The Light at the End of the Tunnel

I communicate with investors daily trying to identify what their general position is for the economy. Though it differs from one to the next, an overwhelming majority are not too optimistic about the health of the economy. The overall sentiment is that few see the light at the end of the tunnel. By that I mean most investors sense we’ve yet to turn the corner. What I try to make them realize is that while the overall economy is yet to be back on track, there are many individual stocks, bonds, real estate transactions and commodities that offer phenomenal opportunities. Take that for what it is worth, I only trade commodities so if looking at other asset classes consult a professional. What I’m trying to relay is I see the light at the end of the tunnel for some specific commodity plays.

Livestock
October live cattle were higher by 3.125 last week trading to their highest level since January. We continue to hold put spreads for clients and are currently carrying a loss. We expect an abrupt turnaround in the next few weeks and would suggest option players to get positioned short. Resistance is seen at the January high at 92.70 with support at 90.75. August feeder cattle were higher by 1.55. Resistance is seen at 105.00 and support at 103.00. Prices may in fact go higher, but it will be without my clients. If and when grains start to move higher, feeder cattle should weaken and we think that is soon. We’re not advising to get short but we don’t want to be long.
August lean hogs traded higher by 975 last week and although it is too early to definitively say we may have formed an interim top is what it’s starting to look like it. Resistance comes in at 65.60/66.00 with support at 63.25. Short term it appears prices could come down but medium and longer term we like being long.
Financials
Stocks: Equities snapped a four week losing streak in fashion with the Dow and S&P gaining all 5 sessions last week. The Dow was higher by 611 points or 7.6% getting back a majority of the losses from the previous 4 weeks. The S&P was also a gainer picking up over 60 points to close 7.1% higher. From here it looks like we will see a test of the June highs. If we get through that threshold more buyers will likely enter. If we fail to get through those levels we will most likely see some profit taking. We tend to think we’ll get through those levels and have clients currently long August and September ES calls. On a test of 950 exit the August calls and on a breakout towards1000 exit your September calls. The 50 day moving averages should act as support with the June highs acting as resistance. Support on the S&P at 908 and the Dow at 8400 with resistance at 950 and 8825 respectively.
Bonds: Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting were released last week “the economy remained very weak, though declines in activity seemed to be lessening.” They also stated that “consumer spending appeared to be holding reasonably steady” and “consumer price inflation was fairly quiescent in recent months…” This to me is just more sugar coating about an economy that has yet to see the worst, but I hope that is just the pessimist in me. September 30-yr bonds were lower by 4’15.5 points trading to a 3 ½ week low. This was the largest weekly decline in 6 weeks; low and behold MB Wealth foreshadowed this in our commentary last week. Resistance comes in at 117’05/117’10 with support at 115’00. September 10-yr notes were lower closing down 2’11.5 points. Resistance comes in at 117’00/117’05 with support at 115’16. The path of least resistance remains down. Continue to short Euro-dollars. After tracking various months for the last few weeks we are starting to suggest clients to move out to June or September 10′ contracts on fresh entries.
Currencies
The Euro was higher by 195 ticks last week closing near resistance which comes in at 1.4200 with support seen at 1.400. As long as prices stay above 1.3970; the trend line for the last 2 weeks we should see higher ground.
The Aussie gained 244 ticks last week to close back above the 20 day moving average which should serve as support at .7915. This was a reversal of almost 3 ½ cents. Resistance is between .8075 and .8100. We would not rule out a surge higher to .8150 on continued commodity strength though we currently have no exposure with clients.
The Swissie gained 89 ticks last week as it continues to play a follower’s role to the Euro. Support is seen at .9170/.9200 with resistance at .9390. Prices could go either way so stand aside.
The Loonie was higher by 354 ticks, a gain of over 4%. As we projected last week, as soon as prices closed above the 20 day moving average look for more upside. The easy money has been made on longs while we may get higher pricing depending on the action in metals and energies. We prefer at this juncture to cut out the middle man and just be long energies and metals especially being we have a BoC meeting this week. Although we expect no policy changes we could have some increased volatility. Support at .8850/.8880 and resistance at .9000.
The Cable was gained 194 ticks last week after 2 losing weeks. Prices have been range bound now in a 7 cent range for the better part of 8 weeks and at this point we have no opinion. Resistance is at 1.6575, support is at 1.6175.
The yen lost 206 ticks and looks as if there is more downside to come. The 20 day moving average at 1.0566 and trend line at 1.0540 should hold but we do expect a test. Resistance comes in at 1.0700 followed by 1.0800.
The Kiwi was higher by 184 ticks. Support is at the 20 day moving average at .6350 with resistance at .6500. We do expect a higher trade but are not confident enough to put money in play.
The US dollar lost 90 ticks last week closing at its lowest point in 6 weeks. A close below 80.00 is psychologically demoralizing but a close below 79.00 would be more technically damaging, most likely signaling further downside. Support is at 79.00 with resistance at the 20 day moving average at 80.35.
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Risk Disclosure: The risk of loss in trading commodity futures and options can be substantial. Before trading MB Wealth recommends that you should carefully consider your financial position to determine if commodity trading is appropriate for you. All funds committed should be purely risk capital. Past performance is no guarantee of future trading results. There are no guarantees of market outcome stated, everything stated above are our opinions.