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Gold Climbs Above $1,200; Silver Rises (based on blogs.barrons article)
Gold finished higher Tuesday after notching small losses the day before.
Gold for February delivery rose 1.6% to $1,200.40. Silver for March delivery rose 3.2% to $16.28.
Concerns about Greece’s fast-approaching elections amid a looming deadline related to the country’s debt bailout were helping gold, along with weakness in the U.S. dollar.
However, while gold is up for the week, it will still need to rise at least 0.2% tomorrow to not end 2014 in the red.
Gold continues to shine as the best safe haven (based on smh.com.au article)
Gold has retained its status as a safe-haven investment, despite the rising strength of the US dollar and turmoil elsewhere in commodity markets.
The price has remained stable in 2014 and what's more, experts believe that the long-term outlook for the precious metal is well supported over the coming year. The price of gold ended 2014 almost unchanged on 12 months ago, closing on Wednesday at around $US1,184 ($1,449.48) an ounce after starting the year at $US1,205. Fears of a crash in the price were overblown.
Goldman Sachs has now set its long-term forecast for the price of the yellow metal at $US1,200 an ounce for the next three years.
The investment bank estimates that this is the break-even price for the majority of gold miners once all costs such as exploration, management and mine repairs are included.
As such, the price of gold may well fall below $US1,200 in the year ahead, but lower prices would force loss-making miners out of business and reduce supply, helping prices to recover eventually.
Mark Bristow, chief executive of FTSE 100 miner Randgold Resources, has said: "The [gold-mining] industry is clearly stuffed at $US1,140 and it will be a bloodbath at $US1,000."
Hunter Hillcoat, from broker Investec's natural resources team, has set a price forecast of $US1,150 an ounce for next year. The Investec team sees a resurgence in the US dollar, rising interest rates and falling inflation as challenges for the year ahead.
The price of gold has an inverse relationship with the world's reserve currency, the US dollar. A fundamental shift in American monetary policy last year has removed the main driving factor behind the price of gold during the past decade.
As the price of gold has fallen from a peak of $US1,900 in May 2011, investors have reduced their exposure. Holdings in gold exchange-traded funds, which allow investors to buy shares in a fund that tracks the gold price, have fallen in the past 12 months.
Trading Video: A Big Picture Technical Look at FX and Capital Markets for 2015 (based on dailyfx article)
Whether you are a short-term scalper or a more patient swing trader, taking a step back to look at the 'bigger picture' can help your trading. We have these past weeks looked at the bigger picture for fundamentals and general market conditions. So, to start off the New Year, we will look at the alluring big-picture technical patterns that have taken shape across the FX and capital markets. Incredible runs like that from USDollar, tentative massive breakouts from EURUSD and EURGBP, and the specter of reversal from the likes of USDJPY and EURJPY offer incredible potential for 2015. Combine the fundamental and market conditions views for the New Year with today's Trading Video technical overview to find your favorite setups.
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Something Interesting in Financial Video January 2015
newdigital, 2015.01.03 07:47
Jim Rogers 2015 Forecast Buy Gold , Bull Market will come
US ISM non-manufacturing PMI, trade balance, FOMC meeting minutes, Major employment data including the all-important Non-Farm Payrolls report, Rate decision in the UK. These are the main economic releases for this week. Let’s see, in detail, the market movers to impact Forex trading.
Last week, US jobless claims release disappointed with a 17,000 rise in the number of new claims, reaching 298,000. However, the four week moving average inched slightly to 290,750. Furthermore, Consumer confidence, released earlier, rebounded to 92.6 following 91 points in November, indicating consumers are more confident at year-end than they were at the beginning of the year. The present situation index reached its highest level since February 2008. Economists expected sentiment to reach a higher reading of 94.6. Will the US economy continue its positive trend in 2015?
AUD/USD Monthly Technical Analysis for January 2015 (based on fxempire article)
The AUD/USD starts out 2015 in a position to decline further after a weak close in December. Last month, the Forex pair reaffirmed its downtrend on the monthly chart with its sustained move under the previous main bottom at .8659 and the major 50% level at .8545. Both of these prices are resistance in January. Additional resistance angles come in at .8544 and .8556. The best area to sell on a retracement is the resistance cluster at .8544 and .8545.
The main range was formed by the July 2008 bottom at .6008 and the July 2011 top at 1.1080. Its retracement zone at .8545 to .7945 is currently being tested. Last month’s sharp decline through the upper or 50% level at .8545 means the selling pressure is real which makes the Fibonacci level at .7945 the primary downside target in January. Trader reaction to this price will set the tone for the month.
If the selling pressure is strong enough to take out .7945 with conviction then look for the break to extend into the next uptrending Gann angle at .7508.
Oversold conditions could produce periodic short-covering rallies, but these rallies are likely to set up fresh shorting opportunities. Bearish traders should continue to press the market unless .8544 is taken out and this seems pretty remote given the fundamentals.
Fundamentally, the combination of a weak Australian economy and the impending Fed interest rate hike sometime between April and June should be the forces driving the AUD/USD lower in 2015. Low iron ore prices and a weakening economy in China are two forces weighing on the Australian economy. The interest rate differential is favoring the U.S. at this time. This should be the key fundamental factor to focus on this year.
EUR/USD Monthly Technical Analysis for January 2015 (based on fxempire article)
The new year begins with the interest rate differential strongly favoring the U.S. Dollar over the Euro. Simply stated, the U.S. Federal Reserve is getting ready to raise interest rates in 2015 while the European Central Bank is gearing up for a fresh round of quantitative easing (QE). Rates should rise in the U.S. and should fall in Europe, increasing demand for the Greenback.
The key factor that will determine the ECB’s decision on quantitative easing will be inflation. The central bank is trying desperately to prevent deflation from creeping into the economy. Inflationary spikes can be tolerated because the central banks have aggressive tools to fight this. However, deflation is a difficult challenge because central bank weapons are limited.
The ECB will start to get important inflationary data early in the month which should cause a volatile reaction from traders in either direction. The first key date to watch is January 7. On this date, traders will get the opportunity to react to the latest CPI Flash Estimate and Core CPI Flash Estimate. These reports should determine what the ECB will do about QE at its monetary policy meeting on January 22.
Oversold conditions could produce periodic short-covering rallies throughout the month, but these rallies are likely to set up fresh shorting opportunities. The monthly chart indicates that the fundamentals are bearish and even if they did begin to change, it would take several months to clear out the shorts and form a bottom.
The key number to watch early in the month is the July 2012 bottom at 1.2042. This is the first major downside target so traders may try to take care of this price early in the month. If the selling pressure persists then look for the downside momentum to continue down to the June 2010 bottom at 1.1876.
The 1.2042 price level may be treated like a pivot throughout the month. A sustained move above it may even trigger a rally back to 1.2341, but this is unlikely to occur unless the ECB backs away from implementing QE this month.
The initial reaction to QE should be bearish for the Euro. The size of the break will be determined by the size and length of the program. Some optimistic investors feel the EUR/USD will decline during the first quarter of 2015, but will strengthen throughout the year because the QE will start to help stimulate the Euro Zone economy. Others feel that the U.S. faces too much exposure to China and this could derail its economy.
GBP/USD Monthly Technical Analysis for January 2015 (based on fxempire article)
The GBP/USD opens up the new year in a weak position. 2015 begins with the interest rate differential in favor of the U.S. Dollar. This is 180 degrees from last December when investors were making powerful bets that the Bank of England would raise interest rates before the U.S. Federal Reserves.
The British Pound topped in July 2014 when it started to become clear to traders that the BoE didn’t have the all clear signal from the economy to begin hiking rates. Like many of the major economies, the U.K. is battling to keep inflation above its benchmark 2 percent level. This is the story that will concern investors throughout the new year.
Since the U.S. Fed appears to be on a path toward an interest rate hike sometime between April and June, the first quarter and perhaps the second quarter will have to be conceded to the U.S. Dollar. This means the GBP/USD will continue to trade sideways to lower at least during the first half of the year.
The year ended with the Forex pair trading on the bearish side of a major retracement zone at 1.5720 to 1.6001. This levels are key resistance in January.
December’s close at 1.5580 has created some interesting set ups for the month. The first thing traders should note is that the close is on the strong side of the angle that guided the market lower for 5 months. This angle is at 1.5270. Crossing to the bearish side of this angle will put the market in a weak position.
The nearest angle to watch is an uptrending angle at 1.5532. This angle held as support last month so buyers do recognize it. Holding this angle could lead to an early short-covering rally and a slight upside bias.
The tone of the market will be determined by trader reaction to 1.5532. Holding this angle could create enough upside momentum to trigger a short-covering rally into 1.5720.
A failure to hold 1.5532 will mean that sellers have a firm grip on the market and are likely to try to press it into at least 1.5270 in January.
The new year starts with the U.S. Federal Reserve on a path toward raising interest rates sometime between April and June. The Bank of Japan is committed to keeping interest rates low in order to weaken the Yen and attract fresh export business. On paper, there doesn’t appear to be anything in the works that could derail the USD/JPY rally.
The strength of the U.S. Dollar over the Japanese Yen should continue throughout 2015 simply because the interest rate differential favors the Greenback. Overbought conditions could trigger profit-taking breaks, but for the most part, the pressure should be to the upside.
Any surprises with the U.S. economy that could encourage the Fed to back away from or delay an interest rate hike could also lead to weakness. However, this is likely to show up in the U.S. economic reports especially the labor market statistics and inflation data. As long as the U.S. continues to add jobs each month, the Fed should remain on a path toward an interest rate like by mid-year or even sooner.
A stock market sell-off could also encourage Japanese investors to repatriate their money. This may also cause a minor glitch in the solid uptrend, but at this time, the trend doesn’t appear to be in any danger of changing. In addition, if the market gets “too” bullish or gets hit with periods of excessive volatility, the BoJ may intervene to calm things down, but the chances of this occurring are pretty remote at this time.
Technically, the USD/JPY closed the year in an uptrend and straddling a major Fibonacci level at 120.11. Overtaking this level with conviction and sustaining the move could lead to a test of the June 2007 top at 124.13 this month.
A failure to overtake 120.11 will indicate investor indecision which could trigger a break back to the nearest uptrending support angle at 116.82.
The tone of the market this month will be determined by trader reaction to 120.11. The tone of the market for 2015 will be determined by investor reaction to 119.825. Keep this price on your charts all year.
Gold forecast for the week of January 5, 2015, Technical Analysis (based on fxempire article)
Gold markets did very little during the course of the week, essentially bouncing around just below the $1200 handle. Because of this, it appears of the market is ready to go sideways in the near term, although there is still a bit more of a negative bias at the moment. If we managed to get above the $1250 level, at that point time we would be comfortable with longer-term buying opportunities. Ultimately though, we feel that this market really doesn’t have a lot of momentum one way or the other, so therefore we are on the sidelines as far as long-term trades are concerned.