Why Are Precious Metals Bulls Scared?

Well, first of all, bull markets climb a wall of worry. But second, there are some powerful media forces trying to maintain the status quo. They are constantly disparaging Gold and talking about imminent corrections, bubbles, etc. As a recent example, Warren Buffett did a recent hit piece on Gold published in the Wall Street Journal (video talking head summary here). And, of course, there is always Jon Nadler at kitco.com to make sure you are NEVER bullish on precious metals no matter what.

Actually, specifically, kitco.com having Jon Nadler as its spokesperson is quite revealing and concerning. What is this company, which sells derivative positions in Gold (a la pooled accounts), trying to accomplish? As someone who learned all his lessons the hard way in the precious metals market, I can attest to the fact that this company talked me out of physical metal and encouraged me to buy a "pooled account" position in metal when I first began to try to invest in physical metal back in 2003.

I would like to share some quotes from a recent piece by Jon Nadler. I no longer read his commentary and haven't for years, but Bob Moriarty over at 321gold.com posted one of his pieces, so I assumed it had some value and read it. What a mistake and waste of my time. Nadler is a plague on the Gold community but refuses to go away. How could anyone spend more time trying to disparage the product his company sells? The tone, the anger, the bearishness. It's so over-the-top that it seems beyond intentional and I believe is simply trying to make fun of those who have cast their lot with physical metal held outside the banking system. Anyone who does business with kitco.com knowing that Nadler is their main market commentator is asking for trouble. When the poop hits the fan exactly, I don't know, but this is a firm that should not be trusted primarily because they employ this fellow.

Here are quotes from his most recent piece (link here), with my comment following each quote:

"That the latest round of price increases in gold has been an overwhelmingly fund-engendered phenomenon is quite obvious. More worrisome on the other hand are certain trends in the physical markets (we covered the potential erosion in India’s 2012 imports and the decline in USA-based physical investment in 2011 in last week’s articles)."

He sounds nervous that this is simply "hot money" chasing metal prices and that people aren't interested in physical metal at current prices. Gosh, maybe I should sell now and beat the herd to the exits.

"Well, you can now add Vietnam to the roster of countries where domestic investors are suddenly ‘uncertain’ about continued, (some say endless) gains in gold."

Ohmygosh, those Vietnamese are some of the smartest and shrewdest Gold traders out there. If they are 'uncertain,' then I should be panicked!

"In any case, gold’s “paper” bullish sentiment is approaching certain levels (above 90% according to trade-futures.com’s Daily Sentiment Index) from which previous sharp corrections have ensued. Silver has some work left to do as it begins to encounter overhead resistance that extends all the way up towards the $37.85 overhead resistance level. If and when support near $32.62 is breached, the tenor of the market will tilt towards deeper corrections."

Overhead resistance from here to Mars in silver - holy cow! That means the bulls have no chance whatsoever! My gosh, we are so close to breeching $32.62 that I better just sell now...

"That’s the best such level of betting [in commodities- GVP] since September of last year. However, this time, the bullish tilt (in gold for example) comes amid expectations for economic recovery (in the USA mainly) as opposed to the economic and financial Armageddon that many had expected to materialize for several years now. In so many words, this is now a niche that simply does not make room for anything but positive news. That’s when the worrying should begin…"

Wow! If the world is not coming to an end and bullets and beans are not the investment theme of the day, you're darn right I'm worried! Call kitco and tell them that I want to sell them every piece of physical metal I own and even my neighbor's metal that I don't own, since they understand pooling of resources and derivatives on physical metal better than I do!

"The enthusiasm being seen in commodity futures and options positioning is most certainly not being mirrored in the still poorly performing mining share sector and the type of betting going on is itself being questioned by some: “The latest commodity flow numbers is catch-up with previous positive trends. People are moving into them based on a string of relatively positive numbers. Whether those will continue to carry weight is a little more questionable,” said one money flow analyst at EPFR Global in Cambridge, Mass."

CALL MY BROKER! AN UNNAMED BROKER AT SOME FIRM I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF IS BEARISH! Those smart Wall Street guys have been right on Gold since, well... I guess their track record sucks, BUT YOU NEVER KNOW!

{Sarcasm off}

In short, I call "foul" on kitco.com for doing a disservice to the very people they claim to try to represent and/or market to. Nadler is a mouthpiece, albeit a lousy one, for the status quo. And if he doesn't think so, well that is even worse. I have never seen a more bearish Gold analyst unless paperbugs Warren Buffett and Nouriel (half-a-hit sort-of-wonder) Roubini count as Gold analysts. And let's not forget that Buffett would be broke right now if it weren't for government largess coming to his rescue. And Roubini, I assume, has already finished his Spam and has nothing left but paper to eat (try the hot sauce, dude!).

My subscribers and I are long silver and Gold stocks and have been since catching the bottom on February 16th. If you are looking for more reasonable advice than that spewed by Nadler and Buffett when it comes to the precious metals, why don't you give my low cost subscription service a try? And believe me, I can be bearish on the precious metals sector as well when appropriate, just not as a matter of course and not as a religious conviction that clouds every statement I make. Until the Dow to Gold ratio gets to 2 (and we may well go below 1 this cycle), Gold will continue to make Buffett look like the feeble has-been paper permabull that he is (at least until he gets his next tranche of bailout money...).

Back to Bullish on PM Sector

Closed out my "short senior Gold stocks" trade last week for good profits. My subscribers and I bought the early Thursday AM lows in senior Gold stocks and silver. Think we have begun a 4-6 week bull run into a spring top. After that, we'll have to wait and see what happens.

I will be very interested to see how Gold does during this move. I think it re-tests the 2011 summer highs. Here's a one year daily chart thru Friday's close:





After the spring top in mid to late March, we'll likely get a significant correction. A new all-time high in Gold would likely indicate a milder correction than if the price gets stopped at or before the old highs. Either way, I am bullish for the next month in the precious metal (PM) sector for my trading account and think all PM sectors will do well.

Longer term, I own physical metal and don't worry about it as an investment at all. Now that the ECB is trying to [further] undermine the integrity of its bond markets by putting itself at the front of the line and subordinating other European sovereign debt holders in the Greek debacle, the final pillar is coming into play. That pillar has been pointed out by Mr. James Sinclair at jsmineset.com and it is that of the bond markets of the Western world. Once people are seriously worried about the safety of bond markets and currencies, Gold will really start to, ahem, shine. Everything is lining up to create "the mother of all bull markets" in Gold and silver.

Of course, this is all just a normal reaction to the financial mania that preceded the current secular Gold bull market. A secular correction in the Dow to Gold ratio down to 2 or less (we may well go below 1 this cycle) will teach everyone to avoid common stocks forever. Everyone will have learned their lesson the hard way. This, of course, is when it will finally make sense to buy common stocks again as a "buy and hold" proposition. In the mean time, it's all about the bling bling for this secular cycle. All you have to do to ride the wave is buy pieces of shiny metal and watch your wealth and real purchasing power grow while paper assets are debased into oblivion. What could be easier?

Ummm, Really?

My worst trading performance has been when I have gone short. I have made big money (like when I was leveraged short during the fall of 2008 as documented here and here), but I have also lost large amounts of money fighting the hoards of determined bulltards still stuck in last century's paradigms. The tsunami of paper depreciation unleashed upon us over the past decade makes shorting any market much more hazardous than being long. Trust me, I have learned my lesson in this regard the hard way.

Right now, my subscribers and I are short senior Gold stocks as a scalp trade (after catching the high in the GDX ETF on February 2nd). So far, so good. It is almost time to flip back to going bullish on the precious metals sector. When I look at the general common equity markets, I see rabid paperbug froth everywhere. Just a few minor points of extremely bullish sentiment to point out.

First up, here's a chart from a piece by sentimentrader.com, which examines the ratio of money flowing into a Rydex bull mutual fund versus a bear fund (i.e. examines retail money flows into bullish bets versus bearish bets):





Next up, a chart of a proprietary NASDAQ sentiment indicator from Market Harmonics:




Record highs, eh? I can see why, what with the super-strong economy and what not. And here's the opinion of the trusted and revered investment advisors that always buy low and sell high for their clients (sarcasm off). Following is the NAAIM (National Association of Active Investment Managers) sentiment survey thru last week:




I am thinking a sharp chop lower in common equities followed by a drunken and staggering final charge into a March peak. After that, we'll have to see. But for now, risk is exceedingly high in common equities. There's rarely a need to tell a Gold bull about such risk, as those who have crossed over to the dark side and embraced the secular bull market that is the enemy of the state rarely need reminding that we are in the cycle where paper declines relative to real/hard assets.

Own physical Gold and sleep well. When the Dow to Gold ratio hits 2 (and we may well go below 1 this cycle), consider waking up from that comfortable financial sleep and looking for something to buy with your bling bling. And if you're interesting in speculating in the paper markets after you have established a core position of physical metal held outside the banking system, consider trying my low cost subscription service.

Waiting to Pounce on Precious Metal Profits

Let me start by re-iterating that I am a secular permabull on physical precious metals, particularly Gold. When you're dealing with the end of the road for the current international monetary system (a la the 1930s and the 1970s), there's only one asset that is a complete no-brainer to own. As a hint, that asset is shiny and owned by every central bank in the world "just in case."

However, I also like to trade. When trading, I would sell or buy anything if I though there was a profit to be had. For example, my subscribers and I have been short senior Gold stocks as a "scalp" trade over the past week. Does this make me a traitor? I don't think in those terms, as I am a more practical Gold bug/bull. The more paper I make, the more metal I can buy.

However, once the current short-term correction finishes, it is back to bull mode. Gold, silver, and Gold and silver stocks - they're all going to go higher. The only real conundrum is which of these items to buy as a bull trade once the correction is complete. In another week or so, we'll hit bottom and find out which of these items will outperform.

I like the prospects for the entire precious metals patch. From a trader's perspective, I think silver has an obvious minimum target when using the SLV ETF. Here's an 8 month daily chart of the SLV ETF thru today's close to show you what I mean:





Once we correct a little (likely in a scary fashion over a few days for silver and senior Gold stocks, as they both seem to enjoy volatility as much as Bernanke likes creating money out of thin air), a decent 15-20% move higher is likely. After that, we'll have to see. All precious metal bulls know that we'll ultimately make new highs in silver above $50/oz., but the exact timing is uncertain from a trader's perspective. This is why it is best to simply buy physical metal and hold on for the volatile ride. However, some of us like to speculate with a portion of our capital and this message is for you fellow punters out there in the PM patch.

Now, the senior Gold stocks are the basket case of the PM sector. All this crap about Gold stocks leveraging the price of Gold and having bullish fundamentals doesn't mean anything if they won't perform here and now. And I'll be honest, I'm very concerned about their recent performance. That doesn't mean there isn't money to be made trading the senior Gold stock indices like the GDX ETF, but I am not impressed with the move off the late December bottom so far. Here's an $HUI:$GOLD ratio chart to show you what I mean:





A permabull will tell you that any minute now, Gold stocks are going to blast higher and if you don't buy right now (yesterday, in fact), you're going to miss out on a quadrillion dollars. Me, I don't think so. I think this warning signal should be taken seriously. It means that the senior Gold stocks could be headed for something like this over the next few months (2 year daily chart of GDX thru today's close):





This is not a prediction, by the way, but if senior Gold stocks don't start outperforming Gold soon, don't be surprised if something like this happens. I trade Gold stocks, I don't own them. I prefer to own physical metal and then speculate in stocks and paper metal (as well as anything else that looks like it might be good for a winning trade). Investing and trading are very different and require a different type of focus and attitude. With physical Gold, I never worry about the price on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis (unless I am looking to buy more). Why? Because I understand the secular bull market in Gold and why it won't be over for some time. I never lose sleep or worry if Gold drops 10 or 20% when priced in my local currency (i.e. US Dollars). Wake me when the Dow to Gold ratio gets to 2 (and we may well go below 1 this cycle).

The bottom line is that we're going higher in the PM sector. Exactly how we get there, only Mr Market knows for sure. But I believe there are profits to be made speculating in the paper markets. After calling the exact day of the bottom in the PM patch for my subscribers and I in late December, we sold our long trading positions in senior Gold stocks 2 weeks ago in anticipation of the current correction. We went short senior Gold stocks on February 2nd, catching the high that day. In a week or so, we will be going long again in the PM sector. If you'd care to join us in the dark jungle known as the paper markets, a one month trial subscription is only $15. But please, don't even think about subscribing until you've secured a core investment in actual physical metal held outside the banking system.