Is the Near Term Bottom in for Metals?
GOLD
The price coiling I highlighted in gold in my last post failed to the downside, which I mentioned was a possibility. There were two key levels, the 1865-1880 band, and then 1800, which would have retested the entire move. Buyers came in strong at 1865 and price held, right at the 100 day moving average. The breakdown from the pennant has created a bull wedge, and the RSI (relative strength index) never hit oversold levels, which implies to me that bulls remain in control. Gold is not completely out of the woods – a breakout of that bull wedge would confirm that 1865 was the interim low. I am looking for confirmation above 1935 and then 1950 for next sizable move. The price action in silver and the miners confirm this thesis.
SILVER
Like gold, silver never got oversold on the 14-day RSI during the recent selloff, and price similarly bottom-ticked the 100 DMA. A break above the recent high of 24.57 should set up a retest of 26.
GDX – GOLD MINERS ETF
GDX appears to have successfully recovered support at 39. At the moment, the recent sell off looks like a false breakdown from horizontal support, and price has formed a bull flag during this recent consolidation. Like the metals, RSI never got oversold during the sell off. This looks to me like a 2-3 month healthy consolidation in order to digest the explosive gains from the March low. Bulls just need price to stay above 37.
GDXJ – JUNIOR GOLD MINERS ETF
The junior gold miners look even better than the majors. The entire selloff has been a simple retest of the breakout from the 2016 high. Like GDX, price has just been consolidating for 2-3 months and has formed a bull flag into support. RSI never got oversold during the selloff. Bulls want price to stay above 52.
GOLD/SILVER RATIO
In a bull market, we want to see silver outperforming gold on a relative basis, which implies a lower ratio. In the chart below, we can see that the trend remains down, and the ratio is pushing up against falling resistance. A breakout in price should send the ratio falling back towards a retest of the 68 level. In this case, we notice that the RSI was “oversold”, meaning the downward fall became extreme, and the pullback never hit overbought levels, which implies that the downwards pressure is prevailing. These signs indicate silver outperformance, which is far more prevalent when prices are rising than when they are falling. A breakout of this ratio would imply a skew towards risk off, which would be less bullish generally.
