We watched Kraft tease two Hidden Pivot supports on the way down, and now it’s time for us to attempt bottom-fishing at the third, 19.62. We’ll be bidding for four June 20 calls (KFTFD) when the stock hits 19.72. I estimate they will be trading for around 1.40, but I’ll update guidance via the Bulletin Launcher if and when the stock approaches the target, perhaps on Friday.

Gold bounced $12 after dipping just beneath the 906.80 target given here yesterday, but it is having trouble sustaining altitude in thin trading Tuesday night. If weakness persists without an intervening rally exceeding 918.40, look for a bounce from 906.20. That’s a Hidden Pivot midpoint, and if it’s breached by more than 0.40 or so we should expect weakness to persist down to at least 894.10, the midpoint’s ‘D’ sibling. There is one other target worth mention: 889.50. The pattern from which it derives looks very promising, but it is not an ideal place to try bottom-fishing, since it closely coincides with some key lows made early last month. _______ UPDATE: The bounce we were expecting came in the pre-dawn hours from within a hair of our 906.20 pivot. The actual low was at 906.80, and the subsequent reversal carried $17, to 923.70. It was all downhill from there, though, and the futures ended the day having made a marginal new low at 900.40.

DXY opened yesterday on a gap that exceeded our 89.42 target by 20 cents. Because the pivot was both clear and built to last, the easy move through it strongly implies that DXY will continue higher to at least 90.26, the next target in our sequence. If that number is shredded as well, we’d be looking at a potential last-gasp thrust to 94.84, a very important number that will have been at least nine months in coming.

A Hidden Pivot at 66.60 looks like an opportune spot to try bottom-fishing, so let’s do it with a 3.00 bid for two April 68 calls (DUDP), stop 66.40. The calls should be trading for close enough to 3.00 that you can use a limit order on this one, but do heed the stop-loss. The order could be a little tricky because it’s possible the Diamonds will open on a gap below our target. If so, it is still okay to buy the calls — again, provided you heed the stop-loss. However, you should be prepared to lower the bid for the calls by 5 cents for every dime below 66.60 DIA falls. _______ UPDATE: The order was a non-starter, since DaBoyz goosed stocks sharply higher on the opening.

The futures are doing their wonted nightly waft, squeezing shorts who evidently were plagued by doubts after the closing bell on Tuesday. It would take a print well above these levels, however — at 724.50, to be exact — to engender the kind of short squeeze DaBoyz could be proud of. While this seems doubtful, a modest pop touching 700.00 would turn the 3-minute chart bullish and, probably, spark some urgent buying on the opening. For trading purposes, the 675.50 target broached here earlier is still my minimum downside objective for the near term as well as a good place to bid with a stop-loss at 673.75. Please note that there is a secondary target at 683.75 whence a tradable turn could occur. It is derived from a one-off ‘A’ at 998.00 that was recorded on November 5. I’ve used a 180-minute chart to render the pattern at its most appealing. ______ UPDATE: DaBoyz showed their true colors — i.e., yellow — when their opportunistic short-squeeze failed three ticks from the 724.50 benchmark noted above. The futures subsequently fell to 709 in the final hour, presumably to get some running room for another attempt. The next rally leg might get past 724.50, but the fact that buyers didn’t do it on the first try is evidence that the bull lacks real guts, at least for the moment.