20101026 PM

DOW 11169.46 +5.41
Nasdaq 2,497.29 +6.44
SP500 1185.64 +0.02
10Yr.T-Note 2.636% +0.82

Traders are marking time until next week when the Fed will announce how much manipulation they will implement. Elections are the day before the Fed announces.

Manufacturer input costs are rising:

Consumer products maker Kimberly-Clark Corp. said Tuesday that its third-quarter net income fell 19 percent as making its top-selling tissues and diapers got more expensive...

In 2008, the government intervened with $12.8 trillion to prop up failing banks. FOIA requests to determine where the funds went have stymied by Treasury.

The United States Treasury concealed $40 billion in likely taxpayer losses on the bailout of the American International Group...

Bart Chilton, a commissioner at the U.S. futures regulator, said there have been repeated attempts to manipulate the silver market.

GLD 130.88 +0.03
SLV 23.28 +0.18
PTM 20.15 +0.16

XLE 59.58 +0.12
XLF 14.57 +0.02

VXX 12.92 +0.27

20101022 Weekend

Dow 11,132.56 -14.01
Nasdaq 2,479.39 +19.72
SP500 1,183.08 +2.82
30-yrBond 0.37% +0.00

Marking time until currency decision from the G20 meeting in South Korea this weekend.

GLD 129.73 +0.26
SLV 22.76 +0.17
PTM 19.78 -0.02

XLE 59.30 +0.39
XLF 14.60 -0.00

VXX 12.83 -0.60

20101021 PM

Dow 11,146.57 +38.60
Nasdaq 2,459.67 +2.28
SP500 1,180.26 +2.09
30-yrBond 0.37% +0.00

Dollar was lower until 10:30AM, when it started a climb higher into the close. Indices and commodities had the expected reaction. Markets are joined to currencies, with currency gambling based on central bank actions.

GLD 129.47 -1.85
SLV 22.59 -0.74
PTM 19.80 -0.14

XLE 58.91 -0.03
XLF 14.61 -0.00

VXX 13.43 -0.32

20101020 PM

Dow 11,107.97 +129.35
Nasdaq 2,457.39 +20.44
SP500 1,178.17 +12.27
30-yrBond 0.37% -3.53

Dollar violently lower to give back prior day gains. Metals moved higher.

GLD 131.32 +1.21
SLV 23.33 +0.49
PTM 19.94 +0.29

XLE 58.94 +0.75
XLF 14.61 +0.14

VXX 13.75 -0.73

BAC 11.75 -0.05. Another 52 week low. Bank of America Accused of Racketeering in Foreclosure Lawsuit in Indiana

20101019 1355

Dow 10,998.91 -144.78
Nasdaq 2,444.23 -36.43
SP500 1,169.43 -15.28
10-YrBond 2.4950% -0.0040

Dollar opened sharply higher, marked time and gave back a few pennies, and looks to continue making gains.
With indices having climbed higher with light volume the past couple months, a sell-off could quickly get out of control. This is not the time to be aggressively long stocks.

GLD 130.34 -3.94
SLV 23.14 -0.82
PTM 19.71 -0.32

EUO 19.38 +0.55. ProShares UltraShort Euro. Closed my eyes and bought at 19.37.

AAPL 310.52 -7.48
UUP 22.64 +0.32. PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish.
DZZ 9.12 +0.60 (7.04%). PowerShares DB Gold Double Short ETN.

20101018 PM

Dow 11,143.69 +80.91
Nasdaq 2,480.66 +11.89
S&P 500 1,184.71 +8.52
10-YrBond 2.4910% -0.0850

Dollar was higher and sold off during the day to give up the overnight gains. Commodities turned positive during the day.

After hours:
AAPL is down. There will need to be a lot more selling to cause real destruction in AAPL and the NASDAQ index.
Commodities are down and the dollar has jumped higher.

GLD 134.28 +0.60. While gold could try another test at round number 1400, this is not the place to be aggressively long.
SLV 23.96 +0.21
PTM 20.03 +0.01

XLE 59.37 +0.16
XLF 14.67 +0.32

VXX 14.03 -0.39

UUP 22.32 -0.02

20101014 1145

DJIA 11,063.84 -32.24
NASDAQ 2,433.89 -7.34
SP500 1,172.39 -5.71

If dollar finds a short-term bottom, equities will correct and commodities may correct.

UUP 22.25 -0.11. Bought at 22.25. PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund.

20101014 0157

The dollar had a quick sell-off and is now at 76.5.

The Bank of Japan is talking of buying more Japanese bonds and stocks to attempt to prop up their markets and free up private capital. This will be another failed intervention resulting in further international currency instability and higher prices for precious metals and commodities.

Central banks are battling for their own survival, which means they are trying to save their constituents, the local banks. Currency battles are underway. Precious metals have a chance to shoot higher, with gold potentially testing $1400 this week.

20101013 PM, gold eagle coin premium

Dow 11,096.08 +75.68
Nasdaq 2,441.23 +23.31
SP500 1,178.10 +8.33
10-YrBond 2.4310% +0.09

Apparently US Mint gold eagle coins premiums have collapsed from $60 per coin to nearly nothing. This is supposedly because there is so much retail customer coin selling that dealers are not offering the premiums to their selling customers. If the gold price goes down, it is likely the premium will be restored which will effectively buffer any price decline. In other words, when retail customers are selling their gold coins and premiums disappear, it can be a good time to take the other side of the trade and buy those coins.
Gold spot is 1372.40. US Mint gold eagle coin offer is 1427.30 and bid is 1402. Let's keep an eye on the premium.

GLD 134.07 +2.11
SLV 23.49 +0.65
PTM 20.15 +0.30

XLE 59.14 +0.71
XLF 14.86 +0.01

VXX 14.20 -0.30

Potential longs: gold, silver, RBY, TRE.

MDW 0.645 +0.021. Bought at .65. 52 week range 0.38 - 1.04. Used funds from small closed position (today) to put into this exploration firm.

ANO 1.49 +0.15 (11.19%)

20101013 1523PM

Dow 11,137.45 +117.05
Nasdaq 2,450.82 +32.90
S&P 500 1,182.10 +12.33
10-YrBond 2.4310% +0.09

It's "go go go" with headline Dow making another close above 11,000.
Precious metals continue higher, with gold and silver setting up for a spectacular move higher. A technical correction would make the move higher more sustainable. With the small size of the gold/silver markets, gold could easily spurt to $1400 if money moves in. The miners are starting to move.

As gambles, had a tiny "mental" hedge that needed to be cleaned up.

BGZ 11.10 -0.3596. 41% loss on a few hundred dollars. Understanding this was a long-shot hedge on a tiny position, even a 20% stop would have been prudent.

20101013 1232

DJIA 11,143.95 +123.55. Decisively over 11,000.
NASDAQ 2,446.48 +28.56
SP500 1,182.49 +12.72

Indices, metals, and commoidities higher.

ZSL 18.30 -0.96. Sold partial position at 18.28 for 2.47 per share loss. Keeping this is a small position size was important.

20101007 1229

DJIA 10,916.11 -51.54
NASDAQ 2,375.08 -5.58
SP500 1,154.03 -5.94

Dollar has recovered from day lows and is down .10. If the dollar bounces higher, stocks and metals can go sharply lower.

GLD 129.89 -1.92
SLV 22.06 -0.63
PTM 20.08 -0.17

ZSL 20.82 +1.01 (+5.08%). Started 1/4 position at 20.77. Looking to hold this position for a few days - at least through the weekend.

AGQ 88.50 -5.70 (-6.05%)

20101007 1218

DJIA 10,938.70 -28.95
NASDAQ 2,380.84 +0.18
SP500 1,156.75 -3.22

Dollar trying to put in a short term bottom.
Precious metals lowers with some of the recent fast-moving miners showing big percentage losses.
If metals don't hold these lows, there may be a waterfall of selling miners and metal ETFs.

GLD 130.32 -1.49
SLV 22.17 -0.52
PTM 20.08 -0.17

AGQ 89.83 -4.37 (-4.64%). Looks like it can find lower lows today, so sold at 90.14 for ~6 point per share gain. (This position was legged into and legged out of, so the gain on this portion is approximate.)

ANO 1.17 -0.10 (-7.87%)
EVOGF 0.772 -0.038 (-4.69%)
SQIFF 0.5850 -0.0430 (-6.85%)

20101006 PM

Dow 10,967.65 +22.93 (0.21%)
Nasdaq 2,380.66 -19.17 (0.80%)
SP500 1,159.97 -0.78 (0.07%)
10-YrBond 2.3990% -0.75

While metals are extended and could use time to consolidate recent gains, only US currency intervention would be big enough to change the mid-term direction of the metals. A pullback or marking time would be useful for further sustainable gains in the metals.

GLD 131.81 +0.82
SLV 22.69 +0.35. Weekly close above 23 then 35 will be in play.
PTM 20.25 +0.15

XLE 57.93 +0.51
XLF 14.72 -0.01

VXX 16.24 -0.19

ANO 1.27 +0.10 (8.55%)
EXK 4.49 +0.23 (5.40%)

After steady and steep price rises, these are collapsing:
CRM 104.95 -8.96 (7.87%)
CTXS 60.15 -9.85 (14.07%)
EQIX 70.34 -34.75 (33.07%)
RAX 23.29 -2.92 (11.14%)
VMW 77.56 -7.66 (8.99%)

20101006 1037

DJIA 10,938.66 -6.06
NASDAQ 2,381.14 -18.69
SP500 1,158.35 -2.40

AGQ 91.74 +0.38. Sold 1/4 at 91.77 for 8.57 per share gain. Taking some profits.

20101005 PM

Dow 10,944.72 +193.45
Nasdaq 2,399.83 +55.31
SP500 1,160.75 +23.72. Next stop is 1,173.57.
30-yrBond 3.73% +0.21

GLD 130.99 +2.53 (1.97%)
SLV 22.34 +0.83 (3.86%). Opening gap up to open higher than yesterday's high, then kept running.
PTM 20.10 +0.31 (1.57%)

XLE 57.42 +1.32
XLF 14.73 +0.33

VXX 16.43 -0.94

AGQ 91.36 +6.38 (7.51%). Double long silver.
ANO 1.17 +0.11 (10.38%). Platinum miner.

BIOF 2.40 +0.45 (23.08%). BioFuel Energy Corp. Up on EPA ethanol news. Today, 10x average volume. Had shown tell-tale volume spikes on up days in the past couple weeks.

20101001 Weekend, Neodymium

Dow 10,829.68 +41.63
Nasdaq 2,370.75 +2.13
SP500 1,146.24 +5.04
30-yrBond 3.72% +0.34

Dollar dramatically lower, off .73 to 78.05. Precious metals sharply higher. Gold closed at 1316. Silver closed at 22.02. Crude oil closed at 81.03, which will push transportation prices and food prices higher in the coming months.

GLD 128.91 +1.00
SLV 21.65 +0.34
PTM 19.89 +0.30

XLE 56.81 +0.75
XLF 14.50 +0.16

VXX 17.04 +0.25

Obama added a fundamental reason to purchase physical gold & silver by allowing his Treasury Department to propose monitoring of ALL cross-border money transfers (any amount). This is the tightening of capital flows which signals monetary and economic failure. This is another reason to protect your assets and take possession of gold and silver.

King World News article and audio interview of Ben Davies. Ben discusses the failed Bretton Woods agreement, anemic global GDP, currency devaluations, Japanese currency vs. Chinese currency vs. US currency, and eventual collapse of the worldwide fiat monetary system.

ANO 1.08 +0.19 (21.05%). Ten times average volume on no apparent news. Volume higher than any day in past two years. 52 week range 0.72 - 1.78.
MDW 0.62 +0.03. 52 week range 0.38 - 1.04.

GMCR 29.57 -1.62. Was at 37.95 on Tuesday. Going to 24. Issues with revenue recognition.


There is renewed interest in neodymium and it's unique uses in magnets. Little is produced outside of China.

The only possible non Chinese, or non Chinese owned, sources for neodymium for the open market now are the Americans, privately owned MolyCorp and privately owned Thorium Energy, Inc., and the Canadians, publicly traded Great western Minerals Group and publicly traded Avalon Rare Metals.

Great Western Minerals Group (OTC: GWMGF), a company developing four rare earth projects, is up 948%, to 33 cents a share, in 2009.
That's a sluggish performance compared with Ucore Uranium (OTC: UURAF), which is developing a rare earth mine in southeastern Alaska. Shares of Ucore are up 4,181% in 2009, to 83 cents per share.

My advice, at this point, is to stand back and let the rockets cool. The speculators will move on to some other sector fairly soon. Use the time to separate the mining stories from the real mining companies.

The only possible sources for this extra production would be:
1. Lynas Corp (Mt. Weld, Australia),
2. Arafura, Ltd (Nolan's Bore, Australia)
3. Molycorp (Mountain Pass, california)
4. Great Western Minerals Group, Ltd. (Hoidas Lake, saskatchewan, Canada),
5. Avalon Rare Metals (Thor Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada), or
6. Thorium Energy, inc. (Lemhi Pass, Idaho).

MCP 29.58 +1.29. Molycorp. 52 week range 12.10 - 30.00. Began trading in August.