Via Energy and Gold.com: Something unusual happened today in the S&P 500 exchange-traded fund SPY; a perfect doji candlestick:   SPY opened at 196.44 and closed at 196.44 while traversing a nearly 2 1/2 point range during the session. There are a few notable observations: The 50% retracement level of the entire July-August decline has… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: Gold finished the week strong with a nearly $40 rally between Wednesday morning and Friday’s close on the back of the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates on hold. The CFTC Commitments of Traders Report helps to explain the sharp reversal in gold after weeks of gold prices dribbling lower:… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: The Federal Reserve did not hike interest rates today – here are 5 key takeaways from the announcement: The following excerpt from the first paragraph of the Fed statement is a clear signal that China is very much on the Fed’s radar and likely played a significant factor in the decision… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: The yield on the 30-year Treasury Bond has rallied more than 35 basis points since late-August:   However, there is good reason to believe there isn’t much risk of more upside in bond yields regardless of what the Federal Reserve announces tomorrow: “Long [duration] bonds want the Fed to tighten. The… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: If we could only look at one chart it would have to be the following one: US Dollar Index (Weekly)   After peaking in March the US Dollar Index has spent the last 6 months consolidating between roughly 93 on the downside and 98 on the upside. A decisive resolution of… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: Largely due to China’s one-child policy the world’s largest country and 2nd largest economy is facing the specter of a shrinking labor force beginning in two years and lasting for more than two decades:   This phenomenon along with many other factors has China facing a tremendous challenge in maintaining economic… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: An insightful graphic from Goldman Sachs Investment Research which highlights the recent evolution of the global crude oil supply-demand balance and where it’s projected to go over the next 15 months:   The market is currently oversupplied by nearly 2 million barrels per day, however, this oversupply is projected to turn… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: Titanium Transportation (TTR.V) is a Canadian based trucking & logistics company that is one of the fastest-growing truckers in North America. TTR hauls freight, primarily from Canada to the US, and the company has actually been a net beneficiary of a weak Canadian dollar. With this being said, companies have to… Continue Reading

Deep in the heart of Brazil’s agricultural region a company called Cancana is committed to exploring for, and finding large scale high purity, high-grade manganese. Brazil is the world’s #1 net agricultural supplier and high-grade, high purity manganese is a critical component of the fertilizer required to maximize soybean crop yields. Cancana’s BMC project in… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: Since breaking out at the end of last year the USD/CAD currency pair has been one of the cleanest trends of any global market:   Here’s what BNP Paribas has to say about USD/CAD: “Slightly firmer GDP and employment data has left the market reluctant to price in immediate BoC easing… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: Two charts that excellently illustrate the commodities bear market which has accelerated to record depths during the last few years:   Love them or hate them, precious metals exchange-traded products (ETFs, ETNs, etc.) soared to record levels in late 2012 following the ECB and Federal Reserve’s plunge into open-ended quantitative easing. More than… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: From my perch equity market sentiment hasn’t been this poor since at least November 2012, just before equities posted one of their best annual performances ever. That doesn’t mean we are on the verge of another huge upside surge, every moment in the market is unique and equities are at a… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: “At a market bottom, falling prices eventually force out large numbers of traders, resulting in volatility and increased volume.” ~ Cory Mitchell (Investopedia) This quote on market bottoms perfectly sums up the gold miners (GDX) during the last couple of years: With each successive price decline both volume and volatility have made… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: One of the most successful investors in history, Carl Icahn, has taken a roughly 8.5% stake in copper/gold mining giant Freeport-McMoran (FCX). Shares of FCX have been battered in recent months, dropping nearly 70% since early May: Icahn is most well known for his timely investments in fallen angels. Most notably… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: We haven’t seen anything like this in a long time, and perhaps that’s exactly why we are experiencing such a sharp and vicious sell-off across global equity markets. Not even during the 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis did we see the S&P futures reach limit down before the cash market open, this… Continue Reading