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.

We are on the heels of a week full of important economic reports from the United States, Europe and England. The overnight session was kick-started with news from China that while mixed, was read as bullish for the board. As I write this, US stock indexes are trying to recover from the late week selloff, which was driven by a string of misses in the last few days of the week.

The lineup includes today’s ISM report, Wednesdays Beige Book, and Non Farm Payrolls to finish the week. Additionally, we expect several FED Members to stir the QE pot in interviews throughout the week.

Europe and England both will report Interest Rate decisions this week, which will impact global Currencies and global markets overall. Weeks like these give very good opportunities for day and swing trades, which we plan to take part in. As each day and overnight bring important economic numbers to the trade, it will be important to make adjustments to mitigate risk and capture profit. Continue reading "Gold Chart of The Week"

Has the Gold Bull Market Hit a Snag?

The Gold Report: What do you think will happen to interest rates and how will that affect gold?

Tobias Tretter: I don't see interest rates increasing at all right now. The Federal Reserve is giving banks money for 0.25%. The European Central Bank (ECB) has interest rates at 0.75%. That isn't an environment with increasing interest rates. The 10-year U.S. Treasuries are at 1.85%, which is up from 1.4%, but even in 2011 we were above 3%. We are still at the lowest possible levels and I can't imagine how countries, even relatively strong ones like Germany or the United States, will thrive in an environment with increasing interest rates. It would prove too challenging and cause too much pain; therefore, interest rates will be low for a long time.

I do not believe that the end of the gold bull market is here. I agree with former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan that deficit spending is a scheme for the hidden confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious progress, he said. It stands as a protector of property rights. As long as the Fed and the ECB are printing money and as long as things like the recent Cyprus bailout continue to happen, there's absolutely no way for gold to go down for very long. Continue reading "Has the Gold Bull Market Hit a Snag?"

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 (May 20th through May 24th)

After wrapping up a week full of economic data in the United States, we now look forward to a fairly light schedule. At this point, most traders realize how insignificant the results of these reports are and they will likely continue to follow the stock indexes with a “buy the dip and enjoy the trip” mentality. Why wouldn’t they? Indexes like the S&P 500 have only spent about a week below the support trendline since the move began in November of 2012. Even after a string of misses in the middle of last week, the S&P Futures only pulled back a fraction of the prior day’s move up. And that was only long enough for the buying to resume and a new high was put in shortly thereafter. Continue reading "Gold Chart of The Week"

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 (May 13th through May 17th)

Outside of a late week Currencies surge, there were very few fireworks to report in last week’s business. This week however, may be a different story.

Thursday and Friday of last week provided some decent movement in the Dollar and Euro, but it appeared things began in the Japanese Yen, then spilled over. Throughout the last several weeks, there have been multiple attempts to push the Yen to new lows for the year, but it always seemed that somehow the plan was foiled. After the selling pressure triggered stop-orders below support, all other Currencies had to react. There was a firm rebound in the US Dollar and an inverse move in the Euro Currency. Surprisingly, the swings in the Currencies had very little impact on outside markets. In fact, most other sectors of the markets were rather stale and choppy. A Treasury Bond auction had some impact on the 30yr bonds and 10yr Notes, but there was little else in the week that provided any excitement. The same goes for the Gold Futures. Normally, traders would use the direction the Dollar or the Stock Indexes as a guide for what to expect in the Metals, but those former relationships are no longer in play on a day to day basis. Continue reading "Gold Chart of The Week"

How to Stress Test Gold Equities: Joe Mazumdar

The Gold Report: Where can long-term gold investors look for safety during times of market turbulence?

Joe Mazumdar: Is there safety in the gold market? The short answer is no. Both the equity and gold market have been volatile, lately more the latter. Gold stocks have a good correlation, a beta, to gold, and if the price of gold is volatile, the stocks will be volatile. This leverage to the gold price cuts both ways for gold equities. Year to date, gold is down 1015% as it has underperformed most commodities including copper, oil and natural gas, while the SP/TSX Global Gold index is down almost 3035%.

Other reasons why the gold equities have disappointed investors includes the failure to achieve benchmarks or guidance on costs, both operating and capital, and timelines, among others. The overriding financing risk, especially for the juniors, has continued to weigh on their performance.

Major gold producers provide liquidity, but are not necessarily a safe bet. Over the last few years, the large gold companies have not shown growth at a reasonable price. The amount of reserve repletion they require is their Achilles heel such that they have focused on dividends. This is nothing new, as the project requirements tend to create significant footprints and attract the attention of other stakeholders who want to slow down or cancel mining development. This issue is affecting Newmont Mining Corp.'s (NEM:NYSE) Conga project, Pascua Lama with Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX:TSX; ABX:NYSE) and El Morro with Goldcorp Inc. (G:TSX; GG:NYSE) and New Gold Inc. (NGD:TSX; NGD:NYSE.MKT). If a major's growth is linked to this type of project, it is not necessarily a safe place to invest. Continue reading "How to Stress Test Gold Equities: Joe Mazumdar"