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Stocks were suffering their first setback in a while today, and gold was down too. Even so, the latter looked like a good bet to forge higher in the weeks ahead and to achieve a minimum $1016, a Hidden Pivot target that we were able to identify on the daily chart. Regarding the broad averages, even a cursory look at the E-Mini S&Ps’ hourly chart revealed potentially serious damage. Although the forecast remains bullish, we found reasons to monitor the ES hourly chart closely, since price action at the C-D midpoint of this correction could be revealing.

On an asphyxiatingly dull day -- the fourth in a row -- we stumbled upon evidence that all of this brain-numbing tedium could be the set-up for a nasty plunge. This was the conclusion we drew after looking at the E-Mini-Dow, which recently peaked within 14 points of a Hidden Pivot target that had been more than three months in coming. To leverage this possibility, we considered some option strategies that involved initiating calendar spreads with far-out-of-the-money put options. Liquidity is a concern, so we looked at various alternatives. We also looked at some Comex gold charts and found reasons to be patient.

We spent considerable time during this session splitting hairs -- attempting, for one, to make a belated entry in Apple after the stock opened higher on a large gap. Although the "camouflaged" impulse leg we used to get long ultimately did not work and produced a small loss, we were able to discern some possible reasons for this. (Was the impulse leg perhaps too subtle?) The Hidden Pivot Method provides a very powerful tool for understanding the psychology of the markets, and we used it during this session it to tell us why Apple was bound to be a tough trade; and why Gold over the near term was probably going nowhere.

The Hidden Pivot Method is well suited to predicting boring stretches in the stock market such as this summer's, since the "dueling impulse legs" we often find in charts represent unsettled conflicts between bulls and bears. Generally speaking, the larger the time frame in which the duels play out, the longer the periods of tedium one can expect. The combatants are rarely perfectly matched, and we can therefore usually discern a bullish or bearish bias when we compare dueling impulse legs one against another. This we did during this session, looking at pictures of tedium, presumably with more to come, in, respectively, Comex Gold and Silver Wheaton shares.

Summer doldrums produced few compelling trading opportunities, but we were able to find things to do nonetheless in the E-Mini S&P, and in gold futures. We spent the entire hour considering tradable nuances in each, with the goal of initiating trades that were as close to riskless as possible. Comex Gold's charts proved somewhat frustrating in this regard, and therefore especially rewarding from the instructional point of view.

The day's trading recommendations for Gold and the E-Mini S&Ps were proving unhelpful, since both were trending higher against bearish forecasts. However, that didn't stop us from extracting a good deal of useful information from their respective intraday charts. The session focused on camouflage entry opportunities, specifically those that arise when a trading vehicle is not following the forecast. We found plenty of things to do, and, by day's end, we had not been fooled by the morning's false strength in shares.

This session is one of the best ever. We spent most of the hour finding all of the tradable possibilities in the intraday charts of July Crude. A large pattern was predicting a $7 rally, from $67 to a potentially important top near $74. However, our strong incentive to find a way to get long came days earlier, when a thrust exceeded the $74 target's sibling midpoint. Thereafter, we discovered nearly riskless opportunities to get long within moments of the ultimate bottom at 66.78. If you want to see the value of "camouflage" in intricate detail, this session is an absolute must.

We dwelled mainly on two trading vehicles: Comex Gold and the E-Mini S&Ps. Our purpose in scrutinizing the latter was to identify trends and trading opportunities within various time frames. Analyzing Gold, we perceived early in the session a growing reluctance of buyers to challenge what was later to become an onslaught of selling. August Gold finished $20 lower on the day, while the E-Mini settled about 10 points lower. We also looked at the Dollar Index and talked about how we could prevent being caught off guard by a bullish trend change beginning from below an already compromised, key support.

We looked at two of our favorite trading vehicles, namely Comex Gold and the E-mini S&Ps, and found little to comfort anyone who is short either. Goldman Sachs was keeping an otherwise weak market buoyant, so we focused on the stock's immediate prospects -- specifically, on the high likelihood of a run-up to a target 5 points above. We also pored over the intraday charts of July Wheat, finding some very low-risk entry points to board a rally that looked bound for at least $6.37 per bushel. Natural Gas was bullish as well, but after considering the quality of its impulse legs, we reasoned that a cautious entry was warranted, if at all.