Editorials

It has been a strong start to 2016 in precious metals, today notwithstanding. Gold was able to break above daily resistance at $1080 to $1090 while miners climbed higher until Friday’s reversal. Rather than focus on the nominal gains I want to turn our attention to Gold’s performance against other markets and asset classes. It … Continue reading

The precious metals sector will close 2015 entrenched in a seemingly forever bear market. Most of the sector has been in a bear market for over four and a half years. Gold’s bear market will reach four and a half years in a few months. Meanwhile the US Dollar’s bull market remains strong and is … Continue reading

The Fed rate hike has come and gone while the precious metals sector has continued to whipsaw traders day after day. The initial reaction was very positive. However, that completely reversed course on Thursday with Gold threatening to move to a new low and gold miners threatening to test recent support. Friday’s strength continued the … Continue reading

A few days ago we wrote about the potential effects of a Fed rate hike on precious metals. After consulting history we concluded that the rate hike would be immediately bullish for precious metals but subsequently bearish. The main reason is because when the Fed started a new cycle of increases during an already established bull market … Continue reading

The markets have for the most part already priced in a Fed rate hike which is expected next week. Yesterday fed funds futures indicated an 80% chance of a rate hike. It would be the first hike in roughly 9 years. The Fed last began a new hiking cycle in 2004. We consult history to … Continue reading

A few weeks ago we warned that the gold miners were at risk of a technical breakdown. They struggled to rebound at support while Gold was breaking to a new low. Gold continued to decline but the miners held support and stabilized. Gold traded as low as $1045 on Thursday but the miners continued to … Continue reading

The bear market in the gold miners has been one for the record books but it is not over yet. Last week we noted that precious metals were on the cusp of making new lows while the US$ index was very close to another key breakout. This scenario remains well in play and would certainly … Continue reading

Last Friday we wrote that precious metals were very oversold and due for a bounce or a pause. We also argued that the overall prognosis remained very bearish. The technicals argue for more downside and sentiment indicators remain far from bearish extremes. The strength in the US$ index is another reason precious metals should remain … Continue reading

The precious metals sector has declined sharply in recent weeks with no pause or intermittent breaks in the decline. Including today, Gold is down eight consecutive days and 16 of the past 18 days. The gold miners (GDX) have lost roughly 20% in the past seven days. The sector is extremely oversold in the short … Continue reading

The precious metals sector sharply reversed course after the Federal Reserve hinted that it may raise rates at its next meeting. This about face from the Fed was enough to effectively end the fledgling rally that began in the summer and threatened to take metals and miners higher to their 400-day moving averages. The prevailing … Continue reading