The spike that capped the recent rally narrowly failed to surpass an 'external' peak at 24.05 recorded a month earlier. It was not all we might have hoped for. But there was more resistance than appeared, including a second, very sharp peak that caught bulls off guard before crushing them in a two-day cascade. Now, looking on the bright side, with gold promising to drag silver higher, we should expect this pullback to give way to an exuberant thrust that clears not just the prior peaks, but also a midpoint Hidden Pivot resistance at 24.02. Once the December contract is above them, we'll be able to trade 'em up as bulls cruise to at least p2=25.60.
With the geopolitical cauldron boiling, crude's docility is hard to fathom. One theory has it that the heavy manipulation that has always characterized energy markets has conspired to suppress the price of crude so that war fears don't stampede the herd. All it would require to trigger a global war is for some Russia-armed enemy of America to take a potshot at one of the U.S. aircraft carriers stationed in the Middle East right now. My 117 rally target for December crude will remain viable in any case, but the futures will first need to overcome the drag created when they fell last week after failing to take out an 'external' peak at 89.60 from October 2. Most immediately, that would require a decisive move past the 86.33 midpoint Hidden Pivot of the pattern shown. ______ UPDATE (Oct 31, 9:16 p.m. EDT): All things considered, oil's price decline is quite impressive. However, it looks like those who have been manipulating it lower will run out of room at 79.94. the Hidden Pivot support shown in this chart.
With gold in one of its steepest climbs in recent memory, the 2068.00 rally target billboarded in my last update looks like a lock-up. The December contract's midweek stab through p=1945.80 all but clinched this outcome, along with a likely test of May's $2129 record high. That would bring into play an even bigger, bullish pattern begun in November 2022 from 1711 and which targets 2241.90. These are the most ambitious targets I've broached in a year, but my high confidence is commensurate with the rally's steepness and the intimidating difficulty of climbing aboard.
Silver's rally last week wasn't quite as impressive as gold's, but it did manage to somewhat exceed the 23.70 target of the middling 'reverse pattern' we'd been using to stay on the right side of the trend. The next significant target is 27.18, a Hidden Pivot derived from a conventional pattern on the daily chart where A=20.61 on March 8. However, because we can assume silver will not ultimately lag far behind gold, I'll air a 28.15 target that is shown in the inset chart. Critical resistance, and possible confirmation of the pattern, will come at p=24.83, my minimum upside target.
We've been using a 117 target to discount the horrific geopolitical climate, but for trading purposes let's focus on the 98.69 target of the pattern shown. It is affirmed by September's powerful thrust past the 80.85 midpoint resistance, but also by the difficulty crude has presented for anyone wanting to get long, even by way of last week's all-too-fleeting dip to a 'mechanical' buying trigger at p=80.85. Gasoline prices dipped as well, but they will be headed higher soon if December Crude is in fact on its way to at least 98.69.
Even though Friday's rally was the best we can recall in a long time, there are still reasons to believe it may not have been the usual fraud. We'll know once we've seen how buyers handle the green line (x=2041.60). Ordinarily a hit there would trigger a succulent 'mechanical' short to as low as D=1777.10. My hunch, though, is that the rally will liquefy the Hidden Pivot resistance and keep on going, ultimately surpassing the nasty, bull-trap summit at 2129.70 recorded back in April. In the meantime, using x=2041.60 as a minimum upside objective, we have a hundred points of bull-friendly turf to play with. ______ UPDATE (Oct 18, 9:10 a.m.): Buyers had little trouble pushing past the 1955.40 'D' target of a gnarly pattern this morning, implying they will be gung-ho to take on an important 'external' peak at 1972.40 before pressing on to an all but inevitable rendezvous with $2000. Here's the chart. The move targets a minimum 2068.00 on the daily chart (reverse A=1885.20 on 3/8).
Friday's pop through the red line left no doubt that the rally will reach the 23.695 target of the middling reverse pattern shown. We can trade confidently with a bullish bias until then, but it is what happens thereafter that matters. A decisive move through the Hidden Pivot or a two-day close above it would portend a likely follow-through that tests the 26.940 peak recorded in May. In any event, the next 80 cents of the ascent looks so certain that we might expect half of it to occur when the futures resume trading Sunday evening. _______ UPDATE (Oct 16, 12:03 p.m.): Don't believe bullion's sluggishness today; it is being stage-managed by big players who are even more eager than you or I to buy the stuff before it takes off.
Inspired by gold's ballistic move on Friday, I've used an ambitious reverse pattern to project a 42.09 rally target. It is clear and compelling, implying it will work not just for getting trend and targets precisely right, but enabling some profitable trades along the way. The red line (p=36.28) should produce a stall, possibly tradeable, since it closely coincides with a 'voodoo' resistance. Still less uncertain is that GDXJ will achieve the midline, a 7% move from here.
Friday's rally was impulsive on the hourly chart and the best we've seen in a week. However, if bulls meant business, they would have taken out the 1849.30 peak recorded on October 3 to complete a hat-trick of 'priors'. Instead, they stopped a hair short of it, presumably too out-of-breath for a final-hour sprint to the finish line. We should give them the benefit of the doubt nonetheless, since the shallow correction off the intraday high suggests that at least somewhat higher prices are coming. My advice is to keep your expectations low until we've seen how the rally interacts with a couple of minor Hidden Pivot resistances. _______ UPDATE (Oct 12, 8:55 p.m.): A sharp rally reversed just as sharply this morning when the regular session began, but not before buyers had pushed the futures above some external peaks recorded at the end of September. This generated a bullish impulse leg on the hourly chart, shortening the odds of another leg up once the correction has run its course.
Silver did some agonized basing last week, all of it beneath a Hidden Pivot 'D' support at 21.38. Too late and too deep to save the day? We'll give the rally a week to develop and the temporary benefit of the doubt, but it would need to push above Sep 29's spike high at 23.80 to even hint that bulls may have regained the momentum of 2020. A monthly close above 26.67 would likely clinch it, however, since that's a key 'midpoint resistance on the weekly chart (A=11.640 in March 2020.)
