Rick Ackerman

The predicted fall to at least 5055.50 occurred with a selling climax on thin volume Thursday night. This set up an all-but-certain relapse after a brief flurry of buying at the opening bell on Friday. The renewed weakness has greased the track for a further fall to p2=4916.50 as the new week begins, but more likely to D=4777.50. A rally first to x=5194.50, however unlikely, would trigger an appealing 'mechanical' short that you shouldn't pass up if you trade this vehicle. Also, the D target can be bottom-fished with a reverse-pattern trigger that can be calculated using an intraday chart.

Bulls continued to lose ground last week, but the weakness was not quite sufficient to push this vehicle beneath the 82.42 point 'C' low of the bullish pattern we have been using speculatively. If the pattern were to hold sway, which is looking increasingly doubtful, an extended uptrend could take TLT as high as 150.22. That implies a spectacular bull market, one driven by vanishing inflation and expansionary yield curves. This seems so unlikely at this point that we should view any upturn in TLT with caution, if not to say suspicion, Realize in any event that it would not be unusual for a bull market to be born in obscurity and for no apparent reason.

I only belatedly discovered the reason for the hard selloff a week ago from 2448.80. That number lies just 0.70 from the target of the very gnarly pattern shown. I still think the June contract has a better than 50% chance of achieving a somewhat higher target at 2514.60 given here earlier. However, we should be very cautious at the moment, since this corrective pattern on the weekly chart suggests the June contract will fall to at least 2309.50 before it finds traction. Worst case would be 2170.20, and we cannot rule it out, but we'll be looking to bottom-fish at p=2309.50 (slightly adjusted from last week) in any case. _______ UPDATE (Apr 23, 1:35 a.m.): The clowns/thieves/Masters of the Universe who erroneously believe they are manipulating this vehicle were themselves manipulated into a nearly $40 plunge when June Gold fell Monday night to a so-far low at 2308.70 -- less than $1 from the Hidden Pivot target I'd flagged above. The $19 bounce that has occurred so far would need to hit 2348.00 to move the futures out of the danger zone; otherwise, look for a further drop to at least 2239.90 (see my chart), a Hidden Pivot support that can be bottom-fished as aggressively as the one at 2309.50.

The sharp bounce from p=27.71 puts a similar reversal in June Gold in a more bullish light. The latter has bounced without having touched the midpoint Hidden Pivot support, suggesting that sellers may have unfinished business. However, Silver reached its p support almost exactly, suggesting it has fully corrected the powerful uptrend begun from 22.19 in mid-February. On balance, I favor the more bullish interpretation, which suggests both vehicles are likely to take out their respective recent highs without first exceeding last week's lows.  My rally target remains 30.08, a Hidden Pivot that's equivalent to a 2514.60 target in June Gold.

We're using a 48.55 rally target while acknowledging that this correction could come down to as low as 35.77 first (weekly chart, a=39,82 on 12/22/23).  More weakness would trigger a somewhat risky 'mechanical' buy at 39.51, predicated on a stop-loss at 36.49.  I am not recommending the trade if it ripens this week, however, since the pullback would be too steep to offer goods odds for a durable reversal, even if it winds up delivering a one-level pop. Please note that a further fall to x=34.98, however unlikely and regardless of how soon it occurs, would set up a 'mechanical' buy that we should not pass up.

I still expect bitcoin to make an important top at 80,546. My confidence is based on the ease and decisiveness of the move through p=48,015. Although there was a brief stall there, Bertie not only popped through it on the next bar, it also came close to touching p2 on the bar before finishing just below it. Taken together, these factors suggest that the D target has a high probability of being achieved. Also, because there are no alternatives for the A, B and C coordinates shown - i.e., the pattern is 'locked' -- 80,546 is likely to work precisely as a reversal spot. Meanwhile, a pullback to p=48,015 should be viewed as a 'mechanical' buying opportunity, stop 37,171. There are ways to cut the entry risk by at least 90%, so don't hesitate to seek timely guidance in the chat room if the opportunity should materialize during regular-session hours. _______ UPDATE (May 5): If the latest shakedown to 56,519 was prelude to the move I've been predicting to at least 80,546, Bertie should push decisively past the trendline shown in this chart, and soon. It will come in around 63,684 when the week begins, with a declining slope of about 170 points a day.

The portfolio managers who rig the markets appear to be losing their touch. Usually, they are able to short-squeeze stocks in the 'lunatic sector' -- our label for the egregiously mis-named 'Magnificent Seven' -- when earnings are announced after the close.  This quasi-criminal manipulation can add hundreds of billions of dollars to the world's 'wealth effect' in a literal blink of an eye when it occurs in a mega-cap stock such as NVDA or AAPL. But the greedy con-game conspicuously failed to 'grow wealth' on Friday after Netflix reported adding droves of new subscribers in the previous quarter. The good news supposedly caught dull-witted analysts by surprise, even though a half-smart chimpanzee could have seen it coming after Netflix put the screws to millions of viewers who had been using friends' passwords. The stock should have vaulted into outer space, since, in a bull market, all earnings announcements are treated as wildly bullish regardless of whether the news is actually bullish. That's how bull markets work. Not This Time Not this time, though, Instead of taking the obligatory short-squeeze leap into outer space, Netflix feebly head-faked to stop out a $640 peak from ten days earlier by a paltry $1. That peak and Friday's slightly higher one merely dented a Hidden Pivot resistance at 634.14 that we'd told subscribers a couple of weeks ago could cap the bull-market. On Friday, if everything had gone according to the script after earning were announced, the stock should have begun to gyrate wildly, allowing DaBoyz to work the swings like killer whales herding dolphins. Lo, NFLX simply continued to fall, ending the day $90 below the fake-out high. Ordinarily, we wouldn't read too much into DaBoyz' failure to hold NFLX aloft so that they could distribute millions of shares to widows, pensioners and

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.