Silver might be at the start of a new cycleThe Gold/Silver ratio is currently suggesting that silver might outperform gold if commodities continue to rise. I'm basing this mostly on the recent price action in the GC1!/SI1! ratio as signs of fatigue have appeared just below a long-term channel resistance. Note that silver prices alone successfully held the 2014 lows at $14. Those who are aggressively bullish on battered commodities are likely betting on a double bottom, which remains to be seen in the weeks ahead.
Si1
Bitcoin: A Commodity?Bitcoin has long been a favorite for those looking for an alternative to centralized fiat money. Although I always thought bitcoin was promising, the technological aspect always held safety and liquidity concerns. Due to the fact that it is hard to prove peer-to-peer transactions, financial institutions - especially in the U.S. - have strict policies and layers of purchase authenticity that make buyers wait from a few hours or longer to actually receive the bitcoin.
Could the inception of other bitcoin trading products add to liquidity or the general acceptance of bitcoin? Recently, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has designated that bitcoin is a commodity. By doing so, adding bitcoin derivatives is an attempt to regulate the bitcoin market.
Some find it strange that the CFTC has said that bitcoin, among other digital currencies, has the same properties as physical commodities like gold or oil. It is true that there is a defined supply of bitcoin, but it is more than likely that the designation is more of an attempt to regulate than to legitimize bitcoin as a true commodity.
Furthermore, the addition of bitcoin derivatives could simply open up the bitcoin market to more traders. Because let's face it, on a day-to-day period, trading bitcoin can be a snooze-fest. With futures trading being as digital as bitcoin, less than five percent of futures are ever exercised for delivery which may lead to more bitcoin speculation.
One thing is certain: bitcoin could an alternative to traditional safe-haven assets. For the last year, I have been the only one, that I know of, that has noticed that bitcoin has been trading the inverse of the most traditional safe-haven - gold. Bitcoin's largest movements seem to stem from money flowing in and out of gold.
Unfortunately, in a crisis situation, I believe gold would win because it is tangible and that is physiologically comforting. If gold garners support from another central bank led financial crisis, bitcoin could see dark days.
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Silver's testing a long term trend lineI find it quite risky to buy precious metals right now, but silver is currently testing a support that gave way to a technical bounce at the beginning of the year (see related idea below). All I can say at this point is that silver may hold better than gold, which suggests that buying it may provide a hedge for anyone who is already short on in the gold market. At this moment, I'm only looking at silver as a hedge and not an outright buy.
Buying Gold whilst hedging by shorting Silver.With the possible trend lines for gold (GC1!), it looks like we saw a fake break out of that range today, culminating in a doji candle. This on its own is not a good enough buy signal - granted, but if we overlay the price of silver (SI1!), we see that silver has shown a high correlation with gold but with higher peaks and troughs.
With gold now at a point which I believe could be a new trough, silver has not yet kept up with this move.
Therefore, I plan to buy GC1! and sell SI1!, with the view that silver has yet to get to its more extreme move lower to keep in line with its relationship with gold, and that gold has potentially reached a turning point in its price movement and is about to head up in price.
I will exit the silver trade @ the trough of the gold move and aim to exit the gold trade once it reaches the top of the trending channel.
A Wedge of Silver: Price Action Weakening to SupportSilver is, at times, violently volatile and noticeably a proxy for the US dollar. With the dollar at levels not seen since 2005 and 2006, sentiment for precious metals remain weak. There are two factors for this, and it does not matter which one chooses.
The dollar has been able to hold current levels via the perception that the Federal Reserve will - at some point - incrementally increase the Fed funds rate. Many believe this will happen because the US central bank has not boosted rates since 2006, and it is just time to do so. Others actually feel the US economy is "strong" enough to handle a increase in rates; although, one only has to look to the mortgage applications to see how sensitive to rates Americans really are.
The other fraction foresees deflation, if not just a prolonged level of disinflation. With over 20 central banks cutting rates this year alone, the currency war has been nasty. With each major central bank racing to devalue their respective currencies to zero value, the dollar is the de facto "winner." When currencies the dollar is pegged to within the dollar index drop, the dollar increases and further intensifies disinflationary pressures. That alone is negative for precious metals. What is not negative for precious metals is the likely reaction from the Fed to quell dollar strength and "boost" economic growth, more QE.
Silver is currently trading within a descending wedge, a technical pattern that consists of two trend lines that follow the trend but with price action ranges that begin to narrow. What is striking is that wedges are reversal patterns. This does not mean silver is poised to jump to the upside immediately, but it is a pattern to watch out for. Essentially, price action will continue to narrow on weakening volume to a point of support. Then, prices rally.
In regards to silver's wedge, traders are likely to push silver lower to support within the wedge as long as the dollar's strength remains. The wedge's descending trend began ounce silver failed to move significantly passed $18.50 per toz. Key support levels are seen at $16.05, $15.80 and $15.50 per toz.
With using the wedge to a trader's advantage, the rally from support that breaks the descending resistance is typically a "false" move. A pullback from the breakout will likely occur to key support, likely to retest the former descending resistance now support. If it is a true breakout, prices will climb higher from the pullback to support.
Silver set to outperform gold and platinum next yearThe platinum/silver ratio indicates right now that silver will likely be the best precious metal to buy at the start of 2015 if all metals start rallying like in January 2014. Please see my previous ideas on silver and on the silver/gold ratio to see why this metal in particular has caught my eye lately. If you're bullish on precious metals right now, give preference to silver as it has the most to gain if a bullish metals market does set in.
If you're bullish on precious metals, give preference to silver***Please note that this chart is of the Silver/Gold ratio, not the Gold/Silver ratio as is indicated on the chart. Apologies for any confusion.
The Silver/Gold ratio hit a very familiar zone that is worth taking a note of before the start of 2015. While gold is still above this year's opening price (it did briefly fall below in November), silver has gotten hammered.
Fundamentally, I believe this is due to silver's industrial characteristics that make it much more exposed to slowing global growth, particularly in China. It's the same story for copper, which hit multi-year lows last week. Market participants have clearly preferred buying gold as they are more focused on central banks' accomodative policies, while these have not so far led to inflationary pressures that one would expect with quantitative easing programs.
There isn't anything to suggest that these fundamentals are going to change in 2015. Central banks in the Euro Zone, in Japan, in China and elsewhere are still going to have very expansionary policies. Even if the Fed does start raising rates next year (markets anticipating between June and September), they will still remain extremely low on a historical basis.
As for the global growth story, expectations are pretty low right now. Growth forecasts have been cut almost accross the board by all major international financial institutions (IMF, World Bank, central banks, etc.). Silver and industrial metals like Copper should therefore still be under pressure with headwinds coming especially from China's real estate market (falling housing prices). That being said, there is one silver lining that may allow for upside surprises next year : the fall in oil prices. Expectations for global growth are low since forecasts have been revised downward, but these forecasts might not have fully integrated the tailwind effect that a drop in oil prices may have for certain regions and sectors.
If market psychology starts changing at the beginning of 2015, and if precious metals start rallying like they did in January 2014, I believe that silver will give the best returns for investors. The silver/gold ratio suggests this as it is testing a 17-year support right now. Past bounces in this ratio corresponded to 20+ percent moves in silver prices. Please see my previous ideas on silver to see why this metal in particular might just be a great buy opportunity towards the end of the year.
The Devil's Metal with a 14-HandleSilver has some extreme bearishness built up behind it. I am bullish long-term, but we are very likely to see a $14-hand on the metal. The nearest support is found at $14.62, while resistance can be seen at $15.60 (broken support).
There are some growth worries out of China, which could give short-term support. However, there is endless central bank intervention which could hinder any significant upside. A close above resistance could be an inflection point upward, while more downside testing could be likely.
A US Mint spokesperson reported Wednesday that the silver 2014 American Eagle has SOLD OUT. The Royal Canadian Mint had to put the maple leaf on ration due to record demand. Who said there's no demand?
I would easily play either direction based on price action.
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Silver (SI) Bottoming on Weekly ChartSilver, like gold, is forming a significant bottom as its weekly and daily RSI, Stochastics and MACD have all either turned higher or are completing their bottoming stage. Significantly, silver has been trading within a price range that previously saw consolidation activity in the summer months of 2010 before silver skyrocketed to near 50. I`m not suggesting similar upside but at the very least, a respectable initial upside target in the 18.5-19 zone where previous support had been found in the first half of this year, which will likely coincide with the massive downtrend resistance line (as seen connecting the May 2011 peak to the July 2014 top). Feel free to visit stks.co for today's technical analysis on $GC_F, $SI_F, $USDX, $EURUSD, $USDJPY, $GBPUSD, $NG_F, $CT_F, $ZC_F, $ZW_F, $SB_F, $KC_F.
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Silver's make or break appointment with NFP'sMake or break? I wish I knew. The last 3 years is almost always break, I think.
Fact is that is so easy for sellers here, that if the line breaks there are going for targets lower derived from both triangles. Easy is sometimes suspicious.
This weeks down candle volume is 1/4, up to this morning, of the volume of last week's doji. Posted current contract days ago, update here:
Dimitri Speck's seasonal chart says that first two weeks of May are mostly bullish for the last 37 years.
www.seasonal-charts.com
Sentiment trader's data shows 28% bulls at support.
Gofo rates 1-6 months are still negative.
The best of luck,
Cheers,
Panos