Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Pause Ahead of the Non-Farm Payrolls - Winter Is Coming

"Every increase of knowledge may possibly render depravity more depraved, as well as it may increase the strength of virtue.

It is in itself only power; and its value depends on its application."

Sydney Smith

Let's see if the Non-Farm Payrolls Report tomorrow gives the Fed enough of a recovery fig-leaf to start talking about rate increases, and sufficient nudge for the market takers to shove the price of the precious metals around to catch any of the over-leveraged specs leaning in the wrong direction.

Except for the occasional exogenous news that moves markets, we are in the Summer doldrums where the market fakers and takers like to shove prices around to generate enough action to fuel the vig.

 It used to be ridiculously high commissions and the occasional frauds, but now it is pervasive insider trading and the soft corruption surrounding HFT and the exchanges that fuels the Jabba the Hutts of Wall Street and Washington.

So I wisely chose to spend a pleasant afternoon doing a thorough overhaul on our old Troybilt Pony rototiller on the driveway in the shade, and rewarded myself with an ice cold beer after it was done.   It has done us good service over the past twenty five years on both lawn and garden.  It really needed some careful attention, a few parts, and a bit of elbow grease.

Like most things in daily life really.  You choose quality and take good care of it, and it serves you well in the long run, from kits to chickens to investments.

It is very hot and humid here this week. But it was nice to get out and do a few chores, tidy up the yard, and feed the birds.  They are very vocal in their gratitude, and the birdsong makes the backyard seem very cheerful.  In a little while I will be taking the queen out for some light shopping.  What more could one ask for?

Support levels on the charts are important to watch here.

Have a pleasant evening.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Holding Their Breath

Stocks were in a bit of a chop in edgy trading with eyes on the US non-farm payrolls report tomorrow.

Traders want to see if a good number will give the Fed cover to start making noise about raising rates at least another 25 bp this year.

As a reminder, the Fed wishes to raise rates to get off ZIRP far enough to have the latitude to cut rates later next year when their latest asset bubble starts to implodes in the continuing cycle of bubble-nomics.

Have a pleasant evening.

Relentless: Shanghai 138.5 Tonnes of Gold Withdrawn In June

"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth."

Buddha

There were 138.5 tonnes of gold taken from the Shanghai Gold Exchange in June.

This brings the first half of 2016 withdrawals to 973 tonnes.

Koos Jansen has written a very informative article with some interesting charts about these new Chinese gold demand numbers here.

He also examines an incorrect set of data about this from Nomura.

As a reminder, the US will be releasing its Non-Farm Payrolls Report For June tomorrow.

These charts are from Nick Laird at goldchartsrus.com.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - PMs Looking Good With Peak Bonds and Dodgy Stocks

Gold was booming this morning, but as stocks turned around in a short squeeze gold gave back some of its early gains but still finished higher for the day, and a new high for the year.

I was out from late morning to late afternoon and so I missed the comments on the Fed minutes.  No great loss.

The warehouses were quiet yesterday.

Non-Farm payrolls on Friday.

Have a pleasant evening.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Big Healthcare and Short Squeeze

Stocks sold off in Europe, and were selling off in the US in the early hours.

And then stocks turned around. I have heard several reasons for this. I think the most compelling is that the turnaround was led by the 'most shorted stocks.'

Healthcare sector picked up the ball and provided leadership to the upside after the initial short squeezing was dissipating.

Non-Farm Payrolls on Friday.

Have a pleasant evening.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Gold Deliveries For July Getting Hot In New York

And here I thought that July would be a quiet month for gold here in NY.

You can see from the delivery report below that the metal is moving, at least in the sense of changing hands in ownership, if not actually going anywhere in the physical sense.  And that assumes it is physical in the first place, and not some hypothecated illusion.

Gold is breaking out.  Silver gave us a thrill over the holiday weekend with a run to 21, but has since backed off, but held on to the 20 handle, by its fingernails.

The Non-Farm Payrolls for June will be out at the end of this week.  Along with a few other economic goodies that could open the door to further shenanigans.

The British pound dropped to a 30 year low against the dollar at 1.30.    Thoughts of a trip to London are crossing my mind on this, but air travel has become so tedious as compared to prior days that I hate to subject ourselves to it.  And the queen, while doing well, is still a bit on the fragile side, and requires more rest than usual.

Gold needs to hold prior resistance.  Let's see if it can do it.  Silver needs to break out.  And that looks promising.

Have a pleasant evening.