Colin Twiggs, Author at the patient investor

November 8, 2012

The Gold-Euro-Dollar conundrum

The Euro broke support at $1.28 against the greenback (weekly chart). Respect of the descending trendline warns of a down-swing to test primary support at $1.20. Reversal of 63-day Twiggs Momentum below zero would strengthen the signal. But the Dollar Index and Gold suggest the opposite. Recovery above $1.28 would indicate a bear trap.
Euro

The Dollar Index is inversely rising to test resistance at 81/81.50. Breakout would indicate another test of 84.00 but 63-Day Twiggs Momentum below zero warns of a primary down-trend. Rising gold also suggests dollar weakness. Reversal below support at 78.50 would complete a head-and-shoulders reversal with a target of 74*.

US Dollar Index

* Target calculation: 79 – ( 84 – 79 ) = 74

Spot gold (daily chart) broke resistance at $1725 per ounce, signaling an advance to $1900*. The 63-day Twiggs Momentum trough above zero indicates a primary up-trend. Breakout above $1800 would confirm. The conundrum is the euro is weakening and dollar index strengthening but gold is rising rather than weakening as expected.

Spot Gold

* Target calculation: 1800 + ( 1800 – 1700 ) = 1900

The DJ-UBS Commodity Index (weekly chart) found support at 140. 63-Day Twiggs Momentum is testing zero. Respect would indicate a primary up-trend. Recovery above $1.52 would confirm. Breach of $140, however, and 63-day Twiggs Momentum below zero, resulting from a strengthening dollar and/or global down-turn, would test primary support at 126.

DJ-UBS Commodity Index

Nymex WTI Light Crude is headed for a test of primary support at $76/$78 per barrel. Declining 63-day Twiggs Momentum, below zero, warns of a primary down-trend. Brent Crude is also weakening, headed for test of primary support at $90.

Nymex WTI Light Crude

Colin Twiggs

Colin Twiggs is a former investment banker with almost 40 years of experience in financial markets. He co-founded Incredible Charts and writes the popular Trading Diary and Patient Investor newsletters.

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

Focusing on interest rates and financial market liquidity as primary drivers of the economic cycle, he warned of the 2008/2009 and 2020 bear markets well ahead of actual events.
He founded PVT Capital (AFSL No. 546090) in May 2023, which offers investment strategy and advice to wholesale clients.

November 8, 2012

Dollar Index

The Dollar Index is testing resistance at 81/81.50. Breakout would indicate another test of 84.00. But 63-day Twiggs Momentum below zero warns of a primary down-trend. Breach of support at 78.50 would complete a head-and-shoulders reversal with a target of 74*.

US Dollar Index

* Target calculation: 79 – ( 84 – 79 ) = 74

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

November 8, 2012

Australia: ASX 200 tests support

The ASX 200 is testing its new support level at 4400/4450. Reversal below 4400 would warn of a test of primary support at 4000. A 13-week Twiggs Money Flow trough above zero, however, would indicate strong buying pressure. Respect of support and follow-through above 4600 would signal an advance to 4900*.

ASX 200 Index

* Target calculation: 4450 + ( 4450 – 4000 ) = 4900

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

November 8, 2012

Asia: India & Hong Kong strengthen

India’s Sensex respected support at 18500. Recovery above 19000 would confirm the primary advance to 21000*. Rising 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicates strong buying pressure. Breach of support is now unlikely, but would warn of a test of primary support at 16500.

Sensex Index

* Target calculation: 18.5 + ( 18.5 – 16.0 ) = 21.0

Singapore’s Straits Times Index continues an anemic up-trend, consolidating below 3100. Reversal below 3000 would test the lower edge of the trend channel. 63-Day Twiggs Momentum below zero would suggest further consolidation, while a fall below -5% would indicate a primary down-trend.

Straits Times Index

China’s Shanghai Composite Index continues to test resistance at 2150 (and the descending trendline). Reversal below support at 2000 would signal a decline to 1800*. But rising 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicates medium-term buying pressure. Upward breakout would test 2250.

Shanghai Composite Index

* Target calculation: 2150 – ( 2500 – 2150 ) = 1800

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index broke resistance at 22000, indicating a primary advance to 26000*. Rising 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicates buying pressure, but wait for retracement to confirm the new support level.

Hang Seng Index

* Target calculation: 22000 + ( 22000 – 18000 ) = 26000

Japan’s Nikkei 225 continues to test resistance at 9200. Breakout would indicate a rally to 10200. Rising 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicates medium-term buying pressure. Respect of 9200, however, would indicate another test of primary support at 8500.

Nikkei 225 Index

* Target calculation: 9200 + ( 9200 – 8200 ) = 10200

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

November 8, 2012

Europe tests support

Germany’s Dax continues to test medium-term support at 7200. Respect of support would signal strong accumulation, while failure would indicate a correction to the rising trendline. 13-Week Twiggs Money Flow oscillating above zero indicates buying pressure. Breakout above 7600 would confirm a primary up-trend.

DAX Index

* Target calculation: 7000+ ( 7000 – 6000 ) = 8000

Dow Jones Europe Index consolidates below resistance at 265. Reversal below 250 would warn of a correction to test primary support, while breakout above 265 would signal a primary advance. Oscillation of 63-day Twiggs Momentum around zero suggests a ranging market with no clear primary trend.

Dow Jones Europe Index

* Target calculation: 260 + ( 260 – 210 ) = 310

The FTSE 100 continues to test support at 5740/5750. Failure of support would signal a correction to the rising trendline. Breakout above 6000/6100 is unlikely at present, but would offer a long-term target of 6750*. 13-Week Twiggs Money Flow oscillating above zero indicates long-term buying pressure.

FTSE 100 Index

* Target calculation: 6000 + ( 6000 – 5250 ) = 6750

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

November 8, 2012

Canada: TSX Composite

The TSX Composite Index continues to consolidate below 12500. Reversal below 12100 and the rising trendline would warn of another test of primary support at 11200. Reversal of 63-day Twiggs Momentum below zero would strengthen the bear signal. Breakout above 12500, however, would signal a primary advance, while follow-through above 12800 would confirm.

TSX Composite Index

* Target calculation: 12500 + ( 12500 – 11000 ) = 14000

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

November 8, 2012

US: Honeymoon is over

The S&P 500 broke support at 1400, warning that a top is forming. A 21-day Twiggs Money Flow peak below zero would indicate medium-term selling pressure. The “honeymoon” period leading up to the election is over. It is back to “business as usual” as the President and the Republican-controlled Congress arm-wrestle over taxes, entitlements and the budget deficit. Speaker of the House John Boehner extended an olive-branch of sorts, saying that Republicans were willing to accept additional tax revenues, but his emphasis remains on reforming entitlement programs and curbing “special interest loopholes and deductions”.

S&P 500 Index
The Dow Jones Industrial Average similarly broke support at 13000 on the weekly chart. Breach of support and the primary trendline warn that a top is forming. Reversal of 63-day Twiggs Momentum below zero would suggest a primary down-trend. Recovery above 13300 is unlikely at present but would indicate another advance.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

* Target calculation: 13000 + ( 13000 – 12000 ) = 14000

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

November 7, 2012

Markets Worry About Fiscal Cliff

Michael S. Derby writes about the looming fiscal cliff:

The central problem is the lack of change. President Barack Obama was reelected. Democrats retained control of the Senate, while Republicans held on to the House of Representatives. The fiscal cliff can only be resolved if lawmakers work together. “Returning to status quo likely means all sides see the voters as supporting their views, which means reaching compromise is not likely to get any easier,” economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch warned clients.

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) says “the Republican majority in the House stands ready to work with [the President] to do what’s best for our country.” Republicans appear willing to accept additional tax revenues but their emphasis is on reforming entitlement programs and curbing “special interest loopholes and deductions”.

The Congressional Budget Office summarizes the fiscal cliff as:

Among the policy changes that are due to occur in January under current law, the following will have the largest impact on the budget and the economy:

A host of significant provisions of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-312) are set to expire, including provisions that extended reductions in tax rates and expansions of tax credits and deductions originally enacted in 2001, 2003, or 2009. (Provisions designed to limit the reach of the alternative minimum tax, or AMT, expired on December 31, 2011.)

Sharp reductions in Medicare’s payment rates for physicians’ services are scheduled to take effect.

Automatic enforcement procedures established by the Budget Control Act of 2011 to restrain discretionary and mandatory spending are set to go into effect.

Extensions of emergency unemployment benefits and a reduction of 2 percentage points in the payroll tax for Social Security are scheduled to expire.

The CBO estimates that increases in federal taxes and reductions in federal spending, totaling almost
$500 billion, will cause a 0.5 percent drop in GDP in 2013.

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

November 7, 2012

Tesla electric car beats BMW M5

Tesla Model S v. BMW M5 in drag race.

Hat tip to car nut Barry Ritholz

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.

November 6, 2012

Australia: Hard or soft landing?

Browsing the latest charts from the RBA.

Despite record low 10-year bond yields…..

Housing Finances

Credit growth is subdued and likely to remain so for some time.

Credit Growth by Sector

After a massive credit bubble lasting more than a decade.

Housing Finances

Households are saving close to 10 percent of Disposable Income in anticipation of a contraction.

Housing Finances

While banks are reluctant to lend when their margins are being squeezed.

Housing Finances

Borrowing offshore is not an option. That is how we got into such a fix in the first place.

Housing Finances

Makes me believe we are unlikely to see another housing boom for some time.

There are two possible outcomes: a soft landing and a hard landing.

It all depends on whether Wayne Swan and the RBA know their jobs.

Colin Twiggs

Using a top-down approach, Colin identifies key macro trends in the global economy before evaluating selected opportunities using a combination of fundamental and technical analysis.