Buying Opportunity For These Two Gold Miners

Posted on by Taylor Dart

While the S&P-500 (SPY) has taken a beating over the past month, leaving the index 18% from its highs, the damage inflicted has been tame relative to the shellacking we’ve seen in the Gold Miners Index (GDX).

Not only has the GDX’s decline been double that of the S&P-500, but the most recent drop is one of the worst in a decade in terms of velocity. This is because the GDX was down 44% in just 95 trading days last Friday, translating to an annualized decline of 79%.

Daily Sentiment Index Data

(Source: Daily Sentiment Index Data, Author’s Chart)

This decline, coupled with muted 10-year returns since the peak of the last bull market cycle (2011), and lifeless 2-year returns since the August 2020 peak, has led to despair in the sector, with many investors not even interested in looking at their portfolios if they hold precious metals stocks.

I believe this has bred conditions for a violent rally to the upside, especially with sentiment for gold (GLD) sitting at its lowest levels in 18 months, as most investors have also given up on the metal.

In this update, we’ll look at two high-quality miners that have been thrown out with the proverbial bathwater:

Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM)

Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) is the world’s 3rd largest gold producer, on track to produce ~3.3 million ounces of gold in 2022 from more than ten mines globally. Continue reading "Buying Opportunity For These Two Gold Miners" →

Bears Smashed Silver, Is Gold Next?

Posted on by Aibek Burabayev

Last month I was wondering “Is It A Trap?” for the top precious metals, referring to the short term bounce that we have been observing.

Bears have smashed the silver price badly below the former valley. Hence, I would start the update with its monthly chart below.

Silver Futures Monthly

Source: TradingView

Silver futures topped around the $21 mark the same day the previous update was posted in the middle of August and then it dropped like a rock to the downside.

The price already drills down the largest Volume Profile (orange) support as it entered the $16-$18 range. The peak volume was registered at the $17 level in the monthly chart. Below $16 the support weakens and further down below $14 there is a volume support gap.

I built the black downtrend with a red mid-channel in this big chart above. We could visually distinguish the first drop (large left red down arrow) from 2011 to 2015. The following huge corrective structure emerged during 2015-2021. Now the market could build the second leg down. The mid-channel support is located at $13.5, right below the above mentioned lower volume area.

We can mark the lower supports for the future. The Flash-Crash valley is at $11.6 fortified with the all-in sustaining costs located at $10.9. The valley of the distant 1991 at $3.5 is the next possible support.

Bulls should push the price outside of the downtrend beyond $27 to turn the tables. Continue reading "Bears Smashed Silver, Is Gold Next?" →

Chart Spotlight: Dollar General (DG)

Posted on by Ian Cooper

Investors may want to keep an eye on discount retailers, like Dollar General (DG).

For one, the latest pullback may be a great buy opportunity.

If you take a look at this chart, you’ll notice that Williams’ %R, Fast Stochastics, and RSI are all starting to pivot well off oversold conditions. With patience, I’d like to see the Dollar General stock retest $260 resistance, near-term from $241.65 support.

DG Chart With Trade Triangles

Source: MarketClub

Two, while other major retailers take a hit with inflation, Dollar General is rising because of inflation. In fact, we can see that with the company’s recent earnings report.
 
Not only did Dollar General report second quarter EPS of $2.98, which was better than the expected $2.94 a share, sales were up to $9.4 billion, same-store sales were up 4.6% as compared to expectations for 3.9%. The company even increased its same-store sales forecast to a range of 4% to 4.5% for the fiscal year, from a prior call for 3% to 3.5%.

Three, wealthier people are now shopping at dollar stores because of inflation.

According to Business Insider, Todd Vasos, CEO of Dollar General, said on a call with analysts that the store saw a rise in higher-income households shopping there, "which we believe reflects more consumers choosing Dollar General as they seek value." Continue reading "Chart Spotlight: Dollar General (DG)" →

Now is the Time to Hedge Your Portfolio

Posted on by Matt Thalman

A few weeks ago, I asked if you believed the current rally was here to stay. At that time, the market had been rallying since the middle of June. Some market participants were calling the June low 'the bottom.'

Time will tell if June was the bottom, but based on what has happened over the last two weeks of August, I am betting that we have not yet seen the bottom.

Let's review quickly what just occurred. The Federal Reserve's President, Jerome Powell, told the country that there would be "some pain" in the coming months. Powell also said that the Fed would "keep at it until the job is done," referring to getting inflation under control.

Powell didn't detail how severe the pain would be or how businesses and households would feel it. Still, I think it is safe to say that Powell acknowledges we are likely heading towards a recession.

The market's reaction to Powell's comments sent the S&P 500 down 9.2% since the August 16 high of 4,327. The NASDAQ is down 11%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is off by 8.2% since August 16.

Not only is the NASDAQ down double digits, but the exchange-traded funds that track the major indexes, The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Invesco NASDAQ QQQ ETF (QQQ), are both now trading below their 50-day averages. That is in addition to them already having given up their 200-day, 100-day, and 20-day moving averages.

Furthermore, economist after economists, jumped on the 'recession is imminent', bandwagon this past week. Most of these economists have even pointed out that the Federal Reserve has miscalculated the intense inflation we are experiencing.

They were referring to when the Fed told us back in the spring that the inflation we were experiencing at that time was "transitory." The Fed was wrong about that, and it is unlikely that the Fed members want to be wrong again by underestimating the persistence of current inflationary causes.

Due to their previous missteps, many believe the Fed will not take its foot off the gas quickly enough. This makes it unlikely the economy will experience a soft landing which we have been hearing about over the past few months.

And if you don't know the opposite of a 'soft landing' in economics, it's a recession. Continue reading "Now is the Time to Hedge Your Portfolio" →

Two Growth Stocks With Relative Strength

Posted on by Taylor Dart

It’s been a volatile month thus far for the S&P-500 (SPY), with the index starting the month up nearly 5% before giving back all of its month-to-date gains.

This sharp reversal should not be surprising, given that the 200-day moving average is often a strong area of resistance for the general market when it’s in an intermediate downtrend.

From a fundamental standpoint, the give-back also makes sense, given that little has fundamentally changed with the Federal Reserve still laser-focused on stamping out inflation, regardless of the collateral damage caused by its hawkish stance.

SPX August

(Source: Twitter, ND Wealth Management, Steve Deppe)

Given the weak performance, the market is now on track to close August down more than 10% year-to-date, which has historically led to further drawdowns in all cases. In fact, the median forward draw-down over the following twelve months was 15.5%, and even using the best four case drawdowns, the average twelve-month forward draw-down was 5.5%.

History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes, and assuming the S&P-500 closed at 4000 for August, this would point to a drawdown to 3380 between now and summer 2023, or a best case drawdown (average of four smallest draw-downs) to 3780. With even the best-case scenario points to a meaningful downside, caution remains warranted.

The good news is that it’s a market of stocks, not a stock market. Even in intermediate bear markets, investors can enjoy alpha by hunting down the best growth names that exhibit unique relative strength characteristics.

With many FAANG names down over 50%, finding stocks in intermediate uptrends is challenging, but there are a few stand-out names that also have impressive growth metrics. This combination is a recipe for success in all markets, and in this update, we’ll look at two names that fit this bill: Continue reading "Two Growth Stocks With Relative Strength" →