Gold Chart of the Week

Each week Longleaftrading.com will be providing us a chart of the week as analyzed by a member of their team. We hope that you enjoy and learn from this new feature.

Weekly Gold Report (December 17th through December 22nd)

 As far as I am concerned, “Holiday Markets” took control last week and it is the best way to describe what we witnessed in Gold. In Europe, a deal in Greece was reached which underpinned the Euro and dropped the US Dollar. Later in the week, the Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates at close to zero until unemployment falls below 6.5%, which is new to their monetary policy. It is the first time ever that Interest Rates were pegged to one area of the U.S. Economy. Initially after the news broke, Gold Futures rallied and closed in the upper end of the range for the week. But it was not long before early profit taking began and suddenly the market found itself over $30 lower and back at the lower end of the range on lighter volume. And who could forget all of the “Fiscal Cliff” nonsense? Every day (sometimes multiple times a day), through television or social media, the President and the Speaker of the House report to the world that while they are negotiating, nothing is really being accomplished. I can’t speak for the rest of the world, but personally I can not wait for the final decision, not because it will provide a direction for major markets, but because I am tired of reading about both of them and their sophomoric behavior. It seems like suddenly the highest political offices in the U.S. have confused their roles with the highest offices at US (Weekly). Continue reading "Gold Chart of the Week"

New Video: Is the Cult of Apple Over?

Hello traders everywhere! Adam Hewison here, co-founder of MarketClub with your mid-day market update for Monday, the 17th of December.

This will be my last broadcast for 2012, as I'm taking time off from trading during Silly Season. Jeremy Lutz, who you know from MarketClub TV, will be doing the updates until I return back to the markets in early January.

IS THE CULT OF APPLE OVER?

Apple just sold 2 million iPhone 5s in 3 days in China, yet its stock falls below $500 in pre-market trading. What is going on in the smart phone world?

This past weekend, my daughter and son-in-law came over for an early Christmas celebration. My son-in-law, who is a very smart guy and a computer engineer, showed me his new phone which to my surprise was not an iPhone5, but a Samsung Galaxy III. Much to my chagrin I picked it up and started playing with it and I have to admit some of technology, especially the Google voice technology, appeared superior to Siri, which is what Apple uses in its iPhone5 and IOS6 operating system. Continue reading "New Video: Is the Cult of Apple Over?"

Porter Stansberry: End the Ban on US Oil Exports

The Energy Report: As a history enthusiast, Porter, to what extent do you believe technology has changed investing?

Porter Stansberry: The future will be unlike the past in every way related to technology, but it will be exactly like the past as it relates to people. Technology changes a great deal, but people don't. You can count on politicians to be scumbags and most people to be lazy. But as for investing, technology gives far more people access to information. Only one person in the world knew the actual price of a high-yield bond 25 years agoMichael Milkenand he made a fortune with that information advantage. Today, everybody has access to trading information. Everyone has access to price. In general, technology has made finance a smaller-margin business. It's led to enormous scale in our financial institutions, which is the only way they can really survive. But fear and greed are still the underlying forces that drive the markets, and investors are just as subject to irrational emotional decisions as they've ever been. I don't expect technology will ever change that.

TER: Getting specifically into energy, a few weeks ago the International Energy Agency World Energy Outlook (WEO) said the U.S. would become the world's largest oil producer, overtaking Russia and Saudi Arabia, before 2020. Then Goldman Sachs said it would happen by 2017.

PS: They stole my thunder. I've been saying 2017 for maybe a year now. If Goldman is saying 2017 and IEA is saying 2020 it will probably happen in 2016.

TER: How will the geopolitical and socioeconomic landscape change when the U.S. becomes the largest oil producer? Continue reading "Porter Stansberry: End the Ban on US Oil Exports"

Fear vs. Fundamentals in the Platinum Market

In October of last year, we published a platinum-market overview in the Casey International Speculator and concluded by saying: "We recommend avoiding South Africa, and in this context it means staying away from platinum producers located there. If the energy situation spins out of control, miners' strikes continue, and the local trouble puts an indefinite halt to a significant portion of platinum production, some speculative opportunities may appear in the physical-metal market or platinum-backed investment tools. If we see signs of that happening, we may speculate on the results."

Although some of the events that we expected did occur this year, the "indefinite halt" has not. The nationwide wildcat strikes that ended in mid-November suggested that that scenario was possible, but the bubbling pot simmered down. We were asked by our readers to share our view on the implications of those actions on the price of platinum.

So, what is the outlook for the platinum market now, and is it time to buy? Continue reading "Fear vs. Fundamentals in the Platinum Market"

Weekly Futures Recap with Mike Seery

We’ve asked Michael Seery of SEERYFUTURES.COM to give our INO readers a weekly recap of the Futures market. He has been Senior Analyst for close to 15 years and has extensive knowledge of all of the commodity and option markets.

Michael frequently appears on multiple business networks including Bloomberg news, Fox Business, CNBC Worldwide, CNN Business, and Bloomberg TV. He is also a guest on First Business, which is a national and internationally syndicated business show.

Currency Futures--- Currency futures had a very solid week against the U.S dollar with the Euro currency trading higher for the 5th consecutive trading session hitting an 8 month high trading far above its 20 and 100 day moving average with the next resistance at 134 currently trading at 1.3175 up another 87 point continuing its bullish momentum despite the problems in Europe people are feeling more confident about the fact that the European problems might be over at least in the short term. The Dollar Index has been lower 3 out of the last 4 trading sessions down this Friday afternoon by about 40 points trading far below 20 &100 day moving average which is always a bearish indicator in my opinion hitting an 8 week low with the next major support at 79.20 and then major support at the contract low which was hit on September 14th of this year at 78.95 on fears that the government is going to continue to print money here in the United States which is pressuring the dollar against all the foreign currencies in recent weeks. If you look at the Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, and the Mexican Peso they are all moving higher against the dollar while the Mexican Peso is actually making contract highs but the only currency that is not gaining on the U.S dollar is the Japanese Yen which continues to fall out of bed due to the fact that the Japanese government wants a lower Japanese yen although today finishing slightly higher but made new contract lows 5 straight trading sessions currently trading at 11995 and looking to continue its bearish momentum possibly down the 105 level in my opinion over the next couple of months. Continue reading "Weekly Futures Recap with Mike Seery"