Although we’ve been hearing that food purveyors have retained some pricing power in these deflationary times, it surely is not reflected in the performance of Kraft shares. Even so, a chart we received from a Hidden Pivot aficionado suggests that bottom-fishing near these levels could be rewarded with a strong bounce. There are three places that look worthy of a try: 22.25, 21.12 and 19.62. Our correspondent suggests the middle number, which is the Hidden Pivot target of the pattern shown. You can try it there with a stop-loss as tight 8 cents, but officially, I’m going to suggest bidding for two April 20 calls (KFTDD), day order, if and when the stock hits 22.25. That is the target of the long-term pattern labeled A’-B’-C’, and the first place whence we might expect a strong reversal. The calls should be selling for around 2.40, if you want to park a limit order with your broker. Stop yourself out if the stock trades below 22.00. _______ UPDATE: Cancel the order. Kraft shares suffered a nasty whack on the opening, but the gap selloff still left it a dime shy of our target. The stock has bounced since, but a relapse down to the target would present a less attractive buying opportunity than if the target had been hit the first time around. (Further Note: The relapse came down to 21.19 — 7 cents from the second target but still not close enough to trigger a trade. I’ll suggest waiting for 19.62, perhaps bidding a dime above it to make certain we get filled. If Kraft does make it down that far it would be an excellent buying opportunity, less speculative than buying at either of the first two pivots in our target sequence.)

If the bull is ready to come roaring back, it will be signaled by an uncorrected thrust that exceeds the two peaks labeled in the chart. The higher of them lies at 979.70, a benchmark noted here earlier. However, if the futures ease lower first without having exceeded 954.90, I’ll recommend bottom-fishing at 936.40 with a stop-loss at 934.90. Brace for more downside to 917.90 if the stop is hit. _______ UPDATE: The small breach this morning of 934.90 is not a healthy sign, notwithstanding the $14 bounce off the subsequent low, 931.60. In any event, the bullish implication of a print at 979.80 remains valid.

It’s hard to imagine how the futures will be able to avoid falling to the 675.50 target shown in the chart, but there is likely to be even more carnage to follow, since the larger pattern projects to 622.25. However, if the E-Mini were to fall proportionately to the Dow, with its 6883 target, that would put the March contract at around 700.

DXY looks bound most immediately for a Hidden Pivot rally target at 89.42. While that would not necessarily push gold lower, it could give the $1000 barrier some extra heft over the next few days. The target looks sufficiently clear that an easy move past it would imply more upside to at least 90.26 over the near term.

On the daily chart, TBT is tracing out a potentially well-camouflaged, bullish impulse leg, having exceeded two February peaks without taking out a more daunting third. If it now pulls back to 46.33 before topping 49.86, I’ll put out further guidance for getting long for a ride to as high as 51. To receive the alert via a screen pop-up in real time, turn your Bulletin Launcher on.