Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Apple's $14 bounce from within 40 cents of the midpoint pivot shown should be held as a reminder that the stock can sometimes be very tradable.  To be sure, only camouflage could have nailed this one, since sellers didn't quite make it to the midpoint.  However, in the days ahead, if the stock surprises by breaching 529.04, we'll know exactly where it's going -- and have a call-buying strategy to leverage the expected turn from 'D'.

Anyone who thinks crude oil -- and by extension, bullion -- is topping here should take a good look at the April contract's weekly chart. There is no gainsaying the authority of the bullish impulse leg that I've highlighted (not that I had to; it's clear enough), and the futures could pull back all the way into the $90s without diminishing its presumptive power one bit.   Most immediately, traders should play to a 107.95 rally target (5-min, A=105.50 on March 5 at 5 a.m. EST); B=107.42, and C=106.03).  The futures are struggling more than I might have expected, but camouflageurs can still look for trading opportunities on any ABCconsolidation above the 106.99 midpoint pivot. Would you like to learn how we use the ‘camouflage’ trading technique to significantly reduce entry risk? Click here for details.

In the wake of last week's savaging, Gold is holding up better than Silver technically, having stayed well above the downdraft's midpoint support at 1675.50. Under the circumstances, we might infer that if Gold can hang tough for another day or two it will pull Silver around. It would signal this subtly with a print at 1719.20, just above the highlighted peak. Of course, any B-C pullback from just above that peak should be regarded as a 'camouflage' gift to bulls looking for a good entry spot.

Yesterday's weakness trashed an important midpoint support at 33.825, implying more downside to at least 31.950. Bulls could negate this decree with a pop today exceeding 34.950, but failing that, we should expect the futures to struggle lower. If you want a more finely nuanced "bull trigger" to leverage a bullish camouflage opportunity, try using the look-to-the-lefter at 34.345 shown in the chart. A 'B-C' pullback from just above it could set up a screaming buy.

For ten weeks, stocks have been ratcheting relentlessly higher, perhaps inuring us to the possibility that the stock market is going to fall apart one of these days.  However, rather than twiddling our thumbs waiting for the next, presumably inevitable, short squeeze, let's be ready lest we miss the downturn.  Accordingly, I'll suggest setting a screen alert at 1352.75, just beneath the #2 external low shown in the chart. Keep in mind that sellers would have to push the futures through both lows without an upward correction in order for the move to be considered truly impulsive. More immediately, there was nothing remotely interesting happening Monday night.

[Statistically speaking, the average Baby Boomer has not socked away nearly enough to live well in retirement. Is there time to get back on track?  Yes, according to our good friend Doug Behnfield, a Boulder-based financial advisor. But it won’t be easy, he says, and the steps he has outlined below in a letter to clients will create a heavy drag on the U.S. economy in the years ahead -- especially if millions of Baby Boomers try to play catch-up by saving like crazy. RA] When I turned 55 years old back in 2009, I did a study to determine what the 80th percentile 55-year-old household looked like financially, in general terms. I originally called the EBRI (Employee Benefit Research Institute) in Washington D.C. because I wanted to get a feel for how well prepared my cohort was for retirement. I was referred to an economist at the University of Chicago who heads up the Survey of Consumer Finances for the Federal Reserve Board. Not exactly the beginning of a movie script, but I struck up a very informative relationship with this individual who lived and breathed the financial reality of the American household. What unfolded was an eye-opening effort to determine what it would take for the Baby Boomers to retire with a lifestyle befitting the upper middle class of one of the most prosperous societies in the history. After all, who could be so pessimistic as to forecast failure for the people who sit at the center of our most influential demographic age group? But the data on their current financial condition is, to say the least, daunting. And particularly now, at 57, they do not have much time to prepare. There were three primary reasons why I chose the 80th percentile 55 (now 57) -year-old household. First,