The bullish stampede stalled briefly at the 4287.75 target signaled in early May, but the close above signaled more upside over the near term to at least 4331.50, a Hidden Pivot resistance shown in the chart that has been more than two months in coming. There are some additional point 'A' lows that could be used to project an even higher target, but I have not used them because the 'B' high did not exceed any prior peaks. That doesn't necessarily mean the futures can't surpass 4331.50, only that a target above cannot be considered precisely reliable. Please note that a swoon touching either the red or green line, however unlikely, would generate an appealing 'mechanical' buy. ______ UPDATE (Jun 5, 6:43 p.m.): The S&Ps sympathetically weakened when AAPL plunged today, but this seemed scant reason for concern. It happened because too many amateur traders were expecting the long-awaited unveiling of Apple's ridiculously overpriced VR goggles to send the stock soaring. It did, albeit briefly and with help from the usual short-covering panic overnight. However, the subsequent dive was merely classic 'buy-the-rumor-sell-the-news' price action, probably signifying nothing. We'll monitor AAPL closely nonetheless, since the selloff began from a high just nine cents from the 184.86 rally target I'd drum-rolled in the AAPL tout just above. _______ UPDATE (Jun 8, 4:54 p.m.): The trendline shown in this weekly chart has been breached only slightly, but it should not have been breached at all if the rally were about to reverse. The line is authoritative because the two peaks it connects came ahead of precipitous selloffs. If the futures close above the line on Friday or trade decisively above it, that would be yet another warning to bears against fighting the rally aggressively.
Last week's bullish feint triggered a less-than-appealing 'mechanical' short at the green line (x=1980.60). The selloff into the close was bound for a retest of p=1955.10, but if this 'hidden' support fails, look for more downside to 1929.50, the secondary (p2) pivot. Bears have had trouble doing serious damage, so there's no reason to think the downtrend, a correction from May 4's 2102 high, is likely to reach the D target at 1903.90. That implies p2 should be bottom-fished, presumably with a reverse pattern of small degree (aka 'camouflage'). ______ UPDATE (Jun 5, 6:59 p.m.): We'll let gold bulls, bears and the Wharton-educated criminals who manipulate them bayonet each other bloody for a while, but by all means please nudge me in the chat room if you see easy money sitting on the table.
Silver looks likely to fall to a D target at 21.46 that's equivalent to one in gold that seems somewhat out of reach. On balance, I lean toward a bearish resolution, but we'll monitor this symbol closely in any case. A rally to the green line (x=25.19) would trigger an enticing 'mechanical' short, but because the entry risk would be more than $6000 per contract, we should plan on doing the trade with a camouflage trigger that can cut that to $600 or less. If the futures instead fall, bottom-fishing at D would be attractive, although the pattern looks too obvious to deliver a precise low at the Hidden Pivot.
As tedious and labored as the uptrend has been since this vehicle bottomed on September 30 at 25.80, it is healthy enough to suggest that the long, corrective dirge from the $66 high recorded in the summer of 2020 is over. By 'healthy' I mean that rallies are capable of generating impulse legs on the weekly chart. Most recently, for instance, buyers did so by pushing GDXJ above an internal peak and an external one at 42.13 recorded exactly a year ago. The jury is still out on whether the 'mechanical' buy we narrowly missed executing at 35.58 can bounce more than a single level without retreating below the green line. It failed by just three cents to accomplish this last week.
July Copper's breach in late May of the 3.65 midpoint Hidden Pivot support shown (see inset) is bearish and hints of a further drop to as low as D=2.95. A corrective rally to the green line (x=4.00) would set up an opportune 'mechanical' short, but failing that, the most promising swing trade we could envision on the middle horizon would be bottom-fishing at p2=3.30. If that were to occur, the energy sector would undoubtedly experience a corresponding drop that in turn would imply an easing of inflationary pressures and a positive impact on mining stocks. Please note that this is 'Doc' Copper's first appearance on the touts list in a very long time, and it is intended to supplement and confirm my analysis of crude, which is also in a secular downtrend.
This ETF proxy for long-dated T-Bonds has looked like hell for so long that its sideways slide since December has seemed like a relative vacation in purgatory. A drop below the distribution zone it has traversed during that time seems all but inevitable, however, and we should expect TLT to hit p=95.26 at a minimum. That's a midpoint Hidden Pivot support and well located to set up an opportune buy against the long-term trend. We may be able to accomplish this with entry risk held to as little as 3 or 4 ticks, so stay tuned to the chat room if you care. Be sure to check 'Notifications' on your account dashboard as well. ______ UPDATE (Jun 10): It's nothing to celebrate, at least not yet, but this glue horse created a bullish impulse leg on the daily chart last week that should be noted. The rally appears bound for p=102.60 at least, but an easy pop through the pivot would imply more upside potential over the near term to D=104.41. Both numbers should work for day traders looking to get short with 'camouflage' on the lesser charts, and 'mechanical' buys should provide easy wins as well.
It's been a while since I updated this mudder, but it tripped a textbook 'mechanical' buy last week that would have been easy money for any Pivoteer who was watching. The signal came on Wednesday at the green line of a corrective pattern projecting to as high as 80.05. The nascent uptrend bears watching, since it would spoil the possibility of gasoline prices for regular gasoline falling below $3 a gallon across much of the country. More likely in my estimation would be a relapse to below C=63.91 of the reverse pattern shown. ______ UPDATE (Jun 16): Since May 4, July Crude's meaningless ups and downs have triggered no fewer than three 'mechanical' buy signals on the daily chart, each worth a little more than $16,000 on four contracts. Are you beginning to see that it's all just a big, sleazy carnival game, but with players who are not missing four or five teeth? ______ UPDATE (Jun 23): Yet another $16,000 mechanical winner came home on Friday, even as the futures continue to screw the pooch with meaningless ups and downs.
Last Wednesday's textbook 'mechanical' buy at x=4120.00 left little doubt where the June contract is headed next. The 'D' target at 4288.75 seems all but certain to be hit early in this four-day week. If it pushes past the Hidden Pivot resistance by more than a couple of points on the first try, you may confidently assume that a new target at 4332.75 is in play. It is derived from the somewhat lower 'A' at 3937.00 recorded on March 24. _______ UPDATE (Jun 2, 9:25 a.m. EDT): The Hidden Pivot target at 4287.75 (a slight correction) still appears certain to be reached. The small delay relative to my forecast occurred because -- manifestly -- too many traders were bullish when the week began. You will have noticed that whatever factors that gave us good reason to be quite bearish are not exactly weighing on the stock market's walnut-size brain at the moment. When DaBoyz fist-pump ES obliviously past 4287.75, you can infer that 4331.50 is the next stop, a slight adjustment from the number given above.
Uber-bellwether AAPL looked poised at the end of last week to take out a 176.52 Hidden Pivot resistance where it stalled a week earlier. A success would propel the stock above a challenging 'external' peak at 176.15 recorded last week and possibly two other earlier peaks, including the record 182.94 from January 2022. A move surpassing that last top would set the stage for AAPL to lead the wilding spree higher when Chipotle and Microsoft shares take a breather. Advanced Pivoteers should take note of a couple of voodoo opportunities to get short with risk tightly controlled, even if last week's strength spills into this one.
I've displayed a weekly chart because it makes the turgid price action of the last several weeks seem not so much depressing as tedious. Nasty, gratuitous swoons in a bull market that has yet to attract an institutional following are inevitable, but we should always keep in mind that bears do not have the power or the moxie to sustain damage. The June contract could come all the way down to x=1816.60, in fact, and still look fine. That would trigger a succulent 'mechanical' buy, even through the implied $128 fall from here would likely ratchet up despair amongst gold's fair-weather supporters.
