Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The bad guys appear to be having a devil of a time trying to push this vehicle below a 52.04 midpoint support associated with a downside target at 46.15.  Assuming they will fail miserably at this, we should look for ways to jump aboard on subtly impulsive, bullish breakouts. The 58.06 peak that I've labeled could be ideal for this purpose, but my hunch is that any B-C pullback from just above it would very quickly rebound to the 'X' trigger point.  Under the circumstances, you'll need to be alert with your buy-stop to catch the trade. ______ UPDATE (March 2): We'll put the trade aside for now, since technical signs have turned mixed. A 59.36 rally target should be held in mind nonetheless if GDX takes off.

A boring day on Wall Street has left index futures and other round-the-clock trading vehicles dangling in the wind. Today's touts emphasize bullish prospects nonetheless, since gold, silver and shares all look poised to move higher.

Corrective action since last Wednesday has been too nasty for us to seek involvement, but that doesn't mean there are no speculative opportunities in the offing. I've labeled the subtlest of them in the accompanying chart, and it is likely to work best if the required B-C pullback occurs in thin trading, off-hours. If it proves to be the easy ride higher that we look for when using 'camo' tactics, we'd be shooting for 1782.00, the midpoint of the larger pattern shown; or 1801.40, its 'D" sibling, if any higher.

Yesterday's rally began at the Hidden Pivot midpoint of a minor correction pattern, implying that the rally that has ensued is likely to pick up steam. Strong bull trends tend to produce downward retracements that do not reach their 'D' targets, and that is indeed what has occurred.  Night owls should look for 'camouflage' opportunities on the one-minute chart, where I've labeled a couple of possibilities (see inset).

A school shooting in Ohio left one student dead and four wounded. It also pushed the other big story of the day – Angelina Jolie’s wretchedly skinny arms and legs -- below the fold by dinner time. But the real shocker was a story that said eating certain kinds of fish or taking fish oil supplements can actually do the body good. Specifically, the omega-3 fatty acids that are so abundant in fish oil appear not only to sharpen the mind, but to slow the aging process, improve cardiovascular health and reduce inflammation and joint pain. That’s quite a list, and it’s particularly good news for your editor, since, on his doctor’s advice, he began taking a fish oil supplement several years ago.  Not the cheap stuff, which the doctor said could cause more harm than good, but high-dosage, pharmaceutical-grade fish oil that supposedly contains no traces of mercury or other seaborne toxins. As for the benefits, while it’s true that, at the ripe old age of 62, we have been forgetting to zip up our fly about half the time and leaving credit cards on store counters perhaps twice a week, we remains convinced that the consequences of our forgetfulness would be a lot worse if not for the fish oil.  Meanwhile, the story on the evening news about fish oil’s undeniable benefits is about as man-bites-dog as it gets, since health care professionals have done their darndest over the years to promote the idea that only prescription drugs are effective in curing what ails us. Putting aside the fabulous press Vitamin D supplements have enjoyed recently (undeserved, according to my doctor)  just about every supplement you can think of has been vilified over the years by medical science: St. John’s Wort, melatonin, zinc, biotin, Vitamins E, C, B