From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Houthi rebels are rampaging in the Red Sea.

The result: Many carriers are taking the scenic route around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa instead of the Suez Canal. 

The longer route brings weeks-long delays and increased costs as the price to ship a 40-foot-long container has nearly doubled since late November.

It won’t be long before those additional charges trickle down to us, the consumer.

What are you going to do?

Buy marine shipping stocks!

Check out our custom equal-weight marine shipping index posting fresh eight-year highs:

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Danger Will Robinson, Danger!

Cocoa futures have violated a parabolic trendline. 

And it may not be safe for bulls to hold their long positions…

Cocoa fell -2.50% on Monday, cementing last week’s trendline break.

Commodity markets tend to experience steep selloffs following dramatic rallies. Escalator up, elevator down.  

But buyers are refusing to throw in the towel here. In fact, Monday’s potential top is yielding a fresh 46-year high today – not bearish.

I will not short those new highs. Nevertheless, I want to prepare for Cocoa’s eventual decline.

Check out the March contract:

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

What goes up must come down.

It’s an old commodity market maxim that never fails to deliver. The cattle, sugar, and OJ markets embodied this truth last year. 

But as the calendar flips to 2024, it’s time to track those markets that failed to launch in 2023.

Here are three of my favorites…

Coffee

Unlike other softs such as cocoa and sugar, coffee failed to produce monster gains last year. 

But it’s now attempting to carve out a multi-year double bottom:

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

I’m not concerned with last year’s winners heading into 2024.

Winners have a miraculous way of taking care of themselves (i.e. cattle, sugar, cocoa.) 

Instead, my focus centers on those markets that failed to launch. Markets like this…

No, I’m not talking about Gold. But it certainly fits the bill.

I’m referring to wheat.

Wheat never produced an explosive rally this year – at least nothing like we saw in 2022. But that could all change in the coming six months.

Check out Chicago wheat futures carving out a potential double-bottom pattern:

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Metals are dominating the commodity space.

The rotation between energy and base & industrial metals colors the commodity markets as we near 2024.

Crude oil has slipped through buyers' hands since interest rates peaked in October. That much is obvious… 

But don’t short crude oil and its distillates just because copper and gold are catching a bid…

Check out the commodity subgroup performance since the US 10-year yield $TNX peaked in the fall:

Energy has clearly cooled, while precious and base metals have led the pack.

This makes sense as rates fall. But markets don’t move in a straight line.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Metals are beginning to shine.

Gold’s new all-time high has captivated the masses. But all that glitters isn’t gold.

In fact, base and industrial metals are also providing ample trading opportunities.

Check out ol’ Dr. Copper challenging near-term resistance:

A decisive close above 3.91 set the path of least resistance toward the year-to-date highs at approximately 4.25.

It’s difficult to imagine a more bullish scenario for global equities aside from a continued expansion in the new highs list.

As much as I enjoy trading futures, I can’t ignore the money flowing into stocks.

From the desk of Louis Sykes @haumicharts

Whenever we want to gauge animal spirits in the precious metals space, we resort to our trusty intermarket ratios.

Two weeks ago in our Gold report, we covered the notable bounce we were witnessing in the Silver/Gold ratio, pointing to brewing risk appetite within this space. And this week, we outlined a bullish trade in the iShares Silver ETF off the back of this recent momentum.

But when we take this relationship one step further, we see a similar situation in the relationship between Silver and Gold mining stocks.

Here's a long-term weekly chart of this ratio:

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Commodities are losing ground as money flows back into stocks and bonds in hopes of a Santa Claus rally.

Yet fresh strength in equities isn’t completely leaving commodities in the dust. In fact, numerous bullish developments are underway for raw materials.

Dr. Copper is working its way higher. Crude oil is refusing to throw in the towel despite increased selling pressure. And softs such as orange juice, cocoa, and sugar are flying toward fresh decade highs.

That doesn’t sound bearish to me, especially when considering new buying opportunities in the grain markets…

First, check out the stock-to-commodity ratio:

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

The tide is turning for commodities now that the dollar and rates are falling.

Crude oil is relinquishing its leadership role. Gold and silver are catching a bid. And copper is digging in at former support.

But it’s not only base and precious metals bouncing off critical levels…

Check out our Equal-weight Commodity Index refusing to roll over:

Our commodity index, comprised of an equally weighted basket of 33 commodities, is finding support at a shelf of former highs. This is the principle of polarity at its finest – former resistance turning into support.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Everywhere you look, commodities argue a strong case for the next supercycle.  

Live cattle, feeder cattle, sugar, cocoa, and orange juice are all amid historic rallies. Even gold’s resilience in an environment where it should struggle speaks to an underlying demand for raw materials.     

Well, perhaps not everywhere…

While orange juice busts loose on a parabolic advance and cocoa rips toward all-time highs, copper futures barely exceed their year-to-date lows.

On the bright side, it stopped falling.

Check out copper digging in at key pivot lows from earlier this spring:

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Survey says… 

Buy commodities!

The multi-year secular uptrend in commodities remains intact on absolute and relative terms. Commodities are outperforming the S&P 500 and US Treasury bonds. And cattle, sugar, cocoa, and orange juice are all ripping.

While some of these explosive rallies pause, other areas of the commodity space are forming tactical reversal patterns.

Let’s check out one of my favorites,…

Corn.

Here’s the December corn contract carving out a ten-week base:

I bought yesterday’s close above 500’0. That’s our risk level. As long as corn trades above that level, I like it long toward the July high at approximately 570’0.

However, during today's session, I was abruptly stopped out of my position.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Price must hold above key support levels when defining a range or uptrend.

It might sound simple. Yet investors often sideline these crucial levels in favor of the latest headline.

I read the news daily and support journalists fighting the good fight. However, I don’t incorporate what I read in the papers into my market analysis. 

Instead, I focus on price and the critical areas seared into the collective memory bank – support and resistance.

Perhaps you can guess my response when a reader recently asked, “What will it take for crude oil to break down?”

Price must undercut support!

Check out the daily crude oil chart: