You go on the twitter and all you see are people complaining about what a bad year this is for stocks, how bad the stock market is, recessions, bear markets, the Fed, blah blah blah.

I don't understand. What's everyone so angry about?

Stocks continue to do well. In fact, the back half of this year has been one of the better ones that we've ever seen.

Look how well most sectors have done since the market bottomed in June:

We tend to think in US Dollars.

And this is for good reason, don't get me wrong.

The US Dollar is the world's dominant reserve currency.

But what if we treated Gold like another currency instead of a commodity?

It certainly acts more like a currency. Just look at the recent moves in Commodities, both up and down. Gold hasn't exactly followed along....

So if Gold wants to behave like a currency, maybe we should treat it like one.

Here's Gold priced in some very important currencies. In other words, this is what Gold looks like if you remove your US Dollar bias:

On Christmas or on any other day of the year, the goal is to sell things at higher prices than where we buy them.

And as great as Stocks have been performing, precious metals have done even better!

That relative strength is something we like to see in assets we own.

Now, when you zoom out in Gold, doesn't this time remind you of that time 20 years ago?

From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza

Tuesday night we held our December Monthly Conference Call, which Premium Members can access and rewatch here.

In this post, we’ll do our best to summarize it by highlighting five of the most important charts and/or themes we covered, along with commentary on each

Let’s get right into it!

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Have you noticed commodities are breaking out?

No, not crude oil or copper. I’m talking about sugar, live cattle, and soybean meal.

Though these contracts rarely find themselves on the front page, their upside resolutions provide an important commodity-trading roadmap heading into 2023. 

Plus, their relative strength reveals insight into the underlying nature of the current market environment.

Check out commodity subgroup performances anchored from Sept. 26, when  the US Dollar Index $DXY peaked:

I chose to anchor from this date for two reasons: to highlight the trailing three months and to show how a weaker dollar tends to benefit commodity prices.

One might expect the entire commodity...

This is the video recording of the December 2022 Mid-month Conference Call.

We discussed:

• The S&P500 & DJ Industrial Avg below overhead supply
• Median Stock is above Key Long-term Support
• Consumer Staples & Low Volatility Stocks outperforming
• Performance of Sectors since Stocks Bottomed June 16th
• Waiting for an expansion of the new highs list
• The implications of a stronger Japanese Yen
• Dollar weakening vs Developed Market & Emerging Market Currencies
• 4-year Presidential Cycle Bullish Sweet Spot
• Small-caps to buy that are outperforming
• Bonds making new highs
• Interest rates impact on Growth Stocks
• Which Energy Stocks To Buy Now
• The relentless bid in Gold & Precious Metals
• Which Gold & Silver stocks to own
• Sugar and Soybeans breaking out
• Copper Underperforming Gold
• Chinese Stocks leading the way
• European Financials outperforming U.S. Financials
• Industrials Leading - which ones to buy
• Mega-cap Healthcare as a defensive trade
• ...

It's the weekly commodity edition of What the FICC?

Today, we focus on metals and the differences between correcting though price versus time.

Check it out!

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

We all learn how to fall – the sooner, the better.

As adults, we forget this is one of the first skills we learn early in life. For better or worse, my one-year-old reminds me daily.

He’s amazing. 

Yes, I’m one of those proud, doting fathers. But his coordination and acrobatics keep both of us out of the pediatric ER (and me, the doghouse). He pops right up whenever he hits the ground and keeps chasing his older brother.

Pure gold.

Since my mind is always lost in the charts, his agility and doggedness remind me of gold’s resilience during the past two years.

You often hear us refer to markets correcting through price or time. It’s an important concept that can reveal underlying strength. 

The dual-pane chart of copper and gold futures presents both:

Gold corrects through time as copper corrects through price after breaking down earlier this year. 

While gold reminds me of my youngest,...

Remember when they told you Gold was a hedge against inflation?

It wasn't.

Remember when they told you Gold was a safe haven asset?

It wasn't.

Remember all those times the Gold bugs made up fairy tales about future price appreciation for their rocks?

It never happened.

And so here we are. Well over a decade later, Gold prices are actually still down 6% from their 2011 highs. Silver is somehow still down over 50% from those highs.

Think about the opportunity cost of owning precious metals instead of pretty much anything else.

So. Is this time different?

Is this the time for Gold to finally shine?

It's the weekly commodity edition of What the FICC?

Not only are commodities losing their leaders, but the leaders are losing their former 2018 highs. As bearish as this sounds, commodities still deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Check it out!