Tag: forex

Too Late To Short The Dollar?

Posted on by Lior Alkalay

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor - Forex


The US consumer is under pressure. Consumer Confidence level fell to 89 in April, and retail sales fell by -0.3 MoM in March. And as if that weren’t enough, GDP growth missed the mark for a second consecutive quarter, with Q1 growth falling to as low as 0.5% annualized, well below expectations.

Naturally, those developments are not bringing a Fed rate hike any closer, and it leaves the Dollar widely exposed to short selling. It’s the catch-up game, where Dollar peers such as the Euro, Yen, and Aussie are gaining lost ground. The relative advantage of the US economy is narrowing, and the prospect of a tightening cycle from the Fed seems even more remote.

This isn’t the first time the Dollar has been hit by the catch-up game. Here’s how the game plays out: The Dollar turns weaker, shaving its value by several percentage points only to come back stronger in the end as the US economy regains momentum. That’s why one should tread lightly before pouncing on a Dollar short. After a series of disappointments, the chances of an upward surprise in US data is much greater. There’s a very real chance that shorting the Dollar at this stage, after a 6.5% correction, will be too late. Continue reading "Too Late To Short The Dollar?" →

LATAM: Watch Brazil But Buy The Peso

Posted on by Lior Alkalay

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor - Forex


LATAM currencies are back in the game. Optimism over Brazil’s political future is growing and commodities, a key driver of regional growth, are recovering. Together, much of the uncertainty looming over the region has been removed and put regional currencies -the Brazilian Real, Mexican Peso and Chilean Peso into favor.

One important gauge of rising optimism is the price of Credit Default Swaps. Credit Default Swaps, or CDS for short, measure the cost of insuring against a bankruptcy. When the price of Credit Default Swaps falls, it points on lower risk and higher optimism. As the chart below indicates, Credit Default Swaps have fallen dramatically across the region since February, signaling a surge in optimism in the LATAM space.

LATAM CDS Chart
Chart courtesy of Deutsche Bank

But the CDS chart illustrates another very interesting picture. While the fall in risk is across the board, Brazil, the largest economy in the region, is deemed as the most probable to default on its debt by a wide margin compared to much smaller regional peers. Continue reading "LATAM: Watch Brazil But Buy The Peso" →

The Japanese Gold Trapped In A Large Consolidation

Posted on by Aibek Burabayev

Aibek Burabayev - INO.com Contributor - Metals


This topic was promised in one of my previous posts to our readers, and I am pleased to offer it to you today. I was waiting to see the end of the month price action to try to write when I considered all the moves within a month for more accuracy. Carol and Diane, I should admit you are very brave ladies as when I opened GYEN (The AdvisorShares Gartman Gold/Yen ETF (NYSE Arca: GYEN)) chart I was shocked by all the crazy and abrupt moves there. The history of this ETF is quite short (from 2014), and the analysis based on it would not be solid. At the end of the post, I've added the GYEN chart for you to judge for yourself. I picked the gold/JPY chart instead for analysis as the ETF tracks the price of this pair. I hope you will enjoy the post.

Chart 1. Gold/JPY Monthly: Multi-Decade Uptrend Is Intact

Monthly Chart of GLD/JPY
Chart courtesy of tradingview.com

The multi-decade uptrend highlighted in the chart reflects the trends of both the gold/$ and $/JPY markets. Those markets were extremely bullish for the past decade, and the gold/JPY strong upside move shows the synergy of them. The Big Bull Run here stalled in 2013 while gold/$ stalled two years earlier in 2011. The reason is that the $/JPY bullish move stopped last year and helped to extend the upside move in gold/JPY and then to soften the downside pressure from the falling gold/$. Continue reading "The Japanese Gold Trapped In A Large Consolidation" →

Israeli Shekel Turning Japanese?

Posted on by Lior Alkalay

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor - Forex


The Israeli Shekel has gained roughly 6% since mid-January. The Shekel has also been more resilient than other currencies when the dollar was gaining, and it has been performing well even when the dollar was weakening. All the while, Israel has been plagued with continual deflation, which is a classic case for unconventional measures. The Bank of Israel responded by slashing its benchmark interest rates to 0.1%. However, no “unconventional” measures were taken; no quantitative easing and no negative interest rates.

Investors, both local and foreign, reacted as they have in similar cases. That is by buying government bonds. Israeli government bonds yield 1.8% and in real terms, yield 2.5%, because Israel’s annual inflation rate is at a negative -0.7%. And with the demand for Israeli bonds high, the Israeli Shekel has strengthened as well, and so the cycle continues.

Demand for Israeli government bonds has been so high, in fact, that net foreign investment in Israeli government bonds over the past 3 months has been higher than it has been at any time in the past three years. Continue reading "Israeli Shekel Turning Japanese?" →

Topping Euro Signals New Highs For Precious Metals

Posted on by Aibek Burabayev

Aibek Burabayev - INO.com Contributor - Metals


This past January I wrote about European gold discussing two possible scenarios as the market was at the crossroads. The upside scenario played out. It is good to act once we know the direction as it gives us more confidence. Today I will review gold vs. euro and add silver to the pack. But the very first chart I will dedicate to the peaking euro as the price of the metals is quoted in a single currency.

Chart 1. Euro/$ Weekly: Price Is At The Top

Weekly Chart of Euro/Dollar
Chart courtesy of tradingview.com

The EURUSD is the most liquid currency pair in the world and it shows the strength of the US dollar, which is the measure of everything in the financial world. The global trend for the pair is down. The Euro hit a multi-decade bottom in 2015 and since then we have been stuck in a wide consolidation with a price range of 10 big figures within $1.0462-1.1467. I didn't take the 2015 high at $1.1714 as you can see that it was just a false break above the horizontal resistance. The price quickly fell back below resistance and closed a dip below it.

Last week shaped a reversal Doji candle, which, of course, needs further confirmation on the chart. We should see a quick drop below the middle of the channel (black dashed line) at the $1.1240 level.

The euro should break below $1.0462 to confirm the continuation of the global trend; it will certainly add to the bullishness of precious metals against this currency. If we get a weekly/monthly close above $1.1467, then we should watch closely after the reversal which will undermine the metals market in Europe. The third path is a prolonged consolidation as a result of the price reversal from the lower margin at $1.0462.

Chart 2. Gold vs. Euro Monthly: Break Up & Correction, Ready For Action!

Monthly Chart of Gold vs. Euro
Chart courtesy of tradingview.com

Gold was nimble enough to penetrate the upside of the downtrend at EUR 1065 in February. It is a good trigger for buyers. Patient traders prefer to wait for a good pullback to enter with safe stop (just below the trend) for a low-risk trade. And we can see this classic price action on the chart. It looks like the pullback has finished at the low of EUR 1065 (same price for the breakup) as the price rapidly advanced higher. Once the price passes the high at EUR 1165, we can move the stop to breakeven and enjoy the lossless bet.

The target is located on the upside of the trend at EUR 1270, if you read the earlier gold-euro post, you can see that the AB/CD concept also points to that level (EUR 1272). It's not a coincidence as both the trend model and the AB/CD concept use simple mathematical calculations.

Chart 3. Silver vs. Euro Monthly: Wait for Breakout!

Monthly Chart of Silver vs. Euro
Chart courtesy of tradingview.com

Silver didn't follow gold yet. Indeed, the price penetrated the dashed red trendline last October, but we didn't see the follow-through upside price action so far. Instead, the metal has been squeezed with a decreasing apex of the symmetrical triangle (highlighted in blue), one of the typical visual forms of consolidation.

It's good to trade on the breakout. The most expected action is upside penetration of the triangle amid rising a gold price. The target for the upside move is located at the EUR 18.75 level, calculated as a distance of the base (EUR 4.9, the widest part of the triangle) added to the break point. This is the area of the 2013 August high. In a less probable downside scenario the target is set at EUR 7.73 level.

Intelligent trades!

Aibek Burabayev
INO.com Contributor, Metals

Disclosure: This contributor has no positions in any stocks mentioned in this article. This article is the opinion of the contributor themselves. The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. This contributor is not receiving compensation (other than from INO.com) for their opinion.