Gold Enthusiam Is Waning Again Despite Surging Before Gold’s Recent Peak

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 4, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Right after I last updated the gold enthusiasm index last July, gold went near parabolic and peaked in about two months. In that post, I wrote that enthusiasm for gold continued … Read more

Weak Hands Set Up the Next Big Buying Opportunity In Gold and Silver

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 1, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) On Wednesday, February 29, gold plunged 5.0% and silver plunged 5.7% presumably because traders had incorrectly bet that Ben Bernanke would use the occasion of his semi-annual Congressional testimony to either … Read more

Chart Review: Silver Breaks Out

It took almost a month, but silver has finally joined gold in its post-Fed breakout. The chart below shows that silver has broken above stiff resistance at the 50-day moving average (DMA). This resistance has kept silver under a lid for five months. Source: StockCharts.com With the Federal Reserve promising to keep rates low through … Read more

Chart Review: Rally in Rare Earth Stocks Take A Pause

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 7, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Many rare earth element stocks have taken on new life in 2012 as investors and traders have scrambled to speculate on some of 2011’s poor-performing stocks. The current run-up has been … Read more

CSX Anticipates A Bottom in Natural Gas Prices

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 26, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Last week, I wrote about the opportunities arising from the crash in natural gas prices. On the morning of January 24, CSX Corporation, a railroad company, provided timely commentary on natural … Read more

Chart Review: Stock Recoveries, Critical Resistance, and Emerging Breakouts

The current extended overbought period has produced many amazing chart patterns. In this chart review, I am highlighting some charts I find particularly interesting and compelling. There are impressive recoveries, stocks dancing with critical resistance, and emerging breakouts. Some charts are quite telling in that they completely contradict the presumed economic disaster from an imminent … Read more

The Japanese Yen May Finally Begin Peaking As Finance Minister Encourages Buying Spree

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 22, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Via an extremely strong Japanese yen, the world is offering Japan a steep discount on its assets. On January 19, 2011, Japanese Finance Minister, Yukio Edano, seemed to indicate that Japan … Read more

Opportunities From the Crash In Natural Gas

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 17, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Last year I wrote a two-part series leveraging the work of Jeremy Grantham to develop a strategy for profiting from a crash in commodity prices (see “Profiting from Physical Assets in … Read more

Buying Opportunities Arrive As Agricultural Stocks Limp Into 2012

This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 1, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) In my last post updating the current list of buy candidates for the “commodity crash” portfolio, I neglected to include fertilizer stocks. Phosphate and potash producers – like Mosaic (MOS), Potash … Read more

Molycorp CEO Doubles Down On Shares Even As the Market’s Doubts Increase

This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 29, 2011. Click here to read the entire piece.) On August 15th, Mark Smith, the President and CEO of rare earth producer Molycorp (MCP) made one of the strangest insider purchases I have ever observed. {snip} Two weeks ago, on … Read more