Spoiler alert: a fresh leg lower from gold doesn’t bode well for raw materials or the prospects of sustained inflation.
Nevertheless, inflation hasn’t gone anywhere, at least not yet.
As long as that’s the case, we expect commodities to see further upside, albeit not in unison. The broad rally witnessed at the end of 2020 into 2021 is unlikely to be repeated in the near future.
Regardless, stellar buying opportunities will present themselves.
We aren't going to let the bifurcated nature of commodity markets stop us from catching the next explosive rally.
In other words, the supply and demand dynamics for copper don't affect our decision to trade soybeans or wheat.
Gold has been a terrible inflation hedge over the trailing 24 months. It’s gone nowhere since the summer of 2020, while every other commodities have experienced rip-roaring rallies.
The truth is, the "inflation hedge" narrative is just that – a narrative. And I believe it’s false.
But, more importantly, so does price.
I prefer to lean on John Murphy’s observation that gold has a tendency to sniff out inflation, leading to major bull runs in commodities.
And, with gold futures on the verge of breaking down to fresh two-year lows, I think it’s a good time to revisit this often misunderstood metal.
Remember, gold was the first commodity to rally in 2019 – a full year ahead of the rest of the rest of the space.
Here’s a chart of gold futures overlaid with our equal-weight commodity index, highlighting the base breakouts:
We’ve been loud about energy lately. And how can we not be?
Energy stocks were the most resilient during the H1 selloff and are by far the best-performing sector off the 2020 lows. Every afternoon, energy quietly leads the pack into the close, whether the market is green or red on the day.
But the recent rally in stocks has started to fizzle. And even energy is beginning to feel the downside pressure.
While everyone scrambles to label the recent rally, gearing up for the next leg higher, or preparing for the world's end, we want to focus on the leaders – energy!
If this leadership group starts to fall, it could be an early warning sign of broad selling on the horizon.
And, with Labor Day upon us, it just so happens the energy sector ETF $XLE is retesting a critical shelf of former highs.
We look at a lot of charts. And believe it or not, many of them are absolute messes. Sideways, choppy, and trendless describe most markets right now.
It’s just a fact.
But we always find those big bases and tight continuation patterns on the verge of breaking out that keep us turning on our computers every morning. And the market I want to share with you today has both!
Back in early July, we were looking to buy a bounce in natural gas. Let's just say it was a success, as our target was hit within weeks.
But you have to remember the environment back then. Commodities had experienced a broad sell-off. And natural gas and agricultural contracts such as wheat and cotton had recently experienced drawdowns exceeding 40%.
It might have seemed like a tough call at the time, but for us it was clear. The risk/reward was in our favor as natty pulled back to test a key level. It was that simple.
Fast forward almost two months, and we’re back for more. Our risk is well-defined, and cyclical areas of the market are assuming leadership.
Today, I’ll share how we’re gearing up for a fresh leg higher in natty gas.
First, let’s take a look at the weekly chart of natural gas futures.
I can’t think of an area of the market we like more than energy.
Both energy stocks and commodities held up better than their peers during the recent bout of selling pressure. And now that they’re starting to reclaim key levels, we want to put our bullish bias to work.
I recently expressed my growing unease with a short crude oil position, given the mounting bullish evidence in energy. So, let's talk about how I plan to flip the book long crude oil futures on a break higher.
