1. European Banks – The Next Crisis – The Unseen Cause in Plain View

   by Martin Armstrong

The clouds have not lifted from the heart of the financial center within the European Union on the continent. The origin of the next crisis is unseen yet in plain view if you care to look. Ten years since the financial crisis of 2007-2009, the core fundamental problems in the banking sector have not yet been resolved . Indeed.. 

…read more HERE

2. Some Big Wall Street Players Are Starting to Sweat a Crash

When it comes to the stock market, everything’s always all good… until it isn’t.

And it’s been all good: U.S. stocks have been rallying for nine years, making successive all-time highs, with only sporadic bouts of profit-taking by the Nervous Nellies along the way. But now, some huge investors – marquee names – are getting nervous…..

….continue HERE

3. Bob Hoye: CryptoCurrency & Market Tops

Bob Hoye with an in depth discussion on the financial markets and the Bitcoin (BTC) revolution. Since his last visit, BTC has more than doubled soaring from under $2,000 to over $4,500 and the crypto market cap has topped $145 billion. Bob suggests the current price could be nearing an ultimate top. …

….read it all HERE

Is the Fed Done (Tightening) for this Cycle?

Spot gold has spent the past seven months in a tight trading range between $1,200 and $1,300 per ounce. Given the stored force inherent in such a trading pattern (Figure 1, below), history suggests a breakout, whether up or down, is likely to be characterized by steep slope.  The question remains, which direction will gold follow?  Given that a prominent macroeconomic development during the past several months has been perceived central-bank hawkishness, consensus appears to favor pending gold-price pressure…..

….continue reading HERE

Bitcoin – Enters the Next Stage in the Bull Market

….also: Click for .mp3 Audio of Bob Hoye Interview with Host Chris G. Waltzek Ph.D.

Highlights

• Bob Hoye of Institutional Advisors rejoins the show with an in depth discussion on the financial markets and the Bitcoin (BTC) revolution. 
• Since his last visit, BTC has more than doubled soaring from under $2,000 to over $4,500 and the crypto market cap has topped $145 billion. 
• Bob suggests the current price could be nearing an ultimate top. 
• The host presents a competing scenario with the help of the work of a top Elliott Wave technician in London.
• The analyst expects BTC to correct to $3,650 before staging a run to $5,000. 
• The host is convinced that BTC is en route to $10,000 and then $50,000 over the next several years.
• The cryptocurrency domain is poised to rival the world’s largest market, the $5 trillion FOREX. 
• Archaic rules are holding back BTC investment, the currency of the future, putting millions of American’s at risk of opportunity costs. 
• All 7 billion global inhabitants, plus semiconscious machines / computers, have access to a virtual checking accounts, via public library computers. 
• Key takeaway – people are reclaiming their economic / political freedoms from the elite. 
• His work indicates that high-end residential housing may have peaked along with most bond markets. 
• Plus, the gold market is expected to benefit from slowing momentum in US equities, as investors convert paper profits into tangible precious metals assets.

Click for .mp3 Audio of Bob Hoye Interview 

That didn’t take long at all. Just a few weeks after the Commitment of Traders (COT) Reports for gold and silver turned positive – setting off a nice rally in both metals’ prices – this indicator has flipped back to strongly negative. 

In gold especially, speculators (always wrong at big turning points) have loaded up on long futures contracts while closing out their short positions. The commercials (always right at big turning points) have done the opposite, closing out long positions and going aggressively short.

In the week ended August 15, the gold speculators and commercials got about 10% more long and short, respectively. That’s a big one-week move, and brings the imbalance between good and bad positions to nearly 3-to-1 bearish. The trends in silver, while not as extreme, still point in a bearish direction.

 Here’s the action presented graphically, with the silver lines on the top half of the chart representing speculator long positions and the purple bars below indicating commercial shorts. Note the leisurely pace of previous months, and contrast it with the v-shaped move that just took place. Not sure what that means, other than that speculators hoping to ride a longer upswing might be disappointed. 

It’s important once again to note that the COT report is not a day-trading tool. Historically it’s been a pretty good indicator of the general trend over the following six or so months. But it has nothing to say about tomorrow or the day after. So it’s irrelevant for stackers and other long-term accumulators. But it is useful for someone who has their eye on a given gold/silver mining stock and is looking for a good entry point – which in this case might be a few months in the future. 

Another point that bears repeating is the temporary nature of this indicator. Eventually, fundamentals in the form of surging demand for physical precious metals will swamp the paper market. Gold and silver will soar regardless of which futures players are long or short.