HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope this week’s price action didn’t catch you off guard? It was profitable but you really had to be on the ball to pocket the gains… Anyways, I just wanted to wish you a New Year and thank you for being part of my success in 2011 before it’s too late. Have you heard of Chris Vermeulen? He is a trader that I have followed...

Submitted by Tyler Durden Presented with little comment – equities and bonds are diverging aggressively now as 10Y accelerates towards its all-time low yields (1.67 on 9/23). As we noted earlier, foreigners are dumping Treasuries at a record pace and yet it grinds tighter and stocks rally on USD weakness. Our ‘thesis’ from yesterday...

by The Mad Hedge Fund Trader I am constantly barraged with emails from gold bugs who passionately argue that their beloved metal is trading at a tiny fraction of its true value, and that the barbaric relic is really worth $5,000, $10,000, or even $50,000 an ounce (GLD). They claim the move in the yellow metal we are seeing is only the beginning of...

By Eric McWhinnie On Thursday, Italy sold 7.02 billion euros of longer-dated bonds in the country’s final debt sale of the year.  Although the yield on the 10-year bond decreased to 6.98 percent from November’s 7.56 percent, there is still plenty of concern weighing on the euro.  The struggling euro has given a boost to the U.S. dollar, which...

Taiwan imports 99 percent of its energy, which is vital to its rapidly industrializing economy.   The island nation’s electricity demand was recently growing at almost 5 percent per year, but this is slowing to about 3.3 percent per annum to 2013. Nuclear power has been a significant part of the electricity supply for two decades and now...

The last week of the year volume tends to be light due to the fact that big money traders are busy enjoying the holidays and waiting for their yearend bonuses. I was not planning on doing much this week because of the low volume but after reviewing some charts and risk levels on my top 5 trading vehicles I could not help but share my findings with everyone...

David A Banister- www.MarketTrendForecast.com The market has been in the process of a near 13 Fibonacci week corrective rally since the October 4th 2011 lows at 1074 on the SP 500.  So far the highs reached on the initial rally of 218 points were in October at 1292.  That has remained the high water mark as we have consolidated over the last many...

Submitted by Tyler Durden Think “all is fine” in Europe after today’s largely irrelevant Italian bill auction (the auction was for 6 month debt – even Greece can raise that kind of money)? Think again. Here is the Fermentation Committee Chairman explaining why Europe is so hard pressed to create a fake sense of calm, allowing...

Scott Redler of T3Live US stock futures are edging higher in the pre-market Wednesday, following an extremely quiet trading day yesterday. The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) traded 1/5 of its average daily volume and volatility was low. The action was characteristic for this week of the year between the Christmas and New Years, and there is no reason...

by Karl Denninger As is my usual practice it’s that time of year when I score my “best guesses” from the previous year, and look forward with my next set.  If you’re not inclined to bother with long-winded explanations the title is probably sufficient.  But for everyone else, let’s look at the 2011 list and see how...

Markus Kerber a strong critic of the Euro explains why the Euro is doomed to FAIL! “The problems with the eurozone are fundamentally industrial; fundamentally concerned with the spread of competitiveness. If you look at the development of the last five years there is a great and a growing spread of competitiveness between the northern countries...

Typically, the week before Christmas, stocks and commodities drift higher due to the lack of participants.  Light volume favours higher prices, which is why stocks want to rise going into the holiday season. The big money players, like hedge fund managers, are finished for the year.  They’re sitting on the sidelines enjoying the holiday season while...

By Elliott Wave International The following series is excerpted from two classic issues of Robert Prechter’s Elliott Wave Theorist. Although originally published in 2004, the valuable series has been re-released in the Independent Investor eBook, along with over 100 pages of other reports that challenge conventional economic thinking. Here is...

Submitted by Tyler Durden We already know 2011 was horrible for hedge funds, for Wall Street bonuses, and soon, for luxury retailers. So before we write off 2011 for good, here is the penultimate HSBC report (#52) showing HF performance through mid-December. Some notable mid month numbers: Moore -0.05%; Caxton:  -0.09%; Clive: -1.22%; York: -1.20%;...

The past few months have been tough for those holding precious metals stocks, PM futures contracts or physical bullion. With silver is trading down 41%, precious metals stocks down 30% and gold 15%. It has people scratching their head. The question everyone keeps asking is when can I buy gold and silver? Unfortunately that is not a simple answer. With...