Energy & Commodities

Commodity ETF Overview

Commodities-VadodaraCommodities are known as the raw materials for production processes. Investing in them provides investors with exposure to unique factors that historically have brought diversification and inflation hedging benefits to traditional portfolios. Nowadays, ETFs have expanded the availability of commodity investments providing exposure to single commodities and commodity-linked indexes. At the same time, ETFs have exposed investors to a new set of risk factors that may be unfamiliar to the average investor.

This channel is designed to help you understand commodity ETFs, how they work, how they are built, their risks and their rewards, so that you can decide if commodity ETFs deserve a place in your portfolio.

…look at the complete list of ETF’s and their performance HERE

…related:

Canada’s Oil Exports Would Be Dead Without U.S. Shale Production

Beware of Bond Funds

50-War-Bond

We are entering a phase of rising interest rates, so bond funds will do poorly. We are not yet at a stage where U.S. government bonds would default or be swapped. Therefore, my recommendation has only to do with rising rates. What you should do is stay short-term, like 90-day paper or less, be it corporate or government. This is just an interest rate play moving into 2018.

As we move into 2018....continue reading HERE

….related: 

Treasury Bonds Are ‘Contrarian’ Mega Bullish

Dec 20, 2016

  1. At this time last year, most gold investors and analysts were predicting lower prices for gold. Many of them were shorting it.
  2. The shorts were obliterated, because gold bottomed the day after the December 2105 FOMC meeting. It soared about $330 an ounce, from about $1045 to above $1375. 
  3. It’s been said that history doesn’t exactly repeat, but it does rhyme. On that note, please  click here now. Double-click to enlarge this daily bars gold chart.
  4. Gold has a cyclical tendency to decline ahead of a rate hike, and rally after it is announced. 
  5. This time, the US election may delay the rally, but create one that is bigger and more sustained than the rally of 2016. Here’s why:
  6. Republican parties have cyclically been associated with significant US dollar downtrends. The next presidential inauguration occurs on January 20, 2017. 
  7. Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that he wants a lower dollar. He’ll have control of both the senate and the congress, putting him in a position of tremendous power to impose his will on US markets.
  8. Please  click here now. Double-click to enlarge. Most technicians are now wildly bullish on the US dollar index.
  9. They are excited about what appears to be an “upside breakout”, and there’s no question that the US dollar index could move higher until inauguration day.
  10. Note the RSI non-confirmation with the price on that daily bars US dollar index chart. The dollar’s technical strength is weakening quite dramatically.
  11. For a big picture view of the dollar’s price action during the past few presidencies, please  click here now. Double-click to enlarge. 
  12. As rates rise, and Trump increases government debt while cutting taxes, the US government’s credit rating could get downgraded, adding more downwards pressure on the dollar. 
  13. Janet Yellen initially endorsed a “high pressure” economy, but after the latest FOMC meeting she said that she’s not necessarily looking for easy money policy to continue.
  14. That’s superb news for inflation enthusiasts, because higher rates incentivize banks to move money out of government bonds and into the fractional reserve banking system.
  15. Trump’s tax cuts will further incentivize the banks to make loans to the private sector, and move even more money out of the US government bond market.
  16. The bottom line is that Janet Yellen can create a higher pressure economy with rate hikes than without them. With Donald “The Golden Trumpster” in power, inflation may rise much faster than anticipated, regardless of what Janet does. 
  17. I expect US money velocity to bottom by the summer of 2017 and begin a long term bull cycle, mainly because of the policies of both Trump and Yellen.
  18. Gold stocks can dramatically outperform gold in that environment. On that note, please  click here now. Double-click to enlarge this GDX daily bars chart.
  19. There’s no question that GDX is in a downtrend. The pattern of lower minor trend lows and lower highs is what defines a downtrend in any market.
  20. Please  click here now. Double-click to enlarge. That’s another look at the GDX daily chart. In strong uptrend, the RSI oscillator tends to oscillate between the 70 area and 50. In a downtrend, RSI tends to oscillate between 20 and 50. 
  21. Amateur investors tend to be obsessed with trying to figure out whether a market is making a major bottom, top, or about to accelerate its trend. I would argue that such an obsession doesn’t build wealth that is sustained. It’s a subtle form of gambling, and gamblers tend to lose money on an ongoing basis.
  22. Rather than trying to gamble on whether GDX will continue its current pattern of lower highs and lower lows or not, my suggestion to the world gold community is to simply wait for a pattern of higher highs and higher lows to appear. That’s what defines an uptrend.
  23. Please  click here now. Double-click to enlarge. That’s a third view of the GDX daily chart. There is support in the $17 – $18 area, and an important buying area. Importantly, this chart shows that there was no uptrend in place in the days following last year’s rate hike. GDX declined to a final low in January of 2016, but it wasn’t until the spring that an uptrend was apparent. The bottom line:
  24. Professional investors have a lot of patience, and amateur investors need to focus on developing it. It’s highly likely that a new and sustained uptrend in precious metals will begin, once the weak dollar policy of the Trump administration becomes clear!

Thanks! 

Cheers
st

….related by Morris Hubbartt: Gold: Tactics After US Rate Hike

Dec 20, 2016
Stewart Thomson  
Graceland Updates
website: www.gracelandupdates.com

Stewart Thomson is a retired Merrill Lynch broker. Stewart writes the Graceland Updates daily between 4am-7am. They are sent out around 8am. The newsletter is attractively priced and the format is a unique numbered point form; giving clarity to each point and saving valuable reading time.

Risks, Disclaimers, Legal
Stewart Thomson is no longer an investment advisor. The information provided by Stewart and Graceland Updates is for general information purposes only. Before taking any action on any investment, it is imperative that you consult with multiple properly licensed, experienced and qualifed investment advisors and get numerous opinions before taking any action. Your minimum risk on any investment in the world is 100% loss of all your money. You may be taking or preparing to take leveraged positions in investments and not know it, exposing yourself to unlimited risks. This is highly concerning if you are an investor in any derivatives products. There is an approx $700 trillion OTC Derivatives Iceberg with a tiny portion written off officially. The bottom line:

US Dollar & Gold

We continue to monitor the seventeen-year cycle in the US Dollar Index and its relationship with gold. Looking at gold since the Dollar bottomed in May, the patterns of 1999, 1982 and 1983-85 are a close match. The Fibonacci levels come into play in each instance. 

The October 7th low at $1242 (labelled level 50 on the chart) was the last support before gold broke the May 31st low of $1199. It is deemed to become the midpoint of the eventual decline. The resistance level at 76% was a test of the previous support around $1310 during the summer. April and May become the 38% level in the pattern. The measured range for the downside move is $1105 +/- $5. 

Screen Shot 2016-12-21 at 6.45.35 AM

…view entire analysis & large charts HERE

Want to build wealth? Break these 8 rules

build-wealthBeing “upside down” is usually a negative term when applied to financial matters, but multimillionaire Robert Shemin believes that sort of thinking is … well … upside down.

Shemin, author of “How Come That Idiot’s Rich and I’m Not?” feels there are two positions when it comes to wealth: right side up and broke, or upside down and rich. Shemin prefers upside down. The best way to build and maintain wealth, maintains Shemin — once considered the “least likely to succeed”– is by breaking the rules you think and hear about when building wealth.

Following are eight rules worth breaking — in upside-down order — and what Shemin and other financial gurus have to say about them.

 

8. Before investing, learn enough so that you’re not going to make any mistakes

The problem here: Fear causes inaction, Shemin says. “Everything in life has a risk and a cost for doing it, and a risk and a cost for not doing it. Rich idiots focus on the risk of not doing something.” In his experience, most people don’t get started on stock market or real estate investing, or in estate planning, because they’re so scared of making mistakes, they’re overwhelmed.

“Of course you should expect to make mistakes when you start investing (or any time),” agrees Ramit Sethi, who writes the popular blog, IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com. “But if you start with small amounts, any mistakes won’t hurt you too bad. Plus, any mistakes can be mitigated by time.”

…continue reading 7 thru to 1 HERE

…related: The Way To Wealth By Benjamin Franklin