Rick Ackerman

The stock is entering its fourth week after stalling pennies from a 430.58 target that I first broached here last January. Isn't that sufficient evidence that THE top is in? asked a subscriber in the chat room. Ordinarily, I'd say yes. But this is no ordinary bull market, and we shouldn't underestimate its ability to trick us so that nearly every bull and bear still left in the game gets crushed when it ends. That is a given, and we've seen Mr. Market flex his muscles enough times over the years to become true believers in his ability to bamboozle the majority, especially at important turning points. Who would have guessed, for instance, that the most spectacular bull run in U.S. history would begin almost to the day in March 2020 when the country locked down against the covid threat? And now, there should be little doubt that the bull market will end with a flash of exuberance and bravado that are commensurate with the despair most investors felt in 2020. There is a palpable sense that we are close to a watershed top, but we shouldn't expect our instincts alone to locate it exactly.

Bulls have gotten dragged lower for the last two weeks, kicking and screaming every inch of the way. However, I doubt they'll avoid the punitive implications of the reverse pattern shown, with a 4777.50 target that lies 7.5% below Friday's settlement price. It might not turn out so badly, though, since the midpoint Hidden Pivot at 5055.50, which has served lately as our minimum downside objective, could conceivably contain the correction.  But if it is decisively exceeded, we shouldn't hesitate to short a rally back up to the green line aggressively.

Mr. Slammy made his appearance late in the day after leaving the futures somewhat shy of the 2514.60 target that we used last week as a bull market lodestar. It will be achieved, rest assured, but not necessarily on our schedule. Friday afternoon's $100 slapdown from the top of a strong rally was so swift and punitive that one might think the solons who regulate the futures markets pass out awards for the most brazen heists by the criminals who control the markets. Their tracks have nonetheless provided a clear technical picture to guide our efforts in trading and positioning bullion. Expect the correction to come down to at least 2309.00, a Hidden Pivot midpoint support. We'll want to bottom-fish there, whether to augment positions or open new ones, so stay tuned to the chat room and/or your email notifications to keep apprised.

Precious metals got bludgeoned on Friday after a strong rally spiked this vehicle to 29.90 around 11:15. The downdraft should not have caught any of you by surprise, since we were already using a 1.09 trigger interval (TI) to warn if intraday weakness looked likely to snowball. It did, but some subscribers might have used the alert not merely to exit or reduce long positions, but to go short. This would have occurred at 28.81, with half of the position still to be covered a 27.72, about 23 cents off the closing low. That is also my minimum downside projection at the moment, the p midpoint support of the corrective pattern shown. As always, an easy move through this Hidden Pivot it would portend more slippage to p2=26.61, the secondary Hidden Pivot. ______ UPDATE (Apr 15, 3:50 p.m.): The futures are perfectly synched with the forecast, having come down to 27.67 this morning before trampolining to a recovery high of 28.98 so far. If they take out C=29.90 without having corrected any lower than 27.67, that would imply this bull run is bound for the next important Hidden Pivot resistance. It lies at 30.08, only slightly above the recent high at 29.90, so the utmost caution is advised when it gets there.  The target is drawn from the weekly chart, where A=18.71 on 9-30-22.

If the beating that gold and silver futures took in the last half of Friday's session was unnerving, we should still be reassured by the robust look of GDXJ's weekly chart.  There are a few reasons to expect the bull cycle begun in September 2022 to achieve the 48.55 target. For one, the impulse leg, although balky at times, ultimately exceeded a key external peak at 42.19 recorded in June 2022. Also, even though the C-D leg stalled at p=39.51 for more than a month, the running start it got after pulling back nearly to 'C' spring-loaded a powerful blast that impaled both p and p2 while also exceeding the pattern's 'B' high. Taken together, these factors should leave no doubt concerning whether 48.55 will be reached. Plan accordingly, and don't get spooked by a hard pullback if it comes. That would be a buying opportunity, and the pattern itself provides ample means to do so with risk under tight control.

TLT looked like hell again last week, as usual. However, I will accentuate the positive for a rare change, as I did in this week's commentary featuring T-Bond futures.  Turns out 2024's downtrend in both vehicles occurred within the context of respective reverse-pattern buy signals. Yes, it's a stretch to think both will turn higher without taking out their 'C' lows, especially since they've been falling since the first quarter of 2020. But if you're willing to consider the contrarian point of view, the picture for bonds has been so gloomy for so long that perhaps it's time to consider the bullish possibility.

Crude remains on track to easily achieve the 88.69 target we've been using for the last six weeks. The relentless rise has embarrassed those who pretend that the Fed's alleged "plan," whatever the hell it is, is somehow linked to observable reality. Powell keeps hinting he will "pivot" just as soon as the economy and inflation show the faintest sign of moderating. Instead, inflation is on the rise again and threatening to steepen with the price of a barrel of oil approaching $90. This silly game would be funny, but for the fact that the global economy can no longer function without credit stimulus or at least the promise of it. It will be interesting to see whether the Fed gooses the money supply when oil leaps toward $100 and joblessness falls to a new millennial low.

The devastating bear market in Treasury paper since 2020 may be nearing an end. I was pessimistic about this myself when TLT, an exchange-traded fund, that tracks the long bond, broke down last week. But a bigger picture saw this as occurring in the context of a market that may have bottomed last October. The bounce from that low triggered a theoretical 'buy' signal in bonds in mid-December when it touched the green line shown in the chart. Don't expect a meteoric rise, however, since it could take a while for T-Bonds to build a base for a sustained move higher. Assuming the 107^04 low holds, however, the worst may be over. That would imply that long-term rates, currently at 4.53% for 30-Year T-Bonds and 4.38% for the 10-Year Note, have peaked. In any event, I do not expect them to exceed the highs they achieved in October at, respectively,  4.99% and 5.15%. Debt's Real Cost I should point out that this is not necessarily cause for jubilation, especially if recession causes asset values to deflate. That would return us to the financial environment of the 2007-08 Crash, when even 4% mortgages placed a crushing burden on homeowners whose property values had gone underwater. It is real rates -- yield minus inflation -- that ultimately matter, not nominal rates. Unfortunately, there is no escaping the debts we have amassed publicly and privately, and there are reasons to strongly doubt that those who owe will get to stiff creditors via hyperinflation or even sustained inflation. Regardless, and irrespective of the nominal level of rates, payback will exact a heavy toll on future production and our standard of living.

The futures have exceeded an ostensibly solid Hidden Pivot target on the weekly chart at 5220.00 by a relatively whopping 13 points (A=2773.00 on 10/14/22). Although this is curious, it is also bullish in theory.  Even so, I will use a bearish reverse pattern for this week's analysis, since I suspect the rocket rallies in MSFT, NFLX and some other erstwhile world-beaters are spent, having achieved equally clear targets without exceeding them. It "feels" like a good time for a top, even if bitcoin's wilding spree looks primed for a further run-up to 80,602, a target introduced last week in the chat room. Concerning the E-Mini S&Ps, a sell signal was triggered when the futures touched the green line (x=5194.50) last Thursday. It implies the futures will fall to at least p=5055.50 0n and possibly to 4777.50 before the presumptive correction ends. That would amount to a mere 10.6% drop -- hardly a bear market. Regardless, our trading bias has shifted to bearish for now, subject to cautious observation of upward abcd corrections. If they exceed their d targets, even in charts of small degree, that would warn that the futures are more likely to take out C=5333.50 than fall to p-5055.50.