From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke this afternoon after the central bank announced a 25-basis-point rate hike. 

The fed funds futures were all over the place, from pricing in a 25-basis-point increase to a double-hike. They settled in around a single hike, with a slim chance of a pause.

Exhausting!

It’s clear we can expect increased volatility going forward.

But, instead of guessing the Fed’s next step or parsing Powell's words, I’ll rather sit back, wait, and prepare to trade a decisive breakout.

When I think about the latter stages of the hiking cycle or a potential pause, my mind immediately turns to one currency in particular…

The Japanese yen.

Since the Fed began raising rates last spring, the yen has been one of the strongest trending markets. It stands to reason it could experience a significant trend reversal as the Fed changes course.

Luckily, we have a clear level to set our alerts and define risk. 

Check out the chart of yen futures:

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The next new position in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

The largest insider buy on today’s list comes in a Form 4 filing by Steven Klinsky, a director of New Mountain Finance Corporation $NMFC.

Klinsky reported a purchase of roughly $1.1 million.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

It's a big day today.

Will the Fed raise by 50 basis points or 25 basis points? Or will it do nothing? I'm thinking 25 basis points.

However it turns out, expect volatility.

The shorter my timeframe, the shittier the market. ~ Brian Lund @bclund

That quote was uttered during a Twitter spaces I hosted yesterday in which we discussed the emergence of “0-DTE” options and the opportunities and challenges they are spawning.

As Brian brought...

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

It was a nice day in the market overall.

We gapped up but didn't pull back into yesterday's high on the indices.

The next new position in our Paid-to-Play portfolio is:

We had a resting GTC order filled at our profit target in the Paid-to-Play portfolio today:

The largest insider buy on today’s list comes in a Form 4 filing by Joe Craft, president and CEO of Alliance Resource Partners $ARLP.

Craft reported a purchase of roughly $2.7 million.

From the Desk of Kimmy Sokoloff

The market is gapping up nicely into the next resistance zone.

For $SPY, we have to watch this 396.50 area. If it can clear this level, there's room to 400.

Otherwise it's back down to 393 or so.

This is the video recording of the March 2023 Mid-month Conference Call.

Buyers taking control of a market heading into the weekend exude confidence. And Gold bugs have done it two weeks in a row now and counting, as they reclaimed the former 2011 highs.

So what’s next for precious metals?

Well, if Gold priced in other major currencies is any indication (which I think it is), it looks like new all-time highs.