[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA8QrOAghZ0 450 300]

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I started selling some of my QLD horde today, only to turn around and plow those winnings into more AG, SLW and EXK.

Why silver?  Mostly because the happy silver mining family was bludgeoned like a prize veal on the night before the St. Anthony Festival these last few weeks, and I like the reversion to the mean theory — no matter how temporary that reversion might be.

You know I started accumulating the PM ETF’s,  GDX, GDXJ and SIL last week in order to capture some of the rebound that I saw coming from that sector.  Well this week I will concentrate more on individual names like the above in silver and RGLD, AUY and ANV in the gold mining sector.  I might also dabble in those insane brothers XG and XRA.

Just to give you an example of what I’m seeing here, and why I think there’s still a lot of room in these PM names, here’s my markup of the EXK weekly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Note how last week the price bounced off the long term trend line only to leave that long tail in a hammer?  And note also how most of the stochastics are headed north once again?  I am seeing that in a lot of these names.   Again, it can all change on a dime in no time, and believe me, I will be ahead of you, elbowing you in the chin as I run for the exits if it does.   But right now, the dollar is on our side, and the momentum is coming back to these names.

Let’s have some fun while we wait for the deluge, shall we?

Best to you all.

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[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD5nG2jEVgc&feature=related 450 300]

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The Futures markets in both stocks and commodities is telling us we’re in store for a candy-coated day tomorrow in the markets, all Yom Kippur expiations aside.   Many a times I’ve heard “Sell on The (Jewish) New Year and buy back on Yom Kippur” as tradition dictated that many of our Tribal brethren would be out of the market for that week.

I think that may be a bit of an old fashioned play (not many of my Hebraic trader pals took off for the entire week of “the Holidays” and Yom Kippur fell on Saturday this year anyway), but it’s still useful as a historical marker and perhaps an “excuse” for people to come out guns a blazing on that first day after All Sins Have Been Elided.

What better time to start stacking venalities up again for next year, nu?

Coincidentally or not, the current bullish outlook for the market synchs with some longer term market work I was updating this weekend.  For instance, this following SPX chart looks at the Fibonacci levels of the last four years, beginning with the October highs of 2007 as “the high Fib” and the March lows of 2009 as “the low Fib.”

Note how we launched all the way back to the 61.8% retrace in April ’10,  before selling off hard to the 38.2% fib line in July of that same year?  Then we had one more run to 61.8% before retracing briefly once more and finally breaking the bonds of the golden ratio (again, 61.8%) in November of ’10.

Note however, that we never bounced all the way back to the October ’07 highs?  That’s because we’re in a bear market cycle, my skepticons, and the bad news is we ain’t done yet.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t still have fun times, even if they grow increasingly scantier, right?  So let’s look at where this current selloff has based since this summer shall we?  Well, I’ll be kippered (no Hebrew) if it isn’t the 50% fib line providing support!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I think that given the current position of the weekly stochastics (i.e., “oversold”), we will likely get a nice “Euroliquidity” blast here, quite possibly taking us all the back to that 61.8% golden ratio one last time at $1227 on the above chart.

As a result, I plan to continue with my large QLD position and perhaps even “enhance” it with a little TNA, here.  I will skinny my SKFlles to a mere nominal position as I still do not trust the banks, but will also eschew all other negative-minded ETF’s for now.  I will likely also continue adding back to my silver and gold miner hordes, mostly through GDX, GDXJ and SIL, with opportunistic forays into SLW, EXK, AG and RGLD.

I reserve the right to change this direction on the turn of a dime, however, if things do not play out as Signor Fibonacci has directed.

In addition, later this week, I will attenuate this chart so you can see some more specific targets for the upcoming “deluge.”  And yes, folks, it’s still coming.  And time is growing short.

My best to you all.

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Cocktail Party Acts of Levitation Aside, You Suck

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… So this won’t be long.

My damn Junkees left 423 guys on base tonight, mostly because they just didn’t feel like running them very hard.  They weren’t very stellar in the field, either, despite being at home.

Oh yeah, and I really, really dislike A-Roid.

I don’t care how damn good he is in the regular season, the guy is a choker.  Plain and simple.  You gotta perform on the big stage, Gayroid, or you’re nothing to me.  Your 600 home runs mean so much cow shit.  Go screw.

You suck.

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There, that is that.   As for today, I’m disappointed about that too.

You see I tried to get cute.  I went and bot 10k shares of EXK and 8k shares of AG at middle of the day prices.   Then I doubled my order at a substantial discount to my market order.   I did the same for AVL.   I got zero AVL as a result and not filled on my second half of the other two.  I have a feeling that will cost me in the morning.

Meanwhile, I kept my QLD and the GDX and GDXJ that I bought yesterday.

That is all.   I leave you now, grumbling into the night.

Go (NY Football) Giants.

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Addenda:  I’m pretty damn disappointed in this guy too (hat tip to DGM) :

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfMjbS0oWrE 450 300]

(If you squint, he looks like Arod)

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Rare Photo of Mr. Bilderberg’s Dog, Barbarossa!
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I’ve cut back once again to about a 25% position in my silver and gold positions.   This is merely a precaution, as the clouds looming seem ready to ram us down the throat of an all encompassing Deflationary Fat Man.

I also want to have some cash on hand for anticipated lower prices, especially in the miners.   We’ve been down this road enough times in the past ten years to see some of our favorite names go to “poleaxe pricing” — that state of irrational selling likened to a shareholder being bashed hard enough on his melon that all opposable thumb functions disappear, and share certificates cascade to the floor willy nilly.   We want to be there to pick those newly discarded certificates so as to be better able to offer them back to aforesaid bashees at prices significantly premium to their current ones.

I also added more TZA and SKF yesterday, and — in the spirit of true deflationism — added almost as large a position in the oil double neg, ERY.   I am now pretty massively short, on a dollar basis and on a “relative dollar” basis, especially, as all of these positions are leveraged shorts (either 2x or 3x short ETF’s).

I will likely maintain the SKF as I have been, and leave it largely alone.  With the TZA and ERY I will probably be more opportunistic, trading in and out as warranted. 

Any changes in this philosophy — and I may change radically tomorrow, such is the nature of a volatile bear market — I will communicate immediately, although actual trades will be announced in The PPT first.   I don’t pound the drum on that valuable service enough, but now is a very crucial time to be participating, not only for what the “better than the average bear” traders are saying in there, but for what they are NOT saying as well.

Best to you all.

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Fast Winning a Place in Jake’s Heart

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…And bloody and exhausted.  I just did a lot of driving on some client work and it’s been a rough couple of days. The meetings were far afield and I had to sleep in a Brady Bunch-era Courtyard by Marriott last night. The hotel clark (sic) looked like he could have been the Crypt Keeper’s younger brother, sans the warm and vivacious personality.

What’s more on the way back I passed the time rocking to a zillion 30 year old Sirius satellite tunes (First Wave with the Swedish Eagle) while trying to peruse the various iBC posts of interest on my B’berry. I know, “safe as houses” right?

Not so safe, however, when you come across the post remarking how French population call Le Monsieur “L’Envincible Le Fly.”
I almost rolled into a passing semi after I’d seen that one.

Anyway, my “all day business” today forced me to put a stop on my AGQ position early this morning. To my chagrin, that stop was hit.  Now I’ll never be able to introduce my children and grandchildren to my horde of “double stuff” silver paper.  Ah well, comme ce, comme sa.

I have stops in on other mining positions as well, but only NGD’s was hit today.    Last, I doubled the size of the TZA position I put on last night and added another 2k of Skiffles to my horde.   Both positions were up huge today, as you might imagine.   I wish I could say the same for my remaining benighted silver and gold miners.

Tomorrow I’ll be back in and better able to monitor the situation, but make no mistake, I am increasingly bearish here…  That should be good for a nice counter rally about 11:00 am tomorrow.   Stay tuned,  and don’t hock your hoop earrings and tongue bolts just yet.

Best to you.

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Owsley Brown II, a pillar of the city of Louisville in the truest sense of the word, passed last evening, at age 69.  It was quite sudden and unexpected and most of us who knew him are in shock, as he was a very vigorous and youthful man who was intimately involved with many charitable and cultural organizations throughout the city.

If you know me, you know that I am not overly impressed by those types we referred to at school as “born on third base.”   In the case of Mr. Brown however, I make a significant exception.  We were not close, not even “friends,” but I had enough interaction with the man in social and work situations to note both his grace and his almost anachronistic humility.   He had a smile for everyone, and never seemed out of sorts.

Some of the obituaries already printed (like this one in the Wapo) make mention of his charitable activities, but in truth these reports only scratch the surface.  The man truly embodied the aphorism “to whom much is given, much is expected.”  I believe his generosity will be his lasting legacy in the city.

I excerpt the beginning of the Washington Post obituary below:

Former Brown-Forman CEO Owsley Brown II dies at age of 69 after

brief illness

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Former Brown-Forman Corp. chairman and CEO Owsley Brown II, who took the company founded by his great-grandfather and spread its reach to liquor stores, bars and restaurants worldwide, died late Monday after a brief illness. He was 69.

Brown’s sudden passing drew an outpouring of reaction from political leaders who praised his business skills and philanthropic spirit.

“Louisville lost a great friend today; he will be missed,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who praised Brown’s “pioneering career” and “generous philanthropic efforts.”

Brown oversaw the Louisville-based company’s transformation into a formidable player in spirits markets worldwide. Late in his career, Brown-Forman shed its Lenox fine china and Hartmann luggage divisions to focus on its core beverage business.

Brown-Forman is one of the largest American-owned spirits companies. Its long lineup of brands includes Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Southern Comfort and Finlandia vodka.

“Owsley was a truly remarkable man with a brilliant mind,” said current Brown-Forman CEO Paul Varga. “His combined analytical and creative talents enabled him to be both a visionary and a practical steward of the company’s business.”

In its last full fiscal year, Brown-Forman reported net income of $571.6 million, or $3.90 per share, on revenue of $3.4 billion. The company has nearly 4,000 employees worldwide.

Brown, a Yale graduate who earned a master’s in business administration from Stanford University, served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army at the Pentagon, according to a Brown-Forman release.

He began his Brown-Forman career in 1968, continuing a family legacy that began with the company’s founding in 1870.

Brown rose to become the company’s CEO in 1993 and added the title of chairman two years later. During his tenure, Brown-Forman dramatically boosted its international presence and modernized its marketing efforts.

When he took over as CEO, less than one-fourth of Brown-Forman’s net sales came from outside the U.S. By the time he stepped down as chief executive officer in 2005, nearly half of Brown-Forman’s revenues were generated from international markets. That trend has continued, and the company now gets about 55 percent of its total net sales from non-U.S. markets.

Brown retired as company chairman in 2007 and from its board of directors in 2008.

He was also a prominent philanthropist and preservationist known for his support for art, music and environmental protection.

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I have done nothing different with my portfolio today, save that I took out a large TZA insurance policy to augment my SKF-lles position.  I still maintain my already noted position in AGQ and my other small gold and silver positions.  I am still about 40% cash.

I am again traveling this evening and all day tomorrow, but will check in as I may.

Best to you all.

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