Nickel Stocks Has Put In A long Term Bottom

Posted on 01/19/2023 by Yanis P.

Nickel: Is This The Beginning of A new Bull Market

If you look at a shorter-term chart 1-3 years, it looks like the main move is underway already. However, looking at a ten-year chart, we can see that Nickel is at an important junction. It needs to close above 1100 on a monthly basis; failure to achieve this could push it back down to the 820-855 ranges over rather quickly. If one is looking for a solid confirmation, then a monthly close over 1200 should do it; this would set the pace for a test of the 1500 ranges with a possibility of trading to 1800.

We looked at several large producers of nickel, and all their charts illustrated that the stocks were consolidating, which suggests that Nickel is likely to pullback before trending higher unless the metal is going to diverge and trend in the opposite direction.

Let’s take a look at some Nickel Producers

VALE, which is the world’s second-largest producer of Nickel, appears to be consolidating while nickel prices trend higher and the same appears to be true of NILSY (Norilsk Mines). What could be taking place here is that the stocks are pulling back and building energy for the next phase upwards.

On the monthly chart of VALE, we can see that the stock is holding up quite well, while our indicators are letting out some steam. If one were willing to take some risk and wanted to act before our indicators moved into the oversold range capital could be deployed in the 9 to 10 dollar ranges.

The pattern is quite interesting here; this is one of the few stocks in the sector that has not experienced a nice upward move. The other stocks are now consolidating building up steam for the next leg up, however, this chap is still trading in the extremely oversold ranges and technically could mount a rally at any moment. However, note that this is a speculative play.

This company also trades in London under symbol GLEN (LSX: GLEN), and it is currently the world’s 4^th largest nickel producer. Risk-takers could deploy some capital in the 3.25-3.30 ranges and another lot deployed if it drops down to the 2.90-3.00 ranges. We would hold onto the third and deploy it after one of our customer indicators generates a buy signal.

Courtesy of Tactical Investor

Random views on Nickel Stocks

Use of nickel has been traced as far back as 3,500 BC. In more recent times nickel has been used in coins (a nickel), but is best known for its use in stainless steel driven mostly by Chinese construction. With the current negative sentiment due to the US-China trade war and some mild slowdown in China, nickel prices have fallen to a low level, as have the nickel miners. Provided we don’t head into a significant China or global slowdown, any resolution in the trade war with China should lead to some recovery in nickel prices and the nickel miner’s stock prices.Class 1 nickel demand forecast to increase 17 fold from 2017 to 2025 due to the EV boomAccording to McKinsey research if annual electric vehicle (EV) production reaches 31 million vehicles by 2025 as expected then demand for high-purity class 1 nickel is likely to increase significantly from 33 Kt in 2017 to 570 Kt in 2025. Class 1 nickel is the “high purity” nickel that is used in electric vehicle lithium ion batteries. The stainless steel industry uses both class 1 and class 2 nickel (lower purity) and is the main driver of overall nickel demand. Full Story

The share price of nickel mining stocks rose significantly in the Philippine Stock Exchange last week. This was driven by the sharp increase in the price of nickel traded in the London Metal Exchange (LME). The price of nickel is currently $14,860 per ton, up 17 percent compared to its end-June level and up 39 percent compared to its end 2018 level. This is despite the slowing global economic growth, which is pulling down the price of most commodities.

The higher price of nickel in LME is largely due to the steep drop in inventory levels. From 200,000 metric tons during the start of the year, LME’s inventory level fell to 160,000 MT as of end-June and is now down to 149,000 MT. This is equivalent to less than two months’ worth of supply and indicates a potential shortage, according to Jervois Mining executive general manager Michael Rodriguez, as reported by SmallCaps.com.

A reason for the decline in nickel inventory is growing demand for lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. Note that various groups are projecting demand for electric vehicles to increase by a compounded annual growth rate of more than 20 percent in the next five to 10 years as governments globally are encouraging the adoption of electric vehicles due to environmental reasons. Consequently, demand for nickel used for electric vehicle batteries is also increasing and is expected to account for more than 50 percent of total nickel demand by 2030. Full Story

2016 was lithium’s year, 2017 was cobalt’s year, and 2018-2020 are likely to be nickel’s years as nickel inventories decline and nickel prices finally start to rise. Strong Chinese and global stainless steel demand and ever increasing demand from electric vehicles [EVs] using higher nickel content batteries NMC (8:1:1).

In this article the first 2 stocks are more solid and safe diversified nickel investments (with exposure to other metals) that will do ok even if the nickel boom is delayed until 2020. The last 3 stocks are nickel-cobalt optionality plays that can give out-sized returns should the nickel price continue to improve as I expect. They will also be helped significantly by strong cobalt prices. In all cases investors will need some patience with a 5 year plus investment time frame.

Nickel price and inventory

Nickel is only just recovering now from a severe bear market from 2012 to early 2016 (low of just below US$4/lb), with the price moving up in 2017 and reaching USD 6.10/lb by late January 2018. Inventory is finally slowly declining and price is recovering. Whilst some Philippine supply is expected to come back, the demand picture is strengthening as global economic growth picks up and the mass market EV boom begins.

In 2017 nickel prices rose 27.51% on the back of solid Chinese stainless steel demand. I expect something similar each year from now until 2020, as demand is steadily boosted from the EV boom. Full Story

BitCoin VS Precious Metals

Posted on 01/16/2023 by Yanis P.

There is no absurdity so palpable but that it may be firmly planted in the human head if you only begin to inculcate it before the age of five, by constantly repeating it with an air of great solemnity. Arthur Schopenhauer

Gold bottomed in 2002, and it took nine years for its trade to a high of roughly $1900 (September 2011). Contrast that to Bitcoin, in less than 1/3^rd of the amount of time it is showing gains of more than 11,000%. It took nine years for Gold to show gains of roughly 700% and Gold has given up a substantial portion of those gains.

We bailed out of Gold in 2011 for two reasons:

Gold was trading in the extremely overbought ranges, and the Gold Bug Camp could not contain their glee; they thought the sky was the limit. Instead, they found out that the Ground was a lot closer.
The masses were not embracing Gold, and they refused to treat or view it as a currency.

Only those from the hard money camp continued to believe that Gold was a currency, but sadly their numbers are dwindling with the passage of each day. The masses view Bitcoin as cool and secure; a feat Gold has struggled to achieve and is not likely to achieve in the foreseeable future. Whether this is true or not, hardly matters for when it comes to investing, perceptions are all that matter.

Does this mean the precious metals sector is dead?

Well, that depends on what one means by dead. Gold has performed abysmally since (it topped out) 2011. The money supply soared, and Gold tanked, not exactly a good sign. In doing the opposite of what was expected from it, Gold cemented the view that it was an ancient relic that has no place in today’s monetary system. We are speaking in terms of Mass Perception. What we think, matters not; we follow trends, and we don’t waste time trying to look at things from a personal vantage point. There are many reasons for Gold’s underperformance after 2011; one of them was the “velocity of the money supply” which all but stalled after 2011. However, the masses don’t waste time on details like this. They look for simple cause and effect answers. Money supply soared, Gold did nothing, and hence Gold is a waste of time. A bit simplistic but that’s the mass mindset for you. However, looking forward some factors could limit Gold’s lustre

Demand for Gold continues to drop

India’s gold consumption is likely to drop to its lowest in eight years in 2017, hit by government moves to make bullion trading more transparent and by faltering demand from some rural areas, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday.

Evidence of weaker appetite in a country where gold is used in everything from investment to wedding gifts could drag on global prices that have been hovering near their highest in three weeks. India is the word’s No 2 consumer of gold behind China. Full Story

The Dollar appears to be putting in a base

The dollar topped in early 2017 and what did Gold do? Absolutely nothing; instead of surging to new highs it could not even trade past its July 2016 highs. The dollar, in contrast, has been going through a well deserved period of consolidation after mounting a stunning rally that started in 2011. It tested support and held, and as long as it does not close below 90 on a monthly basis, the outlook will remain bullish. Consequently, a monthly close above 94.50 will open the possibility for a test of the old highs.

Conclusion

The dollar is getting ready to mount a rally, demand for Gold is declining, and Gold has been unable to trade past $1350 even in the face of a weaker dollar. Then we have the Bitcoin market, which the masses (especially millennia’s) find to be a lot more exciting and rewarding than Gold. All these factors don’t bode well for Gold. It appears that Gold is likely to test the 1000 ranges unless it decides to diverge and trend upwards in tandem with the dollar. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is now in the feeding frenzy stage, so this market is ripe for a correction. However, the upward move is still not over. After a hard correction, Bitcoin is likely to resume its upward trend.

Gold will probably never experience a move akin to that of Bitcoin, but that does not mean it won’t make for a good investment one day. For now, the trend is neutral; a weekly close below $1100 will darken the outlook for Gold, but a monthly close above $1350 will indicate that Gold is ready to trend higher.

Word to the wise

Never fall in love with any investment. In the end, it’s the trend that you should pay attention to, for no sector can trend upwards forever. The odds of the Dow trading to 29,000 are far better than of Gold trading to $1900.

Published courtesy of the Tactical Investor

US Dollar Finally Hit Bottom?

Posted on 01/15/2023 by Yanis P.

US Dollar Finally Hit Bottom and Gold could be heading lower

Gold USD: The theme from the Gold bug camp for so long has been that gold is going to soar to the moon. What many forget is that these fools have been singing this same song for decades. Instead of soaring to the moon, Gold has been licking the dust for almost 7 years. It topped off in 2011 and since then the action has all down with a few false breakouts that the misguided Gold bugs mistook for the beginning of a new bull run.

We are not against Gold or the precious metals sectors; we actually favour the hard money doctrine, but the problem is that view is not shared by the majority. Mark Dice illustrated that most individuals would take a candy bar over a 10oz bar of Silver.

Now, many would respond by saying these people are stupid, etc. That’s not the point; the point is that most people no longer view Gold as currency; instead, they view it as some ancient relic.

Is the Dollar getting ready to Rally?

The bigger issue is that the Dollar appears to be putting in a base. The dollar has mounted a very strong rally since it bottomed out in 2011, so the current consolidation is to be expected. The dollar is holding firmly at 90; a zone of strong support. As long as the dollar does not close below 90 on a monthly basis the outlook will remain bullish. With the passage of the Trump’s Tax package, the outlook for the dollar and the stock market has brightened significantly pushing Gold even deeper into the shadows. If the Dollar can close above 94.50 on a monthly basis, the groundwork will be laid for a test of the old highs.

Gold, on the other hand, looks like it’s going nowhere

The dollar topped in early 2017 and did the Gold market respond positively to this event. The reaction was muted at best. Instead of surging to new highs it could not even trade past its July 2016 highs. To make matters worse, gold put in a lower high than it did in July of 2016, even though the dollar traded below its 2016 lows.

Other bearish factors

Instead of putting in a series of higher lows, Gold has been putting in a series of low highs since 2013.

It has not managed to trade above $1350 for more than a brief period. This illustrates that demand is not robust and the market is not pricing in all the negative news. Until Gold can trade above $1350 on a monthly basis, the outlook will remain Neutral to bearish.

If the US Dollar Finally Hit Bottom, then it should be testing its old highs within 12-15 months

The dollar is oversold, and the pattern is still bullish. It has gone through an extensive consolidation phase and it is now trading in the oversold ranges. A monthly close above 94.50 will solidify the longer-term outlook and indicate that the dollar is ready to test and possibly challenge its all-time highs.

Published courtesy of the Tactical Investor

Bull and Bear 2019: Which one is the winner?

Posted on 01/14/2023 by Yanis P.

Bull and bear market: Before we get into any commentary take a look at the images and charts below. Remember that the best time to buy from a long term perspective is when blood is flowing freely in the streets and blood is flowing now. Finally, keep in mind that we have always advocated that crashes are nothing but long term buying opportunities. Pull up a long term chart and you will be forced to arrive at the same conclusion.The Big player’s game strategy is to get individuals to focus on words such as bear market, crash, and end of the world, etc; in doing so, the crowd focuses on the tree and forgets the forest.

Source: Tactical Investor

The anxiety gauge has red-lined, and the gauge is in unchartered territory; it has set an all-time new high.

Source: Tactical Investor

Bearish sentiment is approaching the seven-year high level. Fear and hysteria are trading at off the chart levels. Mass psychology states that stock markets never crash when the masses are in a state of panic. Bull markets emerge when the masses panic, so forgot about the what happens if the stock market crashes scenario? If it does crash, run out and buy all the top companies; from a long term perspective stock market crashes are fantastic buying opportunities.

If things were declining retail sales would not be improving. Holiday season retail sales are set to exceed the $ one trillion mark for the first time.

Source: emarketer.com

Random Views on Stock Market Bull and Bear 2019

Big-money investors see the bull market ending in 2019

Institutional investors believe the bull market in stocks will come to an end over the next 12 months.

They also expect the next financial crisis to come in one to five years, according to a Natixis survey.

The results come as market tumult has left stocks barely positive for 2019.

The longest bull market run in history is coming to an end in 2019, according to the pros who handle Wall Street’s big-money clientele.

A survey of institutional investors show that 65 percent see a change coming, with the biggest threats being geopolitical tensions and rising interest rates, according to Natixis, which surveyed 500 managers of pension funds, endowments, foundations and the like. Respondents also included sovereign wealth funds and insurance funds.

In addition to seeing the bull market stopping, they also anticipate the next financial crisis coming in one to five years.

Despite the pessimism over where the market is heading, the collective portfolio allocation to stocks is expected to dip only slightly — from 38 percent to 36 percent. But 41 percent of those surveyed said they will be reducing allocation to U.S. equities.

Allocations are expected to increase slightly for bonds, from 37 percent to 38 percent, and cash, from 5 percent to 6 percent.

“The market is catching up to what they’ve been thinking about. I think they’ve been positioned for this for quite a while,” he said. “For the most part they’re staying put, except U.S. equities.” Full Story

Opinion: A bear market and 6 other forecasts for 2019

A new year is usually a time for fresh starts and empty promises. But investors begin 2019 in a state of high anxiety.

That’s because despite a post-Christmas rally, stocks still had their worst December since 1931 and their worst year since 2008 (both ominous comparisons). By Christmas Eve, the S&P 500 SPX, +0.00% was within 0.2 percentage points of a 20% bear-market decline, before a Santa rally kicked in.

So are we in a bear market? Is recession around the corner? And how will Democratic control of the House of Representatives and the looming 2020 presidential election affect markets this year? Here’s my take.

1. A trade deal with China will boost markets and investors’ confidence. President Trump already has hinted (or tweeted) that trade talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping are making “big progress.” Both men really need a deal—Xi, because of the slowing Chinese economy, and Trump, because of plunging stock prices.

I expect they will cut a cosmetic deal in which Xi makes some concessions, but ultimately Trump will cave on his major demands, as he did with North Korea (which still shows no sign of real denuclearization). But both will declare victory and that will be good enough for hardcore Trumpkins and for Wall Street, which just wants markets to go up.
So stocks will rally sharply… Full Story

Will 2019 be a Bear Market or Bull Market?

AK has been an analyst at long/short equity investment firms, global macro funds, and corporate economics departments. He co-founded Macro Ops and is the host of Fallible.

Is The 2019 Stock Market Crash Over? Or Will The Bear Market Continue?
In this video we’ll do a quick market review to see whether we’re headed higher from here in stocks or if the bear is still creeping behind the corner.

The market is battling through the major supply overhang (red zone) that I pointed out a few weeks ago. I’d expect a selloff from these levels over the next few weeks. This bounce is technically overextended (price is near the upper Bollinger Band) and one more good washout would really set the stage (both from a technical and sentiment point of view) for another major leg higher.

Of course, we don’t need to see a selloff. We could see persistent strength and have the market move higher from here. But, I believe it’s odds on we see a reversal before the market makes another major move.

The market has so far, though, given us a number of things to be optimistic about. Both credit and Cyclical vs Defensives have been confirming this rally; which is just the type of action we need to see in order for a significant bottom to be in place.

And various breadth indicators are showing extremely large buying pressure coming into the market. My longer-term breadth indicator is moving in the right direction. Full Story

Conclusion

The correction of 2008 was warranted as the masses were euphoric in terms of the housing sector; it took a turn for the worse when Lehman brothers were purposely thrown to the curb by the Fed. Regardless of this development, you can see that the markets were trading in the extremely overbought ranges and masses were euphoric.

The same sequence of events occurred during the dot.com bubble and the not too late Bitcoin bubble. If there were charts, we could demonstrate the exact setup going back all the way to the tulip bubble. The masses are not euphoric and the markets are not overbought; hence the current pullback most likely falls into the “opportunity” category.

Experts Are Not Smart Enough to Spot Stock Market Crash 2017

Posted on 01/12/2023 by Yanis P.

Stock Market Crash 2017 boils down to all bark and no bite

For the past few years much the angst of many experts we have consistently stated that the markets were not ready to crash. Moreover, we believe that Experts are not Smart Enough to Spot Stock Market Crash 2017. If they were they would not have made the same predictions in 2014, 2015 and 2016. All these predictions of disasters proved to be nothing but idle chatter.
From late 2016 to early 2017, many former Bulls who predicted the direction of this market quite well, suddenly decided that the stock market was ready to crash. We, however, begged to differ, and we provided two very simple reasons for our stance.

Experts Fail To Realise that Emotions drive the markets:

The masses have remained nervous throughout this bull run; no bull market has ever ended when the masses are nervous. History indicates that stock market crashes begin on a euphoric note and end on a note of hysteria.

The trend clearly states that the Experts are on the wrong side of the Stock Market Crash 2017 argument

We focus more on the psychology of the masses than on any other single factor. However, the 2^nd most important factor is the trend. The trend has remained positive throughout this bull run; occasionally it has moved into the neutral zone, but it has never turned negative. We are not talking about the trend based on the drawing of simple trend lines but one that is calculated utilizing several factors one of which happens to price action.

So when the experts started to scream over and over again about the impending stock market crash of 2017; these are some of the comments we recently made to our readers and or subscribers

Let the experts sing their songs of doom and con the masses; it takes two to tango, one to cry and three to have a party. We have experts from the technical analysis side and experts employing fundamentals trying to use to back their faulty assertions. Unfortunately for these penguins both of them are wrong. They have failed to pay attention to the psychological factor. There is no factor more important when it comes to playing the markets then market psychology. Market Update April 30, 2017

The market marches to its beat and those that resist are drained; financially speaking that is. We are not fortune tellers; we reserve that noteworthy task for the experts who seem to take delight on spewing rubbish week after week. The media then regurgitates this rubbish, and a jackass is suddenly made to look like a movie star. What a wonderful world we live in and people wonder why they lose money after listening to these wise men.

We, on the other hand, prefer to listen to what the market is saying and that is why we never listen to our gut instinct or let our emotions into the equation. We look for trends. Market Update May 19, 2017

What’s The most nonplussing factor in this bull market?

The emotional state of the masses; the herd, for the most part, has been oscillating back and forth from the neutral to the Bearish camps; very few have dared to venture into the bullish camp. This probably explains why the bullish readings never even came close to testing the 60% ranges for the past 15 weeks and counting. During that time the market has been trending higher and higher. This has caught many an expert with his pants down. But there is no surprise here; the reason as we have stated so many times over and over again is that the Crowd is not euphoric and the trend is still bullish.

The same pattern holds true for most of 2015 and 2016; the number individuals in the Bearish and neutral camps outnumbered those in the bullish camp. If you are in the Neutral camp one of two things one of two things apply; you are either are a bear that got burned or Bull with no courage to take a position.

Our proprietary sentiment indicator also confirms that the masses are still antsy.

Market Structure

If the markets were extremely overbought, then it should be almost impossible to find stocks that are trading in the oversold ranges on the monthly charts. On a monthly chart, each bar represents one month’s worth of data on; these charts provide great clues of what to expect from the markets.

In the Dow, we spotted several stocks that were trading in the extremely oversold ranges to oversold ranges on the monthly charts. AAPL, HD, DIS and NKE are examples of such stocks.

We also examined roughly 150 random Midcap to large cap stocks (ETF’s were included in this analysis) from various sectors; we found that almost 60% of the stocks examined were trading in the oversold ranges; one ETF that caught our eye was IBB; it is trading in the extremely oversold ranges.

We also noted that the net number of new 52 week highs continuously exceeded the net number of new 52 week lows. Why is this important? It indicates that the internal structure of the market is healthy.

Tactical investors Alternative Dow theory states that the experts have it wrong

Our stance for the past 11 years has been that the Dow Theory is dead; we provided an alternative Dow Theory that has proven to be far more accurate than the original. This theory states that it is the utilities that should be followed and not the transports. We will cover this in more detail in a follow-up article next week. In essence, it is the Utilities that lead the way and not the transports.

The utilities started to consolidate roughly from Aug of 2016 and bottomed out in Nov 2016 and had consolidated for roughly three months before they started to trend upwards. The utilities are now surging to new highs, and this bodes well for the overall market. The alternative theory states that the Dow should follow suit.

This is a mature bull market so one should not expect it to trend in one direction only; it will experience several corrections ranging from mild to severe. Unfortunately, the Dr’s of doom will confuse this correction for a crash as they have mistakenly done so for the past eight years and counting. When the masses embrace this market, the end will be close at hand; until then strong corrections should be embraced.

There is a lag period between the utilities and the Dow; sometimes it comes down to just a few weeks, but usually, it ranges from 3-5 months. The Dow has been consolidating since March; it has essentially been trading in a tight range. Even though the Dow did not pull back strongly, the sideways action helped it blow out a large dose of steam as envisioned by the MACD’s and several other technical indicators that are trading in the oversold ranges. The lag period was roughly three months as the utility bottomed out in Nov and the Dow started to consolidate in March of 2017.

The stock market crash theme makes for great headlines as fear sells well, but that is all it has been good for so far. The market will experience a much stronger correction over the course of the next 6-15 months, but until the masses embrace this bull market, those corrections will prove to be buying opportunities.

The overall Market sentiment illustrates that the masses are not jumping with joy. The trend is positive, and the Dow Utilities have surged to new highs. Therefore under such conditions, it is hard to envision a crash like a scenario.

Every bull market experiences one back breaking correction that is mistakenly labelled as the beginning of a new bear market. When that occurs, it will be a sign that the end is close at hand. That strong correction will subsequently trigger an even stronger rally and fuel a feeding frenzy. Sentiment will turn bullish, and the masses will dance with Joy, then the bottom will drop. However, we are not at this stage, so there is no point in further developing this story line.

Our ideal setup would call for the Dow to shed 600-1000 points over a very short period; this would drive the masses into the hysteria zone. A small push is all it would take to drive the fear factor through the roof. We all know what happens next; the masses stampede, the smart money swoops in, and history repeats itself once again. For the masses, it is groundhogs day every single day.

A genius can’t be forced; nor can you make an ape an alderman.

Thomas Somerville

Published courtesy of the Tactical Investor

The Psychology of Contrarian Investors

Posted on 01/06/2023 by Yanis P.

A contrarian investor focuses on the facts and not the noise

We are going to use the precious metals to illustrate some of the Psychological principles of being a Contrarian investor. Keep in mind that most contrarian investors are not real contrarians but fall under the category of Fashion contrarians.

Contrarian investing is based on taking a position that is opposite to that of the masses. In general contrarian, investors get in an investment too early as their analysis is based on doing the opposite of the masses. In contrast mass psychology dictates that you wait for the emotion to hit a boiling point, euphoria or panic before a position is taken. Mass psychology involves the actual study of what the masses are doing as opposed to just determining that their current action is wrong and using that information to take a position in the opposite direction.

A contrarian Investor takes a position that is contrary to the Masses

Contrarians only take a position that is contrary to the masses and that about wraps up the ideology of being a contrarian today. Very few of today’s contrarians are true contrarians; they fall into the category of fashion contrarians.

Investors that adopt the doctrine of mass psychology correctly look for something more. Mass psychology takes the principle of contrarian investing and then pushes it to the next level.

Mass psychology focuses on extreme situations

Students of Mass Psychology look for extreme type situations. In other words, sentiment should not just be bullish before an opposing strategy is put into play, it should be at the boiling point and only then will the student of mass psychology look for an exit and attempt to take an opposing position to that of the masses. To illustrate this point, we will use the following example.

The commodities sector has several components to it, two of them being the Gold and Silver. Throughout 2002 and early 2003, the hate and disgust for both these sectors were extremely high. Fast forward to 2004 and Gold was being mentioned everywhere; even CNBC had a little ticker that stated what the price of Gold was throughout the day. The hate or disgust for both these sectors was no longer there, and even though both these sectors have a long way to go before the masses fully embrace them, they did not provide a psychological basis for taking an opposing position to that of the masses in 2004.

Gold went on to soar to untold heights, heights that most would have deemed impossible in 2003. All along the way we continually stated that Gold would continue to trade higher and higher until 2011. We warned our subscribers to bail out of Gold very close to the top.

A Contrarian Investor pays close attention to what the masses are doing

Even though the masses have still not fully embraced Gold, this concept does not matter in the long run. A more important criterion would be to find out what % of investors has taken positions in these sectors or not. Next one would try to find out what the Gold bugs (the most bullish individuals ever created on earth) are doing. If all the Gold bugs are bullish, then based on the contrarian rules of investing you should take a contrary to a neutral position because all the individuals in your group are now optimistic.

Do not pay attention to the masses; they know not what they are doing when it comes to investing

Should one care what the masses are doing that much or focus on the Gold bugs (the group) that are emotionally tied up with Gold? The masses in general, will not embrace Gold fully until it becomes fashionable and by then a large portion of the Bull Run will be a thing of the past. In the last Gold Bull Run, the masses did not even know what was going on, let alone take a position in this sector.

So one measure would be to determine if all the people who believe in Gold have already taken positions if they have then the market has become saturated. The only way the market can continue its upward run is for momentum players to jump on the bandwagon. These players have very short time spans of concentration, and thus, they jump in and out very fast. Once they decide to bail out the corrective phase could be very painful as was the case of precious metals topped out in 2011. The housing collapse and internet bubble serve as two stark reminders of what happens once momentum has run its course.

A Good Contrarian Investor understand the core principles of Mass Psychology

Mass psychology is the constant analysis of the playing field to determine how the game is being played. Are the rules changing, are the players become more aggressive or docile, is the playing field soft, rocky or worse yet on extremely high and treacherous ground. One has to take measures at different levels and then compare it the pattern you have already established from past observations.

In this sense, mass psychology is dynamic compared to the methodology most contrarians put into play. Contrarians do not measure their position relative to those of other contrarians; they only measure their position relative to that of the masses, and therefore, they fail to obtain a vital piece of data. This usually results in pain, misery and taking on substantial losses In, other words; they do not measure the intensity of emotion in their camp.

The gold bugs are a classic example of contrarian investing gone wrong. They moved from the Euphoric phase to the having found religion period, to the gnashing of teeth and pure misery phase, as they watched Gold plunge from 1800 ranges down to the 1000 ranges. They still cannot fathom why this happened, especially as trillions of more dollars have been created since 2011.

The Internet boom lasted one-year longer after all the TA and contrarian indicators were in the extremely bearish zones. Euphoria for this sector was running sky-high. If one had shorted the markets based on these contrarian factors only one would have lost one’s pants and well as underwear. In other words, you would have most likely lost a small fortune.

Gold bugs should have banked some of their profits. Instead, they continued to plough money into Gold, and as it pulled back, they jumped in joy and added even more. Once the correction moved from the mild to the wild phase, they panicked and started to pray. Today the sentiment is almost as bearish as it was in 2003. From a long term perspective, a great buying opportunity could be at hand.

Be A true Contrarian Investor and not a fashion contrarian

Most so-called contrarians were caught flat-footed when the Equity markets mounted this huge rally from Oct 2004. Their contrarian indicators suggested that taking a short or neutral position was the right thing to do. Only 10% of the investors can win at any given time. The moment the number surges past this level (no matter what side of the fence they are on contrarian or the masses side); the markets will adjust to bring this ratio back to its norm.

Investing based on psychology amounts to not only taking a position against the masses but also against the fashion contrarians. Once sentiment has reached the boiling point, one should go into cash; risk takers can consider shorting the markets. Finally, less attention is being given to the precious metals sector, so establishing a position now could be viewed as a prudent long term investment.

On the same token, most investors and experts expected the Market to Crash after Trump won and we stated that it would create a buying opportunity just as Brexit did. In fact, since 2013 we have been stating that a stock market crash was a long way in the making and that all strong pullback should be viewed through a bullish lens.

Published courtesy of the Tactical Investor

Will Bitcoin Crash Chart

Posted on 01/04/2023 by Yanis P.

Will Bitcoin Crash or Backbreaking Correction? (Bitcoin Crash Chart)

The dot.com insanity experienced a backbreaking amendment before the market launched and beat out toward the finish of 1999. The picture below represents that Bitcoin likewise experienced such an adjustment, but since of the expansive finish move it has all the earmarks of being only a blip. Tactical Investing amounts to combining Technical analysis with Mass psychology creating a system that is second to none. The Trend Indicator is an example of such a system.

It combines the most important aspects of Mass psychology with the best of Technical analysis to yield a system that identifies the trend in advance of the event. Our technical indicators also enable us to identify crucial turning points in the market accurately.

Think about that from a high of 2977 (June 10, 2017); it dropped to a low of 1808 set on the fifteenth of July 2017; it shed generally 40% in that brief period (shown by the green box). Everybody recognizes what pursued.

Depressed people tend to depress everyone around them, however it keeps an eye on Pay’s all around inadequately over the long haul

It looks horrid, the media is siphoning apocalypse type situations, solid bulls are appearing of shortcoming, and even contrarian investing specialists are beginning to break. Unadulterated Contrarian Investors are more intelligent than the majority, yet they do have imperfections; the most astute financial specialists are the ones that put the standards of mass brain science into play.

They watch the mass outlook, and they comprehend that notwithstanding when dread begins to crawl into the condition, they are constrained to make this inquiry: Was the group in a condition of elation when the market beat out? On the off chance that the appropriate response is “no”, at that point regardless of how horrendous the image may look, the end amusement is that the group is being set up for a bogus descending move. Furthermore, the ordinary reaction would “why”. Basic answer, this is a propelled type of Pavlovian preparing.

The Bitcoin Crash Chart resembled the Tulip Bubble, it was a trick from the earliest starting point. The ones that made the cash were the ones that got in first, the ones that got in late were given their heads on a stinky tin platter. Never get into a speculation when the majority are euphoric, purchase when there is blood in the lanes and the other way around.

Financial exchange crashes are diverse as they don’t speak to one segment, so it is simply an issue of time before the business sectors will return to the standard. From a mass brain research point of view, financial exchange crashes are only long haul purchasing openings. Disregard the what occurs if the securities exchange crashes situation, and spotlight on what you would do if stocks you were biting the dust to possess before are currently selling for pennies on the dollar.

Pavlovian Type Training Is Being Used On The Masses

At the point when the market puts in a base subsequent to encountering a backbreaking remedy, and after that proceeds to mount an amazing rally; the group engraves the accompanying information in their brains. Purchase the pullback, since it is a phony snare to drive us out; they likewise begin to have confidence in the accompanying mantra “the more grounded the pullback, the better the chance”. Next time when the Market puts in a best, bullish slant will remain bizarrely high, and that will be the notice to understudies of Mass Psychology that the genuine skull pulverizing revision is en route. Once more, we point you toward the not very far off Bitcoin stupendous buyer advertise and the similarly fabulous accident. From low to high Bitcoin attached 11,000% in increases and the majority still expected that the main bearing it could exchange was up. When it bested the Bitcoin swarm was past overjoyed.

Concerning whether the bitcoin crash is finished, we trust that one should hold up somewhat longer before bouncing in and in every way that really matters, Bitcoin chart is exceptionally far-fetched to test the 20,000 territories for quite a while. On the drawback, bitcoin is probably going to test the 3000 territories with a conceivable overshoot to the 2,500 territories before a significant base grabs hold. Right now, there are numerous different stocks that look fascinating and unmistakably more appealing than bitcoin, for instance, PG, MRK, TCEHY, and so on.

Courtesy of Tactical Investor

Rate of Inflation not an issue according to Bond Market

Posted on 01/03/2023 by Yanis P.

The Bond market is Indicating that The Rate of Inflation is not an issue in 2017

Bonds should have continued to plunge, but notice that bonds bottomed in April and have started to trend higher. After the July rate hike, bonds should have taken out their April lows, but they did not. Instead, they went on to put in a series of higher lows; higher lows are usually indicative of higher prices. Furthermore, the stock market hardly reacted to the last rate hike; after a very mild reaction, it has continued to trend higher.

We tend to focus more on the technical and psychological outlook, and both are indicating that inflation is still not an issue. The Gold market is also indicating that inflation is not an issue. Last July Gold traded past $1400; at that time rates were lower and the US dollar was trading at higher levels. But today rates are higher today, and the dollar is trading lower than it was in 2016, but Gold instead trading at or above $1400 can’t even trade above $1300 for a sustained period.

Mass Psychology seems to support the theory that US inflation is not a big problem

The psychological factor does not support higher prices; the economy is not doing well as the consumer is not spending wildly. Consumer confidence is increasing, but consumer spending is not marching in tandem with consumer confidence. Income growth is weak; the rise in incomes and net worth has primarily benefited high income and high net worth households. These are the same individuals that have the most money invested in the stock market which has tripled since its March 2009 lows.

We have listed a plethora of factors that illustrate that inflation is not an issue; at least not yet.

Even James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve of St Louis went seems to be in agreement

“Low inflation has been the major surprise of the era,”

He also went on to state that he was still waiting for inflation to return to the 2% ranges and would not support any increases in the Fed’s benchmark rate until 2018 to allow inflationary forces to recover. He might have to wait a lot longer than that. AI and technology, in general, are going to continue to fuel lower prices. The retail sector is in freefall; the remaining players battle it out, and price wars will continue for the foreseeable future. Food prices are going to plunge due to the price war that new entrants like Lidl and Amazon have triggered.

The bond market is not supporting the higher inflationary outlook, in fact by all measures the bond market appears to be building momentum to trend higher.

US Jobs Report misses the mark

The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4% and wages barely grew. Only 156,000 jobs were added as opposed to the 180,000 consensus number.

The retail sector continued to get hammered; retailers shed 9,00 jobs, while the public sector shed another 9000 jobs.

“In months where there are anomalies like this, we look at the three-month average, which is 185,000,” said Michael Gapen, chief United States economist at Barclays. “The labor market is healthy, but we still have the conundrum that solid employment gains haven’t translated into faster wage growth.”

One wild card in the second half of 2017 will be gasoline prices. The surge following Hurricane Harvey’s devastation in Texas will leave less money for consumers to spend on other goods and services.

“For the economy, it’s steady as she goes, but for the markets, it’s Goldilocks,” said Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank, referring to the not-too-hot, not-too-cold August payroll increase. NY Times

The markets are holding up well and trending higher as we stated they would all along in 2016 and now in 2017. Until the sentiment turns bullish the markets are expected to trend higher.

Price of Copper Signalling Inflation or higher Stock Market Prices

Posted on 01/02/2023 by Yanis P.

Price of Copper probably a bullish Development for the Stock market

Many pundits associate higher copper prices with inflation. This is the wrong metric to look at; higher copper prices are usually associated with an improving economy.

Copper has traded past a key resistance point ($3.00) and it has managed to close above this important level on a monthly basis. The long term outlook for copper is now bullish and will remain so as long as it does not close below 2.80 on a monthly basis. Copper is facing resistance in the 3.20-3.25 ranges and as it is now trading in the extremely overbought ranges. As copper is now trading in the extremely overbought ranges, it is more likely to let out some steam before trading past this zone. A healthy consolidation will provide copper with the force necessary to challenge the 3.20 ranges and trade as high as $3.80 with a possible overshoot to $4.00, provided it does not close below $2.80 on a monthly basis.

Now that copper has traded past $3.00 on a monthly basis, the Fed deserves another pat on the back for they have managed to further cement the illusion that this economic recovery is real. Copper is seen as a barometer for economic growth, so pulling off a Houdini here is probably going propel a lot of former naysayers to embrace this economic recovery.

Mass Sentiment is still Negative so Stock Market likely to Correct only

Combining this data with the action in the Copper markets leads us to believe that the stock market is more likely to experience a correction than an outright crash. Higher copper prices are usually indicative of higher stock market prices. Therefore, the copper markets are confirming that the long term trend is still intact.

What about the Inflation issue?

The chart below puts an end to that argument for now. If inflation were an issue, the velocity of M2 money stock would be trending upwards. Until it starts to trend upwards, inflation is not an issue and the focus should be on higher stock market prices.

Conclusion

Don’t focus on the noise; focus on the trend as it’s your friend and everything else is your foe.

Published courtesy of the Tactical Investor

Stock market corrections or stock market crashes

Posted on 01/01/2023 by Yanis P.

Stock market corrections or stock market crashes: The Dow would have to drop below 9000 to break below the main uptrend line; an unlikely event in the near future. However, this does not mean it’s impossible. Every once in awhile the markets experience a monumental crash that can shave of as much as 60% of the Markets current value. In this is instance we are using weekly charts; each bar on the chart represents one week’s worth of data. Straight off the bat, you can see that back breaking corrections translate into long term buying opportunities. Remember when there is blood in the streets and the masses are in panic mode, the opportunity is knocking.

Market Crashes are Buying Opportunities

The first zone comes into play at 16,000. If the Dow closes below this level on a monthly basis then there is a chance it could trade as low as 13,000. However, based on the current market sentiment, there is very little likelihood of such a scenario coming to pass. Mass Psychology is very clear when it comes to dealing with stock market crashes. Market crash on a note of Euphoria and bottom on a note of despair. Mass psychology states that optimum time to get into the markets is when the masses are in panic mode.

A fortress of support comes into play at the 13,000-13,500 ranges

To trade any lower than this level, the Dow would need to close below the above ranges on a quarterly basis. If it were to do that then the main uptrend line could be tested. Note that this trend will continue to trending upwards, so in 12 months, the trend line could move from the 9000 ranges to the 10,000 plus ranges.

Buy the Fear Sell the Joy

The individuals who arrive at the party late are the first ones to come out and mistake a correction for a crash.The crowd panics when it sees blood in the streets; instead of joining the crowd do something different take advantage of stock market crashes and buy as the crowd dumps quality stocks and flees for the exits.

Crash or correction boils down to the angle of observance

What is stunning to one, could appear ugly to another; it comes down to the angle of observance. Alter the angle and the image changes. Mass media and most experts try to alter the angle and direct you to see what they want you to see. They are in the fear “Selling Business” because fear sells, so they focus on creating a mountain out of a mole hill.

History clearly indicates that the Astute investors build very large stakes when there is blood in the streets. Moreover, they keep building these positions as long as the main driving force is fear. Take a look at the current Bull market; the Dow is trading at 22,000 and the masses are still nervous. It’s history in the making. The masses are always on the wrong side of the markets in the long run.

The astute investor always views financial disasters through a bullish lens. Instead of panicking they take advantage of stock market crashes.

Normality highly values its normal man. It educates children to lose themselves and to become absurd, and thus to be normal. Normal men have killed perhaps100, 000 of their fellow normal men in the last fifty years.
R. D. Laing 1927-1989, British Psychiatrist

Published courtesy of the Tactical Investor

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