Very simply put, when you see Gold start to rally above $2150~$2250 and breakout into a true rally while the price of Lumber begins to fall somewhat sharply, then we believe traders should start to actively protect positions and prepare for a bigger breakdown in the stock market trend.  Until Gold starts to react as a proper hedge, this speculative “excess phase” rally will likely continue higher.As a warning for all our friends and followers, a breakdown of this upside rally trend could be sudden if a major market event takes place.  For example, if a sudden collapse in the credit/debt markets were to happen (related to risk exposure or bank/financial firm failures), then we may see a very sudden breakdown in this ratio.  Additionally, if war or geopolitical economic tensions break out where excessive global risks become a factor, then we may also see this ratio turn negative quickly.Traders need to understand the potential for a continued stock market rally near these current levels is quite strong, but there are still risks of a sudden breakdown in trending.  The question that nobody can answer is “what will the catalyst event be and when could it happen?”. Until then, trade the hottest sectors using my Best Asset Now strategy, which you can learn NOW by signing up for my FREE webinar that will teach you how to find the best sectors to trade.Until the end of the trend is upon us, get ready for some really interesting global market trends and sector opportunities.  It is very likely that volatility will stay higher than normal prompting 2% to 4%+ rotations in market trends.  These next few years are going to be a trader's dream market in terms of trending and price rotation. For those who believe in the power of trading sectors that show relative strength and momentum but don’t have the time to do the research every day, let my BAN Trader Pro newsletter service do all the work for you with daily market reports, research, and trade alerts. More frequent or experienced traders have been killing it trading options, ETFs, and stocks using my BAN Hotlist ranking the hottest ETFs, which is updated daily for my BAN Trader Pro subscribers.Enjoy your Sunday!
Liquidity Boost for Stocks and Gold?

Liquidity Boost for Stocks and Gold?

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 30.03.2021 15:53
Friday‘s great run gave way to yesterday‘s consolidation, and stock bulls appear in need of more before taking out the psychological 4,000 mark. The Archegos crash isn‘t causing contagion fears the way GameStop in late Jan did. The current volatility and put/call ratio simply doesn‘t reflect that.The theme is still one of reflation – while inflation expectations are rising, and so are the inflation data for those who care to examine them closely enough, true inflation isn‘t yet here with us. Markets are merely transitioning to a higher inflation environment already, not buying the Fed‘s transitory explanation. Commodities are basing at the conquered levels before another run higher.Make no mistake though, the current S&P 500 upswing is heavily reliant on the defensive sectors – technology isn‘t standing in the way, utilities and consumer staples are doing great, and so are several areas within the real estate sector such the residential one, or REIT ETFs that can be expected to keep doing well. Couple that with value stocks not really retreating, and you get the current view of S&P 500 advance structurally.Credit markets though are a little lagging behind – thanks to the return of rising yields, working its predictable magic on investment grade corporate bonds as well. Such were my points from yesterday‘s extensive analysis, diving into the big picture across the markets and the economy:(…) With 10-year Treasury yields at 1.67%, last week‘s decline didn‘t reach far before turning higher. Remembering stock market woes the first breach of 1.50% caused, stocks have coped well with the subsequent run up – while in the old days of retirees actually being able to live off interest rate income, a level of 4% would bring about trouble for S&P 500, now the level is probably just above 2%. Yes, that‘s how far our financialized economy has progressed – and I look for volatility to rise, and stocks to waver and likely enter a correction at such a bond market juncture. As always, I‘ll be keeping a close eye on the signs, emerging or not, as we approach that yield level.The bond market isn‘t merely anticipating an economic recovery that has good chances of overheating still this year, it‘s also reacting to:(…) the fresh money avalanche, activist fiscal and moterary policy to hit the markets as a tidal wave. Modern monetary theorists‘ dream come true. Unlike during the Great Recession, the newly minted money isn‘t going to go towards repairing banks‘ balance sheets – it‘s going into the financial markets, lifting up asset prices, and over to the real economy. So far, it‘s only PPI that‘s showing signs of inflation in the pipeline – soon to be manifest according to the CPI methodology as well.Any deflation scare in such an environment stands low prospects of success. Continuing:(…) For deflation to succeed, a stock market crash followed by a depression has to come first. And as inflation is firing on just one cylinder now (asset price inflation not accompanied by labor market pressures), it isn‘t yet strong enough to derail the stock bull run. The true inflation is a 2022-3 story, which is when we would be likely in a full blown financial repression and bond yields capped well above 2% while inflation rate could run at double that figure. Then, the Fed wouldn‘t be engaged in a twist operation, but in yield curve control, which the precious metals would love, for they love low nominal and negative real rates.As I wrote on Twitter, it‘s a question of time when gold starts anticipating the policy turn, snifffing it out just like the Fed having to abandon hawkish positions of late 2018, or the runup to the repo crisis of autumn 2019. We got quite a few decoupling signs, some on prolonged basis, but gold isn‘t yet leading commodities the way it did both before and after the corona deflationary shock. Let‘s not forget about the currencies and arbitrage opportunities there – the yen carry trade is still very much alive, making it a no brainer to borrow in declining currency while parking the proceeds elsewhere – and the one-way trading in $USDJPY in 2021 is a fitting testament thereof. A powerful argument against deflation on our doorstep, by the way.Quite to the (deflationary shock) contrary at the moment – both commodities and precious metals are under pressure in today‘s premarket session. Another undoing of the miners‘ outperformance?Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookDaily consolidation on average volume – no hinting at serious troubles down the road. Buy the dip mentality still rules the day.Credit MarketsHigh yield corporate bonds (HYG ETF) chart looks a bit tired to the upside – the bulls had to defend against a serious downswing yesterday first. Contracting volume precedes rising volume, and the best the bulls can hope for, is sideways trading coupled with downswing rejection followed by another move higher.Technology and ValueTechnology (XLK ETF) repelled an intraday downswing while value stocks (VTV ETF) merely couldn‘t keep up all the gained ground during the day. So far so good in the run up or base building on the path to new all time highs.Gold in the SpotlightThe daily resilience in the miners would come under heavy pressure today, and GDX can be expected to close lower. Would they still show outperformance vs. the yellow metal? I wouldn‘t bet the farm on it – it appears the Mar 04 game plan will be tested soon instead.Miners to gold (black line) still keeps painting a bullish picture on the weekly chart, as it refuses to follow the yellow metal to the downside. Where would it be should the $1,670 support zone get tested again – would that level be sufficient enough to power a rebound?Silver, Miners and CopperSilver clearly illustrates the sectoral weakness – the selling waves get harder to repel, and upswing attempts are happening on lower volume. While copper goes sideways, the white metal is breaking lower, and its miners aren‘t showing any strength at all.SummaryS&P 500 keeps consolidating Friday‘s gains without signs of upcoming, groundbreaking weakness. With volatility at around 20, the path of least resistance remains overall higher – until tech says no more. Again, no hint at that today still.Gold is again approaching the $1,670 support, and miners‘ performance will send as valuable clues just as before the Mar 08 bottom. Given today‘s downswing, that will be an even more important indication, bearing medium-term consequences as well.
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

Has Gold “Ever Given” to You?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 30.03.2021 17:01
Neither the Suez Canal blockade nor the SLR exemption’s expiration should significantly affect gold, whose price is likely to be soon shaped by other factors.Do you think you’ve had a bad day? If yes, then imagine the helmsman of the Ever Given who somehow managed to get his giant container ship stuck in the Suez Canal, disrupting global trade and causing economic damage worth millions of dollars each hour. Sure, the blockade won’t sink the global economy (pun intended), but it won’t help it either. After all, the Suez Canal is the gateway between Europe and Asia, through which around 12-13% of world trade flows, as does 30% of the world's daily shipping container freight. So, every day of obstruction disrupted the movement of goods worth about $9 billion, having a significant impact on global trade.Of course, the world won’t end, and ships can always choose an alternative route around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, but this route takes several days longer. So, the blockade has significantly delayed the consignments of goods and fuel, and exacerbated the already pandemic-disturbed supply channels. As a reminder, there are shortages of containers, semi-conductors, and other inputs and finished goods, that have significantly lengthened delivery times and pushed prices up. Although the blockade of the Suez Canal was temporary, it added additional disruption on top of existing supply problems. Meanwhile, the central banks and governments interpret everything as demand problems that need to be addressed through easy monetary policy and loose fiscal policy .The accident of the Ever Given won’t significantly impact gold prices. And, as the chart below shows, we haven’t seen any substantial effects so far.However, the blockade could remind investors (if they somehow managed to forget amid the pandemic ) that black swans exist and fly low, and it’s reasonable to have a portion of one’s investment portfolio in safe havens such as gold (for instance, the insurance part of the portfolio ). Additionally, the upward pressure on prices (although limited) could strengthen the appeal of gold as an inflation hedge , especially considering that officially reported inflation is likely to jump next month because of the low base effect and all the recent supply disruptions.Fed Allows for Expiration of SLRAnd now for something completely different. The Federal Reserve Board announced that the temporary change to its supplementary leverage ratio , or SLR, for bank holding companies will expire as scheduled on March 31. What does this mean for the U.S. economy and the gold market?The SLR is a regulation that requires the largest U.S. banks to hold a minimum level of capital. The ratio says how much equity capital the banks have to hold relative to their total leverage exposure (3% in the case of large banks and 5% in the case of top-tier banks). To ease strains in the Treasury market during the Covid-19 epidemic , the Fed temporarily excluded the U.S. Treasuries and central bank reserves from the calculation. In other words, banks could increase their holdings of government bonds and central bank reserves without raising equity capital.But now, with the exemption expired, their equity capital will be calculated again relative to the banks’ total leverage exposure, including Treasuries and central bank reserves. So, it might be the case that the banks will have to either increase the amount of equity (which is rather unlikely) or reduce the amount of government bonds. And if they sell Treasuries, it would add to the upward pressure on the bond yields . This would prove rather negative for gold, which is a non-interest-bearing asset.However, it doesn’t have to be the case. I mean here that the U.S. eight large and systematically important banks wouldn’t fall below their 5% regulatory minimum. Actually, they are said to have a roughly 25% buffer above minimum thresholds, so the expiry of the SLR exemptions doesn’t have to significantly affect the functioning of the Treasury market, at least not immediately. Hence, the impact of the expiration of the SLR exemption could have limited effect on the gold market , if any.It seems that the price of the yellow metal will be rather shaped by the real interest rates , the U.S. dollar, inflation, the level of confidence in the U.S. economy, etc. In the short-term, the focus on economic recovery could continue the downward pressure on gold prices, but in the long-term, the stagflation theme could resurface and push the price of the yellow metal up.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
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

Stocks: big moves!

Kseniya Medik Kseniya Medik 31.03.2021 11:05
Stepping up the ladder to 4000 The stock market keeps steadily going upwards towards the mark of 4000. While there have been and will be inevitable dropdowns below the support of the 50-MA, the overall trend is a clear uptrend. What's important is that the recent turbulence was not as high as the one in September-October - that's a sure sign of true recovery and stabilization of the economy seen in the corporate environment. Having that as a background, let's review particular stocks now. Tweeting down No one can deny Elon Musk the liberty to say whatever he finds necessary on Twitter. That doesn't mean it does any good to the valuation of Tesla, though. Sometimes we may even think that he does it intentionally like that time when he said that Tesla's value is too high - and the stock dropped. The announcement that Tesla may be bought with Bitcoins didn't prevent the stock price from going down. Partially, because of another controversial tweet about unions that the US authorities are considering as a possible threat to labor union participants. On the other side, there was another comment that Elon Musk tweeted - and eventually deleted is that very soon, Tesla may weigh more than Apple. Whatever there is, the support of 550 is there, and it may be reached again. At the same time, a bounce upwards is also possible. For this reason, if you're considering taking a rather risky mid-term position, you may think of buying Tesla - that's if you're ready to hold out enough time until it starts recovering. Because when it does, then from the current $600 to the all-time high of $900 it's a 50% value growth potential. Chinese affairs Alibaba is now under double pressure. First, Jack Ma's company is under direct pressure, scrutiny, and counteraction from the side of the Chinese authorities. Second, strategically, global geopolitical tension between China and the "Western world" growing around the Uyghur region is making the future of Alibaba even more cloudy than it is now. In any case, the stock is now at nine-month lows. Moreover, it trades above the support zone of 215-220. Technically, a bounce upwards is very possible. If it happens, then there is the entire $100 above to meet the all-time high again. Potentially, it's an almost 50% value gain possibility - that may take a few months, though. Therefore, Alibaba may be a risky buy for a long-term strategy. Or, observe it further as fundamentally, grounds are shaking beneath Jack Ma's feet. Beating everyone Shooting up from $50 to $54, Coca-Cola performed as well as never since the start of the recovery. Definitely, it's one of the best performers of the S&P 500 so far. Fundamentally, it has a very good business outlook. Sales are going better and better, most observers suggest it's a buy stock - for a long-term scenario. For the short-term, though, you have to take into account that this growth was really aggressive. Not that it never happens in the stock market but this stock has been oscillating between the two sides of the indicated channel since March. Currently, it's in an upswing. However, observe it closely as it approaches $55. At or slighly above that mark, it may reverse to do a technical correction - in this case, it may go all the way down to $51-52. Therefore, observe possible reversal pattern in the shotrt-term - they may occur at any time. Remember that you can trade stocks not only through Metatrader 5 but also through the FBS Trader app!
California Leads the Way: New Climate Disclosure Laws Set the Standard for Sustainability Reporting

Tax Hikes are Coming

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 31.03.2021 15:54
End of the month and first quarter of 2021. Is time going fast or slow? Markets have been moving at a dizzying pace to start the year.As a side note, this will be our last newsletter for this week because the market is closed on Friday (Apr. 2).The first quarter of 2021 is officially almost finished. Time flies when you’re having fun, right? While a broad correction did not happen by now, as I expected, the Nasdaq did enter correction territory twice since February. Despite the Nasdaq’s muted moves on Tuesday (Mar. 30), it’s right on the edge of its third foray into correction territory.The market themes remain. There is still as much uncertainty for tech stocks today as there were at the start of March. Until there’s some clarity on inflation and bond yields, I can’t foresee this ending anytime soon.Consider this too. President Biden is about to unveil a $2 trillion infrastructure plan during Wednesday’s session (wasn’t it supposed to be $3 trillion?). While this is great for America’s crumbling infrastructure, let’s be honest- does this economy, while recovering, need anymore spending?Plus, how do you think he will pay for this? Hiking taxes- namely corporate taxes . Those gains that high growth stocks saw after Trump cut corporate taxes in 2017 could very well go away. The market may have priced in a lot of optimism. It may have already priced in some pessimism from potential inflation. But one thing it has not priced in is a possible tax hike.This concerns me.Rising bond yields + Rising taxes= A double whammy of bad news for tech stocks.However, despite the “what ifs,” for now, three pillars remain in motion as a strong backdrop for stocks:VaccinesDovish monetary policy full of stimulusFinancial aidMy goal for these updates is to educate you, give you ideas, and help you manage money like I did when I was pressing the buy and sell buttons for $600+ million in assets. I left that career to pursue one to help people who needed help instead of the ultra-high net worth.With that said, to sum it up:The market has to figure itself out.More volatility is likely, and we could experience more muted gains than what we’ve come to know over the last year. Inflation, interest-rate worries, and the potential for tax hikes should be the primary tailwinds. However, a decline above ~20%, leading to a bear market, appears unlikely for now.Hopefully, you find my insights enlightening. I welcome your thoughts and questions and wish you the best of luck. Russell 2000- Time to Pounce?Figure 1- iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM)The climate right now supports the Russell 2000. The current economic policy is tailor-made for small-caps. The best part, though? The Russell is still very buyable.I kicked myself for not calling BUY on the Russell after it saw a minor downturn during the second half of February. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.After the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) went on its latest rally to start March, I checked out the chart. I noticed that almost every time it touched or minorly declined below its 50-day moving average, it reversed.Excluding the recovery in April from last year’s crash, 5 out of the previous 6 times the Russell did this with its 50-day, it saw a sharp reversal. The only time it didn’t was in October 2020, when the distance between its 50-day and its 200-day moving average was a lot more narrow.Fast forward to Tuesday (Mar. 23). The Russell 2000 saw its worst day since February 25, dropped below its 50-day, and I switched the call to a BUY.Now, as we start the final week in March, we may be looking at the 6th reversal after dipping below its 50-day. The IWM has been up about 3% since March 24.Aggressive stimulus, friendly policies, and a reopening world bode well for small-caps in 2021. I think this is something you have to consider for the Russell 2000 and maybe overpay for.Consider this too. The Russell is on track for its first losing month in almost five months. According to the chart, it may have also found double-bottom support.Based on macro-level tailwinds, its first losing month in five, potentially finding double-bottom support, its RSI, and where it is in relation to the 50-day moving average, I feel that this is a solid time to BUY.For more of my thoughts on the market, such as tech, inflation fears, and why I love emerging market opportunities, sign up for my premium analysis today.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. I encourage you to sign up for our daily newsletter - it's absolutely free and if you don't like it, you can unsubscribe with just 2 clicks. If you sign up today, you'll also get 7 days of free access to the premium daily Stock Trading Alerts as well as our other Alerts. Sign up for the free newsletter today!Thank you.Matthew Levy, CFA Stock Trading Strategist Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care* * * * *All essays, research, and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Matthew Levy, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses were 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 believed to be accurate, Matthew Levy, 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. Levy is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Matthew Levy, CFA’s 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. Matthew Levy, 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.
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

Stocks, Gold and the Troubling Yields

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 31.03.2021 16:03
Yesterday‘s consolidation in stocks was a bullish one, and the S&P 500 upswing has good prospects of proceeding unimpeded. Strange but true if you consider that also a plan to considerably raise taxes would be announced today, so as to help pay for the stimulus wave. The bond markets are calmly overlooking that so far, enabling the run to the 4,000 mark.And it still appears a question of time. Inflation isn‘t yet biting (forget about the German CPI data for now), fresh money keeps hitting the markets, and Archegos is about to become a distant memory. Stocks seem immune to the rising yields spell at the moment, meaning that value trades can remain at elevated levels while technology is stuck in no man‘s land and defensives are consolidating recent sharp gains (consolidating until the rising yields come back with vengeance).And there is little reason given the Fed‘s stance why they shouldn‘t. Much of the marketplace is buying into the transitory inflation story, and inflation expectations aren‘t yet running too hot. As the economic growth is stronger than current or future inflation, we‘re still at a good stage in the inflation cycle – everyone benefits and no one pays.When such reflation starts to give way to decreasing or stagnant growth rates accompanied by rising inflation metrics, the stock market performance stops being as positive as it had been since the Mar 2020 bottom. At such a time, the current transitioning to a higher inflation environment would be at a very different (commodity prices) stage, and so would the bond yields (no longer well below 2% on 10-year Treasuries).Points made in my Monday‘s extensive analysis, ring true also today:(…) With 10-year Treasury yields at 1.67%, last week‘s decline didn‘t reach far before turning higher. Remembering stock market woes the first breach of 1.50% caused, stocks have coped well with the subsequent run up – while in the old days of retirees actually being able to live off interest rate income, a level of 4% would bring about trouble for S&P 500, now the level is probably just above 2%. Yes, that‘s how far our financialized economy has progressed – and I look for volatility to rise, and stocks to waver and likely enter a correction at such a bond market juncture. As always, I‘ll be keeping a close eye on the signs, emerging or not, as we approach that yield level.Gold isn‘t yet sensing the coming Fed intervention – similar to Europe or Australia, the central bank would have to take aim at the long end of the curve in earnest – yield curve control I raised mid-Feb already, as twist wouldn‘t be enough at that stage. Look for a full fledged financial repression and deflation standing no chance then – boon to all real assets, a time when gold would truly shine.For now though, Fed‘s credibility isn‘t being questioned and challenged in the markets. Bond yields are rising in an orderly fashion – if you can consider the 2021 run as orderly. I can‘t but I am not calling the shots at the Fed either so as to highlight the record 2021 TLT price extension below its longer-term moving averages. The unchallenged USD/JPY exchange rate shows that the yesterday mentioned yen carry trade is running hot:(…) making it a no brainer to borrow in declining currency while parking the proceeds elsewhere – powerful argument against deflation on our doorstep, by the way.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookStocks consolidated in a bullish fashion, and the stage is set for an upswing next. I see it as merely a question of time, and the early reaction to non-farm employment change, is neutral – look for the key Friday figure though.Credit MarketsHigh yield corporate bonds (HYG ETF) underperformed yesterday as both the investment grade corporate bonds and long-dated Treasuries rose. The HYG daily volume shows that this upswing isn‘t a done deal yet.Russell 2000 and Emerging MarketsWhile the 500-strong index is basing, both smallcaps (IWM ETF) and emerging markets (EEM ETF) attempt a turn higher. See how elevated $SPX remained vs. the two – it‘s clear the current upswing is a defensive one.Gold in the SpotlightGold miners weren‘t able to repeat their Monday‘s feat exactly, but aren‘t plunging faster than gold either. Sending inconclusive signals, is the takeaway – unless you step back and look at exactly the same weekly chart, which reveals miners comfortably outperforming the yellow metal. Be still ready for a coming test of my Mar 04 game plan, though.Gold with the overlaid copper to 10-year Treasury yield ratio (black line) shows that in the current (consolidation) phase of the commodities bull run, gold has lost its luster with yesterday‘s upswing. Again, how fast and from what level would it regain its footing, is the key question - $1,670 or not.Silver, Platinum and CopperSilver selling pressure unfortunately still dominates as the volume shows. White metal is in the straits much more than copper or platinum, which are merely going sideways (just as oil is).SummaryS&P 500 keeps consolidating Friday‘s gains without signs of upcoming, groundbreaking weakness. With volatility moving down again, the path of least resistance is still up – and tech isn‘t saying no.Gold is again in the proximity of the $1,670 support, and miners‘ performance will send as valuable clues just as before the Mar 08 bottom. Nothing convincing to draw conclusions either way at the moment.
Asia Morning Bites: Trade Data from Australia, Taiwan Inflation, and US Fed Minutes Highlighted

Will Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Rebuild Gold?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 01.04.2021 17:23
Biden just announced an ambitious and expensive infrastructure plan. Will it rebuild gold?Yesterday (Mar. 31), President Joe Biden the big infrastructure plan , the second major legislative initiative after the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan passed in early March. The proposal includes about $2.2 trillion in new spending over eight years, boosting government expenditures even further .Despite the name, the plan assumes that only a part would be spent on infrastructure. To be more specific, Biden wants to spend $600 billion on transportation infrastructure (such as bridges, roads, airports, etc.), and more than $300 billion on improving utilities infrastructure (drinking-water pipes, electric grids, broadband). He also proposes to put more than $300 billion into building and upgrading housing and schools, $400 billion to care for elderly and disabled Americans, and almost $600 billion in research and development infrastructure, manufacturing, and job training.That doesn’t sound bad at all (after all, infrastructure is critical), but there is a catch. The plan assumes that all the spending will be financed by tax hikes. Biden proposes to raise the U.S. corporate tax rate from the 21 percent set by Trump to 28 percent, as well as to eliminate all fossil fuel industry subsidies and loopholes. So, according to the proposal, the tax reforms will add about 0.5 percent of GDP in fiscal revenues, which are believed to fully pay for investments within the next 15 years.Implications for GoldWhat does Biden’s infrastructure plan mean for the U.S. economy? Well, I won’t argue that American infrastructure needs upgrading. There is a bipartisan agreement here. The problem is, however, that government spending programs are usually inefficient, and cost more than initially planned . Additionally, the plan seeks to give the government a significant role in new important areas, and to introduce anti-business and pro-labor unions regulations.So, generally speaking, the proposal stems from Biden’s progressive belief that government can and should be a primary driver for economic growth, which is just plain wrong. As both economic theory and empirics show, the private sector is inherently more efficient than the bureaucrats (you can ask people in the former communist countries whether it’s true). Such a revolution in U.S. economic policy will weaken the allocative efficiency and hamper the long-term pace of economic growth.Last but not least, the idea to raise taxes when the economy hasn’t fully recovered from the pandemic recession is controversial, at least. Higher taxes will weaken corporate America and redistribute resources from the private sector to the public sector, negatively affecting the economy in the long-run. As well, I don’t believe that the tax revenues will fully finance the plan, so the fiscal deficits will increase further, ballooning even more the already mammoth pile of federal debt (see the chart below).And how will Biden’s infrastructure plan affect the gold market? Well, in the long-run, higher government spending, public debts, inflation , and corporate taxes should hamper the pace of economic growth and weaken corporate America and Wall Street. Hence, the proposal could be positive for gold prices, at least from the fundamental point of view .However, Biden’s bold actions seem to be welcomed so far by the financial markets. This is because the fiscal stimulus – and the rollout of vaccination – is strengthening the risk appetite. There are also hopes that the “go big” approach will allow the American economy to recover more swiftly than previously expected and quicker than its European peers. These expectations could propel the bond yields further up (see the chart below), also strengthening the U.S. dollar, and creating additional downward pressure on the gold prices .Therefore, although the Fed will have to step in and ease its monetary policy if the interest rates rise too much, the bond yields have room to move higher. This upward trend could continue to put gold under pressure , unless the yellow metal finds a way to diverge from its relationship with interest rates, for example, by attracting more investors worried about inflation.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
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

What is the target for S&P?

Kseniya Medik Kseniya Medik 02.04.2021 12:09
S&P 500 is trading just below the key milestone of 4000. It’s likely to hit this level by the end of this week. What is the reason for this growth and what is the forecast? Let’s find out! Biden’s infrastructure plan Stocks were mixed on Wednesday as Biden announced its $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan to offset the corporate tax increase from 21% to 28%. The US President said this tax hike would bring $2 trillion over 15 years. However, some Democrats are still able to cut the increase to less than 28%. Unlike Nasdaq’s big jump, S&P 500’s growth was modest. This huge plan includes $620 billion in spending on transportation, including electric-vehicle incentives, and $500 billion – on growing the domestic manufacturing sector, with a focus on the chip industry and green manufacturing. Thus, it has a greater impact on the tech Nasdaq than S&P 500. However, the overall effect was taken positively by investors as the US economy will recover faster with the government’s help. On the other hand, the tax hike is a negative factor for stocks. Best month since November March was the best month for S&P 500 since November and their fourth positive month in five! It gained more than 4%. Bullish forecasts Sanford C. Bernstein strategists projected S&P 500 at 8000 in 100 months (eight and a half years). Let’s wait and see! Technical analysis S&P 500 (US 500) has been rising and rising without any stops since the coronavirus hit the markets in late February of the last year. It has broken through the key psychological mark of 4000. The way up to 4050 is open now. If it manages to break it, it may jump higher to the next round number of 4100. However, as we can notice, the upper line of Bollinger Bands lies just above the current price, indicating the price is too high. Besides, after the price breaks such significant resistance levels, it usually retraces back. It’s a so-called natural sell-off, after which the price will continue rising. However, if bulls keep momentum the rally up will continue without any stops. Just in case, support levels are 4000 and 3945. Important! The trading of stock indices will be close today at 16:00 MT because of the Easter holidays. Remember that you can trade stocks not only through Metatrader 5 but also through the FBS Trader app!
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

S&P 500 Fireworks and Gold Going Stronger

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 05.04.2021 15:13
Bullish run in stocks is on, driven by tech gains and value swinging higher as well. Throughout the markets, risk-on has been making a return as long-dated Treasury yields retreated, dollar fell and commodities continue their bullish flag formation. As I have tweeted on Thursday, it were the investment grade corporate bonds that signalled the turnaround in yields spreading to TLT next. Given such a constellation, the dollar‘s appeal is taking a dive as the bond market gets its reprieve. When nominal yields retreat while inflation (and inflation expectations) keep rising, real rates decline, and that leads to dollar‘s decline.Stocks are more focused on the tidal wave of liquidity rather than the tax increases that follow behind. So far, it‘s still reflation – tame inflation expectations given the avalanche of fresh money, real economy slowly but surely heating up (non-farm payrolls beat expectations on Friday), and not about the long-term consequences of tax hikes:(…) Reduction in economic activity, unproductive moves to outset the effects, decrease in potential GDP? Remember the time proven truth that whatever the percentage rate, the government always takes in less than 20% GDP in taxes. The only question is the degree of distortions that the tax rate spawns.And as the falling yields were embraced by tech with open arms, the sector‘s leadership in the S&P 500 upswing is back. As you‘ll see further on, the market breadth isn‘t pitiful either – slight non-confirmation yes, but I am looking for it to be gradually resolved with yet another price upswing, and that means more open profits (that‘s 7 winning stock market 2021 trades in a row).The Fed thus far quite succeeded in passing the inflation threat off as transitory, but the rebalancing into a higher inflation envrionment is underway – just look at the bullish consolidation across many commodities.The crucial copper to 10-year Treasury yield ratio is slowly turning higher as the red metal defends gained ground, oil rebound is progressing and lumber is moving to new highs. And don‘t forget the surging soybeans and corn either. Apart from having positive influence upon S&P 500 materials or real estate sectors, precious metals have welcomed the turn, rebounding off the double bottom with miners‘ leadership and silver not getting too hot yet. And that‘s positive for the white metal‘s coming strong gains – let alone the yellow one‘s.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 and Its InternalsSlightly lower volume during the whole week and Friday is merely a short-term non-confirmation. It isn’t a burning issue as stocks closed the week on a strong note. The bullish price action on the heels of improving credit markets and technology-led S&P 500 upswing, has good chances of going on.See by how much market breadth improved vs. Thursday – both the advance-decline line and advance-decline volume turned reasonably higher, and given the tech leadership in the upswing, new highs new lows merely levelled off. For them to turn higher, value stocks would have to step to the fore again.Credit MarketsThe high yield corporate bonds to short-dated Treasuries (HYG:SHY) ratio confirmed the stock market upswing with its own bullish move, and the two are overlaid quite nicely at the moment. No whiff of non-confirmation here.Tech and ValueTech (XLK ETF) rose strongly, and value stocks (VTV ETF) stocks more than defended prior gains. Even financials (XLF ETF) moved higher, regardless of the rising Treasuries. The breadth of the stock market advance isn‘t weak at all, after all.Gold in the SpotlightLet‘s quote the assessment from my Easter update:(…) There had been indeed something about the gold decoupling from rising Treasury yields that I had been raising for countless weeks. The rebound off Mar 08 low retest is plain out in the open, miners keep outperforming on the upside, and the precious metals sector faces prospects of gradual recovery, basing with a tendency to trade higher before the awaited Fed intervention on the long end of the curve comes – should the market force its hand mightily enough. Either way for now, given the rising inflation and inflation expectations, a retreat in nominal rates translates into a decline in real rates, which is what gold loves.That‘s the dynamic of calm days – once the Fed finally even hints at capping yields, expect gold fireworks. Remember, the ECB, Australia and others are in that fight at the long end of the curve already. And with so much inflation in the pipeline as the PPI underscores, an inflationary spike is virtually baked in the cake.Another weekly gold chart, this time with miners overlaid. Since the Mar 08 bottom, their outperformance has become very apparent, and miners made a higher high as gold approached the bottom last week. Coupled with the waning power of the sellers, these are positive signs for the precious metals sector.Gold‘s daily chart reveals the rebound‘s veracity – just as sharp as the dive to the second bottom was. Silver moved higher, scoring smaller gains than the yellow metal, which isn‘t however an issue as the white metal tends to outperform in the latter stages of precious metals upswings. We aren‘t there yet, and haven‘t seen it outperform in mid-Mar either.SummaryS&P 500 has challenged and conquered the 4,000 mark, and the upswing‘s internals keep being aligned bullishly. No sharp correction in sight indeed.Precious metals rebound lives on, accompanied by the miners‘ outperformance. Copper and many commodities keep consolidating, which is actually bullish given the retreat in yields. Another confirmation of the approaching upleg in commodities and precious metals as inflation starts running hotter and hotter.
Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Sectors: Key Challenges and Pathways Forward

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Dollar is Back

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 06.04.2021 16:43
Previously dismissed, the USDX may now be back with a vengeance. Sentiment is swinging away from shorts and there is an uncanny historical pattern.With a potential bearish pattern already broken, the USDX is resuming its journey northward. And why is it geared to do well? Is it because the U.S. economy is ripping head? Definitely not - that’s not happening. It’s rather because other regions (think Europe and Japan) are doing even worse.The dollar’s imminent rise doesn’t mean that gold can’t still experience some very short-term upswing, but for the medium-term, the precious metals continue to face bearish headwinds.With the greenback laying back and enjoying a well-deserved Easter vacation, gold, silver and the gold miners avoided a dollar-drama for at least another day. However, with the USD Index working to regain its supremacy, along with investors’ respect, the ‘death of the dollar’ narrative has quietly dissipated from the investing zeitgeist.Case in point: the USD Index has broken above its monthly declining resistance line and has already made four new highs since the New Year. More importantly though, because the precious metals have a strong negative correlation with the U.S. dollar, the upward momentum has coincided with an 8.78% drawdown of gold, a 6.18% drawdown of silver and a 6.41% drawdown of the GDX ETF.Please see below:And showing no signs of slowing down, with a well-rested USD Index itching to get back to work, we could see ‘business as usual’ in the coming days. On Apr. 2, I warned that a short-term correction could usher the USD Index back to its March high.That’s exactly what happened yesterday (Apr. 5).However, with the corrective culmination approaching the finish line, the USD Index remains poised to resume its uptrend.Adding to the optimism, the tide has already gone out on a sea full of USD Index shorts. And because Warren Buffett once said that “only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked,” highly leveraged speculators could be the next to follow.Please see below:To explain, notice how oversold periods in 2014 and 2018 – where net-speculative short interest as a percentage of total open interest (based on the CoT data) was extremely high – preceded sharp rallies in the USD Index? Thus, with 2021 the most extreme on record, the forthcoming rally should be significant.How significant? Well, let’s take a look at how things developed in the past – after all, history tends to rhyme.Wayback PlaybackLet’s focus on what happened when the net speculative positions were significantly (!) negative and then they became significantly (!) positive, so without paying attention to tiny moves (like the one that we saw last summer), let’s focus on the more meaningful ones (like the one that we see right now – the net positions just became visibly positive – over 16%, after being very negative for quite some time.In short, that’s how the following profound rallies started:The big 2008 rally (over 16 index points)The big 2009 – 2010 rally (over 14 index points)The 2011 – 2012 rally (over 11 index points)The 2013 rally (“only” over 5 index points)The big 2014 – 2015 rally (over 20 index points)The 2018 rally (over 15 index points)The current rally started at about 89, so if the “normal” (the above shows what is the normal course of action) happens, the USD Index is likely to rally to at least 94, but since the 5-index point rally seems to be the data outlier, it might be better to base the target on the remaining 5 cases. Consequently, one could expect the USD Index to rally by at least 11 – 20 index points, based on the net speculative positions alone. This means the upside target area of about 105 – 114.Consequently, a comeback to the 2020 highs is not only very likely, but also the conservative scenario.Moreover, let’s keep in mind that the very bullish analogy to the 2018 rally remains intact. Please see below:To explain, I wrote on Friday (Apr. 2):What we saw yesterday definitely qualifies as a small correction. In fact, even if it was doubled it would still be small. And – more importantly – it would be in perfect tune with what happened in 2018 during the big rally.After rallying visibly above the:93 level200-day moving average61.8% Fibonacci retracement level based on the final part of the declinethe USD Index moved back below the 93 level. This happened in May 2018 and it happened last week.Since both rallies are so similar, it’s nothing odd that we see a pullback in a similar situation.Back in 2018, the pullback was small and quick. It ended without the USD Index reaching its 200-day moving average. The pullback ended when the USDX moved approximately to its previous high and slightly below the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement.Applying this to the current situation (previous high at about 92.5, the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement at about 92.7, and the 200-day moving average at 92.66), it seems that the USD Index would be likely to find its bottom in the 92.3 – 92.7 area.Because of this, the outlook remains profoundly bearish for the gold , silver , and mining stocks over the medium term (even though the next few days are relatively unclear, especially due to gold’s triangle-vertex based reversal that’s due this week ). If you analyze the table below, you can see that the precious metals tend to move inversely to the U.S. dollar.The 2017-2018 AnalogueBut as the most important development affecting the precious metals, the USD Index’s 2017-2018 analogue is already unfolding before our eyes. With this version likely to be titled ‘The Resurgence: Part 2,’ while history often rhymes, it’s rare for it to rhyme with this level of specificity . For context, in 2018, the USD Index’s breakout above its 50-day moving average is exactly what added gasoline to the USDX’s 2018 fire. And after the 2018 breakout, the USDX surged back to its previous high. Today, that level is 94.5.Even more ominous for the precious metals, when the USD Index turned a short-term decline into consolidation in mid-2018, can you guess what happened next? Well, the USD Index moved significantly higher, while gold moved significantly lower.Please see below:USDX Broke a Potential Bearish PatternLikewise, a potentially bearish pattern that I had been monitoring – where the USD Index’s price action from July to October 2020 mirrored the price action from December 2020 to February/March 2021– has officially been broken . With the USD Index’s medium-term breakout trumping the former, the potentially bearish pattern has been invalidated and the USD Index remains on a journey to redemption.But to what end?Well, if we look back at 2020, the USD Index attempted to recapture its previous highs. But lacking the upward momentum, the failure was followed by a sharp move lower. Today, however, the USD Index has broken above its previous highs and the greenback verified the breakout by consolidating, moving back toward the previous lows and rising once again. Now, the USD Index is visibly above its previous highs .Taken together, and given the magnitude of the 2017-2018 upswing , ~94.5 is likely the USD Index’s first stop. And in the months to follow, the USDX will likely exceed 100 at some point over the medium or long term.No, not because the U.S. is doing so great in economic terms. It’s because it’s doing (and likely to do) better than the Eurozone and Japan, and it’s this relative performance that matters, not the strength of just one single country or monetary area. After all, the USD Index is a weighted average of currency exchange rates and the latter move on a relative basis.In conclusion, while the USD Index’s decline on Apr. 5 created a goldilocks environment for the precious metals, the latter should have enjoyed a much larger upswing. However, with the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield jumping by another 2.37% and the precious metals still shaken from a string of false breakouts, their relatively weak performance was quite revealing. Think about it: if gold, silver and the gold miners can’t make up ground when their main adversary retreats, how are they likely to respond when the USD Index regains its mojo? As a result, with the USD Index’s attitude about to shift from accommodating to unkind, gold, silver and the gold miners will likely see lower levels before forming a lasting bottom.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, CFA Founder, 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.
Fed Officials Shift Focus to Inflation Amid European and British Currency Upside Momentum

Intraday Market Analysis – Deeper Correction

John Benjamin John Benjamin 08.04.2021 08:14
USDJPY continues to pull back The US dollar struggles to find buyers amid dovish FOMC minutes. The pair has met stiff selling pressure near the psychological level of 111.00 from last March. An RSI divergence was an indication that the rally was already losing steam. A breakout below 109.30 could trigger a deeper correction to the demand area between 108.40 and the 30-day moving average found on the daily chart. A rebound will need to lift offers around 110.55 first before more buyers would commit their chips. USOIL awaits breakout Oil prices came under pressure after data showed an increase in US oil production at the end of March. The upbeat sentiment has softened after the US crude dipped below the 20 and 30-day moving averages for the first time in four months. The bearish MA cross may attract more sellers. On the hourly chart, the price action is currently in a rectangle consolidation between 57.20 and 62.20. A bearish breakout could trigger a broader sell-off towards 52s, while 64.70 would be the immediate target on the upside. UK 100 tests major resistance The FTSE 100 has reached a three-month high after Boris Johnson confirmed that the UK’s economy would reopen next week. The index is rising along the 20-hour moving average and is heading towards the previous high at 6960. A breakout above that major resistance could open the door to the pre-covid level (7400). The RSI has entered the overbought area and may draw a temporary pullback. In this case, the resistance-turned-support 6805 would be the level to watch for trend followers.
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

U.S. Labor Market Is Recovering. Will Gold Too?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 08.04.2021 16:55
The March nonfarm payrolls were surprisingly strong. If the current favorable trend in the U.S. labor market continues, gold may struggle.As the chart below shows, in March 2021, total nonfarm payrolls rose by 916,000 , following gains of 468,000 in February (after an upward revision). The latest gains were the largest since August 2020. It’s important to note here that job growth was widespread, although led by gains in leisure, hospitality, education, and construction.Furthermore, the U.S. economy added significantly more jobs than expected . Economists surveyed by MarketWatch forecasted 675,000 additions, but it turned out that employment in January and February combined was 156,000 higher than previously reported. Also on the positive side, the unemployment rate declined from 6.2 to 6 percent , as the chart below shows. As the unemployment rate is much below its high from April 2020, it’s clear that the U.S. labor market is recovering from the pandemic recession .However, significant slack remains. First, the unemployment rate is still 2.5 percentage points higher compared to February 2020, before the pandemic started. Second, the broader unemployment rates, which paint a more accurate picture of unemployment, are even further from their pre-pandemic levels. For instance, the broadest U-6 rate was 10.7 percent in March, i.e., 3.7 percentage points above the level seen in early 2020. Third, the labor-participation rate is 1.8 percentage points lower than its pre-pandemic level, which means that many people simply dropped out from the labor market instead of searching for a job.Implications for GoldWhat does it all mean for the yellow metal? Well, gold’s reaction to a generally good employment situation report was positive . As the chart below shows, the London price of the shiny metal increased from $1,726 on April 1 to $1,745 on April 6, 2021, when the fixing resumed after the holidays.The explanation for gold’s positive reaction might lie in the fact that although the employment report was positive, it won’t be enough to alter the Fed’s monetary policy . As a reminder, the U.S. central bank wants to see “substantial further progress” towards labor market repair before tapering the asset purchases and raising the interest rates . Of course, further such reports with almost one million job gains would force the Fed to admit that the situation improved substantially.However, the Fed would like to see a continuation of the current trend for a while before it will alter its stance. Indeed, as Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans recently said, “those conditions will not be met for a while (…) Policy is likely on hold for some time.”And it won’t be easy to sustain the current favorable trend in the labor market. This is because the large share of the unemployed are long-term unemployed, roughly 43 percent, and there is a risk that these people will get discouraged and drop out from the labor market. It’s easier to put short-term unemployed than long-term unemployed into work again.Regardless, gold’s reaction amid the surprisingly strong nonfarm payrolls report and the accompanying rise in the bond yields could be seen as encouraging . Some analysts even believe that the yellow metal has bottomed out.However, given that the U.S. outpaces its major peers in the pace of economic recovery, it might be too early to call the return of the gold bulls . So, the medium-term downside risks remain present in the gold market. Although the single report won’t cause an immediate shift in the Fed’s stance, if this trend continues, the market expectations of the Fed’s tapering and hikes in the federal funds rate could move up, exerting downward pressure on gold prices.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
Asia Morning Bites: Trade Data from Australia, Taiwan Inflation, and US Fed Minutes Highlighted

Will Upcoming Inflation Take Gold With It?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 09.04.2021 16:25
Inflation is coming. Gold may benefit from it, especially if inflation turns out to be more long-lasting than central bankers and markets believe.Brace yourselves, inflation is coming ! Importantly, not only grumblers such as myself are talking about rising prices right now, but even the Fed officials themselves admitted that inflation will jump this year. Indeed, in the latest dot plot , the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) expects that the PCE annual percent change will soar from 1.3 percent in December 2020 to 2.4 percent at the end of this year. Importantly, their projections increased significantly in the last three months when they amounted to 1.8 percent.And remember, we are talking here about the official inflation figures. The real inflationary pressure, which also affects asset prices, is much stronger. Furthermore, the pandemic changed the composition of consumption, as people are buying more goods and less services. And guess what, the prices of goods are rising more than the prices of services, so many people’s actual consumption baskets have become more expensive than official ones, implying that true inflation is higher than the officially reported one, as the IMF has recently admitted .Does this mean that the FOMC members have all suddenly become monetary hawks worried about higher inflation? Not at all. The Fed believes that inflation will be temporary, caused by the base effects (very low inflation readings in the second quarter of 2020) and by the reopening of the economy that will trigger higher consumer spending and some increases in prices.The U.S. central bank might be right. After all, there will be some temporary forces at play. There always are, but – oh, what a funny thing! – the Fed always cites “transient effects on inflation” when it’s increasing, but not when it’s declining. The problem is, however, that the markets don’t believe the U.S. central bank . Please take a look at the chart below, which displays inflation expectations over the next five and ten upcoming years.As you can see, both medium-term and long-term inflation expectations have significantly increased in the last few months. It means that investors don’t only expect a temporary rise in inflation – on the contrary, they forecast a more persistent increases in prices . Indeed, Mr. Market believes that inflation will be, on average, 2.5 percent in the next 5 years and almost 2.3 percent in the next 10 years, significantly above the Fed’s target of 2 percent.Of course, it might be the case that Mr. Market is wrong, and Mr. Powell is right. But what is disturbing is the Fed’s confidence – or, rather overconfidence – that it can contain inflation if it turns out to be something more than only a temporary phenomenon. Such a conceit led to stagflation in the 1970s. Gold shined at that time.Then, as today, the central bank focused more on the maximum employment than inflation, believing that it can always control the latter by raising the federal funds rate if necessary. But, as Robert J. Barro, from Harvard University, points out , “the problem is that hiking short-term rates will have little impact on inflation once high long-term expected inflation has taken root.”And the recent Fed’s actions, including the new monetary framework, according to which the U.S. central bank tries to overshoot its target for some time, may easily waste the reputational capital that was created by Paul Volcker and de-anchor inflation expectations.In other words, a negative shock can be accommodated by the central bank without long-lasting effects, as people understand that it’s a unique one-off event, after which everything will return to normalcy. But the Fed is far from normalizing its monetary policy . On the contrary, it has recently signaled that it wouldn’t raise interest rates preemptively to prevent inflation, as it could hamper the economic recovery. The risk here is that if people start to view exceptional as the new normal, their inflation expectations could shift, and become unanchored.To sum up, it might be the case that markets are overstating short-term inflation risks. But it’s also possible that politicians and central bankers understate the longer-term inflationary dangers , as Kenneth Rogoff, also from Harvard University, argues . After all, unlike in the aftermath of the Great Recession , when only the monetary base skyrocketed, the pace of growth of the broad money supply also soared this time – and it’s still increasing, as the chart below shows.In other words, while all the created liquidity after the global financial crisis of 2007-2009 flowed mainly into the financial markets, during the pandemic , it flowed into the real economy to a much larger extent, which can create more inflationary pressure.What’s more, the easy monetary policy is now accompanied by a very loose fiscal policy and the unprecedentedly large fiscal deficits , which could push the economy deeper into the debt trap . This could undermine the central-bank independence and prevent a timely normalization of interest rates , not to mention the weakening of globalization’s downside impact on inflation, caused partially by demographic factors and reshuffling in supply chains. Last but not least, the rising commodity prices and international transport costs, accompanied by the weakening U.S. dollar, may be harbingers of an approaching inflation monster.What does it all mean for the gold market? Well, the jump in inflation in 2021 should be positive for the yellow metal , which could gain as an inflation hedge . The downward pressure on the real interest rates should also be supportive for gold prices, although the rally in the bond yields may counteract this effect. But if Powell is right and inflation turns out to be only temporary, then gold may be hard hit, and we could see a goldilocks economy again (i.e., fast economic growth with low inflation). However, if markets are right, or if the long-term inflationary risks materialize, which even investors may understate, gold should shine.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get a 7-day no-obligation trial for all of our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
The SPY Is Nearing Resistance @ $410... Read On To Find Out What Is Next

The SPY Is Nearing Resistance @ $410... Read On To Find Out What Is Next

Chris Vermeulen Chris Vermeulen 09.04.2021 21:49
My shorter-term analysis for the markets continues to stay Bullish and suggests the US reflation trade, the strengthening of the US and the global economy, and recovery from the COVID-19 restrictions will likely prompt a moderately strong upside price trend leading into at least mid Q2:2021.  The recent strength of the US Dollar is helping to push capital into the US markets as foreign investors attempt to shift capital away from Emerging Market and currency weakness and the Treasury Yield rallies seem to have indicated a moderate warning related to global central banks attempting to front-run inflation concerns.SPY Targeting $410, then $425 or higherIf the US Dollar continues to strengthen and foreign capital continues to flow into the US stock market, then my research team and I believe a continued “melt-up” bullish price trend will continue, similar to what happened in 2018~2019.  As we can see on the chart below, the upside price target for the SPY is $410.15.  Once that level is reached, we believe a moderate sideways Bull Flag will set up and prompt another upside price rally targeting $425~$430.The rally in the US stock market will likely continue until key factors break down.  We don't know what those key factors are going to be, but we are watching our custom indexes and proprietary price modeling systems to identify if and when that breakdown takes place.  Currently, we don't see any real risk to a sudden downside price trend based on our research.  Of course, some sudden collapse in the global credit/banking industry, war, or some other unknown externality could easily disrupt the current balance of the markets.Right now, we are targeting the $410 level on the SPY and expect the next leg higher to target $425~430.  We believe the current market environment supports a continued $24~$28 Fibonacci Expansion range stepping higher as moderate pullback events take place after reaching subsequent upside targets.  This “upward stepping” price pattern will likely continue as the reflation trade pushes a continued “melt-up” price event. Remember, our research may change suddenly if needed and the best way to stay ahead of these market setups/trends is to get my daily BAN Trader Pro pre-market video that covers the charts of the major indexes, bonds, gold and silver, and other asset classes and sectors delivered top your inbox every morning. As with all things, we make decisions based on what we know right now and not based on what may or may not happen as a guess.  Our research and custom indicators suggest a strengthening US Dollar will pull foreign capital investments into US sectors/stocks and likely prompt another “melt-up” type of trend over the next few weeks and months.Don’t miss the opportunities to profit from the broad market sector rotations we expect this year, which will be an incredible year for traders of my Best Asset Now (BAN) strategy.  You can sign up now for my FREE webinar that teaches you how to find, enter, and profit from only those Best Assets Now that have the most strength and momentum. Staying ahead of sector trends is going to be key to success in volatile markets.Lastly, take some time this weekend to check out all the great speakers at the Wealth 365 Summit, the world's largest online trading and investment conference. Make sure you register today!Have a great weekend!
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

Intraday Market Analysis – Testing Daily Support

John Benjamin John Benjamin 13.04.2021 08:29
USDCHF retreats to major supportThe US dollar is treading water as traders await inflation data which would dictate the next movement.The greenback has fallen back to test the medium-term support (0.9210) from the daily chart after a three-month-long rally.An RSI divergence right above the key level is a sign that the correction has lost its momentum. Though a bullish breakout above 0.9280 will be needed to confirm a reversal.To the downside, a drop below the said support would trigger a new round of sell-off towards 0.9140.XAUUSD looks for supportGold is striving to consolidate its latest gains after a fall in US yields last week. After having established a solid support base at 1677, the price has rallied back to March’s high at 1757.A bullish breakout could lead to a sharp recovery as a result of triggering stop-losses and momentum buying.But for now, an overbought RSI has prompted profit-taking within the supply area. 1730 is the first line of defense as the metal pulls back to rebuild support.A deeper correction may lead to test 1710.US 30 rises along the trendlineThe Dow Jones flies high after Chairman Jerome Powell expressed his optimism in an interview that the US economy was set for a strong rebound.Following a breakout above its latest consolidation range (33250), the index has been grinding up along a rising trendline.The psychological level of 33400 would be the next target for the bulls. Though an overshot RSI may lead to a temporary pullback.The 30-hour moving average is the immediate support. Further down, 33510 along the trendline may see more buying interests.
Asia Morning Bites: Singapore Industrial Production and Global Market Updates

Dovish Fed and Higher Inflation Equals Stronger Gold

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 13.04.2021 16:47
The latest FOMC minutes were dovish, especially in light of the recent increase in inflation. That’s good for gold.Last week, The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) published minutes from its last meeting in March . They show that – in light of positive economic indicators – the members of the Committee turned out to be more optimistic about the U.S. economy since the previous meeting. But this is what we already know from the March economic projections.What is new and much more important is that Fed officials expressed the view that despite all the progress, the economic situation remained unsatisfactory with many indicators still far from the pre-pandemic level and the Fed’s long-term targets:Despite these positive indicators and an improved public health situation, participants agreed that the economy remained far from the Committee's longer-run goals and that the path ahead remained highly uncertain, with the pandemic continuing to pose considerable risks to the outlook.In consequence – and this is probably the key message from the recent minutes – the FOMC members reaffirmed that they are in no rush to taper the quantitative easing . Furthermore, the U.S. central bank will announce a change in the pace of asset purchases well in advance:Participants noted that it would likely be some time until substantial further progress toward the Committee's maximum-employment and price-stability goals would be realized and that, consistent with the Committee's outcome-based guidance, asset purchases would continue at least at the current pace until then. A number of participants highlighted the importance of the Committee clearly communicating its assessment of progress toward its longer-run goals well in advance of the time when it could be judged substantial enough to warrant a change in the pace of asset purchases. The timing of such communications would depend on the evolution of the economy and the pace of progress toward the Committee's goals.And the hike in the federal funds rate will happen only after the start of the normalization of the Fed’s balance sheet . So, given a lack of any communication in this regard, investors shouldn’t expect any increases in the interest rates for years .Last but not least, the Fed not only started to expect higher inflation – as a reminder, the FOMC participants expect 2.4 percent PCE inflation in 2021 – but it also “viewed the risks of upside inflationary pressures as having increased since the previous forecast”. However, the central bankers still believe that the increase in inflation this year will be transitory due to the base effects and supply disruptions:In the near term, the 12-month change in PCE prices was expected to move above 2 percent as the low inflation readings from the spring of last year drop out of the calculation. Most participants also pointed to supply constraints that could contribute to price increases for some goods in coming months as the economy continued to reopen. After the transitory effects of these factors fade, however, participants generally anticipated that annual inflation readings would edge down next year.This is a puzzling view in light of the fact that many participants “judged that the release of pent-up demand could boost consumption growth further as social distancing waned.” So, in some magical way, the release of pent-up demand could boost consumption, but not prices, and inflation could be increased only by supply factor, but not by demand factors.Implications for GoldWhat do the recent FOMC minutes imply for the yellow metal? Well, the increase in expected and actual inflation rates combined with the Fed’s dovish stance could create downward pressure on the real interest rates and the U.S. dollar, thus supporting gold prices . The yellow metal could also benefit from the elevated demand for inflation hedges in an environment of stronger upward pressure on prices.Indeed, the price of gold jumped shortly on Thursday (Apr. 8) above $1,750, as the chart below shows. This upward move was temporary, though, but that can change soon, as the inflation genie has popped out of the bottle.The Producer Price Index increased by one percent in March , twice more than in February, and significantly above the expectations of a rise of 0.4 percent. As well, the final demand index moved up 4.2 percent for the twelve months ended in March, the largest increase since September 2011. Meanwhile, the index for all commodities surged even more (12 percent!), in the fastest pace since the Great Recession , as the chart below shows. Importantly, the Consumer Price Index has also been rising recently (I will cover this report in the next edition of the Fundamental Gold Report).Of course, the rise in inflation may also increase the nominal bond yields, which could be negative for the gold market. However, the rally in the bond yields was mainly caused by the fact that investors priced in a more aggressive path of the federal funds rate than the FOMC members have indicated. But after the recent minutes it seems that these traders are starting to capitulate and will not fight the Fed anymore. This would be good news for the gold market.Indeed, the second quarter started much better for the yellow metal than the awful beginning of the year, and there are some reasons (dovish Fed, higher inflation, limited potential for further rally in the bond yields) for cautious optimism. But the key problem is that the Fed is still relatively hawkish compared to the Bank of Japan or the European Central Bank . Well, we will see, 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
Asia Morning Bites: Trade Data from Australia, Taiwan Inflation, and US Fed Minutes Highlighted

Many Sectors Are Primed For Another Breakout Rally - Are You?

Chris Vermeulen Chris Vermeulen 13.04.2021 21:42
As we start moving into the Q1:2021 earnings season, we need to be aware of the risks associated with the volatility often associated with earnings data and unknowns.  Nonetheless, there are other factors that appear to be present in current trends which suggest earnings may prompt a moderately strong upside breakout rally – again.One key factor is that the US markets are already starting to price in forwarding expectations related to a reflation economy – a post-COVID acceleration in activity, consumer participation, and manufacturing.  Secondarily, we must also consider the continued stimulus efforts, easy monetary policy from the US Fed, and the continued trending related to the 12+ month long COVID-19 recovery rally. In some ways, any damage to the economy related to COVID-19 may have already happened well over 6+ months ago.  Certainly, there are other issues we are still dealing with and recovering from, but the strength of the US economy since May/June of 2020 has been incredible.  When we combine the strength of the economic recovery with the extended support provided by the US Fed and US government stimulus/policy efforts, we are left with only one conclusion:  the markets will likely continue to rally until something stops this trend.Just this week, after stronger inflation data posted last week, and as earnings data starts to hit the wires, we are seeing some early signs that the US major indexes are likely to continue to trend higher – even while faced with odd earnings data.  If this continues, we may see the US major indexes, and various ETF sectors, continue to rally throughout most of April – if not longer.Come watch over 60 investment and trading LEGENDS share their secrets with you for free – click here for your FREE REGISTRATION!Today, Aphria (APHA), announced a third-quarter “miss” on sales, and net operating loss fell more than 14%.  This tugged many Cannabis-related stocks lower and pulled the Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ) lower by over 4%.  Still, the Transportation Index, Financial sector ETF (XLF), and S&P500 SPDR ETF (SPY) rallied to new all-time highs.This suggests the market is discounting certain sector components as “struggling” within a broadly appreciating market trend.  In this environment, even those symbols which perform poorly won't disrupt the Bullish strength of the general markets.  Because of this, we believe the overall trend bias, which is Bullish, will continue to push most of the market higher over the next few days/weeks... at least until something happens to break this trend or when investors suddenly shift away from this trend.SPY Rally May Be Far From Over At This StageLet's start by reviewing this SPY Daily chart below (S&P500 SPDR ETF).  As you can see, the recent rally has already moved above the GREEN 100% Fibonacci Measured Move target level near $410.  Any continued rally from this level would suggest an upside price extension beyond the 100% Fibonacci Measured Move level is initiating.  This type of trending does happen and can often prompt a higher target level (possibly 200% or higher) above our initial targets.What is interesting in our review of these charts is the SPY may be rallying above recent price range targets, using the Fibonacci Measured Move technique, but other sectors appear to really have quite a bit of room to run.Transportation Index Continues To Suggest Stronger US RecoveryThis Transportation Index Daily Chart, TRAN, suggests a target level near $15,627 so it is reasonable to assume the Transportation Index may continue to rally more than 4% higher from current levels.  Ideally, if this were to happen, it would suggest the broader economic recovery is strengthening and we may expect to see the US major indexes continue to rally higher as well.At this time, when economic data and Q1:2021 earnings are streaming into the news wires, we usually expect some extended volatility in the markets.  The VIX may rally back above 19 to 24 over time if the markets reflect the varied earnings outcomes we expect.  Yet, we believe the overall bias of the markets at this stage of the trend is solidly Bullish.Financial Sector ETF Ready To Rally Above $37The Financial sector ETF (XLF), as seen in the following chart, is poised to break higher after a dramatic recovery in price after December 2020.  The rally from $29 to over $35 represents a solid +20% advance and the recent resistance level, near $35.30, is a key level to watch as this sector continues to trend.  Once that resistance level is breached, we believe a continued rally attempt will target $37, then $39.40.The expected recovery in the US economy will prompt more consumer spending and the use of credit.  Over the past 8+ months, US consumers have worked to bring down their credit levels and saved more money because of the change in how we addressed COVID work-styles and lack of travel (and extra money from the Stimulus payments).  That may not change right away, but eventually, consumers will start to engage in the economy as travel starts to recover and summer activities start to take place.  This suggests spending, travel, vacationing, eating out and other activities will prompt a new wave of economic activity within the Financial Sector.The US markets are uniquely poised to further upside price gains because the US has such a dynamic core economy.  Our base of consumers is, generally, working in jobs, saving more, and more capable of traveling within the US to engage in summer activities.  Because of this, we believe the continued recovery of the US economy will prompt another wave of higher prices throughout the Q1:2021 earnings season.  We believe a number of solid earnings and expectations will support the market and future expectations will support a continued moderate price rally in certain sectors.The strongest sectors are going to continue to be the best performers over time.  Being able to identify and trade these sectors is key to being able to efficiently target profits.  You can learn more about the BAN strategy and how to identify and trade better sector setups by registering for our FREE webinar here.  We've built this technology to help us identify the strongest and best trade setups in any market sector.  Every day, we deliver these setups to our subscribers along with the BAN Trader Pro system trades.  You owe it to yourself to see how simple it is to trade 30% to 40% of the time to generate incredible results.For those who believe in the power of trading on relative strength, market cycles, and momentum but don’t have the time to do the research every day then my BAN Trader Pro newsletter service does all the work for you with daily market reports, research, and trade alerts. More frequent or experienced traders have been killing it trading options, ETFs, and stocks using my BAN Hotlist ranking the hottest ETFs, which is updated daily for my premium subscribers.Happy Trading!
Intraday Market Analysis – Extended Rally

Intraday Market Analysis – Extended Rally

John Benjamin John Benjamin 14.04.2021 08:34
EURUSD tests major resistanceA 2.6% yoy rise in US CPI has so far failed to impress traders as the Fed may remain patient longer than the market.After a short consolidation around 1.1900, the RSI has receded from the overbought area, laying the groundwork for a new round of rallies. The next target would be the key resistance level of 1.1990 from the daily chart.A bullish breakout may signal that the euro could resume its year-long rally.In case of a pullback, 1.1870 is a critical support to keep the optimism intact.EURGBP builds bullish momentumThe pound struggles across the board after Britain’s economy showed a slower than expected growth in February.The euro has previously come under selling pressure near the daily supply area (0.8730). The RSI has since retreated into the neutrality zone.Despite profit-taking, the pair has stayed afloat above 0.8620 which would suggest that buyers are still in control of the price action.A surge above the said resistance could trigger a runaway rally as a combination of short-covering and fresh buying.UKOIL trades in narrowing rangeBrent crude ticked up after data showed oil imports into China surged 21% in March. The price action remains range-bound however for lack of a major catalyst.The narrowing consolidation is a sign of the market’s indecision and a breakout is bound to happen soon.A bearish MA cross on the daily chart may weigh on the sentiment but as long as 61.20 holds firm as support, there is a chance of a rebound.On the upside, a rise above 65.15 could extend the rally towards 68.
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

ING believes EUR/USD will break 1.20, and you?

Kseniya Medik Kseniya Medik 15.04.2021 13:28
What is moving the markets these days? What are the main drivers of currency pairs?First, the vaccination pace. The second, the recovery speed. And finally, investors are concerned about how soon the central banks will tighten the policy (increase rates or/and cut asset purchases).Let’s analyze the most traded pair – EUR/USD. At the first sight, the US is doing better than the Euro Area. The percentage of vaccinated people is much higher in the US than in the EU. Elsewhere, after problems with AtraZeneca’s vaccine, Johnson & Johnson stopped sending its vaccine to the EU as well because of the possible negative side effects.While the US does not depend on J&J, Europe may suffer a delay of 3-4 months to obtain its goal to vaccinate 70% of the population. As a result, it may significantly worsen the situation in Eurozone and press the euro down.However, EU Retail sales came out much better than expected this Monday: 3.0% vs the forecast of 1.3%. It’s just the beginning of further growth – more to come in the months ahead! Elsewhere, according to Barclays, European people acquired savings at 600 billion euros ($714 billion) during long lockdowns. But when they feel free to go out without any restrictions, they will tend to spend them more. So, consumer spending will grow and help the economy to recover.ForecastsING foresees the tentative recovery for Europe. The bank points that the USD has started losing its steam and the breakout of EUR/USD above 1.2000 is very likely! According to ING’s model, EUR/USD is undervalued by almost 2%. Indeed, if you look at the chart below, you’ll notice that the RSI indicator is well below 70.00 level, so it’s not overbought.US retail sales todayToday US retail sales will come out at 15:30 MT and will have a great impact on EUR/USD. The general rule is that if US retail sales are better than expected, the USD will surge; if worse – the USD will fall. However, some analysts believe that if retail sales come out better than the forecasts, it may fuel the ongoing risk-on sentiment and press down the USD, which will push EUR/USD higher. Anyway, follow the results and keep an eye on the charts.Tech analysisEUR/USD has failed to cross the resistance of 1.1990-1.2000 so far. However, if it does, the way up to the 100-day moving average of 1.2050 will be open.On the flip side, if it breaks below the 50-day moving average of 1.1960, the way down to the 200-day moving average of 1.1890 will be clear.Download the FBS Trader app to trade anytime anywhere! For personal computer or laptop, use MetaTrader 5!
Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Sectors: Key Challenges and Pathways Forward

Inflation Soared in March. Will Gold Jump Too?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 15.04.2021 17:42
Inflation accelerated its pace in March, which should support gold when economic confidence softens.The U.S. CPI inflation rate rose 0.6% in March , following a 0.4% increase in February. It was the biggest monthly jump since August 2012. The move was larger than most analysts expected. However, I’m not surprised at all, as after February’s CPI report, I wrote that inflation “may rise further in the coming months”.The acceleration in the inflation rate was driven mainly by a 9.1% spike in the gasoline prices over the past year (in March 2020, the price of oil plunged). But the core CPI monthly rate, that excludes energy and food prices, also accelerated to 0.3% in March, from 0.1% in February.So, inflation has finally reared its ugly head, which is even more clearly seen on an annual basis. The overall CPI soared 2.6% over the last 12 months ending in March, following a 1.7% increase in the preceding month. Meanwhile, the core CPI jumped 1.6%, following a 1.3% rise in February. Hence, as the chart below shows, inflation has not only increased significantly since the bottom in May 2020, but it has also substantially surpassed the Fed’s target.What’s important is that the recent jump in inflation is not a one-off event. We can expect that high inflation will stay with us for some time, or it can accelerate further next month, given the fact that oil prices plunged deeply in April 2020 (some oil futures even fell into negative territory!). So, the next CPI reading will have to factor in a quadrupling of oil prices over the year.Implications for GoldWhat does it all mean for the price of gold? Well, higher inflation should support gold , which is perceived as an inflation hedge . Furthermore, higher inflation should decrease or at least soften the rise in the real interest rates , further supporting the price of the yellow metal.As the chart below shows, gold’s immediate response was positive, yet rather limited, with the price of the yellow metal increasing to almost $1,748 on Tuesday (Apr.13). After all, the increase in inflation was widely expected given the base effects and the latest Fed’s economic projections. So, no big surprises here.However, I believe that inflation hasn’t said its last word yet . It could be just the beginning. You see, the current mainstream view is that inflation is no longer a problem in the contemporary economy, and that the 1970s-like stagflation will never happen again. Furthermore, the Fed believes that it would be able to contain inflation if it turns out to be really problematic. As Powell said in his recent interview ,The economy has changed. And what we saw in the last couple of cycles is that inflation never really moved up as unemployment went down. We had 3.5% unemployment, which is a 50-year low for much of the last two years before the pandemic. And inflation didn’t really react much. That means that we can afford to wait to see actual inflation appear before we raise interest rates.The Fed Chair is right. The economy has changed. But the economic laws haven’t. So, the combination of the recent surge in the broad money supply , the supply disruptions, demographic shifts, base effects, and the realization of the pent-up demand, may still lead to inflation. And remember that the Fed’s new monetary regime is more tolerant to upward price pressure, which increases the odds of inflation getting out of control.In other words, I believe that the risk of stagflation is underestimated. With increasing vaccination, unlocking the economy, and expectations of a vigorous recovery, economic confidence is high. So, investors should focus more on economic growth than on inflation. However, I bet that when this post-pandemic euphoria wanes, there will be a deterioration in economic confidence, caused either by more persistent and higher inflation than expected, or higher bond yields , or problems with the private and public debts . When this happens, gold should rally again.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
Earnings Season’s Hot Start

Earnings Season’s Hot Start

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 16.04.2021 15:42
“Other than my Cincinnati Bengals breaking my heart, few things are more consistent than stocks higher in April.”As a stock nerd and NFL fan, I love this quote from Ryan Detrick , the chief market strategist at LPL Financial.Historically in April, the S&P 500 has seen gains in 14 of the past 15 years. April has also been the strongest month for stocks over the past 20 years.April 2021 has been no exception. Although March, and Q1, for that matter, ended with more questions than answers, this month has been nothing but white-hot.The month kicked off with a blowout jobs report. It then continued with two consecutive weeks of jobless claims crushing estimates, retail sales coming in almost ⅓ higher than projected, and bank earnings blowing past forecasts. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 seemingly hit fresh record-highs every other day, and despite complications with JnJ’s one-dose vaccine, all signs point towards our life returning to normal by this summer.While optimism is high right now, I implore you to remain cautious. I’m really not sure how much higher the Dow and S&P can go without pulling back somewhat. Not to mention, it still has not been smooth sailing for Cathie Wood stocks or SPACs for the last two months either. This rotation into recovery names is very real.Remember that every month in 2021 thus far has started off hot and saw a pullback and volatility occur by the second half of the month.We are now officially in the latter half of April. Although, as I said, April is historically a strong performing month, think about this. By the second half of January, we had Reddit trades spooking investors. In February and March, we had surging bond yields, inflation fears, or Jay Powell comments that rubbed people the wrong way. These concerns won’t just disappear because we want them to. If we could make things magically disappear, COVID would’ve been over yesterday.According to Binky Chadha , Deutsche Bank’s chief U.S. equity strategist, we could see a significant pullback between 6% and 10% over the next three months because of potentially full valuations and inflation fears. Even if this $2 trillion infrastructure plan doesn’t pass in full, do we really need to spend any more trillions with an economy starting to turn red hot?Plus, how do you think this will be paid for? Hiking taxes- namely corporate taxes . Those gains that high growth stocks saw after Trump cut corporate taxes in 2017 could very well go away. While President Biden has indicated a willingness to negotiate his 28% corporate tax proposal, it’s still a tax hike.My goal for these updates is to educate you, give you ideas, and help you manage money like I did when I was pressing the buy and sell buttons for $600+ million in assets. I left that career to pursue one to help people who needed help instead of the ultra-high net worth.With that said, to sum it up:We’re hot right now.However, we could see more volatility and more muted gains than what we’ve come to know over the last year.April is historically strong, but please monitor overvaluation, inflation, bond yields, and potential tax hikes. Be optimistic but realistic. A decline above ~20%, leading to a bear market, appears unlikely. Yet, we could eventually see a minor pullback by the summer, as Deutsche Bank said.Hopefully, you find my insights enlightening. I welcome your thoughts and questions and wish you the best of luck. The Dow Jones- How Much Higher Could We Go?Figure 1- Dow Jones Industrial Average $INDUThe Dow Jones remains red hot in 2021. Strong bank earnings, a recovering economy, and the potential for further infrastructure spending have sent the index to record highs in what seems to be every other day. Unfortunately, we are nowhere close to buyable any longer and are firmly overbought with an RSI over 72.For the longest time, I’ve said to HOLD the Dow and let the gains ride. Now, I think it’s an excellent time to trim and take profits. Many analysts believe the index could end the year at 35,000 or higher, and the wheels are still in motion for that to happen. The problem, though? We’re above 34,000, and we’re only in mid-April.You could do a heck of a lot better for a buyable entry point.Having Dow exposure is valuable. The index has many strong recovery cyclical plays that should benefit from what appears to be an economic recovery and reopening going even better than expected. The Dow could also be quite beneficial as a hedge against volatile growth stocks and SPACs. You won’t see bond yields spooking this index as much.But at this level, it’s probably better to SELL and consider trimming profits.For an ETF that aims to correlate with the Dow’s performance, the SPDR Dow Jones ETF (DIA) is a great option.For more of my thoughts on the market, such as tech, inflation fears, and why I love emerging market opportunities, sign up for my premium analysis today.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. I encourage you to sign up for our daily newsletter - it's absolutely free and if you don't like it, you can unsubscribe with just 2 clicks. If you sign up today, you'll also get 7 days of free access to the premium daily Stock Trading Alerts as well as our other Alerts. Sign up for the free newsletter today!Thank you.Matthew Levy, CFA Stock Trading Strategist Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care* * * * *All essays, research, and information found above represent analyses and opinions of Matthew Levy, CFA and Sunshine Profits' associates only. As such, it may prove wrong and be subject to change without notice. Opinions and analyses were 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 believed to be accurate, Matthew Levy, 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. Levy is not a Registered Securities Advisor. By reading Matthew Levy, CFA’s 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. Matthew Levy, 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.
Asia Morning Bites: Trade Data from Australia, Taiwan Inflation, and US Fed Minutes Highlighted

Gold Rebounds Amid Positive Economic Reports

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 20.04.2021 10:55
Several economic indicators have surprised us on the positive side. Nevertheless, the price of gold has rebounded.Finally! The price of gold has been rising recently . As the chart below shows, the yellow metal rebounded from the late March bottom of $1,684 to above $1,770 on Friday (Mar. 16). This could be a promising start to the second quarter of 2021, which looks better than the first.As you know, gold struggled at the beginning of the year, falling under strong downward pressure created by the improving risk appetite and rising bond yields . But the strength of these factors has begun to fade. You see, it seems that economic confidence has reached its maximum level, and it could be difficult for markets to become even more euphoric.Please take a look at the chart below which shows the level of credit spreads – as you can see, they have fallen to very low levels, which implies that they won’t get much lower than they are right now. So, it appears that the next big move will rather be a rise in credit spreads or a decline in economic confidence.Second, it seems that the rally in bond yields has run out of fuel , at least for a while. The U.S. long-term real interest rates reached their peak of minus 0.56% on March 18 of this year. Since then, they are in a sideways or even downward trend, declining to almost -0.70% last week, as you can see in the chart below.As I explained earlier several times, the markets didn’t buy the Fed’s story of allowing inflation to rise substantially without hiking interest rates for several weeks or even months. However, it seems that Powell and his colleagues have finally managed to convince investors that they are really serious about the new framework, which puts full employment over inflation.Of course, there are also positive geopolitical factors contributing to the rebound in the gold prices . The tensions between the U.S. and China, as well as the U.S. and Russia, have been rising recently. However, it seems that the decline in bond yields allowed gold to catch its breath, and that the macroeconomic outlook – including the credit spreads, interest rates, inflation, monetary policy and fiscal policy – will remain the key driver of gold prices throughout the year.Implications for GoldWhat does all this mean for the price of the yellow metal? Well, the recent jump in the price of gold is encouraging. What is important here is that this rebound occurred amid the flood of positive economic data . For instance, the initial jobless claims have decreased to 576,000, a lower level than expected and the lowest since the pandemic started, as the chart below shows.Additionally, retail sales surged 9.8% in March , following a 2.7% decline in February, while the Fed’s Beige Book reported that “national economic activity accelerated to a moderate pace from late February to early April”. Additionally, both the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index and the Empire State manufacturing index surprised us on the a positive side.The fact that gold held its gains and continued the rebound even after the publication of several positive economic reports is bullish . Of course, it might be simply the case that the reduction in the real interest rates simply outweighed other indicators, but it’s also possible that gold’s bears got tired.Indeed, the sentiment was so negative in the gold market that it couldn’t get much worse than it already was. Gold shined brightly during the Great Lockdown and economic crisis . But now, when the economy is recovering, gold has become persona non grata . However, this might imply that we are either close to or we have already reached the bottom. Only time will tell, of course, but the macroeconomic outlook seems to be rather friendly for the price of gold, especially if the real interest rates stop rising or even start declining again.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
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

USD/TRY: testing all-time highs

Kseniya Medik Kseniya Medik 22.04.2021 10:05
Today, USD/TRY is peaking above 8.30 - that's the zone of the all-time highs! The first time the Turkish lira dropped that much value was in November 2020. Back then, a new Turkish Central Bank governor was appointed to put it back onto a healthy course - and Naci Aqbal managed to do it countering double-digit inflation. Eventually, USD/TRY dropped below 7.00. However, unfortunately for the Turkish lira, Naci Aqbal had to leave his post in February - and the national currency of Turkey responded by losing value again. Taking into account these constant staff changes in the highest ranks of the Turkish Central Bank, it's not a surprise that the national Turkish currency behaves in such an unstable manner. On top of that, see that, global investors are increasingly losing faith in the Turkish economy that is becoming less attractive for investment and hence propels the lira's depreciation. One of the reasons for the current upswing of USD/TRY may be the announcement that Joe Biden may officially recognize the actions of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 towards the Armenian population as genocide - a move that will definitely strike hard at the US-Turkish relations, and the Turkish authorities already warned their American counterparts of that. In the meantime, this move may be considered as US warning to Turkey as well: so far, while being in the NATO, Turkey did not hesitate to purchase Russian arms raising questions - at least, on the American side - about the true nature of its intentions and loyalty to the military alliance. In any case, the US-Turkish relations are becoming worse day by day, and that's pressing on the Turkish lira. If it continues like that, USD/TRY may well reach 9.00 in the nearest future. Download the FBS Trader app to trade anytime anywhere! For personal computer or laptop, use MetaTrader 5!
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

The Tax Plan to Slay the Stock Bull?

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 23.04.2021 16:11
A day like almost any other – S&P 500 about to take again on the ATHs until the capital gains tax hike proposal came, shaving off 50 points in stocks within an hour. The 4,415 support held though, both before and after the closing bell. Are we ready to shake off the cold water and resume running higher again?Depends on where you look – stocks have quite some recovering still to do, and it‘s the precious metals and commodities that are performing best today. Both as an index and sectoral collection, the S&P 500 sustained broad damage, concentrated in the tech heavyweights. The volatility spike has been partially repelled but option traders seem expecting another shoe to drop, which attests to us better dampening expectations of a fast return above 4,170.Look still though how little has changed, as if the tax raising plans haven‘t been around since the infrastructure bill or implicitly even before. It‘s still April, and markets are pricing in not only this select reality, but broader tax increases coming. Yes, they have woken up, and the reflation paradigm is getting an unwelcome companion. This hit won‘t bring down the bull, but will slow it down – and the implications for broader economy will only hasten the pronounced advent of the commodities supercycle (well underway since the corona deflationary crash last year). As the Chinese say, may you live in interesting times, and I am glad to have caught the April 2020 turnaround reasonably well. I‘m bringing this up just to say that this isn‘t the time to turn bearish on stocks yet – not in the least. The initial panic is over, real economy keeps recovering (amazing how fast were the reasonably good unemployment claims of yesterday forgotten, right?), inflation expectations aren‘t running progressively hotter, and Treasury yields continue retreating.Another argument for why this is a storm in a tea cup (I‘m talking merely stock market perspective now, not the very real consequences about to hit the economy like a trainwreck in slow motion), is the Russell 2000 and emerging markets performance yesterday – reasonably bullish given the setback most keenly felt in the S&P 500 and Bitcoin. Unless the latter recaptures $52,500 promptly and convincingly, it‘s going to remain in hot water as yet another tax cash cow on the horizon, which aligns nicely with the Yellen weekend cryptos announcement. A bit over 24hrs ago in response to a question from my great West Coast subscriber, I highlighted Bitcoin vulnerability as it has been unable to revert back above the 50-day moving average, drawing the $52,500 line in the „bulls still have a chance“ sand. Now, I would have to be convinced by the upswing‘s strength recapturing said level, which I‘m not expecting even though the asset trades quite extended relative to the lower border of its daily chart Bollinger Bands.Thus far, precious metals, copper, oil and other commodities are holding up best – little surprising given the risk-off nature of yesterday‘s move and potentially misplaced hopes that the 28% collectibles tax on the metals would survive. These things tend to creep.Gold or miners held up reasonably well yesterday, and I look for them to be fastest in recapturing the lost ground, followed by silver. The precious metals upleg has started, we‘re in a real assets super bull market, and this little hiccup won‘t derail it. The sad implication would actually drive it as capital formation would be hampered, unproductive behaviors encouraged, and potential output lowered. Pretty serious consequences – add to which inflation as that‘s what the Fed ultimately wants, and the recipe for more people falling into higher tax brackets through illusory gains, is set. Then, as inflation starts firing on all cylinders – a 2022-3 story when the job market starts overheating – the pain would be felt more keenly. And this is supposed to be the environment where the dollar would be in a bull run, now and ever? Wake up:(…) we‘re in the decade of precious metals and commodities super bull runs – and these are well underway. The debasement of fiat currencies against real assets is set to continue, and will accelerate given the unprecedented fiscal and monetary support already and ahead – sorry dollar bulls, the greenback declines are resuming – just look at the yen and yields nodding to the metals upswing.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookThe intraday reversal is thus far lacking volume and follow through. That means it would be premature to jump to conclusions as to the shallow correction extending deeper.Credit MarketsThe high yield corporate bonds to short-term Treasuries (HYG:SHY) ratio isn‘t panicking either. So far, the move has been hesitant and orderly.Technology and ValueValue keeps being most resilient, and the tech sector stands in the middle, dragged lower by the heavyweights. I would like these to stop leading to the downside so as to declare the correction as approaching its end in terms of prices.Inflation ExpectationsThe inflation expectations are in a momentary limbo, but seem as likely to rise again shortly. That would be one more piece of the puzzle bringing real rates down, making the yellow metal‘s fundamental outlook more positive (as if it hadn‘t been already).Gold and SilverThe decline across the gold sector has been orderly yesterday, and the retreating yields (helped by the stock market turmoil) are putting a nice floor below the king of metals. I look for miners to keep leading higher shortly again.The key message is the one by the copper to 10-year Treasuries yield – a little hesitation yesterday, hinting at a little more time being necessary to overcome the $1,800 barrier next.SummaryThe S&P 500 is at a crossroads determining how low would the shock-facilitated consolidation stretch. Thus far, signs are modestly leaning in favor of the worst being in, and a gradual repair coming next.Gold and miners took a daily dive in sympathy with stocks yesterday, but I look for the precious metals sector to recover fastest, and overcome the next resistance convincingly.
European Central Bank's Potential Minimum Reserve Increase Sparks Concerns

Will a Fiscal Revolution Raise Gold to the Throne?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 23.04.2021 16:29
Revolution, baby! There is growing acceptance for an aggressive fiscal policy, which could be supportive for gold prices from the fundamental, long-term point of view.We live in turbulent times. The pandemic is still raging and will most likely have lost lasting effects on our society. But a revolution is also happening right before our eyes. And I don’t mean another storming of the U.S. Capitol or the clash of individual investors with big fish on Wall Street. I have in mind something less spectacular but potentially more influential: a macroeconomic revolution.I refer here to the growing acceptance of easy fiscal policy . In the aftermath of the Great Recession , the central banks adopted an aggressive monetary policy , slashing interest rates to almost zero and introducing quantitative easing . It has become a new norm since then.But fiscal policy was another kettle of fish. Although almost nobody cared about balanced government budgets, people at least pretended to worry about overly large fiscal deficits and an overly quick accumulation of public debt . For example, while Obama wanted $1.8 trillion in fiscal stimulus in a response to the global financial crisis of 2007-09, Congress passed a package of about $800 billion, as Republicans opposed larger spending. But in March 2020, Congress passed the CARES act worth about $2 trillion (and additional significant stimulus in December 2020), with the full support of Republicans.Even Germany – the country famous for its fiscal conservatism – ran a fiscal deficit in 2020 and – what’s more – agreed to issue bonds jointly with other EU countries, although it was previously a taboo. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), another bastion of economic orthodoxy, which advocated for austerity and balanced budgets for years, gave up during the epidemic and started to call for more fiscal stimulus to fight the economic crisis .And this fiscal revolution is already seen in data. As the chart below shows, the U.S. fiscal deficit has increased from 4.6 percent of GDP in 2019 (which was already at an elevated level) to 15 percent of GDP in 2020, the highest level in the post-war era.According to the IMF’s Fiscal Monitor Update from January 2021 , fiscal deficits amounted to 13.3 percent of GDP , on average, in advanced economies, in 2021, a spike from 3.3 percent seen in 2019. As a consequence, the gross global debt approached 98 percent in 2020 and it’s projected to reach 99.5 percent of the world’s GDP by the end of this year.What is important to note here is that government support wasn’t limited mainly to the financial institutions and big companies (such as automakers), as was the case in 2009, but it was distributed more widely. There was a huge direct money transfer to Main Street, including checks for practically all citizens. This is important for two reasons.First, money flowing into the economy through nonfinancial institutions and people’s accounts may be more inflationary. This is because money doesn’t stay in the financial market where it mainly raises asset prices, but it’s more likely to be spent on consumer goods, boosting the CPI inflation rate . Higher officially reported inflation (and relatively lower asset prices) should support gold , which is seen by investors as an inflation hedge .Second, the direct cash transfer to the people creates a dangerous precedent. From now, each time the economy falls into crisis, people will demand checks. It means that fiscal responses would have to be increasingly larger to meet the inflated expectations of the public. It also implies that we are approaching a universal basic income, with its mammoth fiscal costs and all related negative economic and social consequences.Summing up, we live in revolutionary times. The old paradigm that “central banks are the only game in town” has been replaced by the idea that fiscal policy should be more aggressively used. Maintaining balanced budgets is also a dead concept – who would care about deficits when interest rates are so low?However, assigning a greater role to fiscal policy in achieving macroeconomic goals increases the risk of higher inflation and macroeconomic instability, as politicians tend to be pro-cyclical and reckless. After all, the economic orthodoxy that monetary policy is better suited to achieve macroeconomic stability didn’t come out from nowhere, but from awful experiences of the fiscal follies of the past. I’m not a fan of central bankers, but they are at least less short-sighted than politicians who think mainly about how to win the next election and stay in power.Hence, the growing acceptance of easy fiscal policy should be positive for gold prices , especially considering that it will be accompanied by an accommodative monetary policy. Such a policy mix should increase the public debt and inflation, which could support gold prices. The caveat is that investors have so far welcomed more stimulus flowing from both the Fed and the Treasury. But this “go big” approach of Powell and Yellen increases the longer-term risk for the economy, which could materialize – similar to the pandemic – sooner than anyone thought.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get a 7-day no-obligation trial for all of our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
California Leads the Way: New Climate Disclosure Laws Set the Standard for Sustainability Reporting

No Upsetting the Apple Cart in Stocks or Gold

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 26.04.2021 15:35
The tax hike proposal shock is over, and S&P 500 took again on the ATHs on Friday. Buying pressure throughout the day lasted almost till the closing bell, and is likely to continue this week as well. And why shouldn‘t it – has anything changed? The artificial selling any capital gains tax hike would generate, is likely to come before year end – not now:(…) Look still though how little has changed, as if the tax raising plans haven‘t been around since the infrastructure bill or implicitly even before. It‘s still April, and markets are pricing in not only this select reality, but broader tax increases coming. Yes, they have woken up, and the reflation paradigm is getting an unwelcome companion. This hit won‘t bring down the bull, but will slow it down – and the implications for broader economy will only hasten the pronounced advent of the commodities supercycle (well underway since the corona deflationary crash last year). The move towards risk-on was clearly there, overpowering the USD bulls yet again as the dollar bear market has reasserted itself. It‘s not just about EUR/USD on the way to its late Feb highs, but about the USD/JPY too – the yen carry trade is facing headwinds these days, acting as a supportive factor for gold prices. While these went through a daily correction, commodities pretty much didn‘t – lumber is powering to new highs, agrifoods didn‘t have a down day in April, copper and oil scored respectable gains. The market is in a higher inflation environment already, and it will become increasingly apparent that commodity-led inflation is here to stay.Back to stocks and bonds, the S&P 500 took well to a daily rise in Treasury yields – and that‘s the key factor overall. The turnaround was most clearly seen in tech heavyweights but defensive sectors such as consumer staples or utilities didn‘t do well (they‘re interest rate sensitive, after all), and Dow Jones Industrial Average traded closer to the optimistic side of the spectrum. The second piece of the puzzle came from value stocks and financials, which are working to put an end to their own shallow correction – just as you would expect when rates take a turn higher.So, another volatility spike has been banished, but option traders aren‘t yet satisfied, and keep piling into protective instruments. I view this as a fuel of the upcoming rally continuation, unless the tech‘s earnings batch doesn‘t disappoint as Netflix subscriber base growth did.One more argument in favor of the S&P 500 upswing, comes from the smallcaps – the time of their outperformance, is approaching. Likewise emerging markets are starting to do better, and the dollar effect is part of the explanation.Gold took sensitively to the rise in yields, and retreating dollar didn‘t lift it up really. The yellow metal disregarded proportional increase in inflation expectations, and so did the miners – indicating that a brief soft patch in the precious metals sector can‘t be excluded. This doesn‘t change my Friday‘s thoughts that:(…) The precious metals upleg has started, we‘re in a real assets super bull market, and this little hiccup won‘t derail it. The sad implication would actually drive it as capital formation would be hampered, unproductive behaviors encouraged, and potential output lowered. Pretty serious consequences – add to which inflation as that‘s what the Fed ultimately wants, and the recipe for more people falling into higher tax brackets through illusory gains, is set. Then, as inflation starts firing on all cylinders – a 2022-3 story when the job market starts overheating – the pain would be felt more keenly. Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookIt‘s not an issue that the two latest upswings happened on decreasing volume as I view the preceding modest volume spike as a sign of weak selling turning into accumulation. There is plenty of doubt to drive further S&P 500 gains.Credit MarketsBoth high yield corporate bonds to short-term Treasuries (HYG ETF) and investment grade ones (LQD ETF) have risen on Friday, and the divergence to long-dated Treasuries is another key factor driving the risk-on return conclusion.Technology and FinancialsThe $NYFANG strength was the key deciding factor in the S&P 500 upswing, and value stocks didn‘t stand in the way much either. Financials joined in the upswing by tech are a sign of the shallow correction drawing to its end.Gold & Miners WeeklyCompare this chart to the one that I published on Thursday – the red candle smacking of reversal is actually just an initial rejection in my view. It‘ll take a while to return back above the 50-day moving average, but that‘s a question of time merely. Gold miners are still outperforming, and the upside momentum in the gold sector merely paused. We may see a brief pullback as the bears try their luck, but it will be only a temporary setback – there is no telling weakness in any of the markets I am looking at that would indicate otherwise.Gold, Silver and Key RatioThe copper to 10-year Treasury yield ratio shows that the markets aren‘t buying the transitory inflation story – the rush into commodities goes on, and justifiably so. Just look how much silver has been resilient, and the white metal is uniquely positioned to benefit both from the economic recovery, forced shift into green economy, and building monetary pressures.Seniors vs. JuniorsThroughout the 10+month long correction, juniors had been the more resilient ones, but it was the seniors that I called to lead gold out of the bottom. And they did, meaning that juniors had underperformed over the coming month clearly. Once animal spirits return even more to the precious metals sector, their outperformance is likely to return as the market appetite for ounces in the ground grows. We aren‘t there yet, but the new upleg is well underway.SummaryThe S&P 500 turned around convincingly, and new highs are a question of a rather short amount of time – be prepared though for headline risks should we get an (unlikely) earnings disappointment.Gold and miners are in consolidation mode as they failed to take advantage of plunging dollar and rising commodity prices, but the precious metals sector is likely to play a catch up relative to commodities as its sluggish post Aug performance would get inevitably forgotten.
Asia Morning Bites: Trade Data from Australia, Taiwan Inflation, and US Fed Minutes Highlighted

The Inflation Tsunami About to Hit

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 27.04.2021 15:59
Stocks went on to push higher yesterday – the pressure is building. Trends in place since last week, remain in place for this earnings rich one too. Reflation still rules, reopening trades are well underway, and inflation expectations are modestly turning up again without putting too much strain on the Treasury markets.While Monday wasn‘t an example of a risk-on day, the markets are clearly moving there:(…) overpowering the USD bulls yet again as the dollar bear market has reasserted itself. It‘s not just about EUR/USD on the way to its late Feb highs, but about the USD/JPY too – the yen carry trade is facing headwinds these days, acting as a supportive factor for gold prices. While these went through a daily correction, commodities pretty much didn‘t – lumber is powering to new highs, agrifoods didn‘t have a down day in April, copper and oil scored respectable gains. The market is in a higher inflation environment already, and it will become increasingly apparent that commodity-led inflation is here to stay.Yesterday was a great day for commodities again as these scored stronger gains than tech or $NYFANG, the main winners within the S&P 500 (defensives took it on the chin – seems like we‘re about to see rates move higher again). Anyway, VIX didn‘t object as options traders piled into the clearly complacent end of the spectrum again. Both the Russell 2000 and emerging markets loved that – the best days for smallcaps are clearly ahead:(…) the time of their outperformance, is approaching.Gold miners didn‘t outperform the yellow metal yesterday while silver did – are the ingredients for a metals‘ top in place? I don‘t think so, and have actually called out on Twitter the GDX downswing as likely to be rejected and ending with a noticeable lower knot. And here we are. No changes to my Friday‘s thoughts that:(…) The precious metals upleg has started, we‘re in a real assets super bull market, and this little hiccup won‘t derail it. The sad implication would actually drive it as capital formation would be hampered, unproductive behaviors encouraged, and potential output lowered. Pretty serious consequences – add to which inflation as that‘s what the Fed ultimately wants, and the recipe for more people falling into higher tax brackets through illusory gains, is set. Then, as inflation starts firing on all cylinders – a 2022-3 story when the job market starts overheating – the pain would be felt more keenly. When even Larry Summers starts talking the dangers of an inflationary wave, things are really likely getting serious down the road. On a side note, my tomorrow‘s analysis will be briefer than usual, and published probably a bit later as I have unavoidable dental treatment to undergo. Thank you everyone for your patience and loyalty – it‘s already a little over 3 months since I could start publishing totally independent. Thank you so much for all your support!Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookThe bears are certainly running (have certainly run) out of time, and the upper knot of yesterday‘s session looks little concerning to me. Tesla enjoying the Bitcoin moves, more tech earnings soon, and favorable sectoral composition of the S&P 500 advance favor the coming upswing.Credit MarketsDebt instruments got under pressure – high yield corporate bonds (HYG ETF) and investment grade ones (LQD ETF) have declined in a signal of non-confirmation, and joined the long-dated Treasuries in their downswing. I am not yet convinced this is a serious enough more to warrant a change in S&P 500 outlook.Technology and FinancialsThe $NYFANG strength continues, powering tech higher – and that‘s the engine behind solid S&P 500 performance. Notably, financials weren‘t waiting yesterday on other value stocks turning higher, and that‘s bullish.Gold, Silver and MinersGold caught a bid, and refused to decline intraday, which almost matches the miners‘ performance. Given these two daily stands, I‘m in favor of disregarding the usual outperformance warning of silver doing considerably better.This is the proper view of the miners and miners to gold ratio – noticeable outperformance in the latter while the former is getting ready to rise again.Gold and the Key RatioAs is visibly even more true today than yesterday, the copper to 10-year Treasury yield ratio shows that the markets aren‘t buying the transitory inflation story – the rush into commodities goes on, and justifiably so. This chart is clearly unfavorable to lower metals‘ prices.SummaryThe S&P 500 keeps pushing for new all time highs, which looks to be a matter of relatively short time only. Credit markets non-confirmation is to be disregarded in favor of strong smallcaps, emerging markets and cornered dollar in my view.Gold and miners are in consolidation mode, but this is little concerning to the bulls. No signs of an upcoming reversal and truly bearish plunge - the precious metals sector is likely to play a catch up relative to commodities as its sluggish post Aug performance would get inevitably forgotten.
Will Euro and Gold Go Up With Pandemic Upturn in Euro Area?

Will Euro and Gold Go Up With Pandemic Upturn in Euro Area?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 27.04.2021 16:39
The worst may already be behind the euro area’s economy. This bodes well – both the euro, as well as gold, can benefit from it.The Governing Council of the European Central Bank met last week, keeping its monetary policy unchanged. The inaction was widely expected - no surprises here. The June meeting could be much more interesting as the ECB will have to decide whether or not to slow its bond buying under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme that was accelerated in the second quarter of the year. Given the dovish stance of the European policymakers, and the bank’s pledge to provide the markets with favorable financing conditions during the pandemic, we shouldn’t expect any tapering soon.Certainly, there are important dovish parts of the latest ECB’s statement on its monetary policy . It stems from the grim economic situation in the euro area. The real GDP declined by 0.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020, and it is expected to decrease again in the first quarter of 2021. The nearest future doesn’t look promising:The near-term economic outlook remains clouded by uncertainty about the resurgence of the pandemic and the roll-out of vaccination campaigns. Persistently high rates of coronavirus (COVID-19) infection and the associated extension and tightening of containment measures continue to constrain economic activity in the short term.However, investors should always look beyond the near-team outlook. In the medium-term, the situation in the euro area looks much better. As the ECB notes, this is because the current virus wave seems to have peaked in Europe, while the pace of vaccination is accelerating:Looking ahead, the progress with vaccination campaigns, which should allow for a gradual relaxation of containment measures, should pave the way for a firm rebound in economic activity in the course of 2021.Furthermore, the European Union’s 750 billion euro recovery fund has cleared a key court challenge. Last week, the Germany’s constitutional court dismissed objections to the European aid package.All these factors are positive for the euro and, thus, also for the price of gold. As you can see in the chart below, gold was highly correlated with the spread between the American and German long-term government bond yields - the widening divergence in the US and European interest rates that started in August 2020 pushed the yellow metal down.Implications for GoldThe third wave of pandemic has already peaked in Europe; therefore, the old continent may somewhat catch up with the US. This could narrow the divergence in yields, creating downward pressure on the greenback while supporting the gold prices .Another positive factor for the euro and the yellow metal is the fact that although inflation jumped in both the US and the euro area, it’s much higher in the former country as the chart below shows. So, the purchasing power parity could support the common currency, as well as gold, against the greenback.What’s funny here is that Lagarde , just as Powell , argued that inflation “has picked up over recent months on account of some idiosyncratic and temporary factors and an increase in energy price inflation”. Sure, some idiosyncratic and temporary factors helped inflation to soar, but there are always some idiosyncratic and temporary factors. All the same, the central bankers point to them only when inflation rises, never when it declines. They always refer to these factors to justify their dovish bias and easy monetary policy.Of course, it might be the case that inflation won’t materialize, just like it never did after the Great Recession . But this time may be really different due to the surge in the broad money supply and a huge increase in government spending in the form of direct cash transfers to citizens who are hungry for traveling, eating in restaurants, and generally a normal life with all its money-spending. So, inflation is the wild card, which makes it reasonable to have some gold in investment portfolios . Investors should remember that gold is an investor’s asset rather than a demand asset, which means that in periods of reflation , gold initially lags commodities, only to outperform them and shine brightly in later phases.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
Enough Consolidation Already!

Enough Consolidation Already!

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 29.04.2021 15:43
Stocks are readying another push higher, and not just on the heels of the still accomodative Fed. The Fed won‘t simply remove the punch bowl, let alone discuss removing it, and will keep repeating the transitory inflation mantra ad nauseam. The ingredients are in place for a continued upswing in stocks and commodities. Look for nominal yields to continue rising, and my hunch is that won‘t be enough to turn the dollar around. We‘re about to experience continuously rising inflation expectations, rising nominal yields, and declining dollar:(…) When even Larry Summers starts talking the dangers of an inflationary wave, things are really likely getting serious down the road. (…) we‘re in the decade of precious metals and commodities super bull runs – and these are well underway. The debasement of fiat currencies against real assets is set to continue, and will accelerate given the unprecedented fiscal and monetary support already and ahead – sorry dollar bulls, the greenback declines are resuming – just look at the yen and yields nodding to the metals upswing.And the emerging markets are embracing the unfolding currency moves – they are rising with more vigor than the Russell 2000 lately. Little wonder for they are farther from their prior highs than the smallcaps. When it comes to S&P 500 sectors, yesterday brought us a rare rotation out of tech while the heavyweights still eked out minor gains – and that rotation is as telling a sign of a risk on sentiment returning as much as the credit market performance is.The key more in the gold sector was in the miners, whose continued resilience is a good omen. In other words, what a recovery from the daily setback I covered amply between the regular trading sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday. Enriching the examination with copper and yen performance, let alone real yields, leads to a universally bullish verdict on the precious metals upcoming price path.What‘s not to love about this reflation before inflation starts to bite noticeably more? Forget about those pesky commodities and my incessant bullish calls within the sector too…Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 OutlookStocks are merely gathering strength before another upswing. Enough consolidation already, seems to be the rallying cry here.Credit MarketsA strong sign of risk-on returning here – high yield corporate bonds (HYG ETF) clearly outperformed investment grade ones (LQD ETF), and these mirrorer the long-dated Treasuries performance.Technology and FinancialsAnother proof of risk-on is in both the technology performance disregarding $NYFANG holding ground, and in the Dow Jones Industrial Average weakness. Value stocks and cyclicals such as financials (XLF ETF) are having a field day, and as will be apparent from today‘s oil analysis, energy (XLE ETF) is a great pick as well.Gold, Silver and MinersGold caught a bid, and refused to decline intraday, but the miners scored gains – that‘s as bullish as it gets. It might seem disappointing in light of nominal yields not going anywhere, but only until you examine the great copper performance.Gold‘s volume hints at accumulation within this flag-approximating consolidation, where the next upswing would be ushered in by the miners. Note how silver gave up prior day‘s gains, and remains ready to join strongly next.Crude OilOil is in an upswing mode, and the bullish spirits are confirmed by the oil sector ($XOI) moves. The multiweek consolidation is in its closing stages.SummaryThe S&P 500 keeps pushing for new all time highs, and remain well positioned to close there any day now, especially since the credit markets favor risk on, and the defensives underperformance concurs.Gold and miners are ready for another upswing, and the commodities performance, inflation expectations and nominal yields trajectory favor that. The inability of the sellers to push prices below $1,760 speaks volumes.
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

Will Powell Lull Gold Bulls to Sweet Sleep?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 29.04.2021 16:20
The Fed left its monetary policy unchanged. However, the lack of any action amid economic recovery is dovish – good news for gold.On Wednesday (Apr. 28), the FOMC has published its newest statement on monetary policy . The statement wasn’t significantly altered. The main change is that the Fed has noticed the progress on vaccinations and strong policy support, and that, in consequence, the economic outlook has improved.Previously, the US central bank said that indicators of economic activity and employment “have turned up recently, although the sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic remain weak”, while now these indicators “have strengthened”, while “the sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic remain weak but have shown improvement”. So, the Fed acknowledged the fact that the economy has significantly recovered .Similarly, the US central bank is no longer considering the epidemic as posing “considerable” risks to the economic outlook. Instead, the pandemic “continues to weigh on the economy, and risks to the economic outlook remain”. It means that the Fed has become more optimistic and does not see risks as considerable any longer. This is bad for the price of gold although it’s not a very surprising modification, given the progress in vaccinations. However, no hawkish actions will follow, so any bearish impact for gold should be limited.Another important alteration is that inflation no longer “continues to run below 2 percent”, but it “has risen, largely reflecting transitory factors”. This would be normally a hawkish change with bearish implications for gold. But the Fed doesn’t worry about inflation and is not going to hike the federal funds rate anytime soon, even when inflation remains above the target for some time. As Powell pointed out, “the economy is a long way from our goals, and it is likely to take some time for substantial further progress to be achieved.” Thus, gold bulls may sleep peacefully .Implications for GoldIndeed, they can relax with Mr. Powell on guard. The Fed Chair has reiterated during his press conference that the US central bank is not going to tighten its dovish stance and reduce the quantitative easing:It’s not time to start talking about tapering. We'll let the public know well in advance. It will take some time before we see substantial further progress. We had one great jobs report. It is not enough to start talking about tapering. We'll need to see more data.Uncle Jay and his bedtime stories… about inflation that is only “transitory”. Once upon a time,the PCE inflation [is] expected to move above 2% in the near term. But these one-time increases in prices are likely to have only transitory effects on inflation.Well, sure. Nonetheless, this is the favorite story of central bankers all over the world told to naive citizens. Just wait for the April inflation readings – they will be something! Of course, it is going to be too early to declare persistently higher inflation, but I’m afraid that the Fed may be too carefree about such a possibility.So, in the aftermath of the generally dovish FOMC meeting, the dollar slid yesterday, while the price of gold went up . Gold continued its recovery from the March bottom, as depicted in the chart below. This makes sense: after all, the Fed reiterated that it would maintain its current ultra easy stance for the foreseeable future, despite the fact of acknowledged improved economic outlook.In other words, the Fed’s inaction made the US central bank more dovish given the better economic outlook and higher inflation. The statement’s language about the coronavirus and the economy was more optimistic, but inflation was considered to be transitory and no hawkish actions were signaled. So, the recent FOMC meeting should be positive for the gold prices from the fundamental point of view , although gold may continue its recent, generally lackluster performance for a while. Of course, the expansion of Fed’s accommodative monetary policy would be much better for the yellow metal, but the lack of any hawkish signals could still clean the room for gold for further upward moves.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
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

Gold Sings a “Hot N Cold” Song

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 30.04.2021 18:18
Although spring has begun, we can still find ourselves in winter, or even summer. Gold may benefit from such a seasonal aberration.Oh, how wonderful, spring has finally started, hasn’t it? We have April, after all. Well, in calendar terms, it’s indeed spring, but economically it can be summer already or still the beginning of winter. How so? I refer here to Kondratiev cycles (also known as Kondratieff cycles or Kondratyev cycles).As a reminder, Nikolai Kondratiev was a Russian economist who noted in the 1920s that capitalist economies experience long super-cycles, lasting 40-60 years (yup, it’s not a very precise concept). His idea was that capitalism was not on an inevitable path to destruction, but that it was rather sustainable and cyclical in nature. Stalin didn’t like this conclusion and ordered a prison sentence and, later, an execution for Kondratiev. And you thought that being an economist is a boring and safe profession!The Kondratiev cycles, also called waves, are composed of a few phases, similar to the seasons of the year. In 2018, I defined them as follows:Spring : economic upswing, technological innovation which drives productivity, low inflation , bull market in stocks, low level of confidence (winter’s legacy).Summer : economic slowdowns combined with high inflation and bear market in stocks, this phase often ends in conflicts.Autumn : the plateau phase characterized by speculative fever, economic growth fueled by debt, disinflation and high level of confidence.Winter : a phase when the excess capacity is reduced by deflation and economic depression, debt is repaid or repudiated. There is a stock market crash and high unemployment rate , social conflicts arise.However, other economists define these phases in a slightly different manner. For them, spring is an inflationary growth phase, summer is a period of stagflation (inflationary recession ), autumn a deflationary growth period, while winter is a time of deflationary depression.So, which phase are we in? That’s a very good question. After all, the whole concept of Kondratiev cycles is somewhat vague, so it’s not easy to be precise. But some experts believe that we are likely in the very early part of the winter after a very long autumn . Indeed, there are some important arguments supporting such a view.First, we have been experiencing a long period of disinflation (and later just low inflation), a decline in the bond yields , and economic growth fueled by debt. I refer here to the time from the end of the Great Recession until the Covid-19 pandemic , but one can argue that autumn lasted since the early 1980s, when both interest rates and inflation peaked, as the chart below shows.Second, winter is believed to be a depression phase with stock and debt markets collapsing, but with commodity prices increasing. And this is exactly what we are observing right now. I refer here to the rally in several commodity prices. This is at least partially caused by the disruption in the supply chains amid the epidemic in the U.S. and worldwide pandemic, but if the bull market in commodities sets in for good, this could be a negative harbinger for the stock market. After all, more expensive raw materials eat into corporate profits.Third, winter is thought of as a period that tears the social fabric of society and deepens the inequalities. The data is limited, but the coronavirus crisis has been one of the most unequal in modern U.S. history, as its costs have been borne disproportionately by the poorer parts of society that have been unable to work online.So, “winter is coming” may be a belated warning, as winter could have already begun. Later during this period, we could see bankruptcies of firms and financial institutions, and even some governments, as a delayed consequences of the coronavirus crisis. This is bad news for the whole of Westeros and its economy, but good for gold. Investors who don’t like the cold should grab a golden blanket to hedge them from the winter.However, in 2018, I expressed the opinion that summer may come in the 2020s, as the debts are rising and the inflationary pressure is growing:As the global economy recovered and now expands, inflation is low, while stocks still rally, we enjoy spring. This is why gold has remained in a broad sideways trend in the last few years. However, as we are on the edge of the next technological revolution, confidence is finally rising and there are worries about higher prices, and we could enter the summer phase in the not-so-distant future.And I still believe that my opinion makes sense. Indeed, after the global financial crisis of 2007-9, we have seen several spring features: low inflation, a bull market in stocks, and a low level of confidence (after all, there was “the most hated rally in the stock market”), which was a legacy of winter, i.e., the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the following economic crisis .And summer is generally a period of stagflation, which is exactly what I’m expecting. You see, after a strong economic recovery in the nearest quarters, the U.S. economy is likely to return to a mediocre pace of economic growth, but with much higher inflation. After all, there is strong monetary and fiscal stimulation ongoing right now, another feature of summer. Meanwhile, winter is generally a deflationary period, so the specter of inflation rather suggests that summer may be coming and investors should hedge themselves against waves of gold.Luckily, gold offers its protection not only against winters, but also against summers . Indeed, gold performs the worst during autumns, when there is disinflation, like in the 1980s and the 1990s, and the best during winters (due to the economic crisis – remember the 2000s?) and the summers (due to high inflation – remember the 1970s?).Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get a 7-day no-obligation trial for all of our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

Will Biden Build Back Better… Gold?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 04.05.2021 13:22
New spending is coming! And because of that, Biden’s speech to Congress was fundamentally positive for gold.Last week was full of big events. The FOMC released its newest statement on monetary policy meeting, while Powell held the press conference. On the same day, President Joe Biden made his first speech to Congress . Let’s take a look at his words.First of all, Biden laid out his American Jobs Plan , which proposes more than $2 trillion to upgrade US infrastructure and create millions of jobs. No matter that infrastructure spending has no stimulus effect, according to economic research .Second, if you think that $2 trillion is a lot of money, given America’s huge indebtedness, you are clearly wrong. Two trillion is practically nothing and definitely not enough, so Biden proposed another $1.8 trillion American Family Plan in investments and tax credits to provide lower-income and middle-class families with inexpensive childcare.Third, Biden understands that all these expenditures cannot be funded solely by increasing already huge fiscal deficits (see the chart below) and issuing new bonds.So, he proposed a hike in tax rates:It’s time for corporate America and the wealthiest 1% of Americans to pay their fair share. Just pay their fair share (…) We take the top tax bracket for the wealthiest 1% of Americans –those making $400,000 or more – back up to 39.6%.No matter that corporate taxes are implicit taxes on labor and that the current proposals for tax hikes are unlikely to fund the White House’s ambitious plans.Biden also proposed several reforms of the labor market: a 12-week paternal leave for families and an increase of the minimum wage to $15 an hour.So, in short, his speech called for several bold economic policies aiming to increase government spending and strengthen the American welfare state. Sounds good… for gold.Implications for GoldWhat does the Biden speech, and more generally his economic agenda, imply for the precious metals market? Well, it seems that the President cares not only about the workers, but also about the gold bulls. His plan is fundamentally positive for the yellow metal . After all, Biden wants to further increase government spending, which will weaken the long-term pace of economic growth and add to the mammoth pile of the public debt .There are also hints that this massive government spending flowing directly to the citizens could ignite inflation . After all, the US economy has already recovered from the pandemic recession , at least in the GDP terms, as the chart below shows. So, Biden’s economic agenda risks that the economy will overheat igniting inflation.He also adopted a more confrontational stance toward China, which could elevate the geopolitical worries and increase the demand for safe-haven assets such as gold .Another potential benefit is the proposal to raise corporate taxes, which is clearly negative for the US stock market and the greenback . Hence, gold could gain at their expense, especially if we see a pullback in the equity market…Last but not least, the increase in the minimum wage, and other labor market reforms, will not help in a quick employment recovery, so the Fed will maintain its dovish policy for longer. Indeed, we should look at Biden’s message together with the Fed’s signals. Biden proposed trillions of dollars in new spending, while Powell reiterated no hurry to raise interest rates . What a policy mix! We have both easy monetary policy and loose fiscal policy , a golden policy mix , indeed.Gold didn’t react strongly to these events, which is a bit disturbing, but this can be explained by the gains on Wall Street, as investors felt reassured that a financial bonanza would last undisturbed. So, the economic confidence remains high, but if it wanes, especially if inflationary threats come to the surface, gold may perform better.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
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

Forex majors: short-term and long-term

Kseniya Medik Kseniya Medik 05.05.2021 12:19
EUR/USD: a downswing loomingAt the beginning of the virus hit, EUR/USD was in the zone of 1.10. By the end of 2020, it rose to 1.2350. Since then, it’s been going mostly downwards as the USD is gaining momentum with the recovering US economy. Currently, it trades around 1.20, and if the US economic optimism stays for another month or two, we are likely to see the pair challenge the tactical supports of 1.17 and 1.16.GBP/USD: post-BrexitFrom the depths of 1.20 at the beginning of the pandemic, this pair has been going upwards almost in a straight line to reach 1.42 in February. Since then, it dropped some of the gains and has been floating below 1.40. Pound’s offensive may have stopped due to the accumulating effect of Brexit as the UK is seeing a lower financial dynamic than before. Locally, 1.38 and 1.38 are the supports bears may be aiming at. If these get broken in the coming weeks, it may be a start of a whole new multimonth downswing back to 1.20.EUR/GBP: bouncing upwards or five-year lowsWhile this pair dropped to 0.83 in the first part of 2020, it has been trading around 0.90 in the second part. However, it ceded most of the gains during previous months going down to 0.85 in April. That level turned out to be a tactical low that sent the currency pair into the upside. EUR/USD bounced off that level a month ago to reach 0.87 – this is the current resistance level. Currently, the pair is on the way downwards after bouncing off it a few days ago. If bears keep pulling, it may reach 0.86 and aim at 0.85 once again. In the larger perspective, the behavior of EUR/GBP in the coming weeks will indicate if it is going to re-take the gains made through 2020 or go further downwards to the five-year lows of 0.83.Download the FBS Trader app to trade anytime anywhere! For personal computer or laptop, use MetaTrader 5!
Lumber and Copper Are Surging. Will Gold Join the Party?

Lumber and Copper Are Surging. Will Gold Join the Party?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 06.05.2021 15:47
There’s no inflation … None at all. Only, completely by accident, lumber prices are skyrocketing. Gold is likely to remain silent, but it may catch up later.The rise in lumber prices can be seen in the chart below:What a surge! It happened because of the limited supply and strong demand for new houses. But it’s not just lumber. Many raw commodities are rallying too. The price of copper, for example, has just approached its record height (from February 2011), as the recovery of the global economy boosted demand. Just take a look at the price below.Indeed, the trend is up. Commodity prices are on the rise as a whole as the chart below clearly shows. Even Warren Buffet warned investors against a “red hot” recovery, saying that his portfolio companies were “seeing very substantial inflation” amid shortages of raw materials.Of course, commodity price inflation and consumer price inflation are quite different phenomena, as consumers don’t buy lumber or copper directly but only finished products made from these materials. However, at least part of this producer price inflation may translate into higher consumer prices, as producers’ ability to pass higher costs on consumers has recently increased – people have a large holding of cash and are willing to spend it.Implications for GoldWhat do rallying commodity prices imply for the precious metals? Well, rising commodity prices signal higher inflation, which should increase the demand for gold as an inflation hedge . Of course, there might be some supply disruptions and bottlenecks in a few commodities. However, the widespread character and the extent of the increase in prices suggest that monetary policy is to blame here and that inflation won’t be just transitory as the Fed claims.What’s more, the commodity boom is usually a good time for precious metals . As the chart below shows, there is a strong positive correlation between the broad commodity index and the precious metals index.There was a big divergence during the pandemic when commodities plunged, while gold at the same time shined brightly as a safe-haven asset . So, the current lackluster performance of the yellow metal is perfectly understandable during the economic recovery.Indeed, the rebound in gold has been weak, and gold hasn’t even crossed $1,800 yet, although it was close this week, as the chart below shows.There was a rally on Monday (May 3) amid a retreat in the US dollar, but we were back in the doldrums on Tuesday, amid Yellen’s remarks about higher bond yields . She said that interest rates could rise to prevent the economy from overheating:It may be that interest rates will have to rise somewhat to make sure that our economy doesn't overheat, even though the additional spending is relatively small relative to the size of the economyHowever, Yellen clarified her statements later, explaining that she was not recommending or predicting that the Fed should hike interest rates. Additionally, several FOMC members made their speeches, presenting the dovish view on the Fed’s monetary policy . For example, Richard Clarida, Fed Vice Chair, said that the economy was still a long way from the Fed’s goals and that the US central bank wasn’t thinking about reducing its quantitative easing program .Anyway, the price of gold has been trading sideways recently as it couldn’t break out of the $1,700-$1,800 price range. This inability can be frustrating, but the inflationary pressure could help the yellow metal to free itself from the shackles. The bull market in gold started in 2019, well ahead of the commodities. Now, there is a correction , but gold may join the party later . It’s important to remember that reflation has two phases: the growth phase when raw materials outperform gold and the inflation phase when gold catches up with the commodities. So, we may have to wait for a breakout a little longer, but once we get it, new investors may flow into the market, strengthening the upward move.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
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

Intraday Market Analysis – US Dollar Fails To Find Support

John Benjamin John Benjamin 07.05.2021 07:26
USDCHF tanks to new lowsThe US dollar falls as higher continuing jobless claims point to volatility in the labour market. The bearish MA cross from the daily chart is a reminder of the US dollar’s weakness across the board.The latest consolidation has ended up with a breakout below 0.9110 in continuation of the downtrend. As the RSI shows an oversold situation, profit-taking could lead to a short rebound towards the resistance at 0.9145.However, this might turn out to be a dead cat bounce if trend followers seize it as an opportunity to sell into strength. 0.9020 would be the next target in the next round of sell-off.GBPUSD consolidates recent gainsSterling found support after the BoE raised its forecast for Britain’s economy and hinted at reducing its stimulus programme.The bullish MA cross on the daily chart may give buyers an edge as the price action wraps up its sideways action. A confirmation may come in with a breakout above 1.3960.Strong momentum above the psychological level of 1.4000 could prompt short-term sellers to bail out. This would resume the pair’s upward trajectory.On the downside, the demand zone between 1.3800 and 1.3840 is of interest for those wishing to bet against a soft greenback.US 30 extends all-time highThe Dow extended gains to an all-time high as investors rebalance assets away from over-stretched growth stocks.The index continues to grind higher along the 20-day moving average as a sign of optimism.Following its breakout above the 33700-34250 range, buyers seem to have regained control of the price action. A runaway rally gained traction after sellers closed their positions when it was still cheap to do so.An overbought RSI may suggest a temporary pullback. 34200 is the immediate support in case of a pullback. Further down, 33770 would be a critical level to maintain the short-term bullish fever.
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

Transportation Index Continues To Grind Higher

Chris Vermeulen Chris Vermeulen 07.05.2021 14:25
If the face of last week's sideways price action and almost in a rebellious manner today (May 4, 2021), the Transportation Index is moving higher while the US major indexes are all broadly lower.  VIX has shot up over 20 again (over +13% higher) and the NASDAQ is off by more than 300 points (-2.75%) as I write this article.  Yet, the Transportation Index is bucking the trends and trading higher.WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN THE TRANSPORTATION INDEX BUCKS THE MAJOR INDEX TRENDS?My team and I have often highlighted the Transportation Index in our past research article. The reason we watch this index so closely is that it tends to lead market trends by at least 30 to 60 days.  In short, the Transportation Index is a measure of future expectations related to freight, shipping, transportation, and the movement of goods and commodities across the US and across the globe.  When an economy contracts, the Transportation Index will likely follow major indexes lower as future expectations related to economic activity contract.  When a recession or deep price correction happens, the Transportation Index usually moves sharply lower as the sudden shock of an unexpected economic contagion vastly alters future economic expectations.  But generally, the Transportation Index tends to front-run economic expectations.The fact that the US major indexes are all broadly lower while the Transportation Index is moderately higher (and really running counter to the bearish trending) today suggests this price decline is a technical pullback in price – not a broad market contagion event.  As we interpret this early stage price rotation, we have to call it as we see it right now - Crude Oil is higher, the Transportation Index is higher, and the US Dollar rebounded higher yesterday.  Until we see confirmation within all three of these components related to a change in price trend, we believe the current move is a technical pullback of the bullish price trend, meaning the markets just got ahead of themselves recently and this is a common pullback.We are fairly early into this pullback and things may change if it progresses downward over the next few days/weeks.  But right now the strength in the Transportation Index, the US Dollar, and Crude Oil are suggesting the markets are expecting a continued reflation trade (upward trending) to continue at some point in the near future.  If the Transportation Index were to fall below $14,800 on a deep price decline, then we would immediately become very concerned that a broad market bearish price trend has set up, possibly setting off a very deep price correction.As I highlighted in yesterday's research article, precious metals will likely continue to rally in a moderate upside price trend because both Gold and Silver have recently started a new Advancing Cycle Phase. This start of a new Cycle Phase may be prompting some early rotation in the US major indexes right now and we'll just have to watch and see how this proposed technical pullback plays out over the next few days/weeks.Watch previous Pivot Low levels for support in the markets.  We are seeing some increased volatility and when markets break previous “stand-out” pivot lows, that's when we want to prepare for the potential of a deeper downside price trend. The basis of Fibonacci Price Theory is that price is always seeking new highs and new lows – thus, the breach of a major “stand-out” pivot low could be interpreted as a major breakdown in price trending.The bigger question is, will you be ready to jump into the strongest sectors when this downside trending ends?  Do you know which sectors present the best opportunities for future profits?  You can learn more about how I identify and trade Gold, Silver, and the markets by watching my FREE step-by-step guide to finding and trading the best sectors. Don't miss the opportunities in the broad market sectors over the next 6+ months.  Staying ahead of these sector trends is going to be key to developing continued success in these markets. My BAN Trader Pro newsletter service does all the work for you with daily pre-market reports, proprietary research, and trade alerts. More frequent or experienced traders have been killing it trading options, ETFs, and stocks using my BAN Hotlist ranking the hottest ETFs, which is updated daily for my premium subscribers. Sign up today!
Asia Morning Bites: Singapore Industrial Production and Global Market Updates

Inflation Knock-knock-knockin’ On Golden Door

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 07.05.2021 16:43
Inflation is not coming. It is already here! Gold should benefit, given that it could be higher and more lasting than the pundits believe.“Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door”, so sing Bob Dylan and Guns N’ Roses. Now, inflation is knocking on the golden door. According to the BLS , the U.S. CPI inflation rate recorded a monthly jump of 0.6% in March, while soaring 2.6% on an annual basis. And the core inflation has also accelerated. So, inflation has significantly surpassed the Fed’s target of 2% , as one can see in the chart below.And remember that this is what the official data shows, which rather underestimates the true inflation. This is because of several issues, including hedonic quality adjustments, shifts in the composition of the consumer baskets and methodological changes. It is enough to say that the rate of inflation calculated by the John Williams’ Shadow Government Statistics that uses methodology from the 1980s is over 10% right now.There are some controversies about this alternate data, but I would like to focus on something else. The CPI doesn’t include houses (or other assets) into the consumer baskets, as they are treated as investments. The index only takes rents into account. But homeowners don’t pay rents, so for them, the cost of shelter, which accounts for about one-fourth of the overall CPI, is the implicit rent that owner-occupants would have to pay if they were renting their homes. And this component rose just 2 percent in March, while the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which measures the actual house prices, soared more than 11% in January (the latest available data). According to Wolf Street , if we had replaced the owners’ equivalent rent of primary residence with the Case-Shiller Index, the CPI would have jumped 5.1 instead of 2.6%. The chart below shows the difference between these two measures.Hence, inflation has come, and even the official data – which can underestimate the level of inflation that ordinary people deal with in their daily lives – confirms this. If you’ve been buying food lately, you know what I mean. Now, the question is whether this inflation will be temporary or more lasting.Powell , his colleagues and the pundits claim that higher inflation will only be a temporary phenomenon caused by the base effect. The story goes like this: the CPI plunged in March 2020, which created a lower base for today’s annual inflation rate. There is, of course, a grain of truth here. But let’s take a look at the chart below. It shows the CPI, with both March 2020 (red line) and February 2020 (green line) as a base. As you can see, in the latter case the index jumped 2.3%. Yes, lower, but not significantly lower than 2.6% when compared to March 2020. So, the Fed shouldn’t blame the base effects for accelerating inflation (and funny thing: have you heard the pundits talking about the base effect when they were talking about vigorous GDP recovery?).Instead, central bankers should blame themselves and their insane monetary policy . After all, as the chart below shows, the Fed’s balance sheet has soared $3.4 trillion (or 81%), while the broad money supply (measured by M2) has increased more than $4 trillion (or 26%) from February to date.They could also blame reckless fiscal policy . Growing government spending, enabled by a rising pile of debts monetized indirectly by the Fed, has headed for Main Street. This, combined with a jump in the broad money supply, is the key change compared to the Great Recession when almost all stimuli flowed into Wall Street and big corporations. Sure, some people use the received money to increase savings and repay debts. But with the reopening economy, some of the pent-up demand will be realized. Actually, many Americans have already started spending free time traveling like crazy after being locked in homes for so long.And this is very important: consumers are therefore more eager to accept higher prices. It shouldn’t be surprising given all the checks they got and how hungry for normal life they are. As I reported last month , companies are reporting rising prices of commodities and inputs (partially because of the supply disruptions too), but so far their power to pass the producer price inflation to consumers has been limited. However, this is changing . The April report IHS Markit U.S. Services PMI observes thatRates of input cost and output charge inflation reached fresh record peaks, as firms sought to pass on steep rises in input prices to clients (…) A number of companies also stated that stronger client demand allowed a greater proportion of the hike in costs to be passed through. The resulting rate of charge inflation was the quickest on record.All these reasons suggest that higher inflation could be more lasting than most of the so-called experts believe (although the officially reported inflation doesn’t have to show it). This is good news for the yellow metal . Higher inflation implies lower real interest rates and stronger demand for gold as an inflation hedge . What is important here is that we have more inflationary pressure in the pipeline exactly at the time when the Fed has become more tolerant of inflation. So, the combination of higher inflation with a passive central bank position sounds bullish for gold . The key issue here is whether the markets believe that the Fed will allow for higher inflation. So far, they have been skeptical, so the expectations of interest rates hikes accumulated and the bond yields rallied. But it seems that the Fed has managed to convince the markets that it’s even more incompetent than it is widely believed. If the distrust in the Fed strengthens, gold should return to its upward trajectory from the last year.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get 7-day no-obligation trial of all our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

Gold Jumps above $1,800. What’s Next?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 11.05.2021 16:54
Gold jumped above $1,800, and it’s the disappointing jobs data that added fuel to the fire.The gold market is a funny place. On Thursday (May 6), I complained that the yellow metal couldn’t surpass $1,800:The price of gold has been trading sideways recently as it couldn’t break out of the $1,700-$1,800 price range. This inability can be frustrating, but the inflationary pressure could help the yellow metal to free itself from the shackles.And voilà, just later that day, the price of gold finally jumped above $1,800, as the chart below shows. Hey, maybe I have to complain about gold more often?But jokes aside. The move is a big deal, as gold has finally broken above the key resistance level. What’s important here is that the breakthrough wasn’t caused by some negative geopolitical or economic shock, but rather by fundamental and sentiment factors.So, what happened? First, there is a weakness in the US dollar . With global economic recovery progressing, the safe-haven appeal of the greenback is simply vanishing. Another issue here is – and I pointed this out in the Fundamental Gold Report dedicated to the latest ECB’s meeting – that the pandemic in the Eurozone has reached its peak. So, the worst is already behind the euro area, and it can catch up with the US now, supporting the euro and gold against the dollar.Second, the bond yields have been heading lower recently . As one can see in the chart below, the real interest rates have corrected significantly since their peak in March. In early May, the 10-year TIPS yields slid further, returning to almost -0.90 percent.What is noteworthy here, the real interest rates declined more than the nominal interest rates. It resulted from the increase in the expected inflation. Indeed, as the chart below shows, the 10-year breakeven inflation rate jumped in early May . As a reminder, I wrote on Thursday that “the inflationary pressure could help the yellow metal to free itself from the shackles” and this is exactly what happened.Implications for GoldWhat does gold’s jump above $1,800 imply for its future? Well, the crossing of an important obstacle is always a positive development. The decline in the interest rates, coupled with the weakness in the US dollar, means that the markets are convinced that the Fed would remain very dovish, even despite the rising inflation .Other positive news for the gold market is April’s nonfarm payrolls that came in below the forecasts. The US economy added only 266,000 jobs last month (see the chart below), although many analysts and even the FOMC members expected a nearly 1 million increase in employment. Such a disappointment made traders slash the bets on the pace of the Fed’s monetary tightening. A softer expected path of the federal funds rate is a fundamentally positive factor for gold.In other words, the weak employment report relieves a lot of the pressure put on the Fed to tighten its monetary policy. So, the US central bank will continue to provide monetary support, despite all the progress observed in the economy, and that easy stance will stay with us for longer than previously expected. In that sense, April’s disappointing jobs data may be a game-changer for gold, and it could add fuel to the recent rally that started on Thursday.Of course, one weak employment number doesn’t erase the impressive economic recovery. Moreover, I would like to see that gold hold the recent gains through the coming days before organizing a party for the gold bulls. However, it seems that I was right in saying that the second quarter would be much better than the first one. Gold is indeed gaining momentum! And, what’s really important, the yellow metal started to rise amid a strong economic recovery – it implies that we can be observing important, bullish shifts in the market sentiment towards gold.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
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

Where's The Beef? Is The US Fed Behind The Inflation Curve?

Chris Vermeulen Chris Vermeulen 12.05.2021 17:24
We recently completed some interesting research related to one of our newest Custom Indexes – the Commodities to Smart Cash Index (C2SC Heat Index) - weighted by the US Dollar and VIX.  We've been reviewing this new index for months watching it to see how it reacts to various trends in Lumber, Gold, Treasury Yields, the Smart Cash Index, and other weighted values.  Recently, we added the Fed Funds Rate to this chart and suddenly things took on a different perspective.We had drawn horizontal lines on the Commodities to Smart Cash index highlighting historical high, low, and confluence price levels.  Historically, when we see a chart that channels in a sideways range, one can often identify high and low price thresholds while also trying to find a confluence level (where a continued rise or decline in price is likely to continue). We can see how the US Fed reacted to rising inflationary concerns almost immediately as the C2SC Index rose near or above 6.5 (the RED Confluence level) throughout the past 25 years.  Each time, in 1994, 1999, and 2005, when a period of increasing inflationary trends, the Fed was quick to act to contain inflation.  The only time the Fed acted differently was in 2013~2015 and in 2020~now.Where's The Fed?  Watch Precious Metals For Signs Of PanicIn 2013~2015, the C2SC Index rose above the Confluence level (the RED line) multiple times, yet the Fed kept rates extremely low – ignoring inflationary risks at that time.  Then, in 2016, the Fed raised rates very slightly in an effort to test the global market's reaction to tightening financial policy ahead of a big US election event.  By mid-2017, the C2SC index started rising and the US Fed continued to raise interest rates.  By late 2017, the C2SC index had risen past the RED Confluence level again and the US Fed continued to raise rates well into early Summer 2018. In August 2018, the Fed attempted another 0.25% raise that broke the market trend and prompted a broad market decline into December 2018.  In reaction to this breakdown in US markets, the US Fed dropped the Fed Funds Rate from 2.5% to 1.5% in a panic move.  It stayed at that level until COVID-19 hit in February/March 2020.Looking at the C2SC index, commodities have rallied more than 300% above the past 25 years of historic highs recently while Yields and Gold/Silver continue to stay rather muted in trends.  Our concern is that the US Fed, in an effort to spark a solid post-COVID-19 economic recovery, has ignored the risks related to the extreme excess phase rally taking place throughout the globe in commodities, Cryptos, non-tangible speculative assets (NFTs, digital and others) as well as the risks associated with an eventual raising of interest rates to curb this inflationary excess phase.  Gold and Silver have just started what appears to be a new bullish price trend.  Will the US Fed be pushed to raise rates soon to curb this incredible bubble rally?We started bouncing around the idea that the US Fed was inadvertently prompting a South Seas Company type of bubble event by allowing gross amounts of capital into the markets and artificially keeping interest rates near zero.  For those of you who don't know the story of the South Seas  Company in London (1720), you can read more about it here: https://www.britannica.com/event/South-Sea-BubbleFOMO Hyper-inflation Continues (until it ends)In short, The South Seas Company was awarded £7 million to finance the war against France by the House of Lords.  This bill, known as the South Sea Bill, allowed the South Sea Company a monopoly on the trade to South America (mostly Slave trade) and was expected to be a boost to the companies bottom line as the war with France ended with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713).  Over the next 5+ years, the South Seas Company enjoyed robust profits and trade. Shares of the South Sea Company rose to 10x their value.  Then, the South Seas Company, with King George I of Great Britain as governor of the company in 1781, suggested taking over the national debt of Great Britain in 1720. Sign up for my free trading newsletter so you don’t miss the next opportunity!The South Seas Company accomplished this incredible feat and shares started to skyrocket higher from $128.5 to over $1000 in just 7 months.  As the hype continued to drive speculation and rumors, other stocks (some newly formed companies) were quick to catch the hype and quickly rallied to extreme highs as false statements, word-of-mouth hype and a general hyperbolic frenzy continued to drive speculation.What brought down the South Seas Company was unbridled rumors, outright lies, hyperbolic speculation, and, eventually, a flood of money from France's modernized economy.  When the trend finally broke down, it took about 12 months for the entire bubble to deflate – leaving speculative investors holding empty bags.The rally of the South Seas Company is very similar to what we are seeing right now in the US economy and in digital assets.  There were a number of facets in place to drive this type of hyperbolic rally.  First, the South Seas Company took over the national debt – essentially acting like the US Federal Reserve for Great Britian.  Secondly, the wild speculation related to ongoing business activities and future expectations prompted an over-enthusiastic buying frenzy – driving prices higher by 10x traditional valuation levels.In the end, with all the speculation, hype and people of title involved, the expected profits and returns from the South Seas Company never really materialized.  The stock price started to decline and finally broke downward very sharply near late 1720 – almost 3 months after it peaked.Is The US Fed Preparing To Make A Move Soon?The recent rally in the US stock markets has seemed to stall recently, as can be seen in this Smart Cash Index chart below.  Still, the recent rally since the November 2020 elections is nothing short of amazing – very similar to the rally in 2017 and into early 2018 – almost straight up.Our research team believes a continued market rally may keep attempting to “melt-up” as long as the US Fed does not step in to try to curb inflationary aspects of the markets.  It is hard to argue that traders and investors are going to suddenly change their minds in the midst of this FOMO rally - although, it does happen at some point.There are really two concerns related to how this may end: the US Fed suddenly acting to curb inflation by raising rates and/or the consumers suddenly realizing the valuation levels have exceeded realistic expectations.  We feel the rise in commodity prices as well as the current uptrend in precious metals and Copper may be pushing consumers closer and closer to that sudden realization that valuations are grossly advanced in comparison to real expectations.When you look at this Smart Cash Index Monthly chart, below, you see that the Fed Funds Rate is still anchored near ZERO while the Smart Cash Index is nearing the highest levels since the January 2018 Ultimate Peak.  The primary difference is that the US Federal Reserve is not acting to raise rates like they were in 2018 or even just before the Housing Bubble (2005~06).  This suggests the rally may continue in a hyper-inflation trend and may push well beyond anyone's expectations in the near future. Remember, our C2SC Heat Index is showing the current rally is nearly 300%+ above normal upper ranges.  How far will it go?  We really don't know how far this could continue to rally or where the ultimate peak is going to set up.  All we can suggest at this point in time is that we've entered uncharted waters and we don't have many historical reference points to use for our analysis. All we can do is ride this trend out using our advanced price modeling systems and watch for signs of a breakdown in support and correlative assets (like Precious Metals, Bonds, Utilities, and the Fed Funds Rate). If the Fed suddenly starts making moves to address pending inflation, then we may see some big volatility hit the markets.  We feel the Fed will slowly move to address inflationary concerns over the next 12+ months – not move in a sudden, aggressive manner. We need to watch how commodities continue to rally and how consumers react to these inflationary price concerns.  If global consumers suddenly shift away from spending as prices continue to rally, then we may start to see a dynamic shift in how the economy continues to expand/recover.  Consumers become very protecting of capital/resources when an economy shifts from expansion to contraction.Either way, there are going to be some really big trends in 2021 and 2022 for traders/investors.  This is the type of setup that can make fortunes for skilled traders/investors.  The bigger question is, will you be ready to jump into the strongest sectors when this downside trending ends?  Do you know which sectors present the best opportunities for future profits?  You can learn more about how I identify and trade the markets by watching my FREE step-by-step guide to finding and trading the best sectors. Don’t miss the opportunities in the broad market sectors over the next 6+ months.  Staying ahead of these sector trends is going to be key to developing continued success in these markets. My BAN Trader Pro newsletter service does all the work for you with daily pre-market reports, proprietary research, and trade alerts. More frequent or experienced traders have been killing it trading options, ETFs, and stocks using my BAN Hotlist ranking the hottest ETFs, which is updated daily for my premium subscribers. Sign up today!Have a great week!
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

Inflation Monster Rears Its Ugly Head. Will Gold Beat It?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 13.05.2021 16:33
Inflation surged 4.2% in April, but gold declined in response. What is happening?Unbelievable! The “non-existent” inflation keeps getting stronger. The CPI increased 0.8% in April , after rising 0.6% in March. The pundits cannot blame energy prices for this jump, as the energy index decreased slightly. This shows that the surge in inflation wasn’t caused just by the base effect. Apart from energy, all major component indexes increased last month. In particular, the index for used cars and trucks rose 10.0%, which was the largest monthly increase since the series began in 1953.As a result, the core CPI, which excludes food and energy, soared even stronger in April, i.e., 0.9%, following a 0.3% jump in March. It was the largest monthly increase since April 1982. But still, there is no inflationary pressure in the economy…And now for the best part, the true crème de la crème of the recent BLS report on inflation : As the chart below shows, the overall CPI surged 4.2% over the 12 months ending in April , while the core CPI jumped 3.0%. These annual rates followed, respectively, 2.6% and 1.6% increases in March.So, there was a huge acceleration in inflation last month! The last occurrence of such high inflation was in 2008 during the Great Recession . The quickening was a surprise for many analysts, but not for me. When analyzing the March CPI report , I wrote that it wasn’t an outlier:What’s important is that the recent jump in inflation is not a one-off event. We can expect that high inflation will stay with us for some time, or it can accelerate further next month.And indeed, inflation escalated in April. In May, however, inflation could be softer, but it will remain relatively elevated, in my view.Implications for GoldWhat does the hastening in inflation imply for the precious metals market? Well, the London P.M. Gold Fix has barely moved, as the chart below shows. What’s more, the New York spot gold prices have decreased in the aftermath of the April report on the CPI.What happened? Shouldn’t gold have reacted more positively to the surprising speeding up of inflation? As an inflation hedge – it should. But this is far more complicated. First, the bond yields have increased to reflect higher inflation, as traders started to bet that the Fed would have to hike interest rates faster than previously expected.But the April CPI report won’t force the U.S. central bank to alter its monetary policy and adopt a more hawkish line . After all, they expected acceleration in inflation, and they will simply describe it as a transitory development. As a reminder, the Fed focuses now more on the labor market than price stability – and with employment still more than 8 million short of the pre-pandemic level, the Fed will likely maintain its dovish stance .Indeed, Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida reiterated that the U.S. central bank is far away from tightening its monetary policy and confirmed that higher inflation than anticipated won’t alter the Fed’s course, as it would prove to be temporary:The economy remains a long way from our goals, and it is likely to take some time for substantial further progress to be achieved (…) This is one data point, as was the labor report (...) We have been saying for some time that reopening the economy would put some upward pressure on prices.What’s more, although traders focused initially on the implications of higher inflation on the federal funds rate and the U.S. monetary policy, in the longer-term gold should come into more favor as a hedge against higher inflation or even stagflation – after all, in April, we witnessed surprisingly disappointing nonfarm payrolls and a surge in inflation. Of course, single reports are not enough, but inflationary risks have definitely risen recently, and we could see some portfolio rebalancing toward gold later this year.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
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

When Euphoria Ends, Gold Bulls Enter the Scene

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 14.05.2021 16:11
Market participants are very optimistic about an economic recovery, but these positive expectations may be exaggerated. The end of this euphoria should be good for gold.The optimism about the pace of economic recovery from the 2020 recession is growing. The analysts race in upward revisions of GDP growth in the coming quarters. For example, the IMF – in the April 2021 edition of the World Economic Outlook – expects at the moment that the US economic output will increase by 6.4% this year, compared to the 5.1% growth forecasted in January.The euphoric mood has some justification, of course. The vaccination is progressing, entrepreneurs are used to operating under sanitary restrictions, economies are reopening and governments are spending like crazy. At the same time, central banks are maintaining ultra-easy monetary policy , keeping financial conditions loose.Furthermore, some economic data is consistent with strong rebounding, especially in manufacturing. For instance, the IHS Markit U.S. Manufacturing PMI Index posted 59.1 in March, up from 58.6 in February – being the second-highest value on record since May 2007 when data collection began. Services are also recovering vigorously, as the IHS Markit US Services PMI Index registered 60.4 in March, up from 59.8 in February. It’s the fastest rate of growth since July 2014.Now, the question is how strong the current boom is and how long it is going to last. Well, there is no need to argue that we will see a few strong quarters of GDP growth in the US and other countries. But for me, the euphoria is exaggerated. You see, the current recovery is not surprising at all. As the Great Lockdown plunged the world into a deep economic crisis , the Great Unlocking is boosting the global economy.And there is the base effect . There was a low base in 2020, so the seemingly impressive recovery in 2020 is partially merely a statistical phenomenon. Let’s illustrate this effect. In Q2 2020, the real GDP plunged from $19,020 to $17,302 trillion or 9.03%year-over-year, as the chart below shows.However, the rebound to the pre-recession level would imply the jump of 9.93%, almost one percentage higher! This is how the math works: when you divide a numerator by a smaller denominator, you get a greater percentage. So, it would be alarming if the recovery were not strong after one of the deepest crises in history.Another issue that makes me more skeptical than most pundits is the fact that the main reason behind economic growth upgrades is massive fiscal stimulus . Uncle Sam injected more than 13 percent of the GDP in government spending (only in 2020) that ballooned the fiscal deficits . Meanwhile, the Fed widened its balance sheet by almost $4 trillion. So, it would be quite strange if we didn’t see impressive numbers in light of such unprecedented inflows of monetary and fiscal liquidity. But it means that the impressive recovery in statistics is driven, at least partially, by soaring money supply and public debt (see the chart below).And my three last concerns. First, the job recovery is more sluggish than the GDP recovery . The unemployment rate is still above the pre-pandemic level, while the labor force participation stands significantly below the level seen in February 2020. Second, a full return to normal life will occur if vaccines remain effective. But there is a tail risk of new variants of the virus, which could even be vaccine-resistant . Third, history teaches us that when the pandemic ends, social unrest may reemerge. After all, the epidemic left us with deepening inequalities and rising living costs.What does it all mean for the gold market? Well, the market euphoria about the economic rebound is negative for gold. We have already seen how these optimistic expectations freed the risk appetite and boosted economic confidence, sending bond yields higher, but gold prices lower.However, just as the doomsday scenarios created in the midst of the epidemic were excessively negative, the current ones seem to be too optimistic. I expect that with the year progressing, these expectations will soften or shift to the medium-term, which could be more challenging. After all, the low base effect will disappear, and both the monetary and fiscal policies will have declining marginal utility. At the same time, there will be an increased risk of high inflation , debt crisis , stock market correction or even financial crisis . After all, the current levels of stock indices are partially caused not by fundamentals, but by the elevating risk tolerance thanks to the central banks standing behind most asset classes ready to intervene in case of problems.It seems that this process has already begun and the reopening trade is waning. Economic confidence is very high, so the room for further increases is limited. The low-hanging fruits have been collected, and when economies reopen fully, the structural problems will become more important than the cyclical ones. Investors have started to worry about higher inflation, especially because the Fed remains unmoved by rising prices. A jobless recovery would prolong the Fed’s very dovish stance , as the US central bank focuses now on full employment rather than on stable prices. All these factors explain why the price of gold has been rebounding recently, and why it can rise even further later this year , although the fact that the US enjoys a stronger recovery than the EU or Japan could support the interest rates and the greenback , creating some downward pressure on the yellow metal.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get 7-day no-obligation trial of all our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

Stock Market Attempts To Break Support Channel – What's Next?

Chris Vermeulen Chris Vermeulen 19.05.2021 22:12
The recent price volatility related to the surprise Jobs number, nearly ten days ago, and the potential for inflationary price trends extended beyond the Fed expectations has created a unique type of sideways price rotation on the INDU chart.  This recent price volatility suggests the markets are struggling to identify future trend bias as well as attempting to shake out certain traders and investors (running stops).Additionally, the downside price trend we've recently seen in Lumber, breaking away from the continued rally mode, and Bitcoin, breaking downward nearly -54% from recent highs, suggests a broad market “washout” is taking place.  How far will this trend continue?  Will the US stock market break downward like Bitcoin has recently done?  Let's take a look at the charts and try to answer some of these questions.Before we continue exploring charts, I suggest readers review some of my recent research posts relating to this potential downward price trend in the US/Global markets, including: Are We Days Away From Potential Gann/Fibonacci Price Peak? (March 17, 2021); Market Leverage Reaches New All-Time Highs As The Excess Phase Rally Continues (April 25, 2021); and Are Apple, Tesla, and Bitcoin Entering a Technical ‘Excess Phase Top’? Should You Be In Cash Right Now? Part II (May 15, 2021).Expect Continued Price Volatility As Markets Attempt To Establish New TrendsWe'll start by exploring the Dow Jones Industrial Average Daily chart, below, and the first thing we want to highlight is the extended upward (YELLOW) price trend channel.  This upward sloping price channel has been in force since the March 2020 COVID-19 lows.  It was confirmed by the November 2020 lows and retested in March 2021.  Typically, when price channels this strongly over an extended period of time, the price channel becomes a psychological barrier/wall for price trending.  When it is breached or broken, price trends often react moderately aggressively – with excessive volatility.Over the past 10+ days, near the right edge of this chart, we can see that price has started to react with much higher volatility and broad sideways price trends.  It appears the INDU chart has entered a new phase of market price activity – moving away from moderately low volatility bullish trending and into much higher volatility sideways rotation.  We attribute this to a shift in how traders and investors perceive the future actions of the US Fed and how risks are suddenly much more prominent than they were 3+ weeks ago.  It appears the “rally euphoria” has ended and traders are starting to adjust expectations related to a slower economic reflation of the global economy.Depending on how traders and investors perceive the future growth opportunities in the US and global markets, as well as how new strains of the COVID-19 virus may continue to disrupt global economies, we may see a fairly big change in trend throughout the rest of 2021 and possibly into 2020.  In our opinion, the tremendous rally phase that took place between October 2020 and now has been anchored on the perception that the COVID vaccines would allow for an almost immediate and nearly full economic recovery attempt.  Now, after we are seeing various new strains of COVID ravage India, Europe, Africa and parts of South-East Asia, expectations may be changing quickly.Everything Hinges On How Price Reacts Near The YELLOW Support Channel LineThis Weekly Dow Jones Industrial Average chart highlights the same upward sloping price trend from the March 2020 COVID-19 lows.  It also shows the start of the broad market rotation over the past three weeks and highlights three key “standout lows” that we interpret as critical support levels.  These support levels are at $32,090, 30,575, and $29,875.Sign up for my free trading newsletter so you don’t miss the next opportunity!If we continue to see downward price trending which breaks through the YELLOW upward sloping price channel line, it is very likely that price will continue to move lower while attempting to find new support near these standout low price levels.  This suggests any breakdown in the INDU may prompt a further -5% to -11% downside price move.If the recent price rotation stalls and continues to find support above the YELLOW upward sloping price channel line, then we expect the US markets to transition into a sideways bottoming formation which will prompt another rally attempt in the near future. Everything hinges on what happens over the next few weeks related to this key YELLOW upward sloping price channel.What this means for traders and Investors is that certain market sectors are still posed for strength and growth over the next 6 to 12 months.  The recent downside price volatility suggests broad market concerns related to a continued reflation trade are certainly evident in how the markets are trending.  Yet, within this potential sideways rotation, there are sectors and trends that still present very real opportunities for profits. If the major US indexes find support above the YELLOW price channel line and attempt to mount another rally, traders need to be prepared for this potential opportunity in the markets – attempting to target the best and strongest market sectors.As I just mentioned, everything hinges on what happens over the next few days and weeks related to the YELLOW price support channel.  One way or another, the markets are either going to attempt to rally higher while this support channel holds or a bigger breakdown event may take place as price breaks below the support channel and attempts to find new, lower, support.Learn why we moved our BAN clients into CASH over a week ago and learn how we use the BAN trading strategy to manage risks and take advantage of the strongest market sectors. Please take a minute to learn about our BAN Trader Pro strategy and how it can help you identify and trade better sector setups.  Every day, we deliver these setups to our subscribers along with the BAN Trader Pro system trades.  You owe it to yourself to see how simple it is to trade 30% to 40% of the time to generate incredible results.Enjoy the rest of your day!!
Gold Approaches $1,900 amid FOMC Minutes and Crypto Sell-Off

Gold Approaches $1,900 amid FOMC Minutes and Crypto Sell-Off

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 20.05.2021 16:31
The latest FOMC minutes were dovish, especially in light of the recent increase in inflation and elevated asset valuations. What does it mean for gold?Yesterday, the FOMC published minutes from its last meeting in April . They’ve shown two things doing that: first, that some of the central bankers are worried about the inflation and elevated asset valuations; and, second, that the Fed is going to remain dovish despite all these concerns .Indeed, some FOMC participants noted that the demand for labor had started to put some upward pressure on wages. Moreover, a number of them pointed out the protracted supply disruptions and the insufficient pre-emptive hawkish reaction from the Fed as potentially inflationary factors:A number of participants remarked that supply chain bottlenecks and input shortages may not be resolved quickly and, if so, these factors could put upward pressure on prices beyond this year. They noted that in some industries, supply chain disruptions appeared to be more persistent than originally anticipated and reportedly had led to higher input costs. (…)A couple of participants commented on the risks of inflation pressures building up to unwelcome levels before they become sufficiently evident to induce a policy reaction.When it comes to financial stability and asset valuations, several FOMC members pointed out elevated risk appetite and very low credit spreads . And certain participants noted dangers related to the low interest rates and excessive risk-taking: if the risk appetite fades, the asset prices could decline with potentially harmful consequences for the financial sector and the economy:Regarding asset valuations, several participants noted that risk appetite in capital markets was elevated, as equity valuations had risen further, IPO activity remained high, and risk spreads on corporate bonds were at the bottom of their historical distribution. A couple of participants remarked that, should investor risk appetite fall, an associated drop in asset prices coupled with high business and financial leverage could have adverse implications for the real economy. A number of participants commented on valuation pressures being somewhat elevated in the housing market. Some participants mentioned the potential risks to the financial system stemming from the activities of hedge funds and other leveraged investors, commenting on the limited visibility into the activities of these entities or on the prudential risk-management practices of dealers’ prime-brokerage businesses. Some participants highlighted potential vulnerabilities in other parts of the financial system, including run-prone investment funds in short-term funding and credit markets. Various participants commented on the prolonged period of low interest rates and highly accommodative financial market conditions and the possibility for these conditions to lead to reach-for-yield behavior that could raise financial stability risks.So, given all these concerns about financial stability and higher inflation, the Fed should send some hawkish signals, right? Not at all! On the contrary, the US central bank reiterated its ultra-dovish stance, justifying that the economy was far from achieving full employment.Participants commented on the continued improvement in labor market conditions in recent months. Job gains in the March employment report were strong, and the unemployment rate fell to 6.0 percent. Even so, participants judged that the economy was far from achieving the Committee's broad-based and inclusive maximum-employment goal. Payroll employment was 8.4 million jobs below its pre-pandemic level. Some participants noted that the labor market recovery continued to be uneven across demographic and income groups and across sectors.After all, higher inflation would only be transitory, and when these short-term factors fade, inflation will decrease:In their comments about inflation, participants anticipated that inflation as measured by the 12-month change of the PCE price index would move above 2 percent in the near term as very low readings from early in the pandemic fall out of the calculation. In addition, increases in oil prices were expected to pass through to consumer energy prices. Participants also noted that the expected surge in demand as the economy reopens further, along with some transitory supply chain bottlenecks, would contribute to PCE price inflation temporarily running somewhat above 2 percent. After the transitory effects of these factors fade, participants generally expected measured inflation to ease. Looking further ahead, participants expected inflation to be at levels consistent with achieving the Committee's objectives over time (…) Despite the expected short-run fluctuations in measured inflation, many participants commented that various measures of longer-term inflation expectations remained well anchored at levels broadly consistent with achieving the Committee's longer-run goals.Yeah, sure, but why should we believe the Fed if they were surprised by the CPI readings in April? They anticipated inflation moving above 2 percent, and meanwhile the CPI inflation surged above 4 percent as the chart below shows!But at least inflation expectations remain well-anchored, don’t they? Well, not exactly . As the chart below shows, the market-based expectations of inflation have significantly risen recently. Similarly, the University of Michigan’s index that measures inflation expectations for the next five years rose from 2.7 percent in April to 3.1 percent in May – it’s the highest level in a decade.Interestingly, even the Fed staff doesn’t believe in transitory inflation. After all, they forecast that the actual GDP would be above its potential until 2022-2023:With the boost to growth from continued reductions in social distancing assumed to fade after 2021, GDP growth was expected to step down in 2022 and 2023. However, with monetary policy assumed to remain highly accommodative, the staff continued to anticipate that real GDP growth would outpace that of potential over much of this period, leading to a decline in the unemployment rate to historically low levels.Economics 101 teaches us that when the economy operates above its potential, it implies overheating and inflation that reflects more fundamental or lasting factors than base effects and short-term supply disruptions.Implications for GoldWhat do the recent FOMC minutes imply for gold? Well, the Fed remaining dovish despite all the inflationary risks and elevated asset valuations (many assets plunged yesterday, especially cryptocurrencies) is bullish for gold .Sure, a few members became ready to start talking about tapering the quantitative easing and tightening the monetary policy :A number of participants suggested that if the economy continued to make rapid progress toward the (policy-setting) Committee’s goals, it might be appropriate at some point in upcoming meetings to begin discussing a plan for adjusting the pace of asset purchases.However, “a number” is not “the majority”, so we shouldn’t expect such a discussion in the mainstream anytime soon, especially in light of the disappointing April nonfarm payrolls and recent declines in the stock market.The price of gold rose yesterday, approaching $1,900. It might have been due to the FOMC minutes, but also the sell-off in cryptocurrencies and the following outflow of money from them into old, good gold.Given these shifts in the marketplace, it seems that Fed’s worries about fading risk appetite were justified. If risk appetite wanes further, gold should shine as a safe-haven asset .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
European Central Bank's Potential Minimum Reserve Increase Sparks Concerns

Rising Cost Pressure - What Will Mr. Powell and Mr. Gold Do?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 25.05.2021 15:53
The latest IHS Markit Flash U.S. Composite PMI signals very fast economic expansion – but also strong inflationary pressure. Good news for gold, overall.On Friday, the recent IHS Markit Flash U.S. Composite PMI has been published . There are two pieces of news for gold - one good and one bad. Let’s start with the negative information. The report signals an unprecedentedly fast expansion in business activity in May . Indeed, the composite index surge from 63.5 in April to 68.1 this month established a new record.More importantly, both manufacturing and services sectors’ markets have shown strong growth. The former index rose from 60.5 in April to 61.5 in May (also a new record), while the PMI for services soared from 64.7 to 70.1, marking the sharpest jump since data collection for the series began in October 2009. Such an unprecedentedly fast acceleration of growth in the PMI signals strong economic growth, which is clearly bad news for the safe-havens such as gold (however, strong economic growth is something everyone expected, so it might be already priced in as well).The good information is, however, that at least part of this growth is inflationary , as soaring demand greatly improved the firm’s pricing power. And the input costs have surged, leading to the sharpest rise in output charges since the end of the Great Recession when the data collection started:Increasing cost burdens continued to be keenly felt, as the rate of input price inflation soared to a new survey record high, often linked to a further marked worsening of supplier performance. Commonly noted were increases in PPE, fuel, metals and freight costs amid significant supplier delays.The steep rise in costs fed through to the sharpest increase in output charges since data collection began in October 2009, with record rates of inflation registered for both goods and services as soaring demand boosted firms’ pricing power.What’s more, wage inflation is also coming , as the report says that entrepreneurs couldn’t find people to fill the vacancies. It seems that generous benefits introduced in a response to the recession discouraged people from searching for work, and slack in the labor market is greatly exaggerated.Although a solid expansion in staffing levels eased some pressure on backlogs in the service sector, manufacturers registered the fastest rise in work-in-hand on record amid raw material shortages. While job creation was again seen in the goods-producing sector, the rise was the slowest for five months, linked in part to difficulties filling vacancies.In other words, the post-pandemic natural employment will be simply lower because of the institutional changes, not because of weak aggregate demand. How would you explain otherwise the fact that entrepreneurs cannot find workers amid employment lower by 8 million when compared to the pre-pandemic level?But this is good news for gold. The subdued employment would be a great excuse for the Fed to say that there is slack in the labor market, the aggregate demand is weak, and the economy remains fragile and below the Fed’s targets, so it still needs easy monetary conditions. Hence, Powell would stay passive and would even avoid starting to think about tapering the quantitative easing and hiking interest rates . Dovish Fed and rising prices would support gold prices.So, high inflation (see the chart below) should remain with us for a while . Indeed, manufacturers worry that raw material shortages “could extend through 2021” and producer price inflation translates into consumer price inflation with a certain lag. Anyway, high inflation won’t disappear in one or two months, but it could last for at least a few or even several months if the Fed remains ultra- dovish and people lose confidence in the central bank’s ability to maintain price stability.If this scenario happens, inflation expectations could cease to be “well-anchored” and inflation could get out of control, just as it did during stagflation in the 1970s. Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit, seems to agree with me in his comment on the report:The May survey also brings further concerns in relation to inflation, however, as the growth surge continued to result in ever-higher prices. Average selling prices for goods and services are both rising at unprecedented rates, which will feed through to higher consumer inflation in coming months.Implications for GoldWhat does the recent IHS Markit Flash U.S. Composite PMI imply for gold? Well, strong economic activity is bad for gold, given that it usually shines during bad times. However, the yellow metal doesn’t like genuine, real growth, but it performs pretty well during inflationary periods . Of course, part of the growth comes from the reopening of the economies, but there is no doubt that this expansion is accompanied by high inflation.I’ve been warning readers since the very early part of the pandemic that the following expansion will be more inflationary than the previous one. This is excellent news for gold, which entered a bear market in 2011-2013 (i.e., when the former expansion settled down). What’s important here is that the economic environment is more inflationary (we have easier monetary and fiscal policies ) while at the same time the Fed is highly tolerant of high inflation – this is a truly dangerous cocktail, but it could be quite tasty for gold.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
Asia Morning Bites: Singapore Industrial Production and Global Market Updates

Stock Market Cycles Tipping The Balance From Euphoria To Complacency - Is Gold Setting Up For A Rally Above $2000 Again?

Chris Vermeulen Chris Vermeulen 27.05.2021 01:28
Gold has set up a very strong confluence pattern across multiple foreign currencies recently.  This upside confluence pattern suggests that Gold has now moved into a much stronger bullish price phase compared to various currency pairs.  This upside move in precious metals aligns very well with my broad market cycle phase research. I urge traders/investors to start paying attention as we transition into this new longer-term cycle phase.Recently, my team and I published a series of articles related to these longer-term cycle phases and how they related to the current market trends.  The biggest concept we want to highlight is that we've transitioned away from an Appreciation cycle phase and into the early stages of a Depreciation cycle phase.  Often, near this type of transition, the global markets experience a unique type of Excess Phase Peak.  This type of price pattern happens because traders/investors are slower to identify the end of a trend and often attempt to continue the Thrill/Euphoric phase of the previous market trend – until the markets prove them wrong.You can review some of our most recent research posts about these topics here: US Dollar Breaks Below 90 - Continue To Confirm Depreciation Cycle Phase (May 23, 2021); Bitcoin Completes Phase #3 Of Excess Phase Top Pattern - What Next? (May 20, 2021) and; What To Expect - A Critical Breakout Warning For Gold, Silver & Miners Explained (May 18, 2021).Stock Market CyclesThe custom graphic shown below highlights the phases of typical market trends through various stages of market trends.  My team and I believe we have crossed the peak level (or are very near to that crossover point) and have begun to move into the Complacency and Anxiety phases of the market trend.  As suggested, above,  the psychological process for traders/investors at this stage is to hope and plan for the never-ending bullish price trend while the reality of the market trend suggests a transition has already started taking place and the market phase has shifted.Our research suggests the last Appreciation phase in the market took place from mid/late 2010 to mid/late 2019.  That means we started a transition into a Depreciation cycle phase very near to the beginning of 2020.  Our belief that a moderate price rotation is pending within the markets stems from the excess phase rally that took place after the COVID-19 virus event.  We've witnessed the sideways price trend in precious metals over the past 8+ months which suggested that global traders were confident an economic recovery would take place (eventually).  Yet, the question before everyone is, as we move away from an Appreciation cycle phase and into a Depreciation cycle phase, what will that recovery look like?  Can we expect the recovery to be similar to levels seen in the previous Appreciation cycle phase?  Let's take a look at how these phases translated into trends in the past.Appreciation and Depreciation Cycle PhasesThe first Depreciation cycle phase (1983~1992) took place after an extended deflationary period where the debt to GDP was rather low comparatively. It also took place within a decade or so after the US moved away from the Gold Standard.  The strength in trending we saw in the US stock market was directly related to the decreasing interest rates and strong focus on credit/equities growth throughout that phase.The second Depreciation cycle phase (2001~2010) took place after the DOT COM rally prompted a huge boom cycle in equities and as a series of US/global events rocked the US economy.  First, the September 11, 2001 attack in New York, and second, by the engagement in the Iraq War.  Additionally, the US Fed was actively supporting the US economy after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which prompted many American's to focus on supporting a stronger US economy.  This, in turn, prompted a huge rally in the housing market as banks and policies supported a large speculative rally (FOMO) in Real Estate.The current Depreciation cycle phase (2019~2027+) comes at a time where the US Fed has been actively supporting the US/global economy for more than 11 years and after an incredible rally in Real Estate and the US stock market.  Additionally, a new technology, Crypto currencies, has taken off throughout the world as an alternate, decentralized, asset class – somewhat similar to how the DOT COM rally took off. As we've seen this incredible rally in global equities, Cryptos, commodities and other assets over the past 7+ years, we believe the last Appreciation cycle phase is transitioning into an Excess Phase Peak (see the Euphoria/Complacency phases above), which may lead to some incredibly volatile price trends in the future.Sign up for my free trading newsletter so you don’t miss the next opportunity!You may be asking yourself, “how does this translate into precious metals cycles/trends?” after we've gone through such a longer-term past cycle phase review...The recent upside price trends in precious metals are indicative of two things; fear and demand.  First, the economic recovery and new technology are increasing demand for certain precious metals and rare earth elements (such as battery and other technology).  Second, the move in Gold and Silver recently is related to credit, debt, economic and cycle phase concerns.  As we've seen Bitcoin move dramatically lower and as we start to move into a sideways price trend in the US stock market, there is very real concern that the past price rally has reached an intermediate Excess Phase Peak.Please take a moment to learn about our BAN Trader Pro strategy and how it can help you identify stock market cycles, which phase we are in, and how that will lead us to trade better sector setups.  Every day, we deliver these setups to our subscribers along with the BAN Trader Pro system trades.  You owe it to yourself to see how simple it is to trade 30% to 40% of the time to generate incredible results.Have a great day!!
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

Gold Surpasses $1,900. What’s Next?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 27.05.2021 16:45
Gold surpassed $1,900 most recently – and it’s likely that the rally will continue for a while.Gold bulls have an opportunity to celebrate. As the chart below shows, the price of gold has been rising recently. And yesterday (May 26) it finally jumped above $1,900, which is an important psychological level.The question we should ask now is “what’s next?” Well, as the jokes go on, the price of gold will either go up or down. But in earnest, there are significant downside risks for the yellow metal. First of all, the Fed could overreact to rising inflation and increase real interest rates .However, these worries seem to be overblown. The Fed’s monetary policy is always asymmetrical, i.e., it eases its stance in response to recession more than it tightens it in response to inflation. The federal funds rate gets lower and stays at these low levels for longer, partially because of all the enormous indebtedness of the contemporary economy.The tapering is surely the risk that looms on the horizon. But the Fed will maintain its quantitative easing and zero-interest-rate policy for at least the rest of 2021. So, there is still room for gold to move further north , especially after the recent turmoil in the cryptocurrency market resulting in renewed confidence in gold as an attractive inflation hedge .After all, the US monetary policy is loose, and real interest rates are still in negative territory. The fiscal policy remains very easy, and the public debt is high. Inflation is huge and rising. And there is also an issue of depreciation of the greenback . The Fed’s easy stance, low interest rates and high inflation weaken the US dollar, supporting gold prices.Last but not least, the level of risk appetite/confidence in the Fed and the economy has already reached its peak, as the GDP has recovered with an unprecedentedly high pace of growth. In other words, the post- pandemic euphoria is behind us – now the harsh, inflationary reality sets in. Maybe we won’t repeat the 1970s stagflation , but inflation is probably more deeply embedded than the Fed thinks. And it seems that the markets are finally getting this idea, pushing some investors into gold’s warm and shiny embrace .Implications for GoldWhat does it all mean for gold prices? Well, recently two broad trends have dominated the markets: rising inflation expectations and rising economic confidence. In other words, market participants expected reflation . However, economic confidence has peaked, and now investors focus more on inflation. So, we are moving slowly from the reflation phase to the inflationary phase, which is beneficial for gold – if this trend continues, the yellow metal could continue its upward march.Every investor should remember one great historical pattern, basically as old as the Roman Empire. The money supply is first aggressively boosted with the excuse that “there is no inflation”. When upward pressure on prices becomes clear, that excuse transforms into “inflation is transitory” or into “the rise in inflation is caused by idiosyncratic factors”. Have you heard about Arthur Burns, the Fed Chair in the 1970s and the predecessor of Paul Volcker ? As Stephen Roach notes on him:Over the next few years, he [Burns] periodically uncovered similar idiosyncratic developments affecting the prices of mobile homes, used cars, children’s toys, even women’s jewelry (gold mania, he dubbed it); he also raised questions about homeownership costs, which accounted for another 16% of the CPI. Take them all out, he insisted!Finally, the officials admit that there is inflation, but they blame it on speculators and other external, unfavorable or even hostile factors. To be clear, I’m not predicting hyperinflation or even double-digit inflation in the US, but recent economic reports suggest that upward price pressure could be more lasting than the Fed and the pundits believe.So, inflation could remain elevated for a while , especially given that the description of Burns downplaying it is worryingly similar to the current Fed’s stance under Powell . As Stephen Roach points out, the current size of fiscal and monetary stimuli is unprecedented, especially taking into account the pace of the recovery:Today, the federal funds rate is currently more than 2.5 percentage points below the inflation rate. Now, add open-ended quantitative easing – some $120 billion per month injected into frothy financial markets – and the largest fiscal stimulus in post-World War II history. All of this is occurring precisely when a post-pandemic boom is absorbing slack capacity at an unprecedented rate. This policy gambit is in a league of its own.Indeed, but gold loves chess, gambits included. After all, chess is a royal game, while gold is a royal metal!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
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

Will Gold Shine Under Bidenomics?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 28.05.2021 17:46
Bidenomics is a big departure from sound economics. But when reason sleeps, gold fortunes are born.Biden’s triumph in the presidential election does not just mean that a new man lives in the White House. It actually implies a fundamental shift in economic policy . Some analysts even see Biden’s agenda as a decisive break with neoliberalism or “Washington consensus”.You see, in the old orthodoxy, most economists trusted in markets, argued for privatization, deregulation, and liberalization. Taxes and social benefits should be low and don’t discourage work and investments. The governments should run balanced budgets, avoiding large and permanent fiscal deficits , while central banks should hike interest rates to prevent inflation from running out of control.The focus was on scarcity and limited supply. The economy was believed to operate generally at potential, so the key factors to fast economic growth were structural reforms and adequate supply-side policy to strengthen incentives to work and invest. Governments shouldn’t run fiscal deficits as they could crowd out private investments, and they shouldn’t stimulate the demand as it would misallocate resources and could overheat the economy, leading to inflation. The monetary policy was better suited to occasionally fight economic crises .How much has changed! Now, the focus is on slack and the demand side of the economy. The growth is held by chronic lack of demand – this is the key tenet of Keynesian economics, the hypothesis of secular stagnation, and the Modern Monetary Theory – so, governments and central banks should continuously stimulate the economy through easy monetary and fiscal policies . As real interest rates are low and demand is weak, rising public debt is not a problem. Inflation is not a problem either; after all, if there is always slack in the economy which operates below its full potential, there is practically no risk of inflation.Indeed, Biden has pushed the American Rescue Plan Act of $1.9 trillion (or about 9%of the GDP ) without presenting any plan of longer-term deficit reduction. And additional huge government expenditures are coming with Biden’s infrastructure plan. It seems that no one is interested any longer in how the government is going to pay for its spending and obligations, or in long-term consequences of practically unprecedentedly large fiscal deficits (see the chart below). Interest rates are low, so let’s live like there’s no tomorrow!Another notable example is, of course, the Fed’s new monetary framework. The US central bank has ultimately disregarded the idea of the Philips curve and the natural rate of unemployment . There is no level of employment that could boost the inflation rate, so there is no need for any preventive actions. What really counts is the actual inflation rate, not the expected one. The central bank shouldn’t fight with symmetrical deviations from the economy’s long-term path determined by technological progress and other supply-side factors any longer, but only with shortfalls from the full employment.So, what does Bidenomics (and Powellomics) imply for the gold market? Well, Biden is not the first politician who thinks that there are no economic limits to his ideas. But the pandemic and the economic crisis, the environment of ultra-low interest rates, and the fact that the Democratic base has shifted further to the left implies that Bidenomics may become a radical departure from sound economics. However, a crazy idea that “borrow & spend without a limit” is the key to prosperity is positive for the gold market , as the yellow metal is a safe-haven asset and a hedge against insane economic policies.What is important here is the fact that we have actually tested this approach. In 1960, just like today, the Keynesian economists who dominated in the mainstream (and politicians who trusted them) thought that the main task of economic policy is to actively and permanently stimulate aggregate demand. The result was stagflation in the 1970s, as it turned out that economies may overheat as well. Gold shined then, so it should also benefit today from similarly unsound economic ideas and policies.So far, the pace of economic recovery has been fast, while the inflation rate has remained limited. But this may change quickly when people stop trusting that the Fed and the government will swiftly take action to contain inflation if it breaks out. However, given the current mindset and macroeconomic ideas, how probable is it that the policymakers will accept substantial interest rate hikes, cuts in spending, and probably also a recession when faced with 1970s-style inflation? Not very likely, indeed. Hence, if inflation continues to rise, while the Fed remains ultra- dovish , inflationary expectations may become unanchored, and inflation may get out of control taking gold with it on a wild journey north.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get 7-day no-obligation trial of all our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Sectors: Key Challenges and Pathways Forward

Intraday Market Analysis – USD Needs Further Support

John Benjamin John Benjamin 31.05.2021 10:28
USDCHF rebounds from daily supportThe US dollar popped up after April’s core personal consumption expenditure rose by 3.1%.The pair has bounced off 0.8930, a key support on the daily chart. Momentum above the psychological level of 0.9000 is a sign of strong conviction from the buy-side. A break above 0.9045 may reverse the bearish sentiment and open the door to the daily resistance at 0.9090.As the RSI has overshot above 80, buyers might show caution in chasing after green candles. 0.8970 would be the first support in case of a pullback.EURGBP struggles to find supportSterling climbed after the BoE commented it may look at discussing rate hikes if the economy continues to improve.The euro has given up all recent gains after the pair broke below 0.8620. This is a reminder that the pair is still in a wide consolidation range between the base of the rebound (0.8480) and the key daily resistance (0.8720).The RSI is rising back from the oversold territory. 0.8560 may turn out to be temporary support if sentiment deteriorates. A pullback is likely to meet stiff selling pressure near 0.8640.CADJPY surges towards a 3-year highThe Japanese yen is still licking its wounds after both CPI and the unemployment rate fell short of expectations.The loonie has been trading in the 89.60-90.70 range to consolidate its gains. Last week’s pop caught the short side by surprise.Stop-losses and momentum buying exacerbated the rally. This confirmed that buyers are still in control of the price action despite recent attempts to break lower.There is a chance of a brief retracement towards 90.30 to cool off the RSI. January 2018’s high at 91.50 would be the next target.
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

Biden Proposes $6 Trillion Budget. Will Money Flow Into Gold?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 01.06.2021 16:02
Biden proposes $6 trillion of government spending in the 2022 fiscal year. This continuation of ultra-loose fiscal policy could support gold in the long run.On Friday (May 28), the White House presented the President’s budget for the 2022 fiscal year that starts on October 1, 2021. Biden trumped Trump and proposed $6 trillion, over one trillion more than Trump in his last year’s proposal for $4.8 trillion. Furthermore, POTUS wants to raise government outlays to up to $8.2 trillion by 2031.According to the White House, the proposed fiscal agenda will further increase the total federal debt-to-GDP ratio , from the current 129.1% to 136.9% by 2031. Meanwhile, the federal debt held by the public is estimated to rise from the current 100.7% to 108.5% of the GDP. The current level of the US public debt compared to the size of the economy is presented in the chart below.Despite the increase, Janet Yellen , Treasury Secretary, said that “it is a fiscally responsible program”. Yeah, right. Of course, it’s true that real interest rates are very low, and therefore the debt service costs are bearable; but the interest rates could go up one day. And even when the bond yields are low, there is still the crowding out effect and other negative consequences, as higher government expenditures imply higher taxes and fewer resources for the private sector. Last but not least, the GDP has practically returned to the pre-pandemic level, so such big fiscal programs are clearly excessive and could add to inflationary pressure.Implications for GoldWhat does the budget for the next fiscal year mean for gold prices? Well, although Trump was trumped in the last elections, trumpism is still doing well. Here I’m referring to the fact that Trump started to balloon the government spending and fiscal deficits well before the pandemic . Then the coronavirus hit and the fiscal policy became even looser. And now President Biden raises the stake, widening the budget deficit and public debt despite the recovery from the economic crisis .In the short term, it doesn’t have to be good news for gold. This is because big deficits and federal debt could exert upward pressure on the Treasury yields, resulting in higher interest rates, which would suppress the price of gold.Also of importance is the fact that the 2021 fiscal year was a period with an unprecedented size of the fiscal stimulus. So, although Trump proposed ‘only’ $4.8 trillion of government spending and almost $1 trillion of deficit, the actual numbers were much bigger: $7.2 and $3.7 trillion, respectively. In contrast, Biden’s proposal sees the budget deficit worth ‘only’ $1.8 trillion. In relative terms, the fiscal deficit is projected to decline from the current 16.7% to 7.8%.Of course, the actual numbers will probably be bigger than the White House’s projections. But still, when compared to the previous year, the fiscal policy will become tighter – on a relative basis. However, the fiscal policy will remain ultra-loose; the fiscal deficits are never assumed to decline below $1.3 trillion or 4.2 percent of the GDP, and the public debt is projected to reach a level not seen since World War II.However, the Fed is ready to intervene if the interest rates increase too much. And, at some point, the current ‘debt elephant’ will become too big to pretend it’s not present in the room. The current policy mix of ultra-loose monetary policy and ultra-loose fiscal policy (despite the economic recovery) is unprecedented and raises the risk of a debt crisis in the more distant future. It seems that some policymakers are starting to notice that, as they switched their narrative from “debt is no problem” to “we have to pay for it through raising corporate taxes”. We can see that even in the White House’s document, as it factors in an increase in the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%.Hence, the continuation of the US’s irresponsible fiscal policy could add to the positive momentum in the gold space, especially while taking into consideration that all these new social and infrastructure programs arrive during a period of economic expansion and inflationary pressure. So, the era of big government (with bigger government expenditures and fiscal deficits) and higher inflation is back. It could be, thus, an era of shining gold.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
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

Reversals, Inflation, and Scares of Any Kind

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 02.06.2021 15:59
S&P 500 stumbled in its upward run again, but has it been decisively so? VIX has risen, the put/call ratio as well – but that‘s little more than white noise, for nothing has dramatically changed in the markets. We‘re chopping along without advance clues either way – unless you look at inflation expectations and Treasury yields. The Jun 10 CPI reading is ahead:(…) While I think that the red hot CPI inflation would die down a little (i.e. not keep rising ever as steeply as was the case with Wednesday‘s data) once the year on year base to compare it against normalizes, a permanently elevated plateau of high and rising inflation would be a reality for more than foreseeable future simply because the Fed would be as behind as Arthur Burns was in fighting the 1970s inflation, and upward price pressures in the job market pressures would kick in.The much awaited Jun 10 CPI readings would likely come on the hotter side of the spectrum, but would be part and parcel of a continued move to a higher inflation environment where commodities‘ pressures are amplified by job market ones – not that the distortions and disincentives to work wouldn‘t be there.The Treasury market‘s lull only means that inflation trades have been dialed back somewhat, but haven‘t been broken. As I wrote on May 27, so far it‘s only the precious metals that are relentlessly calling the Fed‘s bluff – by rising almost in a straight line. And when you thought the transitory or permanently elevated inflation debate couldn‘t get any more ridiculous, there comes the Dudley dove talking how transitory could become permanent – it‘s almost as miraculous as being half pregnant.Seriously, it‘s a testament to the Fed communication‘s success that the transitory story has been swallowed hook, line and sinker to this degree. We‘re getting a temporary reprieve but the cost-push inflation isn‘t going away. At the same time, we‘re in a reflationary period before inflation starts biting noticeably more. How close before the wheels come off, and would that come from inflation or growth worries? There are two distinct possibilities: GDP growth and its projections start sputtering, or inflation (including inflation expectations) don‘t come down nearly enough as much as the transient camp believes. I‘m in the latter camp.Timing is everything, though. Any growth scare wouldn‘t materialize before we „discover“ that inflation isn‘t really going away. Add the job market pressures entering the fray – discussed on May 19 – you‘ll sooner take fright over persistent inflation hitting the growth prospects than seeing them downgraded first. No deflationary scare quarters ahead either, sorry – 2021 will be another good year in stocks.This also speaks against a sharp (think 10% and higher) correction in the stock market over the summer, and likewise affects commodities. These would employ a wait and see approach, with precious metals sticking out like a sore finger. Forget the taper dog and pony show. When the Fed is forced to move, precious metals win – either way.Gold and silver aren‘t giving up gained ground – why should they? Miners have awaken from their slumber, and the greater risk in this bull market run is being out rather than in. The new long consolidation will get an upside breakout in its own due time, across the board.Crude oil sharply rose on the OPEC pronouncements (U.S. can‘t possibly act as a swing producer anymore – the policy supporting that isn‘t there anymore), and the upswing has been supported by the oil index. The daily chart remains bullish, and the pressure to go higher I discussed yesterday, is being resolved.Bitcoin and Ethereum are likewise preparing to overcome yesterday‘s modest retracement of prior rebound. The charts in both speak in favor of taking on the red resistance line discussed yesterday. The strength to go higher is there.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com). S&P 500 and Nasdaq OutlookS&P 500 daily reversal leaves much to be desired, and neither the Nasdaq 100 is plunging.Credit MarketsHigh yield corporate bonds scored gains while the quality debt instruments treaded water. That‘s an inconclusive, yet mildly positive sign for the risk-on trades.Technology and ValueIt‘s only select tech segments that are being hit here. I‘m leaning towards microrotations rather than huge red flag explanation.Gold, Silver and MinersA sideways and volatile day in gold, where rising miners and not throwing a spanner in the works nominal yields, are casting their verdict.The copper to 10-year Treasury yield ratio is the only one to bring about (short-term) wrinkles.No worries though as the copper chart is by no means in a crash mode – nominal yields retreat isn‘t over, and would power both metals higher (as it interplays with inflation). Aka real rates rule.Crude OilCrude oil offered a one-way session, and its upswing was amply supported by volume. Oil companies didn‘t lag behind – the next upswing is underway with not too many resistances ahead.SummaryS&P 500 is getting ready for another upside breakout – it‘s a question of time.Gold and silver remain well bid and technically primed to go higher, let alone fundamentally.The upleg is very far from over, and the only watchout in the short run is the copper to 10-year yield ratio.Crude oil consolidation is over, and odds favor a new upleg to proceed.Bitcoin and Ethereum are consolidating, but rebound continuation is more probable.Thank you for having read today‘s free analysis, which is available in full at my homesite. There, you can subscribe to the free Monica‘s Insider Club, which features real-time trade calls and intraday updates for all the four publications: Stock Trading Signals, Gold Trading Signals, Oil Trading Signals and Bitcoin Trading Signals.
Asia Morning Bites: Trade Data from Australia, Taiwan Inflation, and US Fed Minutes Highlighted

Gold Seems Stuck at $1900. Are Inflationary Fears Exaggerated?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 03.06.2021 14:06
Gold is fluctuating around $1,900 amid a sideways trend in real interest rates and a decline in inflationary expectations.Gold surpassed $1,900 at the end of May. However, it has been struggling since then to rally decisively above this level. Instead, the price of the yellow metal has been oscillating around this level, as the chart below shows.Why is that and what does it mean for the gold market? Well, on the one hand, we could say that the yellow metal is in a normal pause during an uptrend. However, the lack of more aggressive price appreciation amid high inflation , ultra-loose monetary policy , depreciating dollar and super easy fiscal policy could be seen as disturbing.From a fundamental perspective, the timid price behavior of gold could be explained by a sideways trend in real interest rates . Their lackluster movement, in turn, could have resulted from the downward correction in long-term inflationary expectations (blue line), as the chart below shows.Investors’ inflation bets have lost some steam, starting a debate about whether expectations of inflation have already peaked. After all, it might be the case that inflation fears have been exaggerated and investors have overshot, as they often do. In addition, some of the FOMC members signaled that it could be a good idea to begin discussing tapering quantitative easing .If this was really the peak of inflationary expectations, the news would be bad for gold, which is seen as a hedge against inflation . However, many analysts expect that inflation expectations have room for further rises and could reach levels close to 3%.Implications for GoldWhat does all this mean for the price of gold? Well, market-based inflationary expectations have recently declined, dragging the real interest down and restraining gold from moving upward. However, inflation worries won’t disappear anytime soon . After all, the PCE inflation , the favorite Fed’s inflation gauge, jumped 3.1% in April, beating the expectations. Even in the Eurozone, where price pressure is usually lower than in the US, the inflation rate rose from 1.6% to 2% in May, which is the highest level since October 2018.Furthermore, consumer-based inflationary expectations jumped from 3.4% to 4.6% in May, so inflation worries are still around. They could increase the uncertainty and increase the safe-haven demand for gold . Although higher uncertainty could limit some spending, we should remember that households have accumulated more than $2 trillion in excess savings during the pandemic . So, inflation may be more lasting than many policymakers and pundits believe . If inflation doesn’t turn out to be merely transitory, gold could gain some fuel for the upward march.Higher inflation implies weakened purchasing power of the dollar. If we add America’s growing public debt problem to constantly rising prices, the downward trend in the greenback could continue, supporting the price of gold.Of course, only time will tell whether or not current inflation worries are justified. However, please note that the economy didn’t collapse last year due to a lack of liquidity but due to the Great Lockdown . The implication is that the Fed has increased money supply well above demand , injecting a lot of liquidity into the system. The expansion in the Fed’s balance sheet and commercial banks’ credit (after all, this time not only the monetary base has jumped, but the broad money supply as well), combined with the Great Unlocking, generated a great inflationary wave that lifted all asset classes: from commodities, through equities, to cryptocurrencies , including crypto-memes like Dogecoin.And it might be just a coincidence, but the Fed introduced a new monetary regime that is prone to higher inflation also during the last year. A cynical interpretation could be that the Fed knew very well that its last year’s monetary expansion could result in higher inflation.Hence, inflationary expectations didn’t have to peak, and they could increase later this year supporting gold prices . Having said that, if inflation really turns out to be only transitory, the current situation wouldn’t be much different from 2011-2013, when gold prices struggled amid expectations of monetary policy tightening . Of course, the Fed is even more dovish now under Powell than under Bernanke or Yellen , but higher inflation would be an additional argument for a bull market in gold .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
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

When Markets Get Scared and Reverse

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 03.06.2021 16:09
S&P 500 wasted another good opportunity to rise – one where the credit markets were largely aligned. Is it a sign of upcoming tremors that the 500-strong index couldn‘t defend the daily gains? Commodities weren‘t under pressure, the dollar wasn‘t surging (looking at the closing prices), precious metals did well, and even lumber enjoyed a white candle again.Inflation expectations retreated, and so did Treasury yields – what‘s holding stocks then? Neither uncertainty about the Fed policy, nor surging inflation cutting into P&L, nor crashing bonds – what we‘re seeing is run of the mill volatility as stocks move both into a structurally higher inflation environment, and await Fed moves which are much farther down the time line than the markets appreciate. Heck, even the option traders keep undergoing the earlier announced shift to complacency.Yes, the taper talk has dialed back the inflation trades to a degree, but hasn‘t knocked them off in the least. In a reflation, both stocks and commodities do well, and we‘re still far away from worrying about weakening GDP growth rates (today‘s ADP and unemployment data are a good proof thereof) – in my view, worries about inflation not retreating nearly enough during this Treasury market lull (taking up this summer) would come into the picture first.Reopening trades aren‘t over, the housing market activity (housing starts, new home sales) has slowed down a little while XLRE keeps running, financials remain as strong as value (yes, there is more juice in that trade still), and no mad rush into tech (growth) is underway. Capacity utilization isn‘t at the top of the pre-corona range exactly, and oil prices (these serve as additional tax, a drag on the economy) aren‘t biting nearly enough. The job market isn‘t at the strongest either, and the hours worked don‘t match prior extremes either. Last but not least, global supply chains haven‘t entirely recovered to meet the reopenings-boosted demand.Plenty of extra reasons why I talked the transitory vs. getting structurally elevated (unanchored) inflation yesteerday:(…) The Treasury market‘s lull only means that inflation trades have been dialed back somewhat, but haven‘t been broken. As I wrote on May 27, so far it‘s only the precious metals that are relentlessly calling the Fed‘s bluff – by rising almost in a straight line. And when you thought the transitory or permanently elevated inflation debate couldn‘t get any more ridiculous, there comes the Dudley dove talking how transitory could become permanent – it‘s almost as miraculous as being half pregnant.Seriously, it‘s a testament to the Fed communication‘s success that the transitory story has been swallowed hook, line and sinker to this degree. We‘re getting a temporary reprieve but the cost-push inflation isn‘t going away. At the same time, we‘re in a reflationary period before inflation starts biting noticeably more. How close before the wheels come off, and would that come from inflation or growth worries? There are two distinct possibilities: GDP growth and its projections start sputtering, or inflation (including inflation expectations) don‘t come down nearly enough as much as the transient camp believes. I‘m in the latter camp.Timing is everything, though. Any growth scare wouldn‘t materialize before we „discover“ that inflation isn‘t really going away. Add the job market pressures entering the fray – discussed on May 19 – you‘ll sooner take fright over persistent inflation hitting the growth prospects than seeing them downgraded first. No deflationary scare quarters ahead either, sorry – 2021 will be another good year in stocks.This also speaks against a sharp (think 10% and higher) correction in the stock market over the summer, and likewise affects commodities. These would employ a wait and see approach, with precious metals sticking out like a sore finger. Forget the taper dog and pony show. When the Fed is forced to move, precious metals win – either way.In other words, we‘re undergoing stock market and commodities‘ gyrations as we‘re settling into the new reality of higher inflation including expectations, which isn‘t yet putting the stock market to test. Neither the 10-year yield rising way over 2.5% would derail the sttock bull run – but the associated volatility would be keenly felt already at the 2% level. We‘re very far from that, meaning I am not worried about the stock market leadership baton passing exlusively over to tech (growth) stocks. That would equal panic.Gold ascent is slowing down, but miners don‘t support a lasting downswing. Volatility around the $1,900 mark, yes but a plunge on stock market downswing / Fed tapering / commodities reversal, no – as if any of the three actually applied. After initial selling when liquidity needs to be raised no matter where from (the AMC saga coming soon to a theater near you), gold is likely to recover, and faster than silver (the white metal would suffer from any marked slowdown in inflation, I must add).Crude oil rose strongly once again, and so did the oil index – the energy sector ETF is doing great. The daily chart still remains bullish, offering no clues of a reversal, let alone of a correction.Bitcoin and Ethereum recovery goes on, and I‘m looking for more base building before the bulls take on and overcome the red ETH resistance line featured on Tuesday. Patience is needed before more confidence returns into the sector.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com). S&P 500 OutlookS&P 500 and Nasdaq wavering in latest days is an eloquent warning sign that the bears will try their luck – and they would ultimately fail.Credit MarketsHigh yield corporate bonds actually outperformed the rest of the crowd, making the SPX stumble harder to stomach.Technology and ValueTechnology had a mixed day while value remains unyielding. It‘s true that the daily leadership was with XLK yesterday, but that still remains white noise as value isn‘t yet down and out. Not by a long shot.Gold, Silver and MinersGold rose a little stronger than the miners yesterday, but the move in either shouldn‘t be overrated. While the yellow metal can‘t break higher with confidence now, its dips remain to be bought.The copper to 10-year Treasury yield ratio stabilized yesterday, but the swing in either copper or long-dated Treasuries spells no short-term calm.Bitcoin and EthereumBitcoin and Ethereum charts are solidly recovering, but some breather next wouldn‘t surprise me. Overall, the stage remains set to go higher.SummaryWhat doesn‘t go up, must come down – but look for any S&P 500 downside to be largely bought when the dust settles.Gold and silver remain well bid, but the slowing pace of gains means that the bears might come out from hibernation – only to be repelled though. Look for copper to stabilize as a precondition, with miners not falling through the floor.Crude oil odds favor a new upleg to proceed, but unless commodities and metals rebound, black gold would get vulnerable.Bitcoin and Ethereum are peeking higher, and rebound continuation is more probable than other scenarios.Thank you for having read today‘s free analysis, which is available in full at my homesite. There, you can subscribe to the free Monica‘s Insider Club, which features real-time trade calls and intraday updates for all the four publications: Stock Trading Signals, Gold Trading Signals, Oil Trading Signals and Bitcoin Trading Signals.
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

The Return of Inflation. Can Gold Withstand the Dark Side?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 04.06.2021 12:49
Inflation broke into the economy violently. It’s a destructive, dark force. But gold can resist it, being after all a much stronger asset than Anakin Skywalker.Last month, I wrote that “inflation is knock, knock, knockin’ on golden door”. I was wrong. Inflation didn’t knock, it broke down the door! Indeed, as the chart below shows, the core CPI surged 3%, while the overall CPI annual rate soared 4.2% in April – this is twice the Fed’s target!Now, the question is whether this elevated inflation will turn out to be just “transitory”, as the Fed and the pundits claim, or become more permanent. On the one hand, given that April-May 2020 was the worst phase of the pandemic with the deepest price declines, the current high inflation readings are perfectly understandable, and we could see lower numbers later this year.On the other hand, inflation may be higher and/or more persistent than many analysts believe . After all, the April reading came as a shock for them and even for the top US central bankers. For example, Richard Clarida, the Fed Vice-Chair, said: “I was surprised”. It shows that there is more in high inflation than just the base effect. Indeed, the CPI index with February 2020, i.e., the last pre-pandemic month as a base, has jumped 3.1% so far – lower but still significantly above the Fed’s target.It shouldn’t be surprising given the surge in the broad money supply and increase in fiscal transfers to citizens. Incomes are higher and people are ready to spend their money. Stronger demand met with supply shortages, so the prices rose. And what is important, the increases are widespread: from commodities to used cars and houses.However, there are a few important upside risks to inflation . First, a rise in wages. Although employment is far from the pre-epidemic level, entrepreneurs struggle to find workers. Therefore, they could be forced to increase wages to pull employees away from generous government benefits. If passed on, higher input costs would translate into higher consumer prices.Second, a housing boom . Rising housing prices show that inflationary pressure is something more than just CPI inflation, and all this could drive shelter inflation higher. More importantly, though, as shelter dominates in the CPI basket, the official inflation would rise as a result.Third, an increase in inflationary expectations. In May, the University of Michigan index that gauges near-term inflation expectations surged to 4.6%from 3.4%in April. What’s important, the index that measures inflation expectations for the next five years also rose – from 2.7% in April to 3.1% in May, which is the highest level in a decade. As the chart below shows, the market-based inflation expectations have also been surging recently.This is a very important development, potentially even a game-changer. You see, inflation remained low for years partially because Americans didn’t expect high inflation. They used to see persistent inflation as a thing of the past. They had strong confidence in the Fed , believing that the US central bank would quickly intervene to prevent inflation.However, that belief could go away now . The Fed’s new monetary framework and officials’ speeches clearly indicate that the US central bank has become more tolerant of higher inflation. The Fed has returned – just like in the 1970s – to focus on full employment and its “shortfalls” instead of deviations, forgetting that economies can become too hot as well as too cold. Given the dominance of doves in the Fed – but also in the Treasury with Yellen as a Secretary – one can reasonably doubt whether or not the US central bank is ready to hike the federal funds rate in response to higher inflation. Just like in the years before the Great Stagflation , the Fed could decide that it’s better to live with inflation than bear the pain of combating it.More importantly, such a fight would be challenging now, as the public debt is a few times higher.As the chart below shows, the federal debt held by the public is now 100% of the GDP , four times larger than throughout the 1970s. Hence, the increase in interest rates would amplify fiscal deficits even more. To paint the perspective, April’s core CPI was the highest since 1982, when the Fed was trying to control inflation, and interest rates were double-digit. So, the government would be obliged to cut its expenditures, while the climate is rather to spend as much money as possible. Therefore, the Fed is under strong pressure not to tighten its monetary policy .What does all this mean for the gold market? Well, when people question the willingness or ability of the government and central bank to tame inflation, they expect it to go higher, which increases the actual inflation and make it more persistent. Such a negative surprise, with inflation expectations unanchored, would make prices rise abruptly – but also the demand for gold as an inflation hedge would increase . Given the widespread economic repercussions and elevated uncertainty triggered by higher inflation – which is one of the biggest threats to this economic cycle – gold could gain as a safe-haven asset .Of course, gold is not a perfect inflation hedge in the short term. If interest rates increase or the Fed tightens monetary conditions in response to inflation, gold may struggle. Actually, a start of normalization of the monetary policy could push gold downward, just as it happened in 2011.However, given the current pretending that “there is no inflation” by the Fed, it’s likely that the US central bank won’t react promptly, remaining behind the curve. The delay in tightening could de-anchor inflationary expectations and trigger an inflationary spiral, pushing real interest rates down but also gold prices up.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get 7-day no-obligation trial of all our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
California Leads the Way: New Climate Disclosure Laws Set the Standard for Sustainability Reporting

Another Taper Mirage Comes and Goes

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 04.06.2021 16:01
S&P 500 succumbed to the bears – partially. The ADP figures lifted the dollar and put Treasury yields under pressure, which equals encouraging speculation that taper is coming. Rest assured, it isn‘t in practice, apart from communication exercises otherwise known as forward guidance, all happening during a week when the Fed injected $32bn into the markets. Today‘s non-farm payrolls can modestly boost that fata morgana, but it‘s a taper bridge too far. They can‘t meaningfully tighten, and they know it – look what happened last time Powell emphatically insisted (Dec 2018).But the market reaction is what matters, and yesterday‘s session in (not only tech) stocks, precious metals and commodities, highlights the degree to which the transitory inflation story has been swallowed hook, line and sinker, dialing back the inflation commodity trades meaningfully (sideways). Should the transition into a higher inflation environment be appreciated for what it is, the dive in gold, silver and copper wouldn‘t have been that steep. On the other hand, the sharpest moves tend to be the countertrend ones – yes, I‘m still of the opinion that the current reflationary period with reopening rush (more juice left in value over growth trades) is conducive to higher stock market and commodity prices. Including precious metals, naturally.For more proof, look at the barely budging inflation expectations (TIP:TLT rather than RINF which got spooked a bit too much – similarly to tech yesterday), and have a read of my extensive Wednesday and Thursday analyses, well worth it each but best when combined for your daily dose of countenance in the markets. What‘s new now, are the taper starting date (as if the discussion was initiated in the first place at all) considerations:(…) what‘s holding stocks then? Neither uncertainty about the Fed policy, nor surging inflation cutting into P&L, nor crashing bonds – what we‘re seeing is run of the mill volatility as stocks move both into a structurally higher inflation environment, and await Fed moves which are much farther down the time line than the markets appreciate. Heck, even the option traders keep undergoing the earlier announced shift to complacency.Yes, the taper talk has dialed back the inflation trades to a degree, but hasn‘t knocked them off in the least. In a reflation, both stocks and commodities do well, and we‘re still far away from worrying about weakening GDP growth rates (today‘s ADP and unemployment data are a good proof thereof) – in my view, worries about inflation not retreating nearly enough during this Treasury market lull (taking up this summer) would come into the picture first.Moreover, the taper talk and market reaction to it, are exposing a key vulnerability in the Treasury market. The Fed is well aware that its ample support is a condition sine qua non, and that rising yields (rising real rates) aren‘t in the largest borrower and real economy‘s interests. Financial repression has to come into the picture, and that‘s one of the reasons why precious metals have been on a tear lately. We‘re also a long way from inflation breaking the back of stock market bulls:(…) we‘re undergoing stock market and commodities‘ gyrations as we‘re settling into the new reality of higher inflation including expectations, which isn‘t yet putting the stock market to test. Neither the 10-year yield rising way over 2.5% would derail the sttock bull run – but the associated volatility would be keenly felt already at the 2% level. We‘re very far from that, meaning I am not worried about the stock market leadership baton passing exlusively over to tech (growth) stocks. That would equal panic.Gold got spooked, and the PMs dive bore signs of panic, but like it or not, the weakness has been consistent with the commodities retreat. While gold is the ultimate currency, real money in the JPM‘s own admission, it‘s sensitive to real rates moves – and expectations thereof. These took a hit yesterday, and it was as I warned earlier, more readily apparent in silver. Quoting yesterday‘s comment at my own site:(…) ADP data came in positive, dollar rose and so did yields as the market (incorrectly) thinks that taper is closer. And tomorrow’s strength in non-farm payrolls would only reinforce that. The truth is though that the Fed can’t withdraw some liquidity, raise rates or even slow down the monetary expansion. Gold and commodities beyond copper (not oil though) are reacting, and miners don’t offer clues that this daily setback would be over. The taper smoke and mirrors game got a new lease on life, but the inflation trades aren’t over.In other words, we have a way to go in stabilizing the metals, but these prices would prove a buying opportunity – not a selling one.Oil is a different cup of tea – rising but not yet exerting enough pressure to sink the GDP growth story. Elevated, but supported by the oil index. A breather next would not be unimaginable – it would be welcome.Cryptos got hit by the broken heart emoji Elon tweet, well what can I say about such tweets. Doge to the moon next? The bulls need to regain footing, and rather fast.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com). S&P 500 and Nasdaq OutlookS&P 500 took a smaller hit than Nasdaq, and the volume in either isn‘t consistent with a reversal storyline. As said yesterday, I am looking for the bears to ultimately fail.Credit MarketsHigh yield corporate bonds intraday reversal is equally worrying as the long-term Treasuries dive to its daily lows.Technology and ValueTechnology including $NYFANG overreacted in my view – but value continued to cheer the rise in yields. That‘s one more reason why stocks aren‘t dipping anywhere far.Gold, Silver and MinersGold plunge doesn‘t reveal weakness through miners leading to the downside, and while respectable, the volume could have been bigger. The plunge seems overdone when nominal yields are concerned.Silver and copper have been the missing pieces in the puzzle of gold‘s steep move yesterday. Note however that the copper to 10-year Treasury yield ratio isn‘t breaking down in any way.Bitcoin and EthereumBitcoin and Ethereum plunged on the headline, but would likely recover as the unrealistic taper expectations are dialed back.SummaryS&P 500 bears served us the raid yesterday, but I am looking for a swift recovery of the ground lost. The taper myth isn‘t simply to be taken seriously.Gold and silver remain well bid, and not even yesterday‘s plunge was a chart game changer. Dips remain to be bought, and the bull run is very far from over. As I wrote yesterday, the bears might come out from hibernation – only to be repelled though. Look for copper to stabilize as a precondition, with miners not falling through the floor.Crude oil is relentlessly rising, and as long as other commodities join in the party, a meaningful correction isn‘t favored. In other words, today‘s price action won‘t almost definitely see one.Bitcoin and Ethereum aren‘t as weak as the chart would suggest, and once yet another Elon disappointment is worked off (high hopes, disappointment, new hopes – wash, rinse, repeat), no thinking about thinking about talking taper would support the crypto bulls.Thank you for having read today‘s free analysis, which is available in full at my homesite. There, you can subscribe to the free Monica‘s Insider Club, which features real-time trade calls and intraday updates for all the four publications: Stock Trading Signals, Gold Trading Signals, Oil Trading Signals and Bitcoin Trading Signals.
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

Where Next in the Taper Drama

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 07.06.2021 12:02
S&P 500 duly rose on the little weaker than expected non-farm payrolls as the taper theme (start of discussions moving to serious contemplation) got dialed back. The Fed‘s forward guidance manouevers can continue, and inflation trades breathed a sigh of relief. Encouragingly for the S&P 500, reflation trades weren‘t affected as evidenced by value stocks rising again regardles of the long-dated Treasuries action.Of course, volatility welcomed the retreat in yields as much as technology did – but the option traders aren‘t buying into the upswing nearly as much. Practically speaking, Friday‘s moves in the dollar, some commodities and precious metals, reversed a great chunk of the preceding day‘s bigger swings. The guessing game on the Fed‘s taper goes on, and the upcoming CPI readings won‘t add to the markets‘ peace. Most likely, fuelling the sense of taper urgency as the inflation figures won‘t be coming on the low side. Add in the job market slowly catching fire, and you‘ll understand why I have been calling for months for elevated inflation readings.It‘s the market reaction what matters – what is at stake, is how much the Fed is still expected to fight inflation, whether it plays ostrich in toeing the transitory line much to the satisfaction or dismay of the marketplace. As I wrote on Friday:(…) Should the transition into a higher inflation environment be appreciated for what it is, the dive in gold, silver and copper wouldn‘t have been that steep. On the other hand, the sharpest moves tend to be the countertrend ones – yes, I‘m still of the opinion that the current reflationary period with reopening rush (more juice left in value over growth trades) is conducive to higher stock market and commodity prices. Including precious metals, naturally.Moreover, the taper talk (...is…) exposing a key vulnerability in the Treasury market. The Fed is well aware that its ample support is a condition sine qua non, and that rising yields (rising real rates) aren‘t in the largest borrower and real economy‘s interests. Financial repression has to come into the picture, and that‘s one of the reasons why precious metals have been on a tear lately. We‘re also a long way from inflation breaking the back of stock market bulls.So stocks have taken the risk-on cue, amply reversing Thursday‘s losses – but the same can‘t be said about gold, silver or copper. Precious metals pared Thursday‘s setback to a good degree only, and these words apply to miners as well. Not that conducive conditions hadn‘t been in place to facilitate more gains, but the optimism over Fed moves being dialed back to a more distant future, is more guarded. Understandably so when Janet Yellen would welcome higher inflation and higher rates as per her G7 meeting proclamation. The bulls aren‘t out of the woods – all eyes on nominal yields, inflation expectations and the dollar now.Oil is refusing to budge, and the oil index doesn‘t favor too much downside. Should commodities stall again though, oil would be no exception – in spite of its next upleg getting underway after the long sideways consolidation (with a bullish slant, however).Cryptos can‘t get their mojo, but aren‘t falling through the floor either. The consolidation goes on, and bulls better step in and overcome Thursday‘s highs for the recovery to continue. That‘s not unimaginable for Ethereum or Cardano, though – it‘s only that Bitcoin is acting really weak relatively speaking.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com). S&P 500 and Nasdaq OutlookBoth S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 grew sharply, and if you look under the hood, the signals are positive. If only higher volume confirmed them.Credit MarketsHigh yield corporate bonds met an intraday setback, which is part of the short-term watchouts.Technology and ValueTechnology including $NYFANG dialed back Thursday‘s overreaction – just as was likely, and the value stocks confirming in the upswing stretching over to high beta plays in tech as well, are a positive sign for Monday.Gold, Silver and MinersIt‘s nice that gold recovered from yet another dive but, its white candle could have closed nearer to the daily highs – it‘s concerning that it didn‘t, and the same applies to miners. The return of strength has been suboptimal when nominal rates solely are assessed. Of course, that ties in to the retreat in inflation expectations being the other side of the coin, coupled with rising rates expectation underpinning the dollar.Silver recovered stronger than copper, but the red metal‘s ratio enriched with 10-year Treasury yield view, could have driven stronger gold gains. However, silver‘s outperformance isn‘t worrying here.Crude OilCrude oil is continuing its low volatility rise, volume isn‘t drying up, and the oil index supports the upleg to proceed.SummaryS&P 500 bears got on the defensive again, and credit markets give the bulls benefit of the doubt. How will another attempt at all time highs unfold, is to be closely observed for signs of strength / weakness.Gold and silver remarkably rebounded, but could have recouped even more of Thursday‘s losses. It remains a (short-term) red flag they didn‘t. The bulls haven‘t proved themselves entirely, which can be explained by yields, inflation and dollar.dynamics.Crude oil bullish chart message hasn‘t weakened one iota on Friday, and black gold‘s upleg remains underway – while a meaningful correction isn‘t favored, taking a breather would be healthy.Bitcoin and Ethereum meek recovery, bottom searching after Elon‘s broken heart emoji tweet goes on, and the Miami show didn‘t help much. The longer prices stay this low without steadily attempting a march higher, the more vulnerable they are.Thank you for having read today‘s free analysis, which is available in full at my homesite. There, you can subscribe to the free Monica‘s Insider Club, which features real-time trade calls and intraday updates for all the four publications: Stock Trading Signals, Gold Trading Signals, Oil Trading Signals and Bitcoin Trading Signals.
European Central Bank's Potential Minimum Reserve Increase Sparks Concerns

US Government Stimulus Went Wrong. How Will Gold React?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 08.06.2021 19:18
Gold may benefit from government money flooding households and people less willing to work – as evidenced by the low value of nonfarm payrolls.According to the recent BLS Employment Situation Report , total nonfarm payrolls rose by 559,000 in May, following disappointing increases of 278,000 in April, as the chart below shows. What is disturbing here is that this time the US economy also added significantly fewer jobs than expected – economists surveyed by MarketWatch forecasted 671,000 additions. Moreover, labor force participation and employment-population rates were little changed, remaining significantly below the pre-pandemic levels.On the positive side, the unemployment rate edged down from 6.1% to 5.8%, as the chart above shows. However, even though the number of unemployed people fell considerably from its recent high in April 2020, it remains well above the level seen before the Covid-19 epidemic. In February 2020, 5.7 million Americans were without a job, while now it is 9.3 million. It means that the labor market is still far from recovery . Or, actually, given all the generous unemployment benefit supplements introduced during the pandemic, the new equilibrium unemployment rate may be simply higher than in the past.Implications for GoldAnyway, the new employment situation report is positive for the gold market . May nonfarm payrolls report is disappointingly weak and missed expectations for the second month in a row. It means that the April report wasn’t just an accident, and the US labor market has to face some serious problems.The sad truth is that Americans don’t want to work. Even the decline in the unemployment rate was caused to a large extent by the drop in the labor participation rate, as workers just left the labor market. This fact explains why employers report worker shortages despite an army of a few million unemployed people. According to the recent Fed’s Beige Book , many companies have difficulties finding new employees, so they had to boost their wages to attract candidates:It remained difficult for many firms to hire new workers, especially low-wage hourly workers, truck drivers, and skilled tradespeople (…) A growing number of firms offered signing bonuses and increased starting wages to attract and retain workers.Even the BLS admitted that “rising demand for labor associated with the recovery from the pandemic may have put upward pressure on wages”. Indeed, wage increases accelerated to 2% in May year-over-year, up from just 0.4% in the previous month. They could add to the inflationary pressure or reduce companies’ margins and investments, reducing the pace of real economic growth. So, the jump in wages seems to be good for gold . Hence, the yellow metal could continue its long-term upward trend after the recent pullback below $1,900 (see the chart below).Additionally, disappointing employment situation news will postpone tapering of the Fed’s quantitative easing . The weak nonfarm payrolls report gives a strong hand to the doves within the FOMC who don’t want to even start talking about talking about tapering. Hence, the US monetary policy should remain very dovish , with the real interest rates at ultra-low levels supporting gold prices . Indeed, the expected path of the federal funds rate , derived from the Fed Fund futures , has declined from the prior levels.In other words, although May nonfarm payrolls report is an improvement when compared to April, the level of employment is still 7.6 million below its pre-pandemic peak. So, even if we see further improvement later this year (which is likely, as many states end the unemployment benefit supplements this month), it will take several more months to fully eliminate the slack in the labor market. The implication is clear: precious metals investors shouldn’t bet on a change in the Fed’s stance anytime soon. And as the yellow metal is very sensitive to tapering fears, this is positive news for gold bulls.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
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

Risk Off Markets, Seriously?

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 09.06.2021 15:55
S&P 500 hard at work erasing that early bear raid, but the bulls managed to stage a comeback. Yet, the risk off atmosphere is palpable in bonds, rallying as if no inflation were on the horizon. Or as if no taper was coming.Rest assured, it isn‘t:(…) The dollar doesn‘t look to be turning around – Thursday‘s upswing has been erased, but look for the greenback to reflexively rise when confronted with „taper now“ prospects. But is the Fed ready to welcome higher rates, and work towards them? I look for plenty of assurances that the support would be very gradually withdrawn so as not to affect the markets…Toothless compromises for public consumption fit into the picture greatly too...Look, the $6T boondoggle is dead on arrival, and won‘t turn out nearly so in the end and fast enough, which would take a little pressure off the still hot inflation trades. Commodities, followed by silver, and finally gold would feel (by extent of reaction) the short-term pinch, but remember that inflation fires on two engines - and the job market one is arriving:(…) Commodities exerting cost-push influence, and job market pressures, would be a one-two punch to the transitory inflation arguments. Deflationary shock simply isn‘t likely at the moment – the market will more probably find out the Fed isn‘t as serious about taper as it pretends to be – the ostrich pose. Or we might be cushioned into a higher inflation environment actually (thank you, Janet), being told it‘s for our own good.Gold is more vulnerable than silver to a scared dump, and the miners weakness shows it won‘t be smooth sailing for the yellow metal either. Copper consolidation doesn‘t add to the certainty, but the red metal‘s bullish bias is clearly there, both in the short run and medium-term as I had been stating months ago that you can‘t (attempt to) build a green economy without copper, silver, or nickel, among much else. It‘s massive and we‘re in a commodities superbull already – and the lumber arguments (not confirmed by timber weakness as I remarked) can be easily refuted by the $CRB index performance.Crude oil daily consolidation didn‘t reach far, again – and the oil index still doesn‘t support deeper downside that could be bought. Yes, the days of higher oil are still coming, for black gold prices can‘t wreck the real economy just yet. Last but not least, the U.S. is no longer a swing producer (wildcard for prices) as the rig count shows.Bitcoin is showing rare daily strength, testing the late May lows while both Ethereum and Cardano are way weaker. The Bitcoin upswing is thus likely to run out of steam.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com). S&P 500 and Nasdaq OutlookS&P 500 again defended gained ground, and Nasdaq 100 again rose a little – the 500-strong index rally is still likely to be driven by the tech sector in the very short term.Credit MarketsHigh yield corporate bonds‘black candle looks ominously – but only for the short term. Quality debt instruments rising is a sign of rush to safety and uncertainty ahead of tomorrow‘s CPI. It‘s though still a bullish sign that HYG rose.Technology and ValueTechnology including $NYFANG had a relatively good day, but the black candle is a sign of unease in stocks, underlined by value.Gold, Silver and MinersGold held up quite well once again, but the miners repeated non-confirmation is a loud warning, in spite of the nominal yields retreat. Rebalancing in safety trades ahead.Silver isn‘t flashing warning signs of outperformance in any way, and it‘s the copper chart indecision that‘s soundly affecting the red metal‘s ratio to the 10-year Treasury yield. So far so good.Crude OilCrude oil bulls had to defend against meek premarket selling yesterday, and the volume still supports them.SummaryS&P 500 tremors will likely be resolved to the upside when the CPI and other dust settles, and I am not looking for a Nasdaq disappointment either.Gold and silver are likely to repel the onslaught miners‘ weakness is signalling, with the white metal getting under pressure more than the yellow one – at a time when GDX and HUI would attempt to throw off the PMs bulls.Crude oil chart remains bullish, and dips are likely to be bought. Getting stretched but no real breather on the horizon just yet (apart from CPI).Bitcoin upswing better be viewed with a healthy dose of suspicion while Ethereum keeps sideways consolidating.Thank you for having read today‘s free analysis, which is available in full at my homesite. There, you can subscribe to the free Monica‘s Insider Club, which features real-time trade calls and intraday updates for all the four publications: Stock Trading Signals, Gold Trading Signals, Oil Trading Signals and Bitcoin Trading Signals.
Boosting Stimulus: A Look at Recent Developments and Market Impact

Will Gold Rally Continue in the Upcoming Months?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 10.06.2021 15:25
May was certainly a positive month for the yellow metal. Gold could keep its momentum later this year, but a lot depends on the Fed and inflation.We left May in the rearview mirror, and as the chart below shows, it was the second positive month in a row for the yellow metal. Gold rose 7% last month – this is 12.3% since the local bottom on March 31, 2021 . The jump was driven mainly by inflation fears, a weak greenback and a decrease in real interest rates .Hence, I was right: the second quarter has been so far much better for the shiny metal than the first one, in which it declined by 11%. Gold even jumped temporarily above $1,900 at the turn of May and June. Since then, it has been fluctuating around this level. All this means that the yellow metal fully recovered its Q1 losses, finishing last month virtually flat year-to-date.Now, the key question is: what’s next for gold? Outlooks are, as always, divided. Some analysts point out that gold’s struggle to move decisively north above $1,900 amid all the increase in the money supply , public debt and inflation is disturbing and has bearish implications for the future. For instance, the French bank Société Générale still believes that we will see $2,000 per ounce by the end of the year, but its conviction towards this forecast has weakened. I have to admit – the lack of a stronger rally in gold is something I also worry about.But on the other hand, some believe that gold is still in a long-term bull trend . For instance, the World Gold Council , in its latest Gold Market Commentary , points out that sentiment towards gold became more bullish in May , as net positioning on COMEX futures rose to its highest level since February. Moreover, not only gold ETFs recorded their first monthly inflows since January 2021, but also the highest ones since September 2020.Furthermore , the WGC’s 2021 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey reveals a slightly stronger conviction towards gold , as there is a growing recognition among central banks of gold’s performance during periods of economic crises . The report notes that 21% of central banks expect to increase their gold reserves within the next year (value relatively unchanged from last year’s survey) and that no central bank expects to sell gold this year – down from 4% in 2020.Also, Commerzbank remains bullish on gold despite recent volatility . Although the German bank expects that the Fed will start tapering its quantitative easing by the fourth quarter, it’s forecasting rising inflation. As a result, nominal interest rates will stay below the inflation rate leaving real bond yields significantly below zero.Implications for GoldWhat does all this imply for the gold market? Well, there are both downside and upside risks for gold in the future . Possible drawbacks are the unwinding of the Fed’s bond-buying program and the new tightening cycle . Strengthening expectations of asset purchases tapering and normalization of the ultra-dovish monetary policy could trigger an increase in the interest rates and outflows from the gold market.To the other group of factors, I would include higher inflation. After all, we have never seen such coexistence of dovish monetary policy and easy fiscal policy . Not surprisingly, investors started to worry about record-breaking inflation. As the chart below shows, market-based probabilities derived from options (calculated by the Minneapolis Fed , which computes probabilities from option prices) show that the previous expectations of the CPI annual rate above 3% over five years have significantly increased recently. Higher inflation would increase demand for gold as an inflation hedge and decrease real interest rates, supporting gold prices.So, gold’s future depends on the Fed’s reaction to rising inflation , or whether or not investors will focus on nominal and real interest rates. If the US central bank stays behind the inflation curve, real interest rates will stay in the negative territory, supporting the price of gold. However, if the Fed tightens its monetary policy decisively, or if investors focus on rising nominal bond yields in a response to inflation, the yellow metal may go down.To that point, the most recent changes in the Fed’s framework, comments from the FOMC members and disappointing data about the US labor market suggest that we are far away from any serious tightening. So, gold has room for moving higher.Having said that, it seems that gold needs more negative events (or even a kind of financial crisis ) to rally decisively further . So far, the US economy remains in the boom phase and higher inflation doesn’t seem to significantly disrupt the functioning of the markets. Perhaps gold bulls will have to wait a bit longer until we move from reflation to stagflation . Today’s report on inflation and upcoming FOMC meeting could provide more clues about gold’s future – 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
European Central Bank's Potential Minimum Reserve Increase Sparks Concerns

Inflation Storm Coming

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 10.06.2021 16:15
S&P 500 going nowhere, repelling selling pressure concentrated to value as tech mostly defended the daily ground – that‘s a fair summary of the stock market going into today‘s CPI. VIX rising and the put/call ratio as complacent as can be, are signs of quite some moves ahead.I won‘t go into the transitory vs. getting permanently elevated inflation arguments too much today – see them covered in detail namely on Jun 08, Jun 02, May 27, May 17, and May 12.Over the coming month – most likely starting with the CPI readings for September – the low yearly base effect and reopening rush would be sufficiently history. But the strained and disrupted supply chains beyond microchips, high cost base as evidenced by the CRB index lumping many commodities together, difficulties hiring, and not exactly labor market friendly policies a la minimum wages, would deliver a one-two punch to the transitory concepts – because transitory as in temporary, brings up to my mind J. M. Keynes „In the long run, we‘re all dead“ quote.As I‘ve stated on Twitter, commodities with silver, then gold are more in danger than stocks for today - but even these would eventually recover. The Fed isn‘t in a position to do more than token steps to satisfy public consumption, so keep in mind the big picture regarding taper, rate raising, or even the (market declared so historically) balance sheet contraction success on a lasting basis (we‘re not in the post WWII era when the U.S. could grow its way out of debt as in the „City on the Hill“ inspirational speech decades later.(…) The dollar doesn‘t look to be turning around – Thursday‘s upswing has been erased, but look for the greenback to reflexively rise when confronted with „taper now“ prospects. But is the Fed ready to welcome higher rates, and work towards them? I look for plenty of assurances that the support would be very gradually withdrawn so as not to affect the markets…Toothless compromises for public consumption fit into the picture greatly too...Look, the $6T boondoggle is dead on arrival, and won‘t turn out nearly so in the end and fast enough, which would take a little pressure off the still hot inflation trades. Commodities, followed by silver, and finally gold would feel (by extent of reaction) the short-term pinch, but remember that inflation fires on two engines - and the job market one is arriving.Commodities exerting cost-push influence, and job market pressures, would be a one-two punch to the transitory inflation arguments. Deflationary shock simply isn‘t likely at the moment – the market will more probably find out the Fed isn‘t as serious about taper as it pretends to be – the ostrich pose. Or we might be cushioned into a higher inflation environment actually (thank you, Janet), being told it‘s for our own good.Gold is confirming yesterday mentioned point of being more vulnerable than silver to a scared dump, and the miners weakness still shows it won‘t be smooth sailing for the yellow metal either. And it isn‘t. Copper is worrying down even more, hinting that today‘s session will be far from a calm one in the bond arena. Remember though the big picture once again:(…) the red metal‘s bullish bias is clearly there, both in the short run and medium-term as I had been stating months ago that you can‘t (attempt to) build a green economy without copper, silver, or nickel, among much else. It‘s massive and we‘re in a commodities superbull already – and the lumber arguments (not confirmed by timber weakness as I remarked) can be easily refuted by the $CRB index performance.Crude oil would likely be among the more hesitant movers today, still consolidating.Bitcoin has shown rare daily strength yesterday – one that wasn‘t reflected universally in the crypto space. However impressive daily run, residual doubts remain, and Ethereum is still range bound.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com). S&P 500 and Nasdaq OutlookS&P 500 again didn‘t move much, and neither did Nasdaq. Both calm and nervousness before today‘s CPI, likely to be resolved higher.Credit MarketsHigh yield corporate bonds‘ yet another black candle looks ominously – but only for the short term. Quality debt instruments rising is a sign of rush to safety and uncertainty ahead of CPI. As said yesterday too, it‘s though still a bullish sign that HYG rose.Technology and ValueTechnology including $NYFANG again had a relatively good day, and the unease shown by its black candle is to be seen foremost in value.Inflation ExpectationsThey‘re moving lower, but the TIP:TLT ratio isn‘t to be trusted even as the lull in yields remains on through the summer.Gold, Silver and MinersThe above is a picture of momentary stress to be reversed like a spring board, exactly in line with either of these two tweets before that happened: first on inflation, second on transitory vs. permanently elevated.Bitcoin and EthereumThe crypto bulls aren‘t out of the woods yet, but it‘s not unreasonable to expect the biting inflation to improve their stance.SummaryS&P 500 remains well positioned for further gains, and it paid off to wait through the premarket tremors in Nasdaq too.Gold and silver are well positioned to withstand the pressures, and the miners to invalidate their recent weakness.Crude oil would likely hitch a ride in a tight range on the bullish side, without sprinting.Bitcoin and Ethereum look to be entereing a wait and see session today – the bulls have much work ahead, not only in bringing Ethereum out of its sideways consolidation.Thank you for having read today‘s free analysis, which is available in full at my homesite. There, you can subscribe to the free Monica‘s Insider Club, which features real-time trade calls and intraday updates for all the four publications: Stock Trading Signals, Gold Trading Signals, Oil Trading Signals and Bitcoin Trading Signals.
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

Intraday Market Analysis – USD Fakes Rebound

FXMAG Team FXMAG Team 11.06.2021 09:53
USDCHF fails to bounce backThe US dollar surged after May’s core CPI rose by 3.8% yoy.The pair remained under pressure after it broke below the lower band of the consolidation range at 0.8930. An oversold RSI has led to a brief whipsaw, which has turned out to be more of an opportunity to sell into strength.Unless the greenback can lift the offers around the psychological level of 0.9000, the price could see another round of sell-off. February’s low at 0.8870 would be the next target should the pair dip below 0.8920.EURJPY capped by key resistanceThe euro weakened after the ECB maintained its accommodative monetary stance.The pair has so far kept its bullish bias following a rally above April 2018’s high at 133.48. The price action has bounced off 132.90, the base of a previous rally which also coincides with the 20-day moving average on the daily chart.133.80 is a major resistance, as its breach could clear the path for an extended rally above 134.However, a drop below the aforementioned congestion area may prolong the sideways actions towards 132.50.GER 30 seeks support on key daily levelThe DAX consolidates gains as investors weigh high valuation against the pace of recovery.On the daily chart, a bullish MA cross is a sign of acceleration in the rally after a six-week-long consolidation.The index is currently looking for support from the 20-day moving average (15475). Bullish sentiment remains strong as long as buyers hold above this key level. Failing that, 15350 would be the next line of defense.On the upside, a recovery to 15720 would bring in momentum players for a runaway rally.
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

The FED Holds the Market. How Long Will It Last?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 11.06.2021 15:59
With investors discrediting fundamentals to follow the FED’s instruction, it seems everything relies now on a few people’s say-so.It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's the FEDWith Jerome Powell, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve (FED), donning his cape like Superman and his monetary crew akin to The Avengers, investors’ faith in the FED was on full display on Jun. 10. Case in point: with the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) surging by 4.93% year-over-year (YoY) – the highest YoY percentage increase since 2008 – the bond, stock and currency markets barely flinched.The commodity PPI surged by 17.25% YoY in April. And if you exclude the 17.36% YoY jump in July 2008, it was the largest YoY percentage increase since December 1974. For context, the commodity PPI often leads the headline CPI and that’s why tracking the former’s movement is so important. Moreover, reconnecting with the green line implies a ~5.50% YoY percentage increase in the headline CPI.Please see below:And with the indicator proving quite prescient once again, the gap on the right side of the chart was nearly filled on Jun. 10.Furthermore, while investors continue to see the world through the FED’s X - Ray Vision, “base effects” are now the primary defense among the superhero’s supporters. However, as I’ve mentioned on several occasions, it’s important to remember that the core CPI increased by 0.74% month-over-month (MoM). And if you exclude April’s rise of 0.92% (which was only one month ago), it was the highest MoM percentage increase since 1982.Please see below:The FED Has Become Independent Thought’s KryptoniteOn top of that, with the YoY percentage change in the headline CPI running extremely hot, the real federal funds rate is now at its second-lowest level ever . For context, the federal funds rate is the overnight lending rate set by the FOMC, while the real federal funds rate is adjusted for inflation by subtracting the YoY percentage change in the headline CPI.Please see below:So how can we explain investors’ lack of prudence?Well, as Bloomberg eloquently put it on Jun. 10… Source: BloombergThus, with the FED mesmerizing investors and keeping them under its spell, market participants have determined that it’s easier to follow the FED rather than fight it. However, when screaming fundamentals are dismissed as irrelevant, it often ends badly for those who fail to heed the warnings. To that point, while the Producer Price Index (PPI) – which will be released on Jun. 15 – will provide important clues on the inflationary trajectory, Nordea’s trend model signals that YoY CPI prints still have plenty of room to run.Please see below:To explain, the light blue line above tracks the YoY percentage change in the headline CPI, while the dark blue line above tracks the projected YoY percentage change in Nordea’s trend model. If you analyze the right side of the chart, you can see that April and May’s prints were accurately forecasted. More importantly, though, with the dark blue line signaling that the headline CPI should rise by more than 7% YoY in the coming months, investors’ faith in the FED will be put to the test over the medium term.Likewise, even though the FED has become independent thought’s kryptonite, if investors dismiss the scorching inflationary summer, they’ll likely incur deeper burns in the fall.To explain, I wrote on Jun. 10:With the Jun. 15/16 policy meeting not leaving enough time for FED officials to “communicate very early, very often what we’re going to do” (spoken by Philadelphia FED President Patrick Harker) and the Jul. 27/28 policy meeting excluding a summary of the FED’s economic projections, either the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium (late August) or the Sep. 21/22 policy meeting is when the fireworks will likely begin.With the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealing on Jun. 8 that U.S. job openings surged to an all-time high of 9.286 million – and came in well above the consensus estimate of 8.300 million – the only thing depressing the U.S. labor market are ill-advised enhanced unemployment benefits.Please see below:To explain, the red line above tracks U.S. nonfarm payrolls, while the green line above tracks U.S. job openings. If you analyze the relationship, you can see that the latter is often a strong predictor of the former. However, with enhanced unemployment benefits still in effect until mid-to-late June or early July (across ~25 states) – and nationwide until Sep. 6 (expected) – the shift likely won’t occur overnight. But once the benefits expire, U.S. nonfarm payrolls will likely spike in August (reflecting July’s data) and September (reflecting August’s data) and lift the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield and the USD Index in the process.The bottom line? With a potential spike in the Shelter CPI likely to coincide with a major resurgence in the U.S. labor force, September has all of the necessary ingredients to force the FED’s hand .The ECB Is Not Reducing AnythingOn top of that, I warned that prophecies of the European Central Bank (ECB) reducing its bond-buying program in June were much more semblance than substance.I wrote on Apr. 27 :Recent whispers of the ECB tapering its bond-buying program are extremely premature. With the European economy still drastically underperforming the U.S., it’s actually more likely that the ECB increases the pace of its bond-buying program.And after the ECB released its monetary policy decision on Jun. 10, what was clear before now is the reality.Please see below: Source: ECBIn addition, ECB President Christine Lagarde said the following during her press conference:"The U.S. economic situation and the Euro Area economic situation are very different stories. The two economies are at different points in the recovery cycle. ""Any discussion about exit from the PEPP would be premature, too early, and it will come in due course, but certainly, for the moment it is too early and premature – simple as that.""Any kind of transition, exit, whatever you call it, has not been discussed"And although the ECB increased its Eurozone GDP growth, as well as inflation expectations, and Lagarde even said that “there was [a] debate on the pace of the purchase, on some of the analytical aspects of the use of our instruments,” she reiterated: Source: ReutersThe bottom line?While the EUR/USD remains materially overvalued, the ECB’s policy is not the only fundamental data point that supports this thesis. Case in point: it was a trifecta for Germany (Europe’s largest economy) on Jun. 9, with imports, exports, and consequently the German trade balance, all missing economists’ consensus estimate. To explain, exports rose by 0.30% MoM versus 0.5% expected, imports fell by 1.7% MoM versus a decline of 1.1% expected and the trade balance came in at €15.9 billion versus €16.3 billion expected.Please see below:The S&P 500 Is Losing MomentumFinally, while it may not be visible on the surface, the S&P 500’s momentum continues to decelerate. Even though the U.S. equity benchmark followed the ‘ don’t fight the FED’ mantra to another all-time high on Jun. 10, optimism is waning. Case in point: while the YoY percentage change in the FED’s balance sheet (released on Jun. 10) was roughly flat this week, the YoY percentage change in the S&P 500 continues to move lower. And with a summertime soirée likely the last “hurrah!” for the S&P 500 and the FED’s balance sheet – with all signs pointing to the latter tightening in September – a move lower for both variables will likely occur over the medium term.Please see below:The red line above tracks the YoY percentage change in the S&P 500, while the green line above tracks the YoY percentage change in the FED’s balance sheet. If you analyze the relationship, you can see that investors’ optimism often rises and falls with the pace of the FED’s asset purchases. To that point, the FED’s YoY rate of expansion of its balance sheet peaked (for good) during the third week of February and has been in free fall ever since. Similarly, the S&P 500’s YoY rate of expansion peaked during the third week of March and has declined substantially.The bottom line? With the weekly metric hitting a 2021 low on Jun. 3 and a reduction of the FED’s bond-buying program poised to push the YoY percentage change into negative territory in the coming months (again, likely in September), the S&P 500 is slowly running out of gas.In conclusion, the FED has mesmerized the investing public once again, and saving the day doesn’t even require the central bank to do anything anymore. However, with reality undefeated and a major regime shift likely to occur in September, there are only a few hours left until the clock strikes midnight. Moreover, with bond market imbalances at or near their all-time highs, the PMs will likely detest the forthcoming climax. Think about it: if the PMs can only muster tepid rallies when the fundamentals are historically (though synthetically) tilted in their favor, the price action could get ugly once the sanity finally prevails.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, CFA Founder, 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.
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

Is Gold Really an Inflation Hedge?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 11.06.2021 17:19
Inflation is back, and that’s usually depicted as good for gold. But is the yellow metal still a hedge against inflation, or has something changed?Inflation has returned. This is partly understandable. After all, during the Covid recession , consumers and businesses accumulated a lot of cash as their spending was reduced, while revenues were sustained by money transfers from the government. These funds are now entering the economy, which makes demand grow much faster than supply, thus boosting prices. After some time, supply may catch up, curbing inflation. However, there is an important risk that inflation will turn out to be higher and/or more permanent than many analysts believe.From the fundamental point of view, gold should benefit from higher inflation. But why? In theory, there are several channels by which inflation supports the yellow metal. First, the inflationary increase in the money supply makes all goods and services more expensive, including gold. Indeed, the scientific paper by Lucey and others finds a reliable long-run relationship between gold and the US money supply.Second, gold is a real, tangible and rare good with limited supply that cannot be increased quickly or at will. These features make gold a key element during the so-called flight into real values or into hard assets, which happens when inflation gets out of control. In other words, gold is the ultimate store of value which proved to hold its worth over time , unlike paper currencies that are subject to inflation and lose their value systematically.Third, inflation means the loss of purchasing power of the currency, so when the greenback depreciates quicker than its major peers, the dollar-denominated price of gold increases. Fourth, when inflation is unexpected or when the Fed remains behind the curve and doesn’t hike nominal interest rates , real interest rates decline, supporting gold prices.Fifth, high inflation increases economic uncertainty, which increases safe-haven demand for gold . In other words, an outbreak of inflation introduces some turbulences and leads to portfolio rebalancing, thus increasing gold’s appeal as a portfolio diversifier . During inflation, bonds underperform, so gold’s attractiveness increases.And last but definitely not least, gold is perceived as an inflation hedge . But is it really a good hedge against inflation? I analyzed this issue a few years ago – it would be nice to provide an update in light of more recent developments. So, let’s take a look at the chart below, which shows gold prices and CPI annual inflation rates.As one can see, the relationship between these two series is far from being perfect. Actually, the correlation coefficient is significantly below zero (-0.41), which means that the correlation is negative ! It means that although there are certain long-term trends – for example, gold rallied during stagflation in the 1970s and entered a bear market during the disinflation period in the 1980s and 1990s – there is no positive relationship between the CPI annual percentage change and the price of gold on a monthly basis.In other words, the data shows that gold may serve as an inflation hedge only in the long run , as gold indeed preserves its value over a long time (for example, in the period from 1895 to 1999, the real price of gold increased on average by 0.3% per year). It is a good choice for investors also when there is relatively high and accelerating inflation, usually accompanied by fears about the current state of the U.S. dollar and a lack of confidence in the Fed and the global monetary system based on fiat monies .However, let’s not draw conclusions too hastily. The chart below also presents the CPI and gold – but this time both series are year-on-year percentage changes (previously we had gold prices, now we have annual percentage changes in these prices).Have you noticed something? Yup, this time both series behave much more similarly . Indeed, the correlation coefficient is now positive (0.44). Hence, there is a positive relationship between gold and inflation although not always seen in absolute prices (but in changes in these prices), and not always seen in the CPI (as inflation has broader effects not limited only to consumer prices).Summing up the above analysis, it seems justified to claim that gold could benefit from the current elevated levels of inflation, especially if it turns out to be more lasting than commonly believed. It will also be good for gold if the Fed remains dovish and tolerant of inflation surpassing its target significantly.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get 7-day no-obligation trial of all our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
California Leads the Way: New Climate Disclosure Laws Set the Standard for Sustainability Reporting

Inflation Soars 5%! Will Gold Skyrocket?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 15.06.2021 15:56
With the CPI annual inflation rate spiking 5% in May, gold could have gained a lot in response. However, it rallied only $20. Should we prepare for more?Whoa! Inflation soared 5% in May – quite a lot for a nonexistent (or transitory) phenomenon! But let’s start from the beginning. The CPI rose 0.6% in May, after increasing 0.8% in April. Meanwhile, the core CPI, which excludes food and energy, soared 0.7%, following a 0.9% jump in April. So, given that the pace of the monthly inflation rate decelerated, we shouldn’t worry about inflation, right? Well… we should.First of all, inflation was higher than expected , as the consensus forecast was a 0.4% increase. Inflation surprised pundits once again, but not me. Last month, I wrote in the Fundamental Gold Report that “Inflation escalated in April. In May, however, inflation could be softer, but it will remain relatively elevated, in my view” – and this is exactly what happened. However, the unexpected rise in inflation is positive news for gold, as such a surprise should decrease the real interest rates .Second, pundits cannot blame energy prices for this jump, as the energy index was flat. Apart from energy and medical care services, which decreased slightly, all index components increased last month. In particular, the index for used cars and trucks soared again (7.3%). Also, the indexes for new vehicles and apparel surged in May, which shows that inflationary pressure is broad-based .Last but definitely not least, the latest BLS report on inflation reveals that the overall CPI skyrocketed 5% for the 12 months ending May (before seasonal adjustment), followed by a 4.2% spike in April. For context, the annual inflation rate has been trending up every month since January, when the 12-month change was just 1.4%. Therefore, we’ve just seen the largest move since a 5.4% jump for the period ending in August 2008 , just one month before the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers that triggered the global financial crisis and deflationary Great Recession .But that’s not all! The annual core CPI rate soared 3.8% last month after rising 3% in April, as the chart below shows. It was the fastest pace since June 1992. So, the Fed cannot by any manner of means blame higher inflation on food or energy prices.Supply disruptions are not a credible explanation either, as the inflation acceleration is broad-based. How likely would it be, that the production of virtually all goods and services would face supply bottlenecks at the same time and extent? Indeed, a significant boost in the broad money supply is a much more convenient explanation for widespread price increases.Implications for GoldWhat does accelerating inflation imply for the gold market? Well, on the one hand, higher inflation should be positive for the yellow metal , as it means a stronger demand for gold as an inflation hedge . Additionally, higher inflation could lower the real interest rates, also supporting gold prices. And indeed, the price of gold has risen from about $1,870 to $1,890 in a response to the inflation spike.On the other hand, some analysts point out that stronger inflation could be rather negative for the yellow metal , as the Fed would have to tighten its monetary policy , taper its quantitative easing and hike the federal funds rate to contain inflation. After all, the overall CPI annual rate is more than twice as high as the Fed’s target. Moreover, the mediocre gold’s reaction to the surge in inflation suggests that investors are worried about a normalization of the ultra-dovish monetary policy .However, the Fed has recently become more tolerant of higher inflation, and Powell is likely to continue claiming that inflation is merely transitory. Also, on Thursday, the European Central Bank held its regular monetary policy meeting and maintained its elevated flow of stimulus, even though recovery takes hold. And the Fed may do the same, i.e., nothing, tomorrow.Nevertheless, the relaxed stance of the ECB and the Fed could come out as incorrect. We have the economy operating above potential, with big fiscal injections along with a very easy monetary policy. Such a combination could bring us to an environment of higher and more lasting inflation, which could disrupt the market later in the future.After all, many indicators suggest that financial markets believe in the narrative of “transitory” inflation. But if inflation proves to be more permanent than expected, there could be some turmoil in the markets – and gold could benefit from it. Gold is not always a good inflation hedge, and it could suffer somewhat if the nominal interest rates increase; however, it should prosper if the real interest rates decline further.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
California Leads the Way: New Climate Disclosure Laws Set the Standard for Sustainability Reporting

Gold Asks: Will the Economic Boom Continue?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 17.06.2021 15:59
The US GDP has already recovered from the pandemic recession. What’s next for the economy and the gold market?Ladies and Gentlemen, the economic crisis has ended. Actually, not only is the recession over but so is the recovery! This is at least what the recent GDP readings are indicating. As the chart below shows, the US nominal GDP has already jumped above the pre-pandemic level . The real GDP, which takes inflation into account, remained in the first quarter of 2021 below the size of the economy seen at the end of 2019, but it will likely surpass this level in the second quarter of the year.As one can see in the chart below, in terms of GDP growth, the situation is a bit worse, as the annual percentage changes are still below the pre-epidemic level . However, this should change in the second quarter of 2021 when the growth pace is likely to peak amid base effect and reopening of the economy.So, the question is: what’s next? Will the economic boom become well-established or will we see a lot of volatility or even new slumps? Given the recent flux of disappointing high-frequency indicators that fell considerably short of expectations (just think about April’s nonfarm payrolls ), the question is very relevant.Well, there are many threats to growth , that’s for sure. The first is, of course, the ever-evolving coronavirus and its new variants. However, judging by preliminary evidence, the vaccines should remain effective, allowing economies to function freely.The second obvious danger is clearly the economy overheating and higher inflation . The Fed and the Congress injected a lot of liquidity into the economy although it would recover if it was left to its own devices thanks to the rollout of vaccinations and easing lockdowns. So, much of government funds arrived just when the economy practically recovered, which is a recipe for higher prices and inflation-related turbulences in the financial markets.Third, the increase in debt – both private and public – makes the global economy more fragile. Given the level of indebtedness, even small increases in real interest rates would be dangerous. They would increase the costs of servicing debts for the governments and could hit the asset prices. The fact that the Fed will be under great pressure to remain very dovish is, of course, positive for gold prices . Even if we see some effort to normalize the monetary policy , interest rates and the Fed’s balance sheet will never return to the pre-recession levels.Last but not least, there is a threat of financial crisis . Many people are worried that there is a bubble in the stock market (and in other markets as well, such as the cryptocurrency market). Indeed, the equities have been reaching new peaks and the valuations are elevated. The margin debt has also jumped. Not surprisingly, the relative frequency of Google searches for the “stock market bubble” has recently risen (just as for the word “inflation”).Even the Fed in its latest Financial Stability Report expressed some concerns. This is what the Fed Governor Lael Brainard said in a statement linked to the report :Vulnerabilities associated with elevated risk appetite are rising. Valuations across a range of asset classes have continued to rise from levels that were already elevated late last year. Equity indices are setting new highs, equity prices relative to forecasts of earnings are near the top of their historical distribution, and the appetite for risk has increased broadly, as the "meme stock" episode demonstrated. Corporate bond markets are also seeing elevated risk appetite, and the spreads of lower quality speculative-grade bonds relative to Treasury yields are among the tightest we have seen historically. The combination of stretched valuations with very high levels of corporate indebtedness bear watching because of the potential to amplify the effects of a re-pricing event.To sum up, the US economy has already recovered from the coronavirus recession, which is bad for safe-haven assets such as gold , as the yellow metal doesn’t like economic expansions. However, there are important threats to sustainable economic growth, which should support the price of gold.Actually, there is still room for gold to rally further . This is because we are in an inflationary phase of the economic expansion (this boom will be more inflationary than the post- Great Recession period), and all the money created during the pandemic has flowed into the asset markets, pushing their prices into elevated levels not necessarily justified by fundamentals (just think about Dogecoin). Gold could benefit from such a bubble, as well as from an inflationary and hot environment. Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get 7-day no-obligation trial of all our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

Gold: The Fed Wreaked Havoc on the Precious Metals

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 18.06.2021 17:02
Gold declined yesterday, or I should say, it rushed down at breakneck speed. And while it might have been a surprise for some, it wasn’t for me.However, we should stay alert to any possible changes, as no market moves in a straight line. Tread carefully.On a side note, while I didn’t check it myself (well, it’s impossible to read every article out there), based on the correspondence I’m receiving, it appears I’ve been the only one of the more popular authors to be actually bearish on gold before the start of this week. Please keep that in mind, along with me saying that yesterday’s decline is just the beginning, even though a short-term correction might start soon. Having that in mind, let’s discuss what the Fed did (and what it didn’t do) in greater detail.Look What You DidWith the U.S. Federal Reserve’s (FED) reverse-repo nightmare frightening the liquidity out of the system, I highlighted on Jun. 17 that the FED raised the interest rate on excess reserves (IOER) from 0.10% to 0.15%.I wrote:The FED hopes that by offering a higher interest rate that it will deter counterparties from participating in the reverse repo transactions. However, whether it will or whether it won’t is not important. The headline is that the FED is draining liquidity from the system and increasing the IOER is another sign that the U.S. federal funds rate could soon seek higher ground.Please see below:To explain, the red line above tracks the U.S. federal funds rate, while the green line above tracks the IOER. If you analyze the behavior, you can see that the two have a rather close connection. And while we don’t expect the FED to raise interest rates anytime soon, officials’ words, actions and the macroeconomic data signal that the taper is likely coming in September.And in an ironic twist, while the question of whether it will or whether it won’t seemed reasonable at the time, the tsunami of reverse repurchase agreements on Jun. 17 signal that 0.15% just isn’t going to cut it. Case in point: while the FED hoped that the five-basis-point olive branch would calm institutions’ nerves, a record $756 billion in excess liquidly was shipped to the FED on Jun. 17 . For context, it was nearly $235 billion more than the daily amount recorded on Jun. 16.Please see below:To explain the significance, I wrote previously:A reverse repurchase agreement (repo) occurs when an institution offloads cash to the FED in exchange for a Treasury security (on an overnight or short-term basis). And with U.S. financial institutions currently flooded with excess liquidity, they’re shipping cash to the FED at an alarming rate.The green line above tracks the daily reverse repo transactions executed by the FED, while the red line above tracks the U.S. federal funds rate. Moreover, notice what happened the last time reverse repos moved above 400 billion? If you focus your attention on the red line, you can see that after the $400 billion level was breached in December 2015, the FED’s rate-hike cycle began. Thus, with current inflation dwarfing 2015 levels and U.S. banks practically throwing cash at the FED, is this time really different?Furthermore, I noted on Jun. 17 that the FED’s latest ‘dot plot’ was a hawkish shift that market participants were not expecting.I wrote:The perceived probability of a rate hike by the end of 2022 sunk to a 2021 low on Jun. 12. However, after the FED’s material about-face on Jun. 16, I’m sure these positions have been recalibrated.Please see below:And as if the chart above had been inverted, the perceived probability of a rate hike by the end of 2022 has now surged to more than 90%.The Death Toll of June 17thIn addition, while I’ve been warning for months that the bond market’s fury would eventually upend the PMs, not only has the FED’s inflationary misstep rattled the financial markets, but the U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) jumped to 3.25% on Jun. 17.Please see below: Source: Mortgage News DailyFurthermore, please read what Matthew Graham, COO of Mortgage News Daily, had to say:“Markets were somewhat surprised by the Fed's rate hike outlook. Granted, the Fed Funds Rate (the thing the Fed would actually be hiking) doesn't control mortgage rates, but the outlook speaks to how quickly the Fed would need to dial back its bond buying programs (aka "tapering"). Those programs definitely help keep rates low. The sooner the Fed begins tapering, the sooner mortgage rates will see some upward pressure .”To that point, with tapering prophecies officially morphing from the minority into the consensus, the PMs weren’t the only commodities sent to slaughter on Jun. 17. For example, the S&P Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (S&P GSCI) plunged by 2.37% as the inflationary unwind spread. For context, the S&P GSCI contains 24 commodities from all sectors: six energy products, five industrial metals, eight agricultural products, three livestock products and two precious metals.Exacerbating the selling pressure, China’s National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration announced on Jun. 17 that it would release its copper, aluminum and zinc supplies “in the near future” in a bid to contain the inflationary surge that’s plaguing the region. As a result, if the psychological forces that led to the surge in cost-push inflation come undone, the USD Index could move from the outhouse to the penthouse.To explain, I wrote on Apr. 27:Why is the behavior of the S&P GSCI so important? Well, if you analyze the chart below, you can see that the S&P GSCI’s pain is often the USD Index’s gain.To explain, the red line above tracks the USD Index, while the green line above tracks the inverted S&P GSCI. For context, inverted means that the S&P GSCI’s scale is flipped upside down and that a rising green line represents a falling S&P GSCI, while a falling green line represents a rising S&P GSCI. More importantly, though, since 2010, it’s been a near splitting image.Inflation Is Still ThereIn the meantime, though, inflationary pressures are far from contained. And while the S&P GSCI’s plight would be a boon for the USD Index, the greenback still has plenty of other bullets in its chamber. Case in point: with the FED poised to taper in September and investors underpricing the relative outperformance of the U.S. economy, VANDA Research’s latest FX Outlook signals that over-optimism abroad could lead to a material re-rating over the summer.Please see below:To explain, the chart on the right depicts investors’ expectations of economic strength across various regions. If you analyze the second (CAD) and the third (GBP) bars from the right, you can see that positioning is more optimistic than the economic growth that’s likely to materialize. Conversely, if you analyze the first bar (USD) from the left, you can see that positioning is more pessimistic than the economic growth that’s likely to materialize. As a result, with U.S. GDP growth poised to outperform the U.K., Canada, and the Eurozone, an upward re-rating of the USD Index could intensify the PMs selling pressure over the medium term.On top of that, while the inflation story is far from over (and will pressure the FED to taper in September), the Philadelphia FED released its Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey on Jun. 17. And while manufacturing activity dipped in June, “the diffusion index for future general activity increased 17 points from its May reading, reaching 69.2, its highest level in nearly 30 years .”In addition, “the employment index increased 11 points, recovering its losses from last month,” and “the future employment index rose 2 points … [as] over 59 percent of the firms expect to increase employment in their manufacturing plants over the next six months, compared with only 5% that anticipates employment declines.” For context, employment is extremely important because a strengthening U.S. labor market will likely put the final nail in QE’s coffin.But saving the best for last:“The prices paid diffusion index rose for the second consecutive month, 4 points to 80.7, its highest reading since June 1979 . The percentage of firms reporting increases in input prices (82 percent) was higher than the percentage reporting decreases (1 percent). The current prices received index rose for the fourth consecutive month, moving up 9 points to 49.7, its highest reading since October 1980 .”Please see below: Source: Philadelphia FEDInvestment Clock Is TickingAlso, signaling that QE is living on borrowed time, Bank of America’s ‘Investment Clock’ is ticking toward a bear flattener in the second half of 2021. For context, the term implies that short-term interest rates will rise at a faster pace than long-term interest rates and result in a ‘flattening’ of the U.S. yield curve.Please see below:To explain, the circular reference above depicts the appropriate positioning during various stages of the economic cycle. If you focus your attention on the red box, you can see that BofA forecasts higher interest rates and lower earnings per share (EPS) for S&P 500 companies during the back half of the year.As further evidence, not only is the FED’s faucet likely to creak in the coming months, but fiscal stimulus may be nearing the dry season as well.Please see below:To explain, the blue bars above track the U.S. budget deficit as a percentage of the GDP. If you analyze the red circle on the right side of the chart, you can see that coronavirus-induced spending was only superseded by World War Two. Moreover, with the law of gravity implying that ‘what goes up must come down,’ the forthcoming infrastructure package could be investors’ final fiscal withdrawal.The Housing MarketLast but not least, while the S&P 500 has remained relatively upbeat in recent days, weakness in the U.S. housing market could shift the narrative over the medium term.Please see below:To explain, the red line above tracks the S&P 500, while the green line above tracks U.S. private building permits (released on Jun. 16). If you analyze the arrows, you can see that the former nearly always rolls over in advance of the latter . For context, the S&P 500 initially peaked before building permits in 2018 and alongside in 2015. However, in 2018, when the S&P 500 recovered and continued its ascent – while building permits did not – the U.S. equity benchmark suffered a roughly 20% drawdown. Thus, if you analyze the right side of the chart, you can see that building permits peaked in January and have declined significantly. And if history is any indication, the S&P 500 will eventually follow suit.In conclusion, the PMs imploded on Jun. 17, as taper trepidation and the USD Index’s sharp re-rating dropped the guillotine on the metals. And with the FED’s latest ‘dot plot’ akin to bullet holes in the PMs, the walking wounded is still far from a recovery. With inflation surging and the FED likely to become even more hawkish in the coming months, the cycle has materially shifted from the goldilocks environment that the metals once enjoyed. And with the two-day price action likely the opening act of a much larger play, the PMs could be waiting months for another round of applause.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, CFA Founder, 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.
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

Calling the Fed‘s Bluff

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 22.06.2021 15:51
S&P 500 risk-on trading yesterday confirmed that it would have indeed been too early to write off value stocks. Financials, energy sprang higher, accompanied by the as of late usual tech suspect – the heavyweights though merely defended gained ground. Coupled with the credit market perspectives, it was a clear risk-on day as evidenced by the VIX and put/call ratio. The markets have turned on a dime, ignoring the Fed messaging of prior week as shown in the surging CRB index, reversing dollar and Treasuries:(…) Given the ease with which precious metals and then select commodities such as copper or soybeans tumbled, rate hikes might appear to be baked in the cake now – but in reality, it‘s the unyielding inflation that would prove rather persistent than transitory.The Fed did the bare minimum, acknowledging inflation in passing, implying it would go away on its own. But it‘s more complicated than that – bank credit creation isn‘t strong, and had been declining before bond yields bottomed in Aug 2020. Are banks reluctant to lend, or customers to borrow? The result of production not ramping up as wildly as expected (reopening trades) is compounding the disturbed supply chains and commodity prices rising (cost-push inflation). Add to that job market pressures, and you have a recipe for inflation being more transitory than originally thought. In other words, cyclical and structural as import-export prices hint at too.Money in the system isn‘t flowing into production or capacities expansion – inventories have instead been drawn down, and need to be replenished. Just as I have written the prior Monday, that would be putting upside pressure on prices as much Europe awakening or hard hit countries such as India springing back. So, fresh money results in excess liquidity, trapped in the system, and flowing to bonds, which explains the Fed‘s need to act and fix repo rate at 0.05%. So much for the recent spike in Treassuries – this whiff of „almost deflation“ has it wrong, and yields will revert to rising – regardless of when exactly (or if) other parts of the intended $6T stimulus package get enacted.Sure, the Fed actions have shortened the (sideways) lull in Treasuries, made the dollar spike, but haven‘t changed the underlying dynamic of the free market not willing to pick up the slack in credit creation should the Fed indeed taper. Chances are, they would still taper, but later in 2022 – such was and still is my expectation, with bank credit creation being (hopefully) the key variable on their watch as a deciding factor. In the meantime, the inflation problem will get even more embedded – not a fast galloping inflation or hyperinflation, but a serious problem raising its ugly head increasingly more through the years to come.In short, the Fed played the dot plot perceptions game which amounts to no serious attempt to nip inflation in the bud. The markets (precious metals, commodities) got thrown off prior trends, but will see through the bluff that can‘t be followed by actions. The inflation trades (and by extension modest rise in yields as we drift towards 2.50% on the 10-year before that tapering actually starts, with positive consequences for financials and cyclicals) haven‘t been killed off, and will reassert themselves when the markets test the Fed (and they will). To be clear, I am calling for persistently elevated (not hyper) inflation (PCE deflator readings coming soon) with the 10-year yield reverting to its more usual trading range – so essential to financial repression reducing the real value of all obligations.For now, the dollar is supported by all the tightening messaging, and as extended as it had been on a daily basis after Friday‘s close, yesterday‘s reversal had a strong consolidation feel to it, meaning that the dollar upswing might not be over just yet. The same thing can‘t be said about Treasuries, which look set to go on an overall slowly but surely rising yield path. Additionally, more calm on the risk-off (tightening) front means less panicked safe haven flows that leave out gold and silver, whose moves are sensitive to inflation and inflation expectations (among much else).The PCE deflator would surely come below the CPI reading – by default thanks to „weighted substitution“ effects. But the fact of current inflation not meaningfully decelerating remains sticking out as a sore thumb – the Fed is playing games and jawboning inflation expectations, which thanks to the real economy including job market constrainst described above, would prove of temporary effect, springing higher as a temporarily submerged water polo ball.For gold and silver, this means a patience game where the factors remain still arrayed behind their rise. Remember, the Fed can‘t tighten as fast as it projects to – seriously raising tapering looks slated for Jackson Hole, with actual execution coming next year. Provided that bank credit creation springs back to life, this needn‘t be a problem for stocks. Rate hikes though are a different cup of tea – any thought of normalizing yields is misplaced as Greenspan, Bernanke, and Powell were able to hike Fed funds rate to lesser and lesser levels, which means that with my anticipated, persistent inflation for years to come, even the projected (market-based, for it would be the markets who raise rates, not the Fed) return to e.g. 2.5 – 3.0% range on the 10-year, would guarantee real rates conducive to the precious metals bull run.Crude oil, given the extent its prices are set outside of the U.S. control (no longer a swing producer, rig count having troubles reaching pre-corona levels given the current policies), is better positioned than the metals, where we have to wait before these „get it“. Reopening, reflation and uptick in economic activity will work to lift black gold, and energy stocks agree. In spite of short-term technical non-confirmations, the picture remains bullish, and a deep plunge in oil unlikely.Cryptos don‘t offer a happy sight for the bulls as the key 30,000 support in Bitcoin looks likely to be tested soon. Yesterday‘s move also in Ethereum reveals newfound bearish vigor. Not that the news out of China would be helpful here.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 and Nasdaq OutlookS&P 500 daily downswing looks successfully reversed – just as the Friday‘s intraday attempt to close the HYG gap hinted at. With tech leadership intact, good days for Nasdaq are a mainstay.Credit MarketsHolding on to the gained ground in high yield corporate bonds while TLT doesn‘t run wild again, would be the best scenario for further stock gains.Technology and ValueBoth technology and value did great yesterday, and it‘s been the cyclicals, high beta pockets driving the S&P 500 upswing. Even the Russell 2000 decisively joined, but don‘t look for much of outperformance in smallcaps (still an understatement).Gold, Silver and MinersGold and miners are still trading in corrective depths, with not nearly enough convincing upswing attempt yet. Still, precious metals are well positioned to benefit from the Fed inability to move as much as it gives impression it would. Once silver gets whiff of both the Fed‘s predicament and current (plus expected) inflation not yielding much ground, it would lead gold higher again. It‘s a process though and we haven‘t even started it yet (today‘s Powell testimony would be insightful).Crude OilBlack gold remains well positioned to rise again as the oil index correction ran its course.SummaryS&P 500 looks ready to consolidate gained ground before attempting another push higher, led by Nasdaq again.Gold and silver aren‘t out of the woods just yet but I‘m lookign for tentative return of confidence – a marathon rather than sprint.Crude oil looks likely to extend gains without much deeply reaching consolidation.Bitcoin and Ethereum are approaching decision time, where the floor could fall out pretty fast if the bears aren‘t stopped at 30,000 in BTC. The weekly basing pattern is intact for now, but prices returning good 5,000 higher would help also the ETH bulls with an even chance in this prolonged consolidation – to be resolved with a steep move either way, the risks of which being to the downside, are highly pronounced.Thank you for having read today‘s free analysis, which is available in full at my homesite. There, you can subscribe to the free Monica‘s Insider Club, which features real-time trade calls and intraday updates for all the four publications: Stock Trading Signals, Gold Trading Signals, Oil Trading Signals and Bitcoin Trading Signals.
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

Will Gold Survive Hawkish Fed?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 22.06.2021 15:58
The recent Fed’s hawkish turn is fundamentally negative for gold prices but there is still some hope.The hawkish counter-revolution within the Fed continues. On Friday, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said that the recent FOMC shift towards a faster tightening of monetary policy was a natural response to faster economic growth and higher inflation than anticipated:We were expecting a good year, a good reopening, but this is a bigger year than we were expecting, more inflation than we were expecting, and I think it's natural that we've tilted a little bit more hawkish here to contain inflationary pressures.Bullard also noted that “Powell officially opened the taper discussion this week”. Indeed, in my Friday edition of the Fundamental Gold Report , I focused on the changed dot-plot , which suggested that FOMC members were ready to hike interest rates twice in 2023. However, the second major shift in the stance of the US central bank was that the Fed officials started to “talk about talking about” tapering.In his prepared remarks for the press conference, Powell said:At our meeting that concluded earlier today, the Committee had a discussion on the progress made toward our goals since the Committee adopted its asset purchase guidance last December. While reaching the standard of “substantial further progress” is still a way off, participants expect that progress will continue. In coming meetings, the Committee will continue to assess the economy’s progress toward our goals. As we have said, we will provide advance notice before announcing any decision to make changes to our purchases.In plain English, it means that the Fed could announce tapering at any of its future meetings, depending on the assessment of the incoming data. However, to avoid a replay of the taper tantrum , the Fed will “give advance notice before announcing any decision”. So, September is the first probable date of a hawkish announcement about tapering of quantitative easing , which could be preceded by some clues as early as in July:That is, you know, the process that we're beginning now at the next meeting. We will begin, meeting by meeting, to assess that progress and talk about what we think we're seeing, and just do all of the things that you do to sort of clarify your thinking around the process of deciding whether and how to adjust the pace and composition of asset purchases.Another hawkish shift in the Fed’s thinking, which is worth pointing out, is that it dropped the phrase in the statement saying that the pandemic is weighing on the economy. So, although it’s still cited as a risk, Powell and his colleagues officially ceased to see the pandemic as a constraint on economic activity. It means that, as I already wrote earlier in my reports, the US economy has returned to the pre- epidemic level or has shifted from the recovery to the expansion phase.Implications for GoldWhat does it all mean for the yellow metal? Well, the Fed triggered some panic selling in the gold market last week. Actually, on Thursday, there was the largest one-drop of 2021 in response to the more hawkish stance of the US central bank, as the chart below shows.The bearish reaction is understandable, as the Fed’s readiness to reduce its asset purchases and end the policy of zero interest rates is fundamentally negative for the yellow metal . More hawkish FOMC implies higher real interest rates and a stronger dollar, the two most important drivers of gold prices. Furthermore, when the US central bank becomes more hawkish, it means that it’s more confident in the economy – and gold struggles when the economy is strong.However, some analysts claim that the selloff was exaggerated . After all, the Fed still maintains that higher inflation is transitory; but transitory inflation doesn’t mix with earlier interest rate hikes. So, we will have either more lasting high inflation (but the Fed is slow to admit it), or the Fed doesn’t really want to increase its interest rates substantially. In both cases, gold should benefit, either from higher inflation and lower real interest rates, or from more dovish Fed than it’s currently perceived.So, the bullish case for gold is not dead yet, but if the Fed really becomes more hawkish and determined to tighten its monetary policy (while high inflation turns out to be transitory), gold may struggle during the upcoming tightening cycle , unless it triggers some economic turmoil.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
Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Sectors: Key Challenges and Pathways Forward

XAUUSD tests critical daily support

FXMAG Team FXMAG Team 23.06.2021 10:17
Intraday Market Analysis – Gold Looks For Rebound CatalystThe US dollar catching its breath offers bullions some respite.Gold is now hovering above May’s low at 1760, an important support from the daily chart. Its breach could invalid the rally from late March.The bullish RSI divergence indicates that the sell-off may have lost steam in this demand zone. A combination of profit-taking and fresh buying could help the metal recover.A confirmation would be close above the psychological level of 1800, which would then convince buyers to join in.USDCHF struggles on high groundThe US dollar softens, as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell insists on not raising interest rates too soon.The pair has come under pressure near 0.9250, previously a support that has turned into a key resistance. The RSI divergence suggests a loss in the upward momentum and buyers may close out at the first sign of weakness.0.9170 is the immediate support. Its breach could trigger a 100-pip fall to the next level at 0.9070. A rally above the said resistance may propel the price to above 0.9300.NAS 100 grinds along bullish trendlineThe US tech index shrugged off inflation fear and recovered to an all-time high.Price action has bounced off of the rising trendline established in late March. This is a strong bullish indication amid sell-offs across equity markets.The RSI has returned to the neutral area, allowing buyers to accumulate without appearing to overdo it. The Nasdaq has broken above 14220 and may trigger a runaway rally towards 14400 as momentum players stake in. 14080 near the trendline is a key support to monitor.
Asia Morning Bites: Trade Data from Australia, Taiwan Inflation, and US Fed Minutes Highlighted

Fed’s Liquidity Circus and Gold

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 23.06.2021 11:23
Fed pumped so much money into the financial system, that the latter started sending it back. How will this and Fed’s more hawkish tone impact gold?With Jerome Powell, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve (FED), testifying before Congress on Jun. 22, his prepared remarks signaled that the FED remains on autopilot. Despite saying that “job gains should pick up in coming months as vaccinations rise,” he added that “we at the FED will do everything we can to support the economy for as long as it takes to complete the recovery.”And while Powell supported our thesis by saying that “labor demand is remarkably strong and over time we will find ourselves with low unemployment and wages going up across the spectrum,” when asked if inflation is transitory, he responded:“[Perhaps] all of the overshoot in inflation comes from categories such as rising used car and trucks, airplane tickets, hotel prices that have been affected by the reopening of the economy. [And while] these effects have turned out to be larger than we expected , the incoming data are consistent with the view that these factors will wane over time .” For context, of course inflationary pressures will “wane over time.” That’s not up for debate. However, “when” is the key question.But in a bid to remove any doubt, he added:" We will not raise interest rates preemptively because we fear the possible onset of inflation . We will wait for evidence of actual inflation or other imbalances."Thus, while investors clearly cheered the FED Chair’s dovish sentiment on Jun. 22, Powell (for better or worse) still remains out of touch with reality. Case in point: the Philadelphia FED released its Nonmanufacturing Business Outlook Survey on Jun. 22. And while “the full-time employment index fell 20 points to 4.3 in June after rising 17 points last month,” the report revealed that “both future activity indexes suggest that the respondents expect overall improvement in nonmanufacturing activity over the next six months.”Please see below: Source: Philadelphia FEDMore importantly, though, with the inflation drama still unfolding, the report showed more of the same:“After reaching its all-time high in May, the prices paid index mostly held steady in June at 49.0 Forty-nine percent of the firms reported increases, none reported decreases , and 33 percent of the firms reported stable input prices. Regarding prices for the firms’ own goods and services, the prices received index rose 12 points to 28.9 in June, its highest reading since June 2018.”Please see below: Source: Philadelphia FEDSimilarly, the Richmond FED also released its Survey of Manufacturing Activity on Jun. 22. And while the report cited that “average growth rates of both prices paid and prices received by survey participants declined slightly but remained elevated in June,” employment was more optimistic, with the report revealing that “many manufacturers increased employment and wages in June and [expect] further increases in the next six months.”Please see below: Source: Richmond FEDWhat’s more, while the FED admitted its inflation error on Jun. 16 – as evidenced by the increase in its forecast for the headline Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index – Powell is now pretending that growth doesn’t exist. For context, the FED increased its 2021 real GDP growth estimate from 6.5% to 7.0% on Jun. 16, so Powell’s assertion on Jun. 22 that the economy "is still a ways off" is quite the contradiction.Moreover, absent a severe spread of the Delta variant – which White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said was “the greatest threat in the U.S. to our attempt to eliminate COVID-19” – U.S. economic growth should easily outperform its developed-market peers.For example, many deflationists cite the slowdown in loan activity as a sign of a weak U.S. economy. However, with U.S. commercial banks releasing their deposit figures on Jun. 22, the argument is much more semblance than substance.Please see below:To explain, the green line above tracks deposits held by U.S. commercial banks, while the red line above tracks consumers’ revolving and credit card loans. If you analyze the right side of the chart, you can see that a material gap is present. However, with unprecedented fiscal policy (stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits) flooding consumers’ bank accounts with dollars, why borrow money if you already have the cash to make the purchase?To that point, if we compare U.S. commercial banks’ deposits to the U.S. federal debt, the connection is even clearer.Please see below:To explain, the green line above tracks deposits held in U.S. commercial banks, while the red line above tracks the U.S. federal debt. If you analyze the sharp move higher in 2020, it’s another sign that U.S. citizens don’t need to borrow money when the government is already writing the checks. For context, there is a slight lag because the U.S. federal debt references Q1 data and U.S. commercial banks’ deposits reference Q2 data.Likewise, while rising U.S. nonfarm payrolls remain the key piece to solving the FED’s puzzle, the idea that monetary support is helping the real economy lacks credibility. To explain, the FED sold a record $792 billion worth of reverse repurchase agreements on Jun. 22. Moreover, when the FED buys $120 billion worth of bonds per month, the cash filters throughout the U.S. banking system and then financial institutions exchange that cash for Treasury securities on a daily basis, is QE really helping anyone?Please see below: Source: NY FEDFor context, I wrote previously:A reverse repurchase agreement (repo) occurs when an institution offloads cash to the FED in exchange for a Treasury security (on an overnight or short-term basis). And with U.S. financial institutions currently flooded with excess liquidity, they’re shipping cash to the FED at an alarming rate.More importantly, though, after the $400 billion level was breached in December 2015, the FED’s rate-hike cycle began. On top of that, the liquidity drain is at extreme odds with the FED’s QE program. For example, the FED aims to purchase a combined $120 billion worth of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities per month. However, with daily reverse repurchase agreements averaging $520 billion since May 21, the FED has essentially negated 4.33 months’ worth of QE in the last month alone.To that point, the flood of reverse repurchase agreements signals that financial institutions have no use for the FED’s handouts. Think about it: if commercial banks could generate higher returns by originating loans for consumers and businesses, wouldn’t they? And with 74 counterparties participating on Jun. 22 – up from 46 on Jun. 7 – the FED’s liquidity circus is now on display every night.If that wasn’t enough, I’ve highlighted on several occasions that gold exhibits a strong negative correlation with the U.S. 10-Year real yield (inflation-adjusted). And unsurprisingly, when the latter peaked in late 2018 and began its descent, it was off to the races for gold.Please see below:To explain, the gold line above tracks the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) Gold Price , while the red line above tracks the inverted U.S. 10-Year real yield. For context, inverted means that the latter’s scale is flipped upside down and that a rising red line represents a falling U.S. 10-Year real yield, while a falling red line represents a rising U.S. 10-Year real yield.More importantly, though, if you analyze the relationship, you can see that before the U.S. 10-Year real yield plunged, gold was trading below $1,250 (follow the arrow). Conversely, once the U.S. 10-Year real yield hit an all-time low of – 1.08% in 2020, gold was trading above $2,000.Thus, what emotional gold investors fail to appreciate is that the yellow metal benefited from abnormally low interest rates. And with further strength dependent on another all-time low, the FED’s tightening cycle (which is already subtly underway) paints an ominous portrait of gold’s medium-term future.To that point, with Morgan Stanley telling its clients that “ We are past “Peak Fed” for the cycle and the market knows it ,” overzealous gold investors ignore the difficult realities that lie ahead.Please see below:To explain, the blue line above tracks the U.S. 10-Year real yield and important fundamental developments are marked in red. If you analyze the “Peak Fed” labels near 2012 and 2020 and compare them with gold’s behavior on the first chart above, you can see how abnormally low U.S. 10-Year real yields coincided with abnormally high gold prices. As a result, with the former poised to move higher in the coming months, the yellow metal will likely head in the opposite direction.What’s more, not only are the PMs dodging bullets from the bond market, but the USD Index has barely made its presence felt. For example, while the FED’s hawkish shift (even if Powell won’t admit it) is extremely bullish for the greenback, market participants – who are willing to give the FED the benefit of the doubt – still remain skeptical of the recent rally.Please see below:To explain, the black line above tracks Citigroup’s USD Positioning Alert Indicator (PAIN). For context, the index gauges whether or not positioning is crowded in the currency market. If you analyze the right side of the chart, you can see that U.S. dollar sentiment has fallen off of a cliff. However, with all signs pointing to a September taper, a violent short-covering rally could catch many investors off guard.As further evidence, when the FED delivered its taper announcement in December 2013, the USD Index recorded (with a delay) one of its sharpest rallies ever.Please see below:To explain, the green line above tracks the USD Index. If you analyze the left side of the chart, you can see that after the FED revealed its hand, the USD Index found a bottom and surged roughly six months later. Thus, with a similar announcement likely in the fall, the PMs could be confronted with even more negativity.And no, Basel 3 is not likely to be a game-changer for the gold market in the near term – I discussed that on June 2 .In conclusion, while the gold, silver, and mining stocks remain ripe for a short-term rally (no market moves in a straight line and PMs are no exception), their medium-term outlook remains extremely treacherous. And though Powell calmed investors’ nerves on Jun. 22 and market participants remain loyal followers, it’s important to remember that he is far from omniscient. After a significant about-face regarding the future trajectory of the headline PCE Index – a forecast that he made only three months ago – his confidence game is all about sentiment. Thus, while investors will give him the benefit of the doubt until the bitter end, the recent behavior of the bond market, the USD Index and the precious metals signal that the winds of change have already begun to blow.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, CFA Founder, 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.
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

Powell Didn’t Come to Gold’s Rescue – What Now?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 24.06.2021 16:50
Powell’s testimony to Congress failed in generating a rebound in gold prices; thus, the bearish trend could continue.On Tuesday (June 22) the Fed Chair testified before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, U.S. House of Representatives . Before Powell’s appearance in Congress, there were some hopes that he would soften the Fed’s hawkish signals from the previous week. However, these hopes only partially materialized.This is because Powell’s testimony was basically a confirmation of the last FOMC meeting . In particular, he reiterated the view that higher inflation would be transitory, as “a substantial part or perhaps all of the overshoot in inflation are from categories directly affected by reopening.”Actually, some of his remarks were quite hawkish , as he said that the price pressures “don't speak to a broadly tight economy, but these effects have been larger and may persist longer than expected”. The admission that strong inflationary pressure could last longer than expected suggests that Powell is more worried about inflation than several months ago. He even explicitly admitted that “5% inflation is not acceptable.”Luckily for the gold bulls, there were also some dovish comments . In particular, Powell said that the Fed wouldn’t hike the federal funds rates too quickly based only on inflationary worries:We will not raise interest rates preemptively because we fear the possible onset of inflation. We will wait for evidence of actual inflation or other imbalances.Of course, it doesn’t make any sense, as actual inflation is already 5%, more than twice the target, and the Fed hasn’t reacted. The US central bank remains passive because it believes that inflation will prove to be transitory. However, it means that it actually acts based on expectations, not the current data, contrary to what the Fed is saying when justifying its ultra-dovish stance.And Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic also sent some dovish signals in an interview with National Public Radio’s Morning Edition he gave the next day after Powell’s testimony. He adhered to the view about temporary inflation, but he explained that the time horizon of this temporariness would be longer than previously thought:The recent jump in prices will prove temporary, but "temporary is going to be a little longer than we expected initially... Rather than it being two to three months it may be six to nine months.However, Bostic didn’t mention the necessity to hike in the face of prolonged high inflation. On the contrary, he pointed out that the Fed shouldn’t announce the victory in the jobs battle too quickly: “We have to make sure our policies don't pivot in ways that make it look like we are declaring victory prematurely.”Implications for GoldWhat does all this mean for the yellow metal? Well, theoretically, more lasting high inflation with unchanged dovish stance of the US central bank s hould be positive for gold prices , as an unresponsive Fed implies lower real interest rates , which usually support the yellow metal.However, gold hardly reacted to either Powell’s or Bostic’s comments . As the chart below shows, contrary to some hopes, Powell’s testimony failed in sending strong dovish signals that would be able to overwrite the hawkish turmoil triggered by the recent dot-plot . So, there was no rebound in gold prices. Instead, the price of the yellow metal merely stabilized at about $1,775.The lack of any rebound is a bad sign, indicating gold’s weakness (especially given that some other assets rebounded a bit this week after the post-FOMC turmoil ). This suggests that gold prices have room for further declines. It seems that gold would need a very dovish surprise from the Fed to go the other way, which is not likely without some kind of economic crisis or at least an influx of significantly negative economic data.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
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

FED: What’s Going On Behind the Scenes?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 25.06.2021 15:49
The FED allows banks to do much more than what is proper based on the “economy is still bad” narrative. What does this mean for a private investor?Banking on a ComebackWith the U.S. Federal Reserve (FED) releasing its annual bank stress tests on Jun. 24, Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles said that “the banking system is strongly positioned to support the ongoing recovery." For context, the FED’s stress tests analyze the health of U.S. banks’ balance sheets and reveal how they would fare if hypothetical economic doomsdays were to occur.And while Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress on Jun. 22 that the U.S. economy "is still a ways off," the results of the stress tests are a contradiction. Case in point: the report revealed that since “all 23 large banks tested remained well above their risk-based minimum capital requirements […] the additional restrictions put in place during the COVID event will end .”Translation? The FED will allow U.S. banks – like JPMorgan , Bank of America and Citigroup – to resume share buybacks and standard dividend payments (roughly $130 billion worth) as of next month.Please see below: Source: U.S. FEDOn top of that, the FED considers the following a scary situation:“The severely adverse scenario is characterized by a severe global recession accompanied by a period of heightened stress in CRE and corporate debt markets. The U.S. unemployment rate climbs to a peak of 10-3/4 percent in the third quarter of 2022, a 4 percentage point increase relative to its fourth quarter 2020 level. Real GDP falls 4 percent from the end of the fourth quarter of 2020 to its trough in the third quarter of 2022. The decline in activity is accompanied by a lower headline consumer price index (CPI).”However, even if this hypothetical malaise occurs, the FED believes that all 23 banks will pass the test with flying colors.Please see below: Source: U.S. FEDTo explain, the third column from the left depicts the banks’ regulatory capital ratios under the “severely adverse scenario.” Moreover, if you compare the results with the fourth column from the left, you can see that even if an economic meteor strikes, participants’ ratios will still remain above their regulatory minimums. For context, common equity tier 1 capital (CET1) is the most liquid source of banks’ capital, and the CET1 ratio is used to gauge banks’ ability to absorb losses should an economic shock occur.But why is all of this so important?Well, if the FED was so worried about the U.S. economy, would it allow financial institutions to frivolously spend their collateral on dividends and share buybacks? Remember, U.S. banks supply credit card loans, mortgages, commercial loans and finance the sectors that were hardest hit by COVID-19 (commercial real estate, hospitality, energy, etc.). Thus, with the FED giving banks the ‘all-clear,’ it’s a sign that the U.S. economy is much stronger than the FED lets on.In addition, The White House announced on Jun. 24 that a $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal was reached . And calling the milestone “the largest federal investment in public transit in history and the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak,” lawmakers want to cook the U.S. economy until it boils. For context, the agreement includes $579 billion of new spending with the rest being diverted from untapped coronavirus-relief funds.Please see below: Source: The White HouseMore importantly, though, with U.S. lawmakers hell-bent on pushing the limits of inflation and economic growth, the ominous impulse remains bullish for the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield and the USD Index. Regarding the latter, if U.S. GDP growth outperforms the Eurozone, the EUR/USD – which accounts for nearly 58% of the movement of the USD Index – should suffer in the process. Likewise, with the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield materially undervalued relative to realized inflation and prospective GDP growth , unprecedented spending should put upward pressure on interest rates. Furthermore, the bullish cocktail should force the FED to taper its asset purchases in September .To explain, while the PMs are allergic to a rising U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield, the latter doesn’t have to move for the metals to suffer. For example, following the FED’s announcement on Jun. 16, the U.S. 2-Year, 3-Year and 5-Year Treasury yields surged. And while the development flattened the U.S. yield curve – meaning that short-term interest rates rose while long-term interest rates stood pat – the PMs still suffered significant drawdowns. Thus, while the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield remains ripe for an upward re-rating, even if it stays in consolidation mode, short-term interest rate pressures are just as ominous.Will We See Another Inflation Surprise?To that point, with the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index scheduled for release today, another inflation ‘surprise’ could rattle the bond market once again. To explain, I wrote on Jun. 22:The FED increased its year-over-year (YoY) headline PCE Index forecast from a rise of 2.40% YoY to a rise of 3.40% YoY on Jun. 16. However, with the Commodity Producer Price Index (PPI) surging by 18.98% YoY – the highest YoY percentage increase since 1974 – the wind still remains at inflation’s back. Moreover, with all signs pointing to a YoY print of roughly 4% to 4.50% on Jun. 25, the “transitory” narrative could suffer another blow on Friday.As further evidence, the Kansas City FED released its Manufacturing Survey on Jun. 24. And with the composite index rising from 26 in May to 27 in June, Chad Wilkerson, vice president and economist at the KC FED, had this to say about the current state of affairs:“Regional factory activity rose again in June and expectations for future activity were the highest in survey history . While the majority of firms continue to face increasing materials prices and labor shortages, many firms have also increased selling prices and capital expenditures for 2021.”To that point, while the KC FED’s prices paid and prices received indexes declined slightly from their all-time highs, both gauges remain above their prior historical peaks.Please see below:To explain, the green line above tracks the KC FED’s prices paid index, while the red line above tracks the KC FED’s prices received index. If you analyze the right side of the chart, you can see that both remain extremely elevated.On top of that, survey respondents provided the following anecdotal evidence: Source: KC FEDAlso supportive of future economic growth, U.S. manufacturers spent $36.218 billion on machinery in May (the data was released on Jun. 24) – only a slight decrease from the all-time high of $36.364 billion set in April. And with machinery representative of long-lived assets that have high breakeven costs, the recent splurge signals that manufacturers remain optimistic about the recovery.Please see below:To explain, the green line above tracks manufacturers’ machinery orders, while the red line above tracks the YoY percentage change in the Private Employment Cost Index (ECI). If you analyze the relationship, you can see that when manufacturers invest in long-term equipment, wage inflation often follows. As a result, if the two lines continue their ascent, it will only increase the odds that the FED tapers in September. Forecasting more hawkish, not more dovish FED seems to be appropriate at this time.Knock Knock? It’s China, We Want More MoneyOn top of that, with the U.S. goods trade balance (exports minus imports) revised to -$88.11 billion on Jun. 24, foreign production is required to stock U.S. shelves. And with the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (the cost to ship from China) unrelenting in its parabolic rise, it’s another indicator that inflationary pressures are unlikely to abate anytime soon.Finally, with the FED selling another $813 billion worth of reverse repurchase agreements on Jun. 24 (~$53 million below the all-time high set on Jun. 23), the liquidity drain remains on schedule.Please see below: Source: NY FEDTo explain the significance, I wrote previously:A reverse repurchase agreement (repo) occurs when an institution offloads cash to the FED in exchange for a Treasury security (on an overnight or short-term basis). And with U.S. financial institutions currently flooded with excess liquidity, they’re shipping cash to the FED at an alarming rate.More importantly, though, after the $400 billion level was breached in December 2015, the FED’s rate-hike cycle began. On top of that, the liquidity drain is at extreme odds with the FED’s QE program. For example, the FED aims to purchase a combined $120 billion worth of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities per month. However, with daily reverse repurchase agreements averaging $520 billion since May 21, the FED has essentially negated 4.33 months’ worth of QE in the last month alone.In conclusion, while the PMs should recover a meaningful chunk of last week’s downswing, their medium-term outlook isn’t so sanguine. With FED hawks and doves splintered down the middle, the fundamentals are firmly tilted in the former’s favor. And with inflation and U.S. GDP growth both accelerating concurrently, unemployment is the only card left for the doves to play. However, with enhanced unemployment benefits expiring in early July for roughly 30% of claimants, U.S. nonfarm payrolls should show strength in August and September. Thus, with the FED’s taper talk likely to grow louder over the next few months, the PMs may not like what they will hear.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, CFA Founder, 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.
Decarbonizing Hard-to-Abate Sectors: Key Challenges and Pathways Forward

Is There a Next Housing Bubble That Will Make Gold Shine?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 25.06.2021 16:33
Home prices are surging, making some investors worry about the housing market. These fears seem to be exaggerated, but bubble-like conditions are widespread.House prices are surging. As the chart below shows, the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index has reached 239 in February 2021, the highest number in history and about 30% higher than during the 2006 peak.What’s more, the National Home Price Index has jumped 12% year-over-year in February , which is the highest annualized gain since January 2006 when the housing bubble started deflating as can be seen in the chart below. At the same time, inventory in many regions has hit record lows.Not surprisingly, some analysts started to worry about the formation of the next housing bubble . The previous one led to the global financial crisis . However, at least some part of the recent increases can be explained by other factors than mere expectations of price increases, which characterizes a bubble.The mortgage rates plunged thanks to the Fed’s zero-interest-rate policy and accommodative monetary policy . The easy fiscal policy with stimulus checks also added fuel to the fire, especially given that people couldn’t spend money on services, so they spent more on housing.The demographic factors also helped to move prices up. Many Millennials have just entered the prime home-buying age, and the pandemic made a lot of people demand more space as they work remotely.In other words, the recent surge in prices is likely a result of an imbalance between tight supply (that rises too slowly to meet booming demand fueled by low interest rates ) and income growth rather than an irrational exuberance. Furthermore, lending standards are also tighter now. Please take a look at the chart below, which shows the home price index vis-à-vis the GDP (presented also as an index).As one can see, in the 2000s there was a clear, huge divergence between the pace of GDP growth and the pace of home prices’ appreciation that lasted a few years before the bubble burst. But since the end of the Great Recession , the growth in house prices was below the GDP growth. Therefore, I would say that there is no bubble in the housing market. Not yet, at least – house prices started to diverge from GDP growth during the pandemic recession …Hence, it would be smart to monitor the housing market carefully. However, so far, gold bulls shouldn’t count on the housing bubble and its burst as important factor that could support the price of the yellow metal. Nevertheless, the recent ultra-low real interest rates and high inflation should support both: gold and houses . After all, they are both hard assets sensitive to interest rates and are being eagerly bought during inflationary periods.More importantly, despite the fact that it’s maybe too early to call the national bubble in the housing market (although some locations are really hot), in many markets there are bubble-like conditions. Just think about soaring stock market indices reaching one record after another. Or negative-yielding bonds worth about $18 trillion. Or surging used car prices that have just hit an all-time high. Or lumber that has become America’s hottest commodity.Or Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that was created as a joke. It has gained about 8,500% this year, despite the recent sell-off in the cryptocurrency market. As a popular tweet commented on this, “Moderna created a lifesaving vaccine in record time and is worth $70 billion. Dogecoin became a meme and is worth $87 Billion.”The widespread character of these price increases is the reason why some analysts refer to the “everything bubble”. It might be an exaggeration, but the scope of bubble-like conditions clearly shows that markets are awash in liquidity. All this new money supply and excess liquidity simply entered the economy, exerting inflationary pressure across the board and boosting mainly risk assets.Indeed, there is inflation, but still mainly in the asset markets, not in the consumer sphere. However, this is changing, as the April CPI reading has clearly indicated. Producer/commodity inflation could advance into the next stage in which consumer prices are also generally increasing. Inflated asset valuations and rising prices of goods suggest that caution is warranted, and it would be smart to allocate some portion of the investment portfolio toward gold.The bottom line is that the global expansion will continue, which is bad for gold. However, the growth is fueled by excessive liquidity and ultra-low interest rates, which also creates inflationary pressure and bubble-like conditions. Gold could be supported by all this – it may even thrive if inflation turns out to be higher and more lasting than it’s widely believed.Thank you for reading today’s free analysis. We hope you enjoyed it. If so, we would like to invite you to sign up for our free gold newsletter . Once you sign up, you’ll also get 7-day no-obligation trial of all our premium gold services, including our Gold & Silver Trading Alerts. Sign up today!Arkadiusz Sieron, PhD Sunshine Profits: Effective Investment through Diligence & Care.
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

Credit Spreads Declined Unprecedentedly. Will Gold Follow?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 29.06.2021 16:23
When credit spreads narrow, it’s bad for gold. But this time there is a silver lining we can look for, although it’s quite adverse for the economy.There are several important factors affecting gold prices. Many analysts focus mainly on the US dollar and real interest rates . However, what is sometimes even more important is economic confidence. Of course, the level of economic confidence is partially reflected in the strength of the greenback and the bond yields . However, I would like to focus today on credit spreads , an often overlooked indicator of economic confidence.Why such a topic? It’s simple, just take a look at the chart below. As you can see, the ICE BofA US High Yield Index Option-Adjusted Spread, which is a proxy for a spread between the yield on below-investment-grade-rated corporate debt and Treasuries of the same duration, has recently declined to a very low level. To be more precise, the analyzed indicator slid from almost 11 in March 2020 to 3.1 at the end of June (the lowest reading since July 2007 , the time just before the Great Recession started).Implications for GoldOK, great, but what does this mean for the gold market? Well, this is a negative development for gold prices, but with a silver lining . Let me explain. When credit spreads are narrow or in a narrowing trend, it means that economic confidence is high or in a rising trend. In such an environment, risk appetite is strong and demand for safe-haven assets such as gold is low. The fact that credit spreads have reached their multi-decade lows indicates that the economic expansion is doing well. If the boom continues, the Fed will eventually normalize its monetary policy a bit, and the interest rates will increase. Additionally, US banks have cleared the Fed’s recent stress tests, which means that they will no longer face restrictions on how much they can spend buying back stock and paying dividends. This change might strengthen the financial sector, additionally boosting economic confidence among investors. And this is all bad for the yellow metal.However, we can look at very low credit spreads from the other side. After all, they have already decreased profoundly and further significant declines are not very likely. Furthermore, the last time they were so narrow was mid-2007, i.e., just a couple of months before the outbreak of the global financial crisis .Hence, it might be the calm before the storm . The economic crisis , by definition, occurs when confidence is high and almost nobody expects any problems. A related issue here is whether the markets are properly assessing the risk. The low risk premium partially results from the low Treasury yields, which push investors who seek profits into riskier securities.Some analysts point out the risks related to the surge in the public debt or inflation . For example, David Goldman notes that the rising gap between prices paid by the producers and prices received by customers ( June Philadelphia Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey ) could depress output in the future, as companies wouldn’t be able to maintain profit margins in such an environment.The bottom line is that the US economy has recovered and the economic expansion continues undisturbed. Given this trend and high economic confidence, despite the soaring prices and indebtedness, gold may struggle for some time .However, credit spreads may widen abruptly when the next crisis hit, as they did in the aftermath of the collapse of the Lehman Brothers . In other words, although the economic confidence is strong, some important downside risks for the US economy are still present, and they could materialize later in the future . Perhaps investors know this – according to the WGC , we saw inflows to the gold ETFs last week, despite the plunge in gold prices. It shows that investors could have been taking advantage of lower prices to buy gold as a portfolio diversifier and protection against tail risks .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
GBP: ECB's Dovish Stance Keeps BoE Expectations in Check

Roaring Comeback of Reflation and Commodities

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 02.07.2021 15:45
S&P 500 broadening leadership and fresh reflationary ATHs are here – the FOMC „tightening“ hit notwithstanding. Energy, financials and industrials I discussed yesterday and before, were among the leaders, with tech not staying far behind. Crucially, the tech breadth was also improving – such rotations are the stock bull market‘s health. Neither the VIX nor the put/call ratio are arguing. The sentiment going into today‘s non-farm payrolls, remains constructive, and unlikely to result in reconstruction of the Fed tightening bets. Such was my real-time Twitter interpretation.Credit markets remained constructive, and risk-on this time – that‘s in line with value upswing, accompanied by the Treasury yields‘ inability to retreat further. Near the top of its recent range, the 10-year Treasury yield is trading within the summer bond market calm atmosphere, and so are the beaten down inflation expectations at a time when:(…) the dollar is catching a strong bid. We‘re still in a reflation, in the reopening trades stage – one where inflation expectations have been (unduly) hammered down while inflation hasn‘t taken a corresponding turn. Notably, commodities haven‘t been derailed in the least, so pay no attention to lumber – the real assets‘ world is much richer and profitable.Remember the big picture – fiscal stimulus very much on, monetary accomodation aggressive, no worries about the economic expansion slowing down. Pickup in economic activity associated with inventories replenishment is sure to be kicking reliably on. Open long profits in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq can keep growing!Precious metals are waking up from their slumber, not meaningfully led higher by the miners yet, but base building and peeking higher. Yesterday‘s thoughts apply for days and weeks to come:(…) stabilized post FOMC, as the real rates effect and underestimated inflation is working in their favor. Coupled with commodities on fire, more than partially suspect Fed tightening and tapering promises, silver is the metal that would do better on the rebound after the smackdown. And it did yesterday.Crude oil was catapulted higher on the Saudia Arabia – Russia negotiation speculation, but the production increase is the figure to watch today. Below 500,000 barrels per day, it‘s expected to be $WTIC bullish, but a bigger figure shouldn‘t be surprising. The $76 - $77 area in oil looks tough to crack this week, so taking respectable oil profits off the table early yesterday, was a good move. Regardless of the oil stocks strength, a temporary, volatile (countertrend) move shouldn‘t surprise today.Crypto bears are still probing lower values in Bitcoin and Ethereum, and the short-term balance of forces appears flipping into their favor - Ethereum is getting hit comparatively more.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 and Nasdaq OutlookS&P 500 is going higher, with tech marginally contributing to the advance.Credit MarketsCredit markets performance was clearly risk-on yesterday, but the time for quality debt instruments to play a little catch up (in the corporate space), looks approaching.Technology and ValueThe anticipated value upswing extended gains yesterday, bringing it almost within spitting distance of prior highs. At the same time, tech scored gains too.Gold, Silver and MinersGold rebounded even though miners didn‘t confirm – as said yesterday, the yield-inflation spread is getting too out of whack here, let alone the mispriced inflation expectations.Silver and copper declined yesterday, but their recent consolidation patterns haven‘t been broken – upswing continuation remains likely here.Crude OilCrude oil remains strong, but vulnerable to today‘s headline risk.SummaryS&P 500 keeps trading near its highs, with a bullish bias, characterized by sectoral rotations and improving market breadth including in Nasdaq.Gold and silver bulls are getting on the move, as the depressed nominal yields are helping attract buying interest – real rates at work.Crude oil is momentarily vulnerable, but its strongly bullish chart isn‘t in danger of being derailed in the still solidly expanding real economy across the world.Bitcoin and Ethereum bulls are again on the short-term defensive, but the weekly charts posture isn‘t yet in jeopardy. The bulls though are losing a tactical advantage.Thank you for having read today‘s free analysis, which is available in full at my homesite. There, you can subscribe to the free Monica‘s Insider Club, which features real-time trade calls and intraday updates for all the four publications: Stock Trading Signals, Gold Trading Signals, Oil Trading Signals and Bitcoin Trading Signals.
US Industry Shows Strength as Inflation Expectations Decline

FED: U.S. Cocktail of Growth and Inflation

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 02.07.2021 16:06
The inflationary cauldron continues to boil. However, the USDX and Treasuries are undervalued relative to U.S. GDP growth prospects. What’s going on?The Rising Tide of InflationWhile investors are all-in on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s (FED) “transitory” narrative, the inflationary cauldron continues to boil. Case in point: the IHS Markit released its manufacturing PMI on Jul. 1 and the report read that “June PMI data from IHS Markit signaled the joint-fastest improvement in the health of the U.S. manufacturing sector on record.”Please see below:Moreover, demand remained resilient:“New orders growth remained substantial in June, despite the rate of expansion easing from May's historic high. The pace of increase was the second-fastest on record, with firms continuing to note marked upturns in demand from both new and existing clients.”More importantly, though:“Suppliers' delivery times lengthened to the greatest extent on record in June, as component shortages and transportation issues exacerbated supply-chain woes. Subsequently, vendors hiked their charges. Input costs rose at the fastest pace since data collection for the series began in May 2007 , as greater global demand for inputs put pressure on material shortages. Manufacturers were able to partially pass on higher costs to clients, however, as the rate of charge inflation matched May's historic peak .”Please see below: Source: IHS MarkitOn top of that, the J.P.Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI (also released on Ju1. 1) had a similar message: Source: IHS Markit, J.P. MorganThus, while FED Chair Jerome Powell told Congress on Jun. 22 that the U.S. economy "is still a ways off” and that "we will not raise interest rates preemptively because we fear the possible onset of inflation., we will wait for evidence of actual inflation or other imbalances:”The FED increased its 2021 real GDP growth forecast from 6.5% to 7.0% on Jun. 16.The headline Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index rose by 3.91% year-over-year (YoY) on Jun. 25 and came in ahead of the FED’s revised forecast of 3.4%.The bottom line? Powell’s gambit is a classic case of ‘do as I say, not as I do.’To that point, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its 2021 U.S. GDP growth forecast from 4.6% to 7.0% on Jul. 1 (pending the passage of U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent infrastructure package).Please see below: Source: ReutersSimilarly, The U.S. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) doubled its 2021 U.S. GDP growth forecast on Jul. 1. Excerpts from the report read:“As the pandemic eases and demand for consumer services surges, real (inflation-adjusted) GDP is projected to increase by 7.4% and surpass its potential (maximum sustainable) level by the end of 2021.In CBO’s projections, employment grows quickly in the second half of 2021 —reflecting increased demand for goods and services and the waning of factors dampening the supply of labor, including health concerns and enhanced unemployment insurance benefits.”In addition, the group’s “PCE price index” forecast of a 2.8% YoY rise is still too low, and forthcoming prints will likely surprise to the upside.Please see below: Source: CBOPiecing it all together: with economic growth projected to reach the levels last seen in 1984, does the FED need to purchase a combined $120 billion worth of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities per month? As a reminder, the FED’s daily reverse repurchase agreements averaged $642 billion in June and the transactions essentially negated 5.35 months’ worth of QE in the last month alone. However, the psychological effect isn’t the same as an actual taper announcement.Please see below:The U.S. 10-Year Treasury YieldOn top of that, the last time U.S. economic growth hit 7%, the USD Index and the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield reached highs of 151 and 11% respectively. And while similar strength is unlikely to emerge this time around, it’s still a reminder of how low the pair’s current readings are relative to the prospective GDP growth.To that point, while the long-end of the U.S. yield curve remains in its own little world, Goldman Sachs expects the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield to end 2021 at 1.90% (roughly 44 basis points higher than the Jul. 1 close).Please see below:Likewise, Robin Brooks, chief economist at the Institute of International Finance (IIF), predicts that the U.S. cocktail of growth and inflation should result in higher long-term interest rates in the coming months. Source: ReutersAs further evidence, following the spike in the headline PCE Index on Jun. 25, the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield is now trading at its lowest level relative to realized inflation since the mid-1970s.Please see below:To explain, the green line above tracks the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield, while the red line above tracks the YoY percentage change in the headline PCE Index. If you analyze the relationship, it’s been nearly 50 years since the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield has underperformed to this degree. As a result, while the front-end of the U.S. yield curve (2s, 3s, 5s) is destined to move higher as the taper talk heats up, participation from the long-end (10s, 20s, 30s) will only add to the PMs’ ills.The USD Up, the EUR DownFurthermore, with the FED’s hawkish shift lighting a fire under the greenback, U.S.-Eurozone growth differentials should also propel the USD Index higher over the medium term. For context, the EUR/USD accounts for nearly 58% of the movement of the USD Index.To that point, I warned on Apr. 8 that a shift in the central bank sentiment would uplift the U.S. dollar over the medium term.I wrote:On Mar. 31, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its fourth quarter Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER). The U.S. dollar’s fourth-quarter share of allocated FX reserves fell to its lowest level since 1995, and coincidentally, the USD Index often tracks global central banks’ net-purchases of U.S. dollars (25-year correlation of 0.70).And with a current reading of 59%, you may be thinking: the ‘death of the dollar’ is unfolding before our eyes. Keep in mind though: global central banks often behave like average investors. Meaning? They buy after an uptrend is already in place. Case in point: since 1995, 83% of major USD Index bottoms were followed by an increase in allocated FX reserves . For context, the largest increase occurred from 2014 to 2015 (2.67%), while the lone decrease occurred from 2018 to 2019 (– 1.21%).Please see below:In addition, because the current reading of 59% is 1.70 standard deviations (SD) below the 25-year average, there is a ~4.5% chance that dollar-share declines in the coming months and a ~95.5% chance that dollar-share increases (applying standard normal probabilities).Fast forward to the present, and the IMF announced on Jun. 30 that the U.S. dollar’s share of allocated FX reserves increased from 58.94% to 59.54%.Please see below:In addition, I warned that the euro would likely head in the opposite direction:The euro is another critical component. Following the same script, global central banks often buy the euro after it rises and sell the euro after it falls. More importantly though, euro-share has a seven-year correlation of 0.92 with the EUR/USD . For context, euro-share is currently 0.30 SD above its seven-year average, which implies a ~62% chance of moving lower in the coming months.And surprise, surprise, the euro’s share of allocated FX reserves decreased from 21.29% to 20.57%.Please see below:The bottom line?While central banks have warmed up to the U.S. dollar once again, its current share of allocated FX reserves is still 1.53 SD below its 25-year average (which implies a ~93.7% chance of moving higher). Thus, if the momentum continues, it could add to the PMs selling pressure in the coming months.Nonfarm Payrolls Incoming!Finally, with U.S. nonfarm payrolls scheduled for release today, I noted that outperformance likely won’t materialize until August or September. However, with initial jobless claims (released on Jul. 1) coming in better than expected – at 364,000 vs. 390,000 expected – the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) revealed that “this is the lowest level for initial claims since March 14, 2020, when it was 256,000.”Please see below: Source: DOLAnd while it’s more of a wild card at this point, U.S. nonfarm payrolls have been lagging behind the recent decline in initial claims.To explain, the red line above tracks U.S. nonfarm payrolls, while the green line above tracks inverted initial jobless claims. For context, inverted means that the latter’s scale is flipped upside down and that a rising green line represents falling initial jobless claims, while a falling green line represents rising initial jobless claims. If you analyze the relationship, you can see that U.S. nonfarm payrolls have some catching up to do. Thus, while we don’t expect any substantial progress until August or September, a strong print for June would serve as a pleasant surprise.In conclusion, the PMs remain range-bound, as they debate whether the next catalyst will be bullish or bearish. However, with U.S. economic growth poised to outperform in the coming months, not only are the USD Index and Treasury yields (both long and short) undervalued relative to U.S. GDP growth prospects, but inflation is surging, and a forthcoming taper should only add to their upward momentum. As a result, the medium-term outlook remains bearish for the precious metals market, even though the long-term outlook is bullish.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, CFA Founder, 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.
Asia Morning Bites: Trade Data from Australia, Taiwan Inflation, and US Fed Minutes Highlighted

Intraday Market Analysis – USD Seeks Support Post-NFP

FXMAG Team FXMAG Team 06.07.2021 08:48
EURUSD struggles to bounceThe US dollar drops after an uptick in last month’s unemployment rate. Sentiment towards the euro grew a tad more bearish after it fell below 1.1850, the support of the recent consolidation range.However, an RSI divergence suggests a loss in the downward momentum, and its double-dip into the oversold territory may make sellers reluctant to double down. Buyers will need to lift offers around 1.1880 before they could push for a reversal.Below 1.1800, the pair would be heading towards the daily support at 1.1710 by default.XAGUSD rallies above resistanceBullions bounce back as weaker-than-expected jobs data take a toll on the US dollar.On the daily chart, silver has found support at the 61.8% (25.70) Fibonacci retracement level from the late March rally. 26.50 has so far capped the bulls’ attempts.The latest breakout is a confirmation of the previously mentioned bullish RSI divergence. The bears may rush to cover their bets before it becomes too expensive to do so.27.20 would be the next target when the rebound gains traction.GER 30 looks to break out of triangleThe DAX 30 consolidates near its recent peak as the euro zone’s economy picks up steam.The index is in an ascending triangle as buyers are willing to pay up. This often occurs as a continuation pattern as the price will typically breakout in the same direction as the underlying trend.A close above 15750 may prompt the last sellers to cover. The RSI stays neutral, laying the groundwork for a breakout. A runaway rally could lift offers towards the milestone at 16000.A drop below 15500, however, may trigger a correction to 15280.
Intraday Market Analysis – USD Seeks Support Post-NFP - 06.07.2021

Intraday Market Analysis – USD Seeks Support Post-NFP - 06.07.2021

FXMAG Team FXMAG Team 06.07.2021 08:48
EURUSD struggles to bounceThe US dollar drops after an uptick in last month’s unemployment rate. Sentiment towards the euro grew a tad more bearish after it fell below 1.1850, the support of the recent consolidation range.However, an RSI divergence suggests a loss in the downward momentum, and its double-dip into the oversold territory may make sellers reluctant to double down. Buyers will need to lift offers around 1.1880 before they could push for a reversal.Below 1.1800, the pair would be heading towards the daily support at 1.1710 by default.XAGUSD rallies above resistanceBullions bounce back as weaker-than-expected jobs data take a toll on the US dollar.On the daily chart, silver has found support at the 61.8% (25.70) Fibonacci retracement level from the late March rally. 26.50 has so far capped the bulls’ attempts.The latest breakout is a confirmation of the previously mentioned bullish RSI divergence. The bears may rush to cover their bets before it becomes too expensive to do so.27.20 would be the next target when the rebound gains traction.GER 30 looks to break out of triangleThe DAX 30 consolidates near its recent peak as the euro zone’s economy picks up steam.The index is in an ascending triangle as buyers are willing to pay up. This often occurs as a continuation pattern as the price will typically breakout in the same direction as the underlying trend.A close above 15750 may prompt the last sellers to cover. The RSI stays neutral, laying the groundwork for a breakout. A runaway rally could lift offers towards the milestone at 16000.A drop below 15500, however, may trigger a correction to 15280.
New York Climate Week: A Call for Urgent and Collective Climate Action

The Rise of Precious Metals and Commodities

Monica Kingsley Monica Kingsley 06.07.2021 16:15
S&P 500 closed Friday on a strong note, and as the holiday-shortened week is usually accompanied by positive seasonality, it would be reasonable to expect extension of gains. Is therre any show stopper at the moment? Credit markets are strong and in a risk-on mode – but what about the odd strength in long-dated Treasuries? Are the stock traders getting it right – or the bond ones? Remember that such divergencies can take a long time to resolve, and don‘t require immediate action. It‘s the same with the Industrials and Transports in the Dow theory. So, don‘t jump to S&P 500 bearish conclusions just yet.The stock market advance is characterized by improving market breadth, and a fresh push of reflationary trades. It would have been all too easy to lose one‘s cool post the June FOMC, and declare value to have topped – while tech amply helped by heavyweights powers the S&P 500 advance, value performance ain‘t too shabby. Even financials are weathering relatively well the retreating yields pressure, counterbalanced by the Fed relaxing share buybacks and dividend rules. Real assets including energy are surging again, and the Fed‘s bluff is being called.Little wonder when all the central bank did, was influence inflation expectations, and precisely nothing about current inflation – let alone pressures in the pipeline. I‘ve discussed the cost-push pressures building up, leading to inflation becoming unanchored. Add job market pressures beyond the difficulties in hiring, and the issue grows more persistent. While it‘s not biting overly noticeably for the financial markets to take notice the way they did in Mar and early May, left unattended, inflation would come to bite in the not so distant future. The takeaway is that with the constant redefinitions of what transitory should mean now, the concept of Fed as inflation fighter is subject to well deserved mockery.Look for the lull in Treasury market to continue, it‘s almost goldilocks economy as the monetary and fiscal support rivals wartime footing circumstances. Makes you wonder what would be on the table if we were faced with a recession. Thankfully, that‘s not on the horizon – we‘re in a multi-year economic expansion that won‘t end with the tapering or tightening games this year or next, not in the least.As I wrote on Friday, thinking also about the value strength:(…) accompanied by the Treasury yields‘ inability to retreat further. Near the top of its recent range, the 10-year Treasury yield is trading within the summer bond market calm atmosphere, and so are the beaten down inflation expectations at a time when the dollar is catching a strong bid. Notably, commodities haven‘t been derailed in the least, so pay no attention to lumber – the real assets‘ world is much richer and profitable.Remember the big picture – fiscal stimulus very much on, monetary accomodation aggressive, no worries about the economic expansion slowing down. Pickup in economic activity associated with inventories replenishment is sure to be kicking reliably on. Open long profits in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq can keep growing!Precious metals are duly reacting today to the pressures to go higher, building up for weeks. Look for miners to confirm the upswing that isn‘t going unnoticed in the commodities arena either.Crude oil took off on the absence of OPEC+ deal, but I am looking for it to base in the $70s before we see triple digit crude prices next week. The Brent crude lag looks a bit suspicious to me, so a little breather might be in order here.Crypto bears are getting a beating, with the odds favoring upswing to continue – the Ethereum outperformance of Bitcoin is conducive to the accumulation thesis I had been mentioning for weeks.Let‘s move right into the charts (all courtesy of www.stockcharts.com).S&P 500 and Nasdaq OutlookS&P 500 is going higher, and so is Nasdaq. The decreasing volume might usher in a little consolidation over time but there is no imminent reason to call for one today.Credit MarketsCredit markets performance remains strong across the board, but I am looking for TLT to face headwinds soon.Technology and ValueTech is up, value is up – what else to wish for? Defending the gained ground, that is.Gold, Silver and MinersGold is attempting to go higher, and based on the yield-inflation spread getting ever more compressed and a tad off inflation expectations, I‘m looking for miners to confirm the upcoming gold advance.Silver and copper are also building energy to go higher, and it‘s my view they would surge to recapture a good portion of the post FOMC decline before taking a breather.Bitcoin and EthereumStrong base building in the cryptos continues, and the bulls have the tactical advange at the moment.SummaryS&P 500 keeps trading near its highs, with a bullish bias, characterized by sectoral rotations and improving market breadth including in Nasdaq. A little sideways consolidation appears looming, but I am looking for a positive week.Gold and silver bulls are getting ever more strongly on the move, and Friday‘s upper knot is a preview of things to come – the depressed nominal yields with unrelenting inflation are helping attract buying interest.Crude oil enjoyed more than its fair share of good news, but remains bullish today‘s tremors notwithstanding. Great future ahead for black gold, the Saudi Arabia – UAE spat regardless.Bitcoin and Ethereum bulls are the favored side these days as the weekly charts posture isn‘t yet in jeopardy. The basing pattern looks to be one of accumulation rather than distribution.Thank you for having read today‘s free analysis, which is available in full at my homesite. There, you can subscribe to the free Monica‘s Insider Club, which features real-time trade calls and intraday updates for all the four publications: Stock Trading Signals, Gold Trading Signals, Oil Trading Signals and Bitcoin Trading Signals.
California Leads the Way: New Climate Disclosure Laws Set the Standard for Sustainability Reporting

Will Strong June Nonfarm Payrolls Add To Gold's Problems?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 06.07.2021 17:30
The US economy created 850,000 jobs in June. It could be another nail in gold’s coffin – what will the yellow metal do?850,000. This is how many jobs the US economy added in June. It means that the recent nonfarm payrolls came above the forecasts (economist predicted 700,000 created jobs) and are much higher than the 583,000 in May or the deeply disappointing 269,000 in April (see the chart below). Big gains occurred in sectors heavily hit previously by the pandemic, i.e., in leisure and hospitality (343,000), public and private education (269,000), professional and business services, retail trade, and other services.Furthermore, employment in April and May was revised upward by 15,000. The acceleration in the pace of job increases is a good sign for the US post-pandemic economy and a bad development for the gold market.The only relief for gold could be the fact that the unemployment rate increased from 5.8% to 5.9%, as the chart above shows. This increase was a negative surprise, as economists forecasted a decline to 5.6%. This is also quite paradoxical –unemployment remains relatively high despite a record number of job openings.Another potentially supportive factor for the gold market could be the 3.6% annual increase in wages, which means there will be higher wage inflation that could add to the consumer inflationary pressure. On the other hand, stronger wages could also support the Fed’s hawkish arguments for reducing quantitative easing and raising interest rates rather sooner than later.Implications for GoldThe newest employment situation report is negative for the yellow metal mainly because it strengthens the position of hawks within the FOMC. With strong labor market, there are higher chances that the Fed will normalize its monetary policy earlier. As a reminder, some of the central banks believe that the Fed has already reached its inflation targets. So, the labor market target is what’s left. Strong job gains in June moved the US economy much closer to achieving this Fed’s goal and erasing worries that came in the aftermath of the extremely disappointing April reading.In other words, the strong employment report may add to the current weakness in gold in the medium-term. What the yellow metal needs right now is the flux of unambiguously poor economic data that could trigger the dovish counterrevolution within the US central bank, not the positive reports that strengthen further the expectations of earlier hikes in the federal funds rate. So, the recent report could increase the bond yields and support the American dollar, creating downward pressure on gold.However, the initial response of the yellow metal was positive. As the chart below shows, the price of gold increased on Friday. This is probably because the report wasn’t as good as it could be – i.e., although the nonfarm payrolls release beat expectations, the unemployment rate increased, suggesting that the Fed may, after all, not taper as soon as some investors believe.Gold’s performance amid strong payrolls data is reassuring a bit. The yellow metal is still in the game; it may even return more decisively to the spotlight if investors cease to be relaxed about higher inflation. So far, the US central bank believes that inflation is transitory and markets are calm, but inflation may turn out to be more persistent than the Fed officials and the pundits claim. In such a scenario, the FOMC will have to catch up, which could trigger volatility or even recession; this is an environment in which investors could again switch to gold. But this is still a song of the future, and in the meantime, gold may struggle.Anyhow, for now, investors are focused on the upcoming (tomorrow!) minutes from the latest FOMC meeting. They should provide us with more clues about the Fed’s monetary policy and the direction of gold prices in the future.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
Asia Morning Bites: Singapore Industrial Production and Global Market Updates

Gold: The Tapering Clock Is Ticking

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 08.07.2021 15:42
With the FED increasingly hawkish and the USDX rising from the ashes, don’t be fooled by the recent upswing in gold. The bears are getting ready.With the reflation trade getting cut off at the knees, the only asset class not feeling the pain is U.S. equities. However, while shorts capitulate and send the U.S. 10-Year Treasury higher (and the yield lower), the flattening of the U.S. yield curve screams of a potential recession. However, while the development is bullish for the USD Index and bearish for the PMs, investors are putting the cart before the horse.To explain, while the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield languishes in its depressed state, J.P. Morgan told clients on Jul. 6 that the Treasury benchmark is roughly three standard deviations below its model-implied fair value. For context, J.P. Morgan believes that the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield should trade at roughly 1.60%, and, given the three-sigma underperformance, standard normal probabilities imply a roughly 99.9% chance that the Treasury benchmark will move higher over the medium term.Please see below:However, while the bond market ‘wants what it wants’, it’s important to remember that a flattening of the U.S. yield curve has the same effect on the PMs. For example, while I’ve been warning for months that the U.S. Federal Reserve (FED) will likely taper its asset purchases much sooner than investors expect, the minority view is now the consensus. And with that, the hawkish shift reduces inflation expectations, reduces growth expectations and often results in lower long-term interest rates. However, while the U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield still remains significantly undervalued in our view, ‘the ghost of tapering past’ has investors aiming to front-run a September reveal.As evidence, the FED released the minutes from its Jun. 15/16 policy meeting on Jul. 7. An excerpt from the report read:“Various participants mentioned that they expected the conditions for beginning to reduce the pace of asset purchases to be met somewhat earlier than they had anticipated at previous meetings in light of in-coming data.”And surprise, surprise, while I’ve been warning for some time that surging inflation will likely force the FED’s hand, the report revealed:Source: U.S. FEDThe Container WarBut with long-term yields signaling the death of inflation, is a regime shift already underway? Well, I warned previously that inflationary pressures are unlikely to abate anytime soon:I wrote:With the U.S. Census Bureau revealing on Jun. 8 that U.S. imports from China (goods) totaled nearly $38 billion in April, more and more data signals that the U.S. economy will continue to feel the inflationary burn. Shipping costs are also exploding at an unprecedented rate.Please see below:To explain, the lines above track the shipping costs to-and-from various regions. If you analyze the dark blue line sandwiched in the middle ($6.5K), average shipping costs continue to skyrocket. Moreover, if you’re shipping from Shanghai to Rotterdam, New York or Genca, global businesses are nowhere near solving these “transitory” issues.And providing another update on Jun. 28, the situation has only worsened.To explain, if you compare the first chart to the one directly above, you can see that the composite container rate (the dark blue line) has increased from $6.5K to $8.1K in only two weeks. What’s more, shipping from Shanghai to Rotterdam (the gold line) has increased from $10.5K to $12.0k, while Shanghai to New York (the gray line) has risen from $7.6K to $11.2K. As a result, does it seem like inflationary pressures are a thing of the past?To that point, with the old adage implying that ‘the third time’s the charm,’ the surge lives on.Please see below:To explain, the composite container rate has now gone from $6.5K through $8.1K to $8.4K in less than a month. And with shipping costs from China (Shanghai) leading the charge, the FED’s “transitory” narrative still lacks empirical credibility.To that point, can you guess which trading partner accounts for 17.3% of U.S. imports?Source: U.S. Census BureauThe bottom line? While the bond market may ‘wish upon a star,’ inflationary pressures are unlikely to subside until the FED tapers its asset purchases (and/or raises interest rates).What Can the Services PMI Tell Us?As further evidence, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released its services PMI on Jul. 6. And while the headline index declined from 64 in May (an all-time high) to 60.1 in June, inflation remained abundant:“Prices paid by service organizations for materials and services increased in June, with the index registering 79.5 percent, 1.1 percentage points lower than May’s reading of 80.6 percent. 17 services industries reported an increase in prices paid during the month of June … [with] only [one] industry reporting a decrease.”In addition, ISM Chair Anthony Nieves added:“According to the Services PMI, 16 services industries [out of 18] reported growth. The composite index indicated growth for the 13th consecutive month after a two-month contraction in April and May 2020. The rate of expansion in the services sector remains strong, despite the slight pullback in the rate of growth from the previous month’s all-time high. Challenges with materials shortages, inflation, logistics and employment resources continue to be an impediment to business conditions.”For context, the ISM requires written permission before redistributing any of its content, and that’s why I quoted the findings rather than including a screenshot of the report. However, if you want to review the source material, you can find it here.Likewise, IHS Markit also released its U.S. services PMI on Jul. 6. An excerpt from the report read:“Contributing to the robust rise in activity across the service sector was a further marked increase in new business at the end of the second quarter. Alongside strong customer demand, firms attributed the upturn in new sales to the acquisition of new clients. Although the rate of new business growth slipped to a three-month low, it was still the third-fastest on record.”And following right along:Source: IHS MarkitFurthermore, while oil prices have surged in 2021 so far, major companies haven’t increased their capital investments. As a result, not only are U.S. crude oil inventories still ~6% below their historical average (as of Jun. 30), but dormant supply could put upward pressure on prices in the coming months.Please see below:To explain, the gold line above tracks the Brent price, while the blue line above tracks major oil companies’ capital expenditures. If you analyze the right side of the chart, you can see that investments in drilling infrastructure have fallen off a cliff. And with demand likely to remain abundant as economies reopen, fuel, gasoline and heating oil prices will likely remain elevated.The Swagger of the USDXFinally, with the USD Index regaining its swagger and the EUR/USD falling from grace, the cocktail of a hawkish FED and fundamental underperformance is weighing heavily on the euro. Moreover, with growth differentials poised to widen in the coming months, U.S. dollar strength could cast a dark shadow over the PMs.Please see below:To explain, the various lines above track Bank of America’s quarterly projections for G6 real GDP levels. If you focus your attention on the dark blue (U.S.) and light blue (Eurozone) lines, you can see that the former is leading the pack, while the latter is vying for the last place. On top of that, the U.S.’s projected outperformance of Japan, Canada, and the U.K. is bullish for the USD/JPY and the USD/CAD but bearish for the GBP/USD.In conclusion, while the PMs remain upbeat, it’s likely another case of ‘been there, done that.’ For example, it was roughly four months ago that falling real yields helped uplift gold before it eventually collapsed. And with a similar event unfolding once again, gold has demonstrated rational (though, superficial) strength. However, with the clock ticking toward a taper announcement and the USD Index rising from the ashes, the corrective upswing is likely another head fake within gold’s medium-term downtrend.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.
Asia Morning Bites: Trade Data from Australia, Taiwan Inflation, and US Fed Minutes Highlighted

FOMC Minutes: A Confirmation of Fed’s Hawkish Shift?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 08.07.2021 15:55
The latest FOMC minutes were… mixed. The discussion between hawks and doves continues giving gold no comfort. Who will gain the upper hand?Yesterday, the FOMC published the minutes from its last meeting in June. Investors who counted on some clear clues are probably disappointed, as the minutes can please both hawks and doves. Indeed, the report showed that the Fed officials are divided on their inflation outlook and the appropriate course of action. The dovish side believes that the recent high inflation readings are transitory and they will ease in the not-so-distant future, while the hawkish camp worries that the upward pressure on prices could continue next year:Looking ahead, participants generally expected inflation to ease as the effect of these transitory factors dissipated, but several participants remarked that they anticipated that supply chain limitations and input shortages would put upward pressure on prices into next year. Several participants noted that, during the early months of the reopening, uncertainty remained too high to accurately assess how long inflation pressures will be sustained.Importantly, most FOMC members recognized that the risks to inflation forecasts leaned more to the upside. This means that the hawkish shift is indeed real, although the Fed will remain very accommodative:Although they generally saw the risks to the outlook for economic activity as broadly balanced, a substantial majority of participants judged that the risks to their inflation projections were tilted to the upside [emphasis added] because of concerns that supply disruptions and labor shortages might linger for longer and might have larger or more persistent effects on prices and wages than they currently assumed. Several participants expressed concern that longer-term inflation expectations might rise to inappropriate levels if elevated inflation readings persisted. Several other participants cautioned that downside risks to inflation remained because temporary price pressures might unwind faster than currently anticipated and because the forces that held down inflation and inflation expectations during the previous economic expansion had not gone away or might reinforce the effect of the unwinding of temporary price pressures.As a consequence of fast economic growth and higher inflation than expected, some participants suggested that it would be appropriate to taper the quantitative easing and hike the federal funds rate sooner than previously thought. Or, to be at least prepared if higher inflation turns out to be more persistent than the consensus sees it:In light of the incoming data and the implications for their economic outlooks, a few participants mentioned that they expected the economic conditions set out in the Committee's forward guidance for the federal funds rate to be met somewhat earlier than they had projected in March (…)Various participants mentioned that they expected the conditions for beginning to reduce the pace of asset purchases to be met somewhat earlier than they had anticipated at previous meetings in light of incoming data (…)Participants generally judged that, as a matter of prudent planning, it was important to be well positioned to reduce the pace of asset purchases, if appropriate, in response to unexpected economic developments, including faster-than-anticipated progress toward the Committee's goals or the emergence of risks that could impede the attainment of the Committee's goals.However, despite all these hawkish commentaries, the majority of FOMC members remains extremely cautious and believe that the economy has still a long way to achieve the Fed’s targets, especially full employment:Many participants remarked, however, that the economy was still far from achieving the Committee's broad-based and inclusive maximum-employment goal, and some participants indicated that recent job gains, while strong, were weaker than they had expected.So, given that the economy hasn’t yet fully recovered, inflation will likely be just transitory, and there is high uncertainty about the economic outlook, it would be premature to tighten the monetary policy and raise the interest rates:Participants generally agreed that the economic recovery was incomplete and that risks to the economic outlook remained. Although inflation had risen more than anticipated, the increase was seen as largely reflecting temporary factors, and participants expected inflation to decline toward the Committee’s 2 percent longer-run objective (…)Several participants emphasized, however, that uncertainty around the economic outlook was elevated and that it was too early to draw firm conclusions about the paths of the labor market and inflation. In their view, this heightened uncertainty regarding the evolution of the economy also implied significant uncertainty about the appropriate path of the federal funds rate (…)Participants discussed the Federal Reserve’s asset purchases and progress toward the Committee’s goals since last December when the Committee adopted its guidance for asset purchases. The Committee’s standard of “substantial further progress” was generally seen as not having yet been met, though participants expected progress to continue (…) Some participants saw the incoming data as providing a less clear signal about the underlying economic momentum and judged that the Committee would have information in coming months to make a better assessment of the path of the labor market and inflation. As a result, several of these participants emphasized that the Committee should be patient in assessing progress toward its goals and in announcing changes to its plans for asset purchases.Implications for GoldWhat do the recent FOMC minutes imply for gold? Well, in some sense, not so much. The minutes don’t include any revolutionary insights we are not aware of. Moreover, they lacked any clear guidelines about the future US monetary policy, as we could find both hawkish and dovish remarks in them.And indeed, the price of gold was little changed in the aftermath of the FOMC minutes, and it remained slightly above $1,800 it reached the day before (see the chart below).However, the minutes haven’t offered any significant dovish counterweight to the recent hawkish statement and the dot-plot. The statement is often more aggressive than nuanced and soft. Hence, although the minutes do show the discussion among the Fed’s officials, the hawkish shift is real. Perhaps the most important part of the document is the paragraph about the transition into a post-pandemic world.Members judged that the economic outlook had continued to improve and that the most negative effects of the pandemic on the economy most likely had occurred. As a result, they agreed to remove references in the FOMC statement that noted that the virus was "causing tremendous human and economic hardship" and that "the ongoing public health crisis continues to weigh on the economy." Instead, they agreed to say that progress on vaccinations had reduced the spread of COVID-19 and would likely continue to reduce the negative economic effects of the public health crisis.So, although the recovery is not completed and the economy hasn’t reached the Fed’s goals yet, the normalization of the US monetary policy has begun. It’s a fundamentally negative development for the gold market. Of course, gold bulls may find some comfort in the fact that it will still take at least a few meetings to develop and announce a plan of tapering the asset purchases; the interest rates cycle will start only later. Another positive factor is, of course, that gold managed to stay above $1,800 despite the lack of any clear dovish signals in the minutes.Nonetheless, the Fed’s hawkish U-turn – unless reversed because of another economic crisis, or unless accompanied by stagflation – should imply higher bond yields, a stronger greenback and, thus, weaker gold.In other words, the minutes won’t change the current market narrative, which assumes that the economic recovery is on track while inflation is just transitory. As a reminder, the latest job gains were surprisingly strong, which moves the US economy closer to full employment. Such a narrative implies strong economic confidence and limited demand for safe-havens such as gold.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
Asia Morning Bites: Trade Data from Australia, Taiwan Inflation, and US Fed Minutes Highlighted

ECB Changed Monetary Strategy. Will It Alter Gold’s Course?

Finance Press Release Finance Press Release 13.07.2021 12:20
The ECB adopts a new inflation target. Is the European Central Bank mimicking the Fed or doing its own thing? The revolution in central banking is spreading. Following the Fed, the European Central Bank has also modified its target. Last week, after an 18-months review of its monetary policy framework, the ECB published a statement on its monetary policy strategy, deciding to change its goal from “below but close to 2%” to a more symmetric aim of “2% inflation over the medium term”. The most important part of the statement is below:The Governing Council considers that price stability is best maintained by aiming for two per cent inflation over the medium term. The Governing Council’s commitment to this target is symmetric.The symmetry means that the ECB considers both overshooting and undershooting as equally bad. In the previous framework, the ECB clearly believed that downside deviations from inflation were less harmful than upside deviations.The medium-term orientation means that the ECB accepts short-term deviations of inflation from the target, and acknowledges lags and uncertainty in the application of the monetary policy to the economy and to inflation. In particular, the ECB stated that there might be transitory periods in which inflation is moderately above target. However, similarly to Fed, neither “medium-term” nor “moderately” were defined more specifically.Another interesting point in the statement is the recognition that “the inclusion of the costs related to owner-occupied housing in the HICP would better represent the inflation rate that is relevant for households”. So far, the ECB only covers costs of rents in the case of tenants. It doesn’t mean that the ECB will start including house prices in its measures of consumer inflation, but it’s a move toward more accurate measures that will better show true inflationary forces operating within the economy.Last but definitely not least, the ECB emphasized the importance of climate change for price stability, monetary policy, and central banking:Climate change has profound implications for price stability through its impact on the structure and cyclical dynamics of the economy and the financial system. Addressing climate change is a global challenge and a policy priority for the EU. Within its mandate, the Governing Council is committed to ensuring that the Eurosystem fully takes into account, in line with the EU’s climate goals and objectives, the implications of climate change and the carbon transition for monetary policy and central banking. Accordingly, the Governing Council has committed to an ambitious climate-related action plan. In addition to the comprehensive incorporation of climate factors in its monetary policy assessments, the Governing Council will adapt the design of its monetary policy operational framework in relation to disclosures, risk assessment, corporate sector asset purchases and the collateral framework.The ECB’s ambitious climate-related action plan was announced during a separate press conference. The blueprint includes broader macroeconomic modelling, developing new indicators, conducting climate stress tests, etc. In particular, in the future, the ECB will be purchasing only adequately green assets:The ECB will adjust the framework guiding the allocation of corporate bond purchases to incorporate climate change criteria, in line with its mandate. These will include the alignment of issuers with, at a minimum, EU legislation implementing the Paris agreement through climate change-related metrics or commitments of the issuers to such goals.It doesn’t make any sense, of course. After all, as John Cohrane pointed out, “climate change poses no measurable risk to the financial system”. This is because the climate is not likely to cause a sudden, unexpected and enormous economic effect that could endanger the financial system. Climate is not weather – and even sudden natural disasters barely affect the financial system. Central banks should focus on price stability and not engage in achieving social or political goals. The deviations from their traditional narrow mission could only destroy their independence and, thus, their ability to hold inflation under control and prevent big financial crashes.Implications for GoldThe ECB’s change is dovish, as it shows that the European central bankers are now more eager to tolerate an overshoot. It means that both the Fed and the ECB started to be more tolerant of overshoot exactly when inflation became higher. What a coincidence! The HCIP for the Eurozone is presented in the chart below.So, the alteration could be seen as fundamentally positive for inflation hedges such as gold. However, the ECB could be less aggressive than the Fed. As Christine Lagarde said during the press conference, “Are we doing average inflation-targeting like the Fed? The answer is no, very squarely”.On the other hand, a more dovish ECB should translate into a stronger dollar relative to both the euro and gold. But it’s also possible that the change in the monetary framework won’t