Please click on the following link to listen in to my regular weekly radio interview with Eric King over at the KWN Markets and Metals Wrap.
http://www.kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2013/3/30_KWN_Weekly_Metals_Wrap.html
Saturday, 30 March 2013
Thursday, 28 March 2013
Gold Flops
Once again the gold market has failed to respond to what should have been bullish news. How many times have we witnessed this now over the past few months? The very foundations of the Euro are being shaken and yet the metal can barely keep its head above water. Selling pressure has been that intense. One can only wonder how much of the hoard of Western Gold has been drawn upon by these monetary elites to squash the warning signal and further the illusion that all is well.
At the same time we see the US equity markets screaming to one new high after another. I mean, there really is not a single care in the world is there? I understand the tape as a trader but I swear that economic and monetary historians are going to look back at this period and wonder if some sort of bewitching spell has been cast over the minds of men.
I mentioned to a friend in passing the other day that we could have the entire state of California slide into the Pacific Ocean along that San Andreas fault line, and the S&P 500 would still move higher.
More and more the disconnect between copper and the base metals, not to mention the Dow Transports and the broader equity markets worsens. For that matter, take one look at the Continuous Commodity Index or CCI, and marvel yet some more. I have been a complete fool when I naively believed that the conjuring into existence of another $85 billion each and every month would have seen that money being moved indiscriminately by hedge funds into BOTH equities and commodities. Not so - somehow the alchemists running these Central Banks have managed to herd the investor lemmings class selectively into equities. That in itself is nothing short of astonishing,
Is it any wonder then that gold cannot seem to find its footing? While a growing number of investors/traders are coming around to seeing the US government issued CPI for the worthless propaganda that it is, one cannot argue with the commodity futures world itself where the collective judgment of the market towards commodities in general is quite evident.
Apparently, while trillions of dollars have been created, the velocity at which those dollars are changing hands is simply not accelerating. Rather than circulating through the economy in general and inducing inflationary pressures, the money merely moves from the Fed's "electronic printing presses" into Wall Street and sits there.
Looking at the gold chart, one can see that buying support is evident on trips below $1600 but the market cannot gather enough momentum-based buying to trigger the overhead stops above $1620 that need to be targeted if this metal is going to get some upside excitement going. It is rangebound once again. Bargain or value based buying provides support at the bottom of the range while technically based selling is evident above $1610. Quite frankly, at this point, I do not know what it is going to take to break the metal out of this range.
Moving along to silver, one can see the same rangebound pattern particularly on this 4 hour chart. Note that the metal cannot break through $29.25 - $29.40 on the top side but it attracts buying on trips down towards the $28 level. It too is stuck.
Following is a monthly chart of gold... On this longer term chart one can see the very broad range that has been in place for some time now, with $1800 on the top and $1550-$1530 on the bottom remains solidly intact. Gold is obviously in the lower third of that range.
Happy Easter to all my fellow Christian readers. Christ's resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven is proof that His sacrifice for sin has been accepted by the Father and that He was all that He claimed to be. Rejoice and my His peace guard your hearts and minds. It is certainly needed in this time of distress in which we now find ourselves.
At the same time we see the US equity markets screaming to one new high after another. I mean, there really is not a single care in the world is there? I understand the tape as a trader but I swear that economic and monetary historians are going to look back at this period and wonder if some sort of bewitching spell has been cast over the minds of men.
I mentioned to a friend in passing the other day that we could have the entire state of California slide into the Pacific Ocean along that San Andreas fault line, and the S&P 500 would still move higher.
More and more the disconnect between copper and the base metals, not to mention the Dow Transports and the broader equity markets worsens. For that matter, take one look at the Continuous Commodity Index or CCI, and marvel yet some more. I have been a complete fool when I naively believed that the conjuring into existence of another $85 billion each and every month would have seen that money being moved indiscriminately by hedge funds into BOTH equities and commodities. Not so - somehow the alchemists running these Central Banks have managed to herd the investor lemmings class selectively into equities. That in itself is nothing short of astonishing,
Is it any wonder then that gold cannot seem to find its footing? While a growing number of investors/traders are coming around to seeing the US government issued CPI for the worthless propaganda that it is, one cannot argue with the commodity futures world itself where the collective judgment of the market towards commodities in general is quite evident.
Apparently, while trillions of dollars have been created, the velocity at which those dollars are changing hands is simply not accelerating. Rather than circulating through the economy in general and inducing inflationary pressures, the money merely moves from the Fed's "electronic printing presses" into Wall Street and sits there.
Looking at the gold chart, one can see that buying support is evident on trips below $1600 but the market cannot gather enough momentum-based buying to trigger the overhead stops above $1620 that need to be targeted if this metal is going to get some upside excitement going. It is rangebound once again. Bargain or value based buying provides support at the bottom of the range while technically based selling is evident above $1610. Quite frankly, at this point, I do not know what it is going to take to break the metal out of this range.
Moving along to silver, one can see the same rangebound pattern particularly on this 4 hour chart. Note that the metal cannot break through $29.25 - $29.40 on the top side but it attracts buying on trips down towards the $28 level. It too is stuck.
Following is a monthly chart of gold... On this longer term chart one can see the very broad range that has been in place for some time now, with $1800 on the top and $1550-$1530 on the bottom remains solidly intact. Gold is obviously in the lower third of that range.
Happy Easter to all my fellow Christian readers. Christ's resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven is proof that His sacrifice for sin has been accepted by the Father and that He was all that He claimed to be. Rejoice and my His peace guard your hearts and minds. It is certainly needed in this time of distress in which we now find ourselves.
Monday, 25 March 2013
Euro Loses 1.29 Support Level
It is my opinion that last week the European Central Bank was quite active in the Foreign exchange markets defending the Euro and preventing the breakdown below the 1.29 level. Watching the price action, and this is from the perspective of a long time trader, there was no fundamental reason I could see for the Euro to experience intraday rallies of the magnitude that it was seeing, based on the deteriorating conditions surrounding Cyprus. It was if some magic hand was pushing it back up and away from the 1.29 level on any approaches there with enough force to take it all the way through 1.30 and then some.
Today, based on the earlier comments of the Dutch Finance Minister, that support zone collapsed on very large volume. I have no doubt whatsoever that it was this event that set Mr. Dijsselboem scurrying back to the microphones to disavow what he so arrogantly announced previously during the trading session, to wit - that the arrangement made with Cyprus would henceforth serve as a "template" for dealing with problem banks in problem Eurozone nations.
While he may backtrack and attempt to spin those earlier comments, which were quite clear I might add, the damage has been done as the proverbial cat is now out of the bag. Regardless of the subterfuge and deceitful backpedaling, it is now abundantly clear that the monetary officials in the Eurozone regard taxpayer deposits as, in actuality, belonging to the state.
As usual, we are now witnessing the resort to the typical left leaning claptrap about "only the wealthy" being forced to contribute to the savings of the banks but that begs the question that any sane individual would be asking under such conditions, "Why the hell should I as a depositor be the least bit concerned about the safety of my life's savings in any bank?" After all, that defeats the entire reason for depositing money in a bank in the first place. If the banks cannot be trusted, and if the government officials are all to willing to raid, confiscate, steal, the money of the depositors in order to bail out the unholy nexus between the banks and the government, how in the world can that inspire the least bit of confidence in the banking sector anywhere in the Eurozone that similar issues exist?
What we are witnessing is the rotten stench of decaying balance sheets brought on by years and years of overspending. As long as there were enough banks willing to buy that government debt, the party and the recklessness could go on. However, Mr. Market has a way of eventually bringing reality home to even the most obtuse of individuals and that is precisely what has now happened.
Quite simply - who in their right mind would be willing to buy the bonds of these troubled nations? And more precisely, whither goest Cyprus at this point? It's economy is a wreck and in my view will continue to be so into the foreseeable future. It's economy was based primarily on banking and tourism. At this point, who would want to travel there other than those wanting a bird's eye view of the trainwreck and as for banking.... that goes without saying.
While gold is certainly being capped above the $1610 level, it is continuing to attract dip buyers on trips down towards support at $1585. It ran down there earlier today only to encounter sufficient buying to propel it back above the $1600 level. Clearly that in itself, while not an outright victory for the bulls, is a defeat for the bears who no doubt were shocked by the severity of the buying pressure that came into the market.
Bulls still need to clear $1620 to force some of these shorts out of the market. It might be tough to do that as long as the capping operation is ongoing but my guess is that it will take a tremendous amount of physical gold sales to continuing holding the price down.
Today, based on the earlier comments of the Dutch Finance Minister, that support zone collapsed on very large volume. I have no doubt whatsoever that it was this event that set Mr. Dijsselboem scurrying back to the microphones to disavow what he so arrogantly announced previously during the trading session, to wit - that the arrangement made with Cyprus would henceforth serve as a "template" for dealing with problem banks in problem Eurozone nations.
While he may backtrack and attempt to spin those earlier comments, which were quite clear I might add, the damage has been done as the proverbial cat is now out of the bag. Regardless of the subterfuge and deceitful backpedaling, it is now abundantly clear that the monetary officials in the Eurozone regard taxpayer deposits as, in actuality, belonging to the state.
As usual, we are now witnessing the resort to the typical left leaning claptrap about "only the wealthy" being forced to contribute to the savings of the banks but that begs the question that any sane individual would be asking under such conditions, "Why the hell should I as a depositor be the least bit concerned about the safety of my life's savings in any bank?" After all, that defeats the entire reason for depositing money in a bank in the first place. If the banks cannot be trusted, and if the government officials are all to willing to raid, confiscate, steal, the money of the depositors in order to bail out the unholy nexus between the banks and the government, how in the world can that inspire the least bit of confidence in the banking sector anywhere in the Eurozone that similar issues exist?
What we are witnessing is the rotten stench of decaying balance sheets brought on by years and years of overspending. As long as there were enough banks willing to buy that government debt, the party and the recklessness could go on. However, Mr. Market has a way of eventually bringing reality home to even the most obtuse of individuals and that is precisely what has now happened.
Quite simply - who in their right mind would be willing to buy the bonds of these troubled nations? And more precisely, whither goest Cyprus at this point? It's economy is a wreck and in my view will continue to be so into the foreseeable future. It's economy was based primarily on banking and tourism. At this point, who would want to travel there other than those wanting a bird's eye view of the trainwreck and as for banking.... that goes without saying.
While gold is certainly being capped above the $1610 level, it is continuing to attract dip buyers on trips down towards support at $1585. It ran down there earlier today only to encounter sufficient buying to propel it back above the $1600 level. Clearly that in itself, while not an outright victory for the bulls, is a defeat for the bears who no doubt were shocked by the severity of the buying pressure that came into the market.
Bulls still need to clear $1620 to force some of these shorts out of the market. It might be tough to do that as long as the capping operation is ongoing but my guess is that it will take a tremendous amount of physical gold sales to continuing holding the price down.
As usual, the gold shares once again were of no help to the actual metal. I read a report today somewhere that stated if gold were to fall as low as $1,000, many of the entities involved in gold mining today would no longer be viable. The way some of these shares are acting, they already no longer look viable, truth be told.
It should be noted that the party in the global equity markets, brought on my near endless conjuring of "money" into existence by the Central Banks primarily of the West, has been handed a citation by the police and told to tone it down as the neighbors are complaining of the noise. Obviously this is a no-no to the best laid plans of mice and men, those being the monetary officials who I would lump under the category more of mice than men, since I consider them despicable Cretans and parasites. That means all the stops must be pulled out to keep Cyprus afloat and assuage any rising concerns among the investor class.
The entire thing boils down to keeping this ephemeral confidence from waning one iota. It is all about illusions, perceptions and subterfuge.
Dutch Finance Minister Loves Raiding Savings Accounts
Reuters is reporting this morning comments from the Dutch Finance Minister, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who by the way heads up the group of European Finance Ministers, to the effect that the "solution" in Cypress is a "new template" to address future banking problems in the Euro area.
I want you readers, particularly those of you in the Eurozone, to wrap your heads around this and consider the brazen audacity displayed by these people. What he is saying is that bank savings deposits no longer effectively belong to you the savers. They belong to the state and the state will confiscate them whenever it is deemed to be in that state's best interests.
If this does not send shock waves throughout the system and instill fear in individuals throughout the Eurozone, then there is no hope for any such people. Normal, rational, sane, thinking individuals will immediately recognize this for what it is; a complete reversal of the traditional role of banking in which banks makes loans to depositors and other individuals. Now, depositors are in effect making loans to banks. Yet even that is not an apt comparison for in the case of a loan, one usually expects to receive back the amount loaned plus interest. In this case, the depositors are having their money forcibly extracted from them with no hope of ever seeing it again and having that money used to bail out the banks instead! I never believed I would EVER witness this in my life and yet here it is. What is even worse is the blasé attitude displayed by the monetary authorities. Just who in the hell do these people think that they are?
These pestilential parasites, who sit in ivory towers and can glibly utter such rapacious comments, are literally undermining the entire banking system in their shortsighted idiocy.
Do these fools really believe that those citizens who have money in Eurozone banks, particularly high net worth individuals, are going to merely sit by and calmly observe this situation and do absolutely nothing? I cannot think of a better way to start a run on the banks. If individuals believe that the state now believes it has the right to raid their hard earned wealth at any time why would they feel the least bit secure about putting that wealth in harm's way?
As far as the price action in both gold and in the euro goes, Gold was down rather sharply early in the session as the safe havens were thrown out once a "deal" was announced. The Euro was down but not by much considering the backdrop. Once those Dutch official's comments hit the wires, the bottom fell out of the Euro and gold began working off its lows.
Gold in Euro terms shot sharply higher and is up nearly 1% as I type these comments. If it can push past the 1250 euro mark, it looks like it has room to make a run to 1280.
I am still thunderstruck as I contemplate those comments uttered by Mr. Bloem. This is like something out of fictional novel and yet it is happening right before our eyes.
I want you readers, particularly those of you in the Eurozone, to wrap your heads around this and consider the brazen audacity displayed by these people. What he is saying is that bank savings deposits no longer effectively belong to you the savers. They belong to the state and the state will confiscate them whenever it is deemed to be in that state's best interests.
If this does not send shock waves throughout the system and instill fear in individuals throughout the Eurozone, then there is no hope for any such people. Normal, rational, sane, thinking individuals will immediately recognize this for what it is; a complete reversal of the traditional role of banking in which banks makes loans to depositors and other individuals. Now, depositors are in effect making loans to banks. Yet even that is not an apt comparison for in the case of a loan, one usually expects to receive back the amount loaned plus interest. In this case, the depositors are having their money forcibly extracted from them with no hope of ever seeing it again and having that money used to bail out the banks instead! I never believed I would EVER witness this in my life and yet here it is. What is even worse is the blasé attitude displayed by the monetary authorities. Just who in the hell do these people think that they are?
These pestilential parasites, who sit in ivory towers and can glibly utter such rapacious comments, are literally undermining the entire banking system in their shortsighted idiocy.
Do these fools really believe that those citizens who have money in Eurozone banks, particularly high net worth individuals, are going to merely sit by and calmly observe this situation and do absolutely nothing? I cannot think of a better way to start a run on the banks. If individuals believe that the state now believes it has the right to raid their hard earned wealth at any time why would they feel the least bit secure about putting that wealth in harm's way?
As far as the price action in both gold and in the euro goes, Gold was down rather sharply early in the session as the safe havens were thrown out once a "deal" was announced. The Euro was down but not by much considering the backdrop. Once those Dutch official's comments hit the wires, the bottom fell out of the Euro and gold began working off its lows.
Gold in Euro terms shot sharply higher and is up nearly 1% as I type these comments. If it can push past the 1250 euro mark, it looks like it has room to make a run to 1280.
I am still thunderstruck as I contemplate those comments uttered by Mr. Bloem. This is like something out of fictional novel and yet it is happening right before our eyes.
Saturday, 23 March 2013
Trader Dan Interviewed at King World News
Please click on the following link to listen in to my regular weekly radio interview with Eric King over at the KWN Weekly Markets and Metals Wrap. We will be discussing the implications of the market action in both gold and the Euro given the Cyprus situation.
http://www.kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2013/3/23_KWN_Weekly_Metals_Wrap.html
http://www.kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2013/3/23_KWN_Weekly_Metals_Wrap.html
Thursday, 21 March 2013
Cyprus Fears Rekindled?
Talk today was all about the resurgence of fears related to the situation in Cyprus. The US equity markets were heavy throughout the session as a result but from what I could tell, there was not that much demand for safe haven US Treasuries. Yes, those were higher but considering the extent to which the concerns surrounding Cyprus were in the headlines, I would have expected a much stronger tone to the US bond market.
Also, remember when the news first broke over Cyprus over last weekend and the markets opened for trading Sunday night here in the US. The Euro was absolutely mauled as a result. Today, while it was weaker, it refused to stay below the 1.29 level. From what I can see, there apparently is not that much worry over the Europe if the common currency will not stay down below 1.29 on the Cyprus news flaring up again.
The Yen on the other hand was acting as if the end of all things was upon us as it completely erased yesterday's sharp losses soaring over 150 pips at one point today. For the life of me I do not understand why anyone would call the Yen a "safe haven" currency but then again, I do not understand why anyone would call the US Dollar one either. Both nations are printing TRILLIONS of these respective currencies into existence and yet this is somehow a safe haven?
Like I and many others have said - there is nothing rational about markets, not any more.
Gold caught a firm bid today and managed to stay above $1610 for most of the session which is promising. It needs to prove it can clear resistance near $1620 if the bulls are going to be able to seriously squeeze that extremely large hedge fund short position. Frankly, I am not sure what it is going to take to push gold through this level if the Cyprus news and the reverberations related to that cannot do it. Whoever it is that is doing the selling up near the session highs is strong handed and will take some serious force to dislodge.
Gold in Euro terms is showing signs of life having broken out to the upside of its downtrending channel. It is no longer making a series of lower highs and lower lows but has stabilized and looks to have forged a bottom. With Yen gold strong, Sterling Gold looking decent and now Euro gold joining the chorus, the bears will have to dig in deeply to prevent the respective overhead chart resistance levels from giving way. We know that there is a deep pocketed seller present in New York - is that the only place?
Resistance in Euro Gold is near today's high at 1250 followed by 1270 and then 1280. After that, Gold has a shot at testing psychological round number resistance at 1300 euros.
U S Dollar priced gold is shown below on a two hour chart where the selling effort can be more clearly seen.
Also, remember when the news first broke over Cyprus over last weekend and the markets opened for trading Sunday night here in the US. The Euro was absolutely mauled as a result. Today, while it was weaker, it refused to stay below the 1.29 level. From what I can see, there apparently is not that much worry over the Europe if the common currency will not stay down below 1.29 on the Cyprus news flaring up again.
The Yen on the other hand was acting as if the end of all things was upon us as it completely erased yesterday's sharp losses soaring over 150 pips at one point today. For the life of me I do not understand why anyone would call the Yen a "safe haven" currency but then again, I do not understand why anyone would call the US Dollar one either. Both nations are printing TRILLIONS of these respective currencies into existence and yet this is somehow a safe haven?
Like I and many others have said - there is nothing rational about markets, not any more.
Gold caught a firm bid today and managed to stay above $1610 for most of the session which is promising. It needs to prove it can clear resistance near $1620 if the bulls are going to be able to seriously squeeze that extremely large hedge fund short position. Frankly, I am not sure what it is going to take to push gold through this level if the Cyprus news and the reverberations related to that cannot do it. Whoever it is that is doing the selling up near the session highs is strong handed and will take some serious force to dislodge.
Gold in Euro terms is showing signs of life having broken out to the upside of its downtrending channel. It is no longer making a series of lower highs and lower lows but has stabilized and looks to have forged a bottom. With Yen gold strong, Sterling Gold looking decent and now Euro gold joining the chorus, the bears will have to dig in deeply to prevent the respective overhead chart resistance levels from giving way. We know that there is a deep pocketed seller present in New York - is that the only place?
Resistance in Euro Gold is near today's high at 1250 followed by 1270 and then 1280. After that, Gold has a shot at testing psychological round number resistance at 1300 euros.
U S Dollar priced gold is shown below on a two hour chart where the selling effort can be more clearly seen.
Monday, 18 March 2013
Another European Domino
I am not going to spend much time providing the details of the events unfolding in Cyprus since the readers of this site are all well aware of those by now.
I do wish to note a couple of things however.
First - We are watching the inevitable effects of the experiment in socialism when it reaches its logical conclusion. When generations are either taught or have it implied to them that they can allow their governments to run up ruinous levels of debt and yet suffer no consequences whatsoever, they have little to no incentive to throw out the political leaders who hold the actual purse strings. The cradle to grave policies of the nanny state are not sustainable over the long haul. The reason is clear - politicians make promises to pay that they cannot keep. Eventually there is not enough money to cover the promises and the government is forced to borrow to the point that it can no longer afford to pay the rate of interest that creditors demand to compensate them for the risk.
We all know that the proposal to confiscate up to 9.9% of the savings accounts of those who have worked hard to amass that money is nothing more than government sanctioned THEFT. Spare us the insults of calling it a "tax" and thereby seeking to justify this reprehensible policy. People use banks because of one reason and one reason only - TRUST. Take that away and you have destroyed the foundation of the banking system.
Put yourself in the place of an average European citizen who is watching this debacle unfold before their eyes. Would you feel the least bit secure if you had now been awakened to the fact that your government's leaders had spent the nation into bankruptcy and were suggesting that as part of the solution to their folly that those same fools who ran up the debt in the first place now be permitted to raid your personal savings account to somehow solve a problem of their creation? What would you do in their situation? I tell you what I would do; I would immediately begin transferring money out of banks in any of those nations which had been on the receiving end of bailouts from the ECB and the IMF. I would move that money into gold and would not think twice about doing it. If those deposits are no longer sacred, then what is to prevent futures politicans from raiding them whensoever they please?
Once again we have collusion between the financial elites that run the monetary system and the big banks. I have nothing but scorn and contempt for these large banks who gorged themselves on various government bonds and are now in the position of watching their balance sheets go to hell in a handbasket as the value of those bonds plummet. What really makes my blood boil however is that these banks have adopted a mentality that they can go running and screaming like spoiled children to their respective political leaders to use the PUBLIC's MONEY to save them from their own damned stupidity and greed.
Excuse me, but I was once naively of the opinion that the banks existed to make loans to the public. Apparently that is no longer the case - now the banks exist in order to see money taken from their depositors to save their own rear ends for buying debt that no one in their right mind would have purchased.
I do wish to add however, that even though I am disgusted at this unholy alliance between the big banks and the monetary masters, the people in these respective nations do bear some culpability in this matter; they are not without any blame whatsoever. Last time I checked these people vote and they voted to put enough politicians in power to continue spending. As long as the people keep putting the same kind of irresponsible, short-sighted lackeys into positions of power, why should they expect these leaders to change their ways. Those who would ruin their own nations for the sake of short-term political gain deserve to be unceremoniously thrown out of office.
By the way, America, are you watching what is happening here because we are following in the same trajectory as many of these Euro Zone nations.
On gold - the flight to safe haven was on display today with that buying strong enough to propel gold through the psychological $1600 level. Watching it soar throught that level overnight during the Asian session was noteworthy because at one point, a wave of fierce selling came out of nowhere and took the price all the way back down to below its Friday settlement price. The dip did not last long - if you blinked you missed it - but it was very obvious that someone was trying to cap the price and prevent the metal from moving even higher.
All day long the move higher was being resisted by a strong overhead seller. My guess is that this is not hedge fund selling but rather selling originating from the official sector. I also noted today that the Euro, which was slammed down in Asia at one point today moved all the way back up to above the 1.30 level. The manner in which it did so looked very peculiar to me.
I hate to say that the ECB was involved when I have no proof of this but it was very odd to see anyone at all anxious to buy that currency for any reason today given the ramifications of the Cyprus mess. Maybe, just maybe, the monetary masters were out in full force today attemping to prevent a meltdown of their dearly beloved Euro. I simply have no other explanation for the midday move higher in the Euro off its worst levels.
I want to add here that their best efforts notwithstadning EURO GOLD soared higher adding 1.5% today. It is near 1237 euros as I write this. As a matter of fact, gold took off today in terms of all the major currencies again. This is continued evidence to me that gold is getting some serious attention by those who are growing increasingly disconcerted with the policies of the Western Central Banks and their respective finance ministers/leaders.
The chart below notes that various levels that have technical significance for gold. It will take a push through $1620 to really begin a short covering process in earnest. I noted in my KWN Weekly Metals Wrap interview that the hedge fund short position was the largest on record. Some of that began to come off today. There still remains a large number of those shorts however.
Ideally, gold will stay ABOVE $1600 but at the very least, it should remain above $1585 or so to suggest that it has entered yet again into a new and higher trading range.
Once again the useless gold mining shares did nothing to aid the upward progess of the actual metal as they were weak all day long and ended closing down on their lows. No wonder no one wants to own the damned things. As far as providing any decent returns on investment, they suck. What else can I say...
Currency traders had best prepare to go another week without much sleep. Sigh... maybe we can get some ingenius inventor to come up with a pill that provides the human body with the same benefits of getting a decent 7 - 8 hours worth of sleep in a night. I know I will be the first in line to sign up for that...
I do wish to note a couple of things however.
First - We are watching the inevitable effects of the experiment in socialism when it reaches its logical conclusion. When generations are either taught or have it implied to them that they can allow their governments to run up ruinous levels of debt and yet suffer no consequences whatsoever, they have little to no incentive to throw out the political leaders who hold the actual purse strings. The cradle to grave policies of the nanny state are not sustainable over the long haul. The reason is clear - politicians make promises to pay that they cannot keep. Eventually there is not enough money to cover the promises and the government is forced to borrow to the point that it can no longer afford to pay the rate of interest that creditors demand to compensate them for the risk.
We all know that the proposal to confiscate up to 9.9% of the savings accounts of those who have worked hard to amass that money is nothing more than government sanctioned THEFT. Spare us the insults of calling it a "tax" and thereby seeking to justify this reprehensible policy. People use banks because of one reason and one reason only - TRUST. Take that away and you have destroyed the foundation of the banking system.
Put yourself in the place of an average European citizen who is watching this debacle unfold before their eyes. Would you feel the least bit secure if you had now been awakened to the fact that your government's leaders had spent the nation into bankruptcy and were suggesting that as part of the solution to their folly that those same fools who ran up the debt in the first place now be permitted to raid your personal savings account to somehow solve a problem of their creation? What would you do in their situation? I tell you what I would do; I would immediately begin transferring money out of banks in any of those nations which had been on the receiving end of bailouts from the ECB and the IMF. I would move that money into gold and would not think twice about doing it. If those deposits are no longer sacred, then what is to prevent futures politicans from raiding them whensoever they please?
Once again we have collusion between the financial elites that run the monetary system and the big banks. I have nothing but scorn and contempt for these large banks who gorged themselves on various government bonds and are now in the position of watching their balance sheets go to hell in a handbasket as the value of those bonds plummet. What really makes my blood boil however is that these banks have adopted a mentality that they can go running and screaming like spoiled children to their respective political leaders to use the PUBLIC's MONEY to save them from their own damned stupidity and greed.
Excuse me, but I was once naively of the opinion that the banks existed to make loans to the public. Apparently that is no longer the case - now the banks exist in order to see money taken from their depositors to save their own rear ends for buying debt that no one in their right mind would have purchased.
I do wish to add however, that even though I am disgusted at this unholy alliance between the big banks and the monetary masters, the people in these respective nations do bear some culpability in this matter; they are not without any blame whatsoever. Last time I checked these people vote and they voted to put enough politicians in power to continue spending. As long as the people keep putting the same kind of irresponsible, short-sighted lackeys into positions of power, why should they expect these leaders to change their ways. Those who would ruin their own nations for the sake of short-term political gain deserve to be unceremoniously thrown out of office.
By the way, America, are you watching what is happening here because we are following in the same trajectory as many of these Euro Zone nations.
On gold - the flight to safe haven was on display today with that buying strong enough to propel gold through the psychological $1600 level. Watching it soar throught that level overnight during the Asian session was noteworthy because at one point, a wave of fierce selling came out of nowhere and took the price all the way back down to below its Friday settlement price. The dip did not last long - if you blinked you missed it - but it was very obvious that someone was trying to cap the price and prevent the metal from moving even higher.
All day long the move higher was being resisted by a strong overhead seller. My guess is that this is not hedge fund selling but rather selling originating from the official sector. I also noted today that the Euro, which was slammed down in Asia at one point today moved all the way back up to above the 1.30 level. The manner in which it did so looked very peculiar to me.
I hate to say that the ECB was involved when I have no proof of this but it was very odd to see anyone at all anxious to buy that currency for any reason today given the ramifications of the Cyprus mess. Maybe, just maybe, the monetary masters were out in full force today attemping to prevent a meltdown of their dearly beloved Euro. I simply have no other explanation for the midday move higher in the Euro off its worst levels.
I want to add here that their best efforts notwithstadning EURO GOLD soared higher adding 1.5% today. It is near 1237 euros as I write this. As a matter of fact, gold took off today in terms of all the major currencies again. This is continued evidence to me that gold is getting some serious attention by those who are growing increasingly disconcerted with the policies of the Western Central Banks and their respective finance ministers/leaders.
The chart below notes that various levels that have technical significance for gold. It will take a push through $1620 to really begin a short covering process in earnest. I noted in my KWN Weekly Metals Wrap interview that the hedge fund short position was the largest on record. Some of that began to come off today. There still remains a large number of those shorts however.
Ideally, gold will stay ABOVE $1600 but at the very least, it should remain above $1585 or so to suggest that it has entered yet again into a new and higher trading range.
Once again the useless gold mining shares did nothing to aid the upward progess of the actual metal as they were weak all day long and ended closing down on their lows. No wonder no one wants to own the damned things. As far as providing any decent returns on investment, they suck. What else can I say...
Currency traders had best prepare to go another week without much sleep. Sigh... maybe we can get some ingenius inventor to come up with a pill that provides the human body with the same benefits of getting a decent 7 - 8 hours worth of sleep in a night. I know I will be the first in line to sign up for that...
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