The Money GPS: Guiding You Through An Uncertain Economy With a solid foundation and minimal maintenance, anyone can understand exactly what’s truly going on in the world. There is a definite game plan where you stick to the principles, apply the formula, and achieve wealth, regardless of the economic conditions.

Author David Quintieri’s book, The Money GPS, takes the complexity of the financial system and transforms it into simplicity. The frequent use of diagrams and charts allows the reader to learn visually, making a complex subject easy for anyone to learn.

The clock is ticking in this world of paper money. Unpayable debts are piling up all over the world and are attempted to be resolved by adding even more debt. This system will collapse, creating the greatest wealth transfer in the history of the world: from those who hold paper, to those holding real assets.

The Money GPS empowers and prepares the reader in these uncertain times.

The Money GPS by David Quintieri /> Available on Amazon

For years, silver bulls have lamented the metal’s failure to significantly outperform gold in this precious metals bull market.  They look at the statistics: silver’s dwindling warehouse inventories, only a fraction of what they were a few decades ago; no huge government stockpiles of silver overhanging the market; stagnant production with increasing demand; announcements of new uses released almost daily; annual sales of the American Silver Eagle, which is only one silver investment vehicle available, now exceeding yearly U.S. domestic silver production; the US a net importer silver as domestic production meets only about one third of demand.

Why, silver bulls ask, has the price of silver not outstripped the price of gold?  In past bull markets, most notably the 1973-1980 bull market, the price of silver shot up 25 times while the price of gold rose only seven to eight times.  Significant in the 1970s precious metals bull market was the “Hunt Brothers” factor; this bull market does not have such a recognized development.  Still, in other bull markets of shorter duration, silver significantly outperformed gold.  So, why not now?

Steve St. Angelo provides some of the answers in his article The Coming Paradigm Shift in Silver.

A paradigm shift comes with a radical change in the thinking of a large number of people.  It is a mass psychology phenomenon.  The housing boom is a perfect example.  The perception was that home prices would rise forever; the price paid was not important as prices would be higher next year.  Of course, the thinking was fallacious as the housing boom turned into a bubble, which crippled the world’s financial structure.

In making his point for a coming paradigm shift in silver, St. Angelo gives historical background on gold and fractional reserve banking in the United States.  It is an excellent discussion of where US banking used to be versus where it is today.

St. Angelo ratchets up his warning by noting Eric Sprott’s assertion that “The financial system is a farce.”  Eric Sprott is CEO of Sprott Asset Management, a Toronto financial adviser with more than $10 billion under management.  Sprott has some forty years experience in the financial market and is a frequent guest on KingWorldNews, which carries interviews with some of the world’s best know financial experts.

I’m in Sprott’s camp.  I have noted many times on KWN’s Weekly Metals Market Wrap, today’s money is the worst ever devised by mankind.  It is worse than paper, which can be burned for warmth after becoming worthless as money.  Today’s money is nothing more than electronic impulses on silicon bubbles.  Not intrinsic value at all.  None. Zilch.

The Coming Paradigm Shift in Silver is an excellent read, well worth the time.  The thing to keep in mind–if St. Angelo’s reasoning appeals to you–is that after a paradigm shift in silver it will be too late to take advantage of the shift.  Silver positions must be taken before the shift, not afterwards.

TEMR: David Morgan is an expert on silver, gold and precious metals investments.   He’s a world renowned lecturer appearing on CNBC and the FOX Business Channel.  He’s an author having penned, Get the Skinny on Silver Investing.  Mr. Morgan is a regular contributor and friend of The Ellis Martin Report.  David welcome back to the show and happy New Year to you.

David Morgan: Ellis thanks and happy New Year to you.

TEMR:  Are you optimistic for 2012 with regards to silver or metals in general?

David Morgan: If we take the whole year into account I am, yes. But, I think it’s going to be the most volatile year we’ve probably seen to date. 

TEMR:  Are you encouraged by the start of this week at all or are you just ignoring it and looking towards the long-term?

David Morgan: You can’t ignore one of the biggest gains on a one day basis for silver going back years. I mean, we got off to a rocket launch and of course you have to pay attention to that. But, that just goes back to the word I used just a second ago, volatility. I think you’re going to see a lot of movement both directions but overall the trend will be higher. And, I’m expecting actually to see silver pretty much double over the course of 2012, meaning going roughly from $30.00 to roughly $60.00.

TEMR:  So, you’re predicting $60.00 silver at some point during 2012. That’s a big number for silver.

David Morgan:  It is. It breaches the $50.00 psychological barrier that sells silver down ever since the Hunt Brothers situation. And, it was smashed down at that $48 1/2 level actually or $40 1/2 some time ago. And, it’s going to take some work to get through that but I believe this is the year that it will happen. And, I believe once we get through that psychological barrier that will become a floor for quite some time.  

TEMR:  Now as a subscriber to The Morgan Report or silver-investor.com, I get updates from time to time or I read them from time to time from you as do all of your subscribers. And, I while back I believe you mentioned, I may be paraphrasing here, silver as a buying opportunity at any price under $30.00. So, I took your advice and I went out and stacked up on some rounds. Are you buying more silver right now?

David Morgan: Yes I am. And, that’s exactly correct I said for a long-term investor, and long-term these days is like in the 2 to 3-year time horizon, anything under $30.00 buy physical. And, so far that’s proven to be pretty good handle on things because if you look at the chart and see how many days it’s traded under $30.00 there aren’t very many. And, even on the days where it’s printed in the $26.00 level there’s not many prints there. In other words you have to look at these markets in a way that most people don’t understand because they don’t really know how markets work. But, it’s like, I’ll use the car analogy. I know sometimes a lot of car dealers will put a car on display and it will be, you know, the super deal. And, it’s one at this price only. So, they have a lot of other cars that are almost identical to it but there’s only one at that specific price. So, it’s kind of the same thing for silver. How much $26.00 silver is available? And, the answer is far less than is available at $36.00, if you get my point. I hope I made that clear. People get the idea that once it gets to $26.00 or $22.00 or whatever their fantasy number is, I’ll put my $2 million dollars in there or whatever. Markets don’t work that way. There might only be enough silver at that level to take $100,000.00 worth of metal off the market and then the price starts moving back up. So, that’s something to bear in mind. There’s a lot of people out there that just don’t understand exactly how these markets work.   

TEMR:  Well, what surprised me the particular morning I actually physically drove to a bullion dealer in Los Angeles, a substantial dealer, I was the only one there buying silver. In fact, I was the only one in the showroom. I expected it to be packed. What’s going with regard to perception in the retail area and silver?

David Morgan: Well, it’s typical psychology. If you really want to do well in the markets you have to understand psychology more than the numbers. Numbers are important. They’re a tool. But, if you really understand human psychology you’ll do even better. And, well, let’s see, the price has gone off. The price has been below $0.50 May 1st and it’s going lower or I want to wait and see. So, you know, a lot of people that get that wait and see kind of an attitude and they’ll wait. They’ll watch. They’ll see the bottom. They won’t know it’s the bottom and they won’t buy. In other words they just watch the whole time. And, there’s lots of people out there like that because the psychology is they want to get the exact price, low. And, that’s an amateurs game. A professional looks at a market and says this is still a bull market. The major trend is still up. Nothing’s gone on in the financial system that’s made anything close to a resolution of these massive problems on a global basis. The metals is really the only safe harbor. Therefore, I’m going to establish a position and I’m going to keep building it. To use your words, stacking. Keep stacking up your gold and silver. And, a lot of people do get that but a lot of people don’t. They’re waiting and they’ll continue to wait and they’ll miss the market.

TEMR: Well, they’re going to wait until the price goes up I guess or until it goes down and it may not go down as low as they want it. Is that essentially what you’re saying?

David Morgan: Yeah. What happens is people do the wrong things. I mean, right now you were the only one in the shop. That’s a good indicator you’re buying correctly. I mean, if there was a massive amount of people in there you might question yourself. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy. You might say, hmm that’s interesting. So, people should buy when they’re fearful, which is now. And, they should be selling or lighten up when they’re greedy. But, that’s not what happens if you study the markets. And, it’s not just the gold and silver markets. It’s the tech. It’s the housing boom. It’s any market. People get very euphoric at the highs. So as you said a moment ago silver starts moving back to number 35/40 you’re going to see a lot more enthusiasm and a lot people coming in the market that didn’t want to touch it when it was under $30.00. You know, they might have heard this radio show even and said, you know, that sounds really, really good but it’s going lower. And, they don’t do it. And, then it starts to move higher. And, some of those people will say, I’m throwing in the towel. I’ve got to buy it. I’m going to buy it now. Well, they would’ve had a much better profit base if they would’ve bought it when it felt wrong to buy it.

TEMR: And, we had this almost exact conversation well over a year ago when it was under $20.00.

David Morgan: That’s correct. You’ve got a great memory and that’s precisely accurate. We had a very similar conversation. And, you know, the thinking at that time, generally speaking, I’m paraphrasing, was that, oh my gosh $20.00. It was at $5.00 at one time. It’s a quadruple. Double-digits. Now that’s too high. Well, is $22.00 high when you’ve got an infinite monetary supply and governments that are so irresponsible that they won’t own up to the responsibility? You’ve got governments all around the world that don’t know what to do and they’re actually in a panic mode behind closed doors. They’re throwing rocks at each other. And, they don’t understand how to correct the system because it’s beyond correction. I mean, there really isn’t a physical paper price that you should focus on. We should focus on is, do I have metal or don’t I? You should focus on do I have more at the end of 2012 than I had at the beginning of 2012? And, that’s the way you should appropriate your wealth because it is wealth. It’s stored value and it’s for the future or spending on the present day if you choose to do so. That’s the only way to articulate it. But, people cannot get that paradigm shift in their thinking. Now if we were on a hard money standard then they would say well if I had more silver coins tomorrow than I had today I’m wealthier. And, that’s so simple to grasp that concept. But, when you put in the paper paradigm and everybody thinks of their net worth in terms of paper they can’t get the concept. They’re blinded to it. But, yet the reality is take that red pill. Get out of the matrix and look at your net worth in terms of how many coins do I have today versus what I had a year ago. Do I have more or less? And, that is true value. But, I can’t emphasize it enough and I certainly can’t put those rose colored glasses on everybody so they can see past the illusion into the reality.

Ellis Martin:  Well, let’s shift this conversation into another lateral realm more or less. When I think about silver rounds now having done business with a few silver producers based out of Canada and producing in Mexico and China and what have you, I can’t help but think about these companies producing silver right now and being a part of that. What are your thoughts concerning silver producers right now? Are you grabbing up more of that stock?

David Morgan: Absolutely. I mean, my belief hasn’t really changed. They’re the most undervalued best place to be in the market and of course this is the one that has the most fear surrounding it. But, if you are patient and you have conviction the best place to be is in the junior to mid-tier producers. Buy in over the next, I’d say, few to several months, meaning 3 to 6-months and hold to your hats because what’s going to happen in my very strong view is that to people that are extremely late to the party that we talked about a moment ago, that will have to pile into silver above $40.00, more above $50.00 and even more as it moves beyond that they’re going to feel they missed it. But, they’re also going to look at reality at some big way and say my IRA isn’t going to make it. My pension fund isn’t there. Maybe Social Security payments will come but they’re not going to buy anything. In other words, fear will drive the market. So, there’ll be a huge rush into gold and silver. However, most people will not go to coin dealers at that point in time. They’ll feel that the prices of have passed them by. But they will be looking for gold and silver mining companies like crazy. So, I predict that it’ll be similar to the tech or the housing boom only it will be as big as or greater than those in real terms. And, the reason I say that is there’s nothing like a fear driven market. When you think your money is going to lose value rapidly it’s huge motivator to move out of that currency whatever the currency. Be it the euro. Be it the U.S. dollar. Be it the Aussie dollar. Be it whatever. Into a gold or silver related asset. And, that will be the underlying equities because almost everybody in the U.S. and in fact globally has some type of a trading platform that’s computer based and they can click a mouse and buy a gold stock. And, once that phenomenon starts to grab hold, and I really think it’s going to take 1 1/2 to 2 years before you see this, but once it starts it is going to be, you know, the Albania all over again. You’re going to see some of these penny stocks go ten-baggers in a matter of weeks.

TEMR: So it’s ok to accumulate now but you must be patient. Look ahead for 2013 and 2014.

David Morgan: I really believe that’s the case. And, that’s the reason why if you really can think through these things and try to get your emotions out of the way you’re going to buy right now when the market’s quiet, which is exactly what you said. You walked in the coin shop you were the only one. That’s a quiet market. Never sell a quiet market, one of my favorite market adages. And, number two, you really want to be buying when everybody else is thinking about it. So, now is the time. It doesn’t mean this day. As I said, in the next 3 to 6-months I think. You’ve probably got that window of opportunity and then you’re going to start seeing a new base built and start moving up. And, It’ll move up I think well. But, not into the panic buying mode that I described a minute ago. That’s a couple of years off I think.

TEMR: Does politics per se have any immediate decision across the board with regard to influencing you over your investment decisions?

David Morgan: Somewhat but not much. I mean, the political spectrum is so corrupt that it is a situation that the analogy I use is it’s like changing captains on the Titanic. It doesn’t matter which party is in. It doesn’t matter who’s at the control. It doesn’t matter what blather lather speech they’re making. No real changes can be made. The hull has been pierced and the ship’s going down.

TEMR: So, you’re pretty much ignoring the news except for maybe a mild interest in what’s happening politically.

David Morgan: Yeah. Some people use it to trade. I let it influence me slightly. But, I mean, I look at the fundamental picture when it comes to politics. And, the fundamental picture in my strong view is that it’s corrupt and it cannot be corrected at this point in time. There’s some hopes out there. I mean, I’ll voice that I was honored of being able to have dinner with Ron Paul. It wasn’t a one on one. It was at the Austrians Group at San Francisco one time. And, I think he’s awesome. And, I even think if he’s elected he’d not be able to turn the ship around. I think it’s too late. That’s my opinion. But, I really don’t put much clout into the political system any more. I think it’s just really, really similar to the Roman Empire. We’re in the final days. And, at most the Congress critters and most of the senators are looking to fatten their own wallets on a personal basis and could give a hoot about the citizenry.

TEMR: Following up on an earlier point that you made just a while back in this conversation. You mentioned the real estate bubble. You mentioned the tech bubble of the late nineties and the early 2000s. Mining stocks, gold, silver, is that a bubble? Or will it act like one without ever popping?

David Morgan: That is a fabulous question. And, I wish I had an answer. My take at this point in time subject to change is that I think the equities could get into a bubble mode. I mean, It’s pretty easy to figure out what a company is worth based whatever the current dollar price is. And, when you’re in that kind of a blow off rally you got to kind of keep your head about you and realize that you’ve only got a derivative. So, what do you do with that derivative? And, the answer is quite frankly I don’t know. It’s a case by case individual basis but I’ve thought about it a great deal. So, my take would be to change that asset to another one. So, an example would be you’ve got very overvalued mining shares and maybe you could exchange that for the currency (inaudible) and move that quickly into a very undervalued asset such as a land position, raw land perhaps. Maybe real estate. Maybe income producing real estate. I don’t know. That’s the idea. I think you still want to be in a hard asset. And, so, you could either go into a land position or something along those lines. As far as the metal itself I’m reserving comment. My take today and it has been for the last couple of years is to go ahead and hold the metal itself. And, the reason being is that you don’t want to trade any physical metal for any piece of paper unless the whole system has been rectified to some large degree and you have confidence back in the system. And, if there is a currency that’s gold backed or that everyone trusts and confidence restored to the system and then certainly you can take a look at that and sell the physical. But, unless that confidence and trust is restored I don’t think it makes any sense to sell the physical. So, hopefully I was clear on that. You want to sell the derivatives and put it into some type of undervalued asset at the time and you want to hold the metals until you’re sure or as sure as you can be that there’s some confidence remaining in the system or it’s been rebuilt. In other words it’s fallen down as far as it can go. It’s bottomed and now confidence is being rebuilt and things are on the upswing again.

TEMR: If you don’t mind David tell our new listeners about your website, silver-investor.com or also themorganreport.com.

David Morgan:  Certainly. I think what I’d suggest to most people that are not familiar with my work is get on my free list. It is absolutely free. You’ll get The 10 Rules of Silver Investing. And, you can go through those. I think they come out about every 3 or 4 days. And, then I send out a weekly update to everyone for free on the economic conditions. And, it’s also a way to kind of track where I’m speaking or what I’m doing over the course of the following months or so. And, then if you like the way I write we offer usually a sample edition to report that you can read and view if you want to actually get my best thinking which is reserved for my members only.

TEMR: Well, David it’s a pleasure to speak with you. Again, I’ve been speaking with David Morgan, the silver-guru, expert on mining, money and metals. The website again is silver-investor.com and themorganreport.com. David thanks a lot for joining me today.

David Morgan: My pleasure Ellis. Thank you.

TEMR:  Listen to this segment again on the homepage of our website, Ellis Martin Report.com.  

copyright 2012 Ellis Martin Report all rights reserved. May be reprinted in its entirety. 

http://www.ellismartinreport.com   htpp://www.silver-investor.com

contact: martinreports@gmail.com

Wednesday, six of the world’s largest central banks, led by the Fed, averted a meltdown of the Eurozone’s banking system by agreeing to print more money.  One has to wonder: if solving such dire financial crises is as easy as creating still more fiat money, how did some of Europe’s major banks get in financial trouble in the first place?

The banks got in trouble primarily by buying the bonds of weak members of the Eurozone.  The banks relied more on the borrowers being sovereign states than their creditworthiness.     

Just how bad is the financial crisis in the eurozone?  Consider the following:

According to the Financial Times, so far this year European banks have been able to sell only two-thirds of the bonds needed to refinance (rollover) existing debt.  They were able to sell only $413 billion of $654 billion needed.

Compounding problems for European banks are the impending Basel III reforms, which will impose tough liquidity and capital requirements on banks.  To comply, Morgan Stanley estimates that European banks will have to dispose of as much as $3.3 billion worth of assets over the next few years.  No one seems to know who will be the buyers.  The European Central Bank that so far has not been a buyer of eurozone toxic waste.

Japanese troubled investment bank Nomura cut its exposure to European sovereign debt by 75 per cent in the past two months, from $3.55 billion to $884 billion.  Nomura slashed its exposure to Italy by 84 percent, from $2.8 billion to $467 million.  The credit rating agency Moody’s recently put the bank on notice that its rating could be lowered to one notch above junk, which shows that flames of this  financial contagion are not restricted to Europe.  And, they are reaching the United States.

According to the Institute of International Finance, US financial institutions have $767 billion worth of exposure through bonds, credit derivatives and other guarantees to private and public sector borrowers in the eurozone’s weakest economies.

When the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain) acronym appeared on the scene, France and Germany were the stable members of the European Union and seemed likely to be the EU’s saviors.  Now, France’s financial integrity is in question as the interest rates the market has put on French bonds are at levels seen only a few months ago for the weaker eurozone members.

If that’s not bad enough, November 23 witnessed one of the least successful German debt sales since the launch of the single currency.  Six billion euros in 10-year bonds were priced at 2 percent, but commercial banks bought only 61 percent of the issue, which meant that the Bundesbank (Germany’s central bank) had to pick up 39 percent (3.644 billion) of the issue.  An analyst at Monument Securities in London called it “a complete and utter disaster.”

If the “euro experiment” fails, in the short run the US dollar will gain.  However, Europe is the US’s major trading partner, and in the long run a weaken European economy would be disastrous for the US economy.  And, don’t forget the $767 billion worth of exposure that US financial institutions have to borrowers in the Eurozone’s weakest economies.  If Europe suffers a depression because of problems in the eurozone or the euro fails utterly, the negative impact on the US economy will be huge.

Now, though, the world’s central banks are cranking up their printing presses, and fiat currencies will flow in abundance.  Mainstream investors seem to agree that more fiat money is the answer.  The day of the announcement, the Dow Jones Industrials tacked on 490 points, the Industrials best one-day gain in 2-1/2 years, and the German DAX leaped five percent.  Logically, the prices of US banks stocks roared higher.  Not much talked about was that the price of gold climbed double digits in many markets.

The mainstream investment world readily accepts that “just one more papering” will give the troubled members of the eurozone time to get their houses in order.  “We’ll see,” said the Zen Master.

Indeed, this is just a “papering over” of the problems because the real problems are systemic in Europe.  The Europeans are far down the road to total socialism.  There is a belief, held by too many Europeans, that the government is there to take care of them.  Those people have failed to recognize that it has been they who have been taking care of the governments, their agencies and all the bureaucrats.  For the eurozone’s problems to be solved, there will have a cultural change, a repudiation of a lifestyle engrained there.

The central banks may have averted an impending meltdown, but the move didn’t solve the problems facing the eurozone, which is that Europeans have wholeheartedly embraced socialism.  Changing that attitude will be much more difficult than convincing six central banks to print more money.

I think you will admit that we are in the middle of one major crazy financial mess.  The part that makes things really crazy is that it’s not just in the United States anymore but rather serious global problem which if not handled properly could change the way we live our lives going forward or possibly even spark some type of war, hopefully things don’t get that crazy… But I do know one thing. Fear is the most powerful force on the planet and people do some crazy things when they are backed into a corner.

Anyways, on a more positive tone… today China decided to help provide more liquidity for the financial system along with the central banks. This news triggered a monster rally in overnight trading making the market gap up sharply at the opening bell. This news did hit the US dollar index hard sending it sharply lower but the question remains “Will today’s news be a one week hiccup in the market?” If Euroland starts printing money it will likely send the dollar higher and stocks lower for 6- 12 months.

Just today I was joking with Kerry Lutz of the Financial Survivor Network about how each country should just give each other country a second chance. Wipe the dept clean and start over knowing this time around exactly how each country truly operates at a financial level allowing everyone to avoid a repeat of this BS. Some countries will get off way better than others because they would get so much dept wiped clean but isn’t it better than years of problems and possibly wars over food, gold, guns, oil and Canadian water? – EH

You can read the rest of the article here… 

http://bit.ly/uEhO8b

By Chris Vermeulen: www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com

The months of November and December are the second strongest back to back months for the financial markets. Many traders and investors use this time of the year to reap big gains as they close the year out. The fact that most traders and investors are sitting in cash and underweight stocks in their portfolio’s leaves me to believe a Santa Clause rally is just around the corner. Reason being is everyone has cash on hand to buy stocks because they are selling their positions in this pullback we are in right now. I know traders well enough, they will buy back into the market trying to catch the holiday rally in the coming weeks.

Subscribers and myself have been short the SP500 for a couple weeks after watching the broad market become overbought and sentiment levels became overly bullish with greedy pigs thinking they could buy stocks after a massive month long rally that had not pullback. Once the selling started you would either get you head handed to you or you were going to make a killing buying leveraged inverse ETFs.

Those who arrived late to the rally are the ones selling out of their positions this week. The interesting thing about this week’s market condition is that I have not seeing any real panic selling in stocks, and I’m not seeing the volatility index spike in value yet.

What does this mean? Well it means we could actually see another big dip in the market which should last 1-2 days and then we get a sharp reversal to the upside.

Take a look at the SP500 & Volatility index below:

This chart allows us to get a feel for fear in the market. Me being a contrarian trader, I focus on market sentiment extremes. When the masses are losing money hand over fist I’m generally on the other side of that trade with open arms. Trading off fear is one of the easiest ways to trade the market. That is because fear is much more powerful than greed and it shows up better on the charts. Spotting panic selloff bottoms is something that can be traded successfully if you know what to look for and how to trade them.

On the chart you can see the pullbacks in the SP500 which triggered a panic selling spike in my green indicator. What I look for is a pullback in the SP500 and for my panic selling indicator to spike over 20. When that happens I start watching the volatility index for a spike also. The good news is that the volatility index typically rises the following day making my panic indicator more of a leading one…

/> Market Sentiment Trading 

I could write a 20 page report going into depth this with topic, but that’s not the point of this report. Just realize that the stock market is likely going to put in a bottom very soon and likely end with a STRONG panic selling washout this week or next. If you want to learn more about how to trade market sentiment and panic selling you can read my strategy which was published in Futures Magazine.

Prepare for a sharp drop in the market which should kick start a holiday rally in the next few trading sessions.

Chris Vermeulen /> www.TheGoldAndOilGuy.com –Index, Commodity and Currency Trading Alerts

Writing about financial markets is probably the most challenging endeavor I have ever immersed myself into. I am a trader first and a writer second, but I have really come to enjoy scribing missives about financial markets because it really forces me to concentrate on my analysis.

Writing for the general public has really enhanced my perception of the market and forced me to dig deeper and learn new forms of analysis. I find myself learning more and more every day and the beauty of trading is that even for the most experienced of traders there is always an opportunity to learn more. As members of my service know, I strive to be different than most of my peers as my focus is on education and being completely transparent and honest.

I want readers to know that I was wrong about my recent expectations regarding the European sovereign debt summit. I was expecting the Dollar to rally based on the recent price action and quite frankly I expected stocks to falter after running up nearly 15% into the announcement. My expectations could not have been more untimely and incorrect.

I share this with you because as I read and listen to market pundits discussing financial markets I find that too many writers and commentators flip-flop their positions to always have the appearance of accuracy. In some cases, there have been television pundits that stated we were possibly going to revisit a depression in 2012 no more than 5 weeks ago. These so-called experts have now changed their positions stating that we have started a new bull market in recent weeks. How can anyone take these people seriously?

Financial markets are dynamic and consistently fool the best minds and most experienced traders out there. Financial markets do not reward hubris. If a trader does not remain humble, Mr. Market will happily handle the humbling process for him. I was humbled this week. I was reminded yet again that  financial markets do not take prisoners and they show no mercy. I am sharing this with readers because I want you to know that I refuse to flip-flop my position without first declaring that I was wrong.

When I am wrong, I will own up to it purely out of sense of responsibility. My word and my name actually mean something to me, and while I strive to present accurate analysis I am fallible and I will make mistakes. The key however to the mistakes that I make is my ability to learn from them and the past week was a great learning opportunity.

After regrouping and stepping back after the price action on Thursday, a few key elements really stood out to me regarding recent price action. First of all, in the short-term we are extremely overbought. The chart below illustrates the number of stocks in domestic equity markets trading above their 20 period moving averages over the past 5 years:

What is apparent from the chart above is that prices are almost as overbought right now as they have been anytime in the past 5 years. The number of domestic equities trading above their 50 period moving average over the past 5 years is also nearing the highest levels seen during the same period as the chart below illustrates:

Equities trading above the 100, 150, and 200 period moving averages are somewhat subdued by comparison meaning in the short run a possible correction appears likely. The longer-term time frames are no longer oversold, but they have considerable upside to work with before we could declare that they are overbought.

Additionally, the details of the European Union’s supposed solution have not yet been released raising questions going forward. Every move that is made will create unintended consequences. As an example, since Greece had 50% of their debt written down why would Ireland or Portugal refuse to pay their debts in full?

The Irish and Portuguese governments are going to come under pressure from their constituents to renegotiate the terms of their debt based on the agreement that was made with Greece recently. Spain politicians will likely be under pressure as well. The decisions made in these so-called bailouts reverberate across the geopolitical spectrum. Moral hazard still exists, it just evolves over time.

The risk premium of sovereign debt has to be adjusted since credit default swaps did not trigger payment as the write-downs were considered “voluntary.” Thus credit default swaps are not the answer to hedge sovereign debt as it would appear that governments have the ability to write down debt without triggering a default based on the status of the write-down. The long-term unintended consequences could be severe and are unknown at this point in time.

In addition to the unknown factors impacting the European “solution”, next week the Federal Reserve will have their regular FOMC meeting and statement. There has been a lot of chatter regarding the potential for QE III to come out of this meeting. While I could be wrong, initiating QE III right after the Operation Twist announcement would lead many to believe that Operation Twist was a failure.

With interest rates at or near all time lows and the recent rally we have seen in the stock market, it does not make sense that QE III would be initiated during this meeting. It is possible that if QE III is not announced the U.S. Dollar could rally and put pressure on risk assets such as the S&P 500 in the short to intermediate term. If this sequence of events played out, a correction would be likely. The following is a daily chart of the S&P 500 with possible correction targets in place:

Right now it is a toss up in the financial blogosphere as to the expectations of where price action will head. Are we near a top? Is this the beginning of a new bull market? I scanned through several charts Friday evening and Saturday morning and came to this realization. If the market is going to breakout and this is not a top but the beginning of a major bullish wave higher, then the Nasdaq 100 Index (NDX) has to breakout over the 2011 highs.

The Nasdaq 100 Index is comprised of stocks such as AAPL, GOOG, INTC, and YHOO. In order for a new leg higher to transpire, hyper beta names like AAPL and GOOG have to breakout higher and show continuation with strong supporting volume. If the NDX does not breakout over the 2011 highs, a top could potentially be forming. The daily chart of the Nasdaq 100 Index is shown below:

In conclusion, the short term looks like a possible correction could play out. However, it is critical to note that the longer term time frames are more neutral at this time. Furthermore, if price action cannot penetrate the 2011 highs for the Nasdaq 100 Index, I do not believe that a new bull market will have begun. If the Nasdaq 100 Index cannot breakout above the 2011 highs, we could be putting in a potential top going into the holiday season.

In closing, I will leave you with the thoughtful muse of famed writer and minister Hugh Prather, “Almost any difficulty will move in the face of honesty. When I am honest I never feel stupid. And when I am honest I am automatically humble.”

Subscribers of OTS have pocketed more than 150% return in the past few months. If you’d like to stay ahead of the market using My Low Risk Option Strategies and Trades check out OTS at http://www.optionstradingsignals.com/specials/index.php and take advantage of our free occasional trade ideas or a 66% coupon to sign up for daily market analysis, videos and Option Trades each week.

By: JW Jones

This material should not be considered investment advice. J.W. Jones is not a registered investment advisor. Under no circumstances should any content from this article or the OptionsTradingSignals.com website be used or interpreted as a recommendation to buy or sell any type of security or commodity contract. This material is not a solicitation for a trading approach to financial markets. Any investment decisions must in all cases be made by the reader or by his or her registered investment advisor. This information is for educational purposes only.

Writing about financial markets is probably the most challenging endeavor I have ever immersed myself into. I am a trader first and a writer second, but I have really come to enjoy scribing missives about financial markets because it really forces me to concentrate on my analysis.

Writing for the general public has really enhanced my perception of the market and forced me to dig deeper and learn new forms of analysis. I find myself learning more and more every day and the beauty of trading is that even for the most experienced of traders there is always an opportunity to learn more. As members of my service know, I strive to be different than most of my peers as my focus is on education and being completely transparent and honest.

I want readers to know that I was wrong about my recent expectations regarding the European sovereign debt summit. I was expecting the Dollar to rally based on the recent price action and quite frankly I expected stocks to falter after running up nearly 15% into the announcement. My expectations could not have been more untimely and incorrect.

I share this with you because as I read and listen to market pundits discussing financial markets I find that too many writers and commentators flip-flop their positions to always have the appearance of accuracy. In some cases, there have been television pundits that stated we were possibly going to revisit a depression in 2012 no more than 5 weeks ago. These so-called experts have now changed their positions stating that we have started a new bull market in recent weeks. How can anyone take these people seriously?

Financial markets are dynamic and consistently fool the best minds and most experienced traders out there. Financial markets do not reward hubris. If a trader does not remain humble, Mr. Market will happily handle the humbling process for him. I was humbled this week. I was reminded yet again that  financial markets do not take prisoners and they show no mercy. I am sharing this with readers because I want you to know that I refuse to flip-flop my position without first declaring that I was wrong.

When I am wrong, I will own up to it purely out of sense of responsibility. My word and my name actually mean something to me, and while I strive to present accurate analysis I am fallible and I will make mistakes. The key however to the mistakes that I make is my ability to learn from them and the past week was a great learning opportunity.

After regrouping and stepping back after the price action on Thursday, a few key elements really stood out to me regarding recent price action. First of all, in the short-term we are extremely overbought. The chart below illustrates the number of stocks in domestic equity markets trading above their 20 period moving averages over the past 5 years:

What is apparent from the chart above is that prices are almost as overbought right now as they have been anytime in the past 5 years. The number of domestic equities trading above their 50 period moving average over the past 5 years is also nearing the highest levels seen during the same period as the chart below illustrates:

Equities trading above the 100, 150, and 200 period moving averages are somewhat subdued by comparison meaning in the short run a possible correction appears likely. The longer-term time frames are no longer oversold, but they have considerable upside to work with before we could declare that they are overbought.

Additionally, the details of the European Union’s supposed solution have not yet been released raising questions going forward. Every move that is made will create unintended consequences. As an example, since Greece had 50% of their debt written down why would Ireland or Portugal refuse to pay their debts in full?

The Irish and Portuguese governments are going to come under pressure from their constituents to renegotiate the terms of their debt based on the agreement that was made with Greece recently. Spain politicians will likely be under pressure as well. The decisions made in these so-called bailouts reverberate across the geopolitical spectrum. Moral hazard still exists, it just evolves over time.

The risk premium of sovereign debt has to be adjusted since credit default swaps did not trigger payment as the write-downs were considered “voluntary.” Thus credit default swaps are not the answer to hedge sovereign debt as it would appear that governments have the ability to write down debt without triggering a default based on the status of the write-down. The long-term unintended consequences could be severe and are unknown at this point in time.

In addition to the unknown factors impacting the European “solution”, next week the Federal Reserve will have their regular FOMC meeting and statement. There has been a lot of chatter regarding the potential for QE III to come out of this meeting. While I could be wrong, initiating QE III right after the Operation Twist announcement would lead many to believe that Operation Twist was a failure.

With interest rates at or near all time lows and the recent rally we have seen in the stock market, it does not make sense that QE III would be initiated during this meeting. It is possible that if QE III is not announced the U.S. Dollar could rally and put pressure on risk assets such as the S&P 500 in the short to intermediate term. If this sequence of events played out, a correction would be likely. The following is a daily chart of the S&P 500 with possible correction targets in place:

Right now it is a toss up in the financial blogosphere as to the expectations of where price action will head. Are we near a top? Is this the beginning of a new bull market? I scanned through several charts Friday evening and Saturday morning and came to this realization. If the market is going to breakout and this is not a top but the beginning of a major bullish wave higher, then the Nasdaq 100 Index (NDX) has to breakout over the 2011 highs.

The Nasdaq 100 Index is comprised of stocks such as AAPL, GOOG, INTC, and YHOO. In order for a new leg higher to transpire, hyper beta names like AAPL and GOOG have to breakout higher and show continuation with strong supporting volume. If the NDX does not breakout over the 2011 highs, a top could potentially be forming. The daily chart of the Nasdaq 100 Index is shown below:

In conclusion, the short term looks like a possible correction could play out. However, it is critical to note that the longer term time frames are more neutral at this time. Furthermore, if price action cannot penetrate the 2011 highs for the Nasdaq 100 Index, I do not believe that a new bull market will have begun. If the Nasdaq 100 Index cannot breakout above the 2011 highs, we could be putting in a potential top going into the holiday season.

In closing, I will leave you with the thoughtful muse of famed writer and minister Hugh Prather, “Almost any difficulty will move in the face of honesty. When I am honest I never feel stupid. And when I am honest I am automatically humble.”

Subscribers of OTS have pocketed more than 150% return in the past few months. If you’d like to stay ahead of the market using My Low Risk Option Strategies and Trades check out OTS at http://www.optionstradingsignals.com/specials/index.php and take advantage of our free occasional trade ideas or a 66% coupon to sign up for daily market analysis, videos and Option Trades each week.

By: JW Jones

This material should not be considered investment advice. J.W. Jones is not a registered investment advisor. Under no circumstances should any content from this article or the OptionsTradingSignals.com website be used or interpreted as a recommendation to buy or sell any type of security or commodity contract. This material is not a solicitation for a trading approach to financial markets. Any investment decisions must in all cases be made by the reader or by his or her registered investment advisor. This information is for educational purposes only.

Writing about financial markets is probably the most challenging endeavor I have ever immersed myself into. I am a trader first and a writer second, but I have really come to enjoy scribing missives about financial markets because it really forces me to concentrate on my analysis.

Writing for the general public has really enhanced my perception of the market and forced me to dig deeper and learn new forms of analysis. I find myself learning more and more every day and the beauty of trading is that even for the most experienced of traders there is always an opportunity to learn more. As members of my service know, I strive to be different than most of my peers as my focus is on education and being completely transparent and honest.

I want readers to know that I was wrong about my recent expectations regarding the European sovereign debt summit. I was expecting the Dollar to rally based on the recent price action and quite frankly I expected stocks to falter after running up nearly 15% into the announcement. My expectations could not have been more untimely and incorrect.

I share this with you because as I read and listen to market pundits discussing financial markets I find that too many writers and commentators flip-flop their positions to always have the appearance of accuracy. In some cases, there have been television pundits that stated we were possibly going to revisit a depression in 2012 no more than 5 weeks ago. These so-called experts have now changed their positions stating that we have started a new bull market in recent weeks. How can anyone take these people seriously?

Financial markets are dynamic and consistently fool the best minds and most experienced traders out there. Financial markets do not reward hubris. If a trader does not remain humble, Mr. Market will happily handle the humbling process for him. I was humbled this week. I was reminded yet again that  financial markets do not take prisoners and they show no mercy. I am sharing this with readers because I want you to know that I refuse to flip-flop my position without first declaring that I was wrong.

When I am wrong, I will own up to it purely out of sense of responsibility. My word and my name actually mean something to me, and while I strive to present accurate analysis I am fallible and I will make mistakes. The key however to the mistakes that I make is my ability to learn from them and the past week was a great learning opportunity.

After regrouping and stepping back after the price action on Thursday, a few key elements really stood out to me regarding recent price action. First of all, in the short-term we are extremely overbought. The chart below illustrates the number of stocks in domestic equity markets trading above their 20 period moving averages over the past 5 years:

What is apparent from the chart above is that prices are almost as overbought right now as they have been anytime in the past 5 years. The number of domestic equities trading above their 50 period moving average over the past 5 years is also nearing the highest levels seen during the same period as the chart below illustrates:

Equities trading above the 100, 150, and 200 period moving averages are somewhat subdued by comparison meaning in the short run a possible correction appears likely. The longer-term time frames are no longer oversold, but they have considerable upside to work with before we could declare that they are overbought.

Additionally, the details of the European Union’s supposed solution have not yet been released raising questions going forward. Every move that is made will create unintended consequences. As an example, since Greece had 50% of their debt written down why would Ireland or Portugal refuse to pay their debts in full?

The Irish and Portuguese governments are going to come under pressure from their constituents to renegotiate the terms of their debt based on the agreement that was made with Greece recently. Spain politicians will likely be under pressure as well. The decisions made in these so-called bailouts reverberate across the geopolitical spectrum. Moral hazard still exists, it just evolves over time.

The risk premium of sovereign debt has to be adjusted since credit default swaps did not trigger payment as the write-downs were considered “voluntary.” Thus credit default swaps are not the answer to hedge sovereign debt as it would appear that governments have the ability to write down debt without triggering a default based on the status of the write-down. The long-term unintended consequences could be severe and are unknown at this point in time.

In addition to the unknown factors impacting the European “solution”, next week the Federal Reserve will have their regular FOMC meeting and statement. There has been a lot of chatter regarding the potential for QE III to come out of this meeting. While I could be wrong, initiating QE III right after the Operation Twist announcement would lead many to believe that Operation Twist was a failure.

With interest rates at or near all time lows and the recent rally we have seen in the stock market, it does not make sense that QE III would be initiated during this meeting. It is possible that if QE III is not announced the U.S. Dollar could rally and put pressure on risk assets such as the S&P 500 in the short to intermediate term. If this sequence of events played out, a correction would be likely. The following is a daily chart of the S&P 500 with possible correction targets in place:

Right now it is a toss up in the financial blogosphere as to the expectations of where price action will head. Are we near a top? Is this the beginning of a new bull market? I scanned through several charts Friday evening and Saturday morning and came to this realization. If the market is going to breakout and this is not a top but the beginning of a major bullish wave higher, then the Nasdaq 100 Index (NDX) has to breakout over the 2011 highs.

The Nasdaq 100 Index is comprised of stocks such as AAPL, GOOG, INTC, and YHOO. In order for a new leg higher to transpire, hyper beta names like AAPL and GOOG have to breakout higher and show continuation with strong supporting volume. If the NDX does not breakout over the 2011 highs, a top could potentially be forming. The daily chart of the Nasdaq 100 Index is shown below:

In conclusion, the short term looks like a possible correction could play out. However, it is critical to note that the longer term time frames are more neutral at this time. Furthermore, if price action cannot penetrate the 2011 highs for the Nasdaq 100 Index, I do not believe that a new bull market will have begun. If the Nasdaq 100 Index cannot breakout above the 2011 highs, we could be putting in a potential top going into the holiday season.

In closing, I will leave you with the thoughtful muse of famed writer and minister Hugh Prather, “Almost any difficulty will move in the face of honesty. When I am honest I never feel stupid. And when I am honest I am automatically humble.”

Subscribers of OTS have pocketed more than 150% return in the past few months. If you’d like to stay ahead of the market using My Low Risk Option Strategies and Trades check out OTS at http://www.optionstradingsignals.com/specials/index.php and take advantage of our free occasional trade ideas or a 66% coupon to sign up for daily market analysis, videos and Option Trades each week.

By: JW Jones

This material should not be considered investment advice. J.W. Jones is not a registered investment advisor. Under no circumstances should any content from this article or the OptionsTradingSignals.com website be used or interpreted as a recommendation to buy or sell any type of security or commodity contract. This material is not a solicitation for a trading approach to financial markets. Any investment decisions must in all cases be made by the reader or by his or her registered investment advisor. This information is for educational purposes only.

Writing about financial markets is probably the most challenging endeavor I have ever immersed myself into. I am a trader first and a writer second, but I have really come to enjoy scribing missives about financial markets because it really forces me to concentrate on my analysis.

Writing for the general public has really enhanced my perception of the market and forced me to dig deeper and learn new forms of analysis. I find myself learning more and more every day and the beauty of trading is that even for the most experienced of traders there is always an opportunity to learn more. As members of my service know, I strive to be different than most of my peers as my focus is on education and being completely transparent and honest.

I want readers to know that I was wrong about my recent expectations regarding the European sovereign debt summit. I was expecting the Dollar to rally based on the recent price action and quite frankly I expected stocks to falter after running up nearly 15% into the announcement. My expectations could not have been more untimely and incorrect.

I share this with you because as I read and listen to market pundits discussing financial markets I find that too many writers and commentators flip-flop their positions to always have the appearance of accuracy. In some cases, there have been television pundits that stated we were possibly going to revisit a depression in 2012 no more than 5 weeks ago. These so-called experts have now changed their positions stating that we have started a new bull market in recent weeks. How can anyone take these people seriously?

Financial markets are dynamic and consistently fool the best minds and most experienced traders out there. Financial markets do not reward hubris. If a trader does not remain humble, Mr. Market will happily handle the humbling process for him. I was humbled this week. I was reminded yet again that  financial markets do not take prisoners and they show no mercy. I am sharing this with readers because I want you to know that I refuse to flip-flop my position without first declaring that I was wrong.

When I am wrong, I will own up to it purely out of sense of responsibility. My word and my name actually mean something to me, and while I strive to present accurate analysis I am fallible and I will make mistakes. The key however to the mistakes that I make is my ability to learn from them and the past week was a great learning opportunity.

After regrouping and stepping back after the price action on Thursday, a few key elements really stood out to me regarding recent price action. First of all, in the short-term we are extremely overbought. The chart below illustrates the number of stocks in domestic equity markets trading above their 20 period moving averages over the past 5 years:

What is apparent from the chart above is that prices are almost as overbought right now as they have been anytime in the past 5 years. The number of domestic equities trading above their 50 period moving average over the past 5 years is also nearing the highest levels seen during the same period as the chart below illustrates:

Equities trading above the 100, 150, and 200 period moving averages are somewhat subdued by comparison meaning in the short run a possible correction appears likely. The longer-term time frames are no longer oversold, but they have considerable upside to work with before we could declare that they are overbought.

Additionally, the details of the European Union’s supposed solution have not yet been released raising questions going forward. Every move that is made will create unintended consequences. As an example, since Greece had 50% of their debt written down why would Ireland or Portugal refuse to pay their debts in full?

The Irish and Portuguese governments are going to come under pressure from their constituents to renegotiate the terms of their debt based on the agreement that was made with Greece recently. Spain politicians will likely be under pressure as well. The decisions made in these so-called bailouts reverberate across the geopolitical spectrum. Moral hazard still exists, it just evolves over time.

The risk premium of sovereign debt has to be adjusted since credit default swaps did not trigger payment as the write-downs were considered “voluntary.” Thus credit default swaps are not the answer to hedge sovereign debt as it would appear that governments have the ability to write down debt without triggering a default based on the status of the write-down. The long-term unintended consequences could be severe and are unknown at this point in time.

In addition to the unknown factors impacting the European “solution”, next week the Federal Reserve will have their regular FOMC meeting and statement. There has been a lot of chatter regarding the potential for QE III to come out of this meeting. While I could be wrong, initiating QE III right after the Operation Twist announcement would lead many to believe that Operation Twist was a failure.

With interest rates at or near all time lows and the recent rally we have seen in the stock market, it does not make sense that QE III would be initiated during this meeting. It is possible that if QE III is not announced the U.S. Dollar could rally and put pressure on risk assets such as the S&P 500 in the short to intermediate term. If this sequence of events played out, a correction would be likely. The following is a daily chart of the S&P 500 with possible correction targets in place:

Right now it is a toss up in the financial blogosphere as to the expectations of where price action will head. Are we near a top? Is this the beginning of a new bull market? I scanned through several charts Friday evening and Saturday morning and came to this realization. If the market is going to breakout and this is not a top but the beginning of a major bullish wave higher, then the Nasdaq 100 Index (NDX) has to breakout over the 2011 highs.

The Nasdaq 100 Index is comprised of stocks such as AAPL, GOOG, INTC, and YHOO. In order for a new leg higher to transpire, hyper beta names like AAPL and GOOG have to breakout higher and show continuation with strong supporting volume. If the NDX does not breakout over the 2011 highs, a top could potentially be forming. The daily chart of the Nasdaq 100 Index is shown below:

In conclusion, the short term looks like a possible correction could play out. However, it is critical to note that the longer term time frames are more neutral at this time. Furthermore, if price action cannot penetrate the 2011 highs for the Nasdaq 100 Index, I do not believe that a new bull market will have begun. If the Nasdaq 100 Index cannot breakout above the 2011 highs, we could be putting in a potential top going into the holiday season.

In closing, I will leave you with the thoughtful muse of famed writer and minister Hugh Prather, “Almost any difficulty will move in the face of honesty. When I am honest I never feel stupid. And when I am honest I am automatically humble.”

Subscribers of OTS have pocketed more than 150% return in the past few months. If you’d like to stay ahead of the market using My Low Risk Option Strategies and Trades check out OTS at http://www.optionstradingsignals.com/specials/index.php and take advantage of our free occasional trade ideas or a 66% coupon to sign up for daily market analysis, videos and Option Trades each week.

By: JW Jones

This material should not be considered investment advice. J.W. Jones is not a registered investment advisor. Under no circumstances should any content from this article or the OptionsTradingSignals.com website be used or interpreted as a recommendation to buy or sell any type of security or commodity contract. This material is not a solicitation for a trading approach to financial markets. Any investment decisions must in all cases be made by the reader or by his or her registered investment advisor. This information is for educational purposes only.