It was an interesting week last week in the precious metals complex. There appeared to be the start of a short squeeze in Silver (hedge funds were heavily short), but it ceased at important resistance. Meanwhile, Gold closed the week on a weak note, losing $1340-$1350. The gold stocks, like Silver closed the week below technical resistance. The price action in the complex continues to suggest that a breakout in Gold is the key to unleashing strong outperformance from Silver and the gold stocks.
While Silver has very supportive sentiment, it has not broken out from its downtrend yet. The net speculative position was at 1.1% a few weeks ago, an all time low. That won’t spring Silver by itself unless Silver can surpass critical resistance in the mid $18s. And that may not happen until Gold breaks $1360-$1370. Silver has strong support in the low to mid $16s.
Moving to Gold, the daily chart below shows Gold losing $1340-$1350 after rejection again at $1360. Immediate support for Gold lies at $1325 which if broken would lead to a test of $1300-$1310 and the 200-day moving average.
We have a few observations to share with respect to the gold stocks. First, VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners (NYSE:GDXJ) has pulled back from trendline resistance around $34. Second, breadth indicators for VanEck Vectors Gold Miners (NYSE:GDX) such as the advance decline line (A/D) and the bullish percentage index (BPI) are showing a positive divergence.
The BPI has reached a 52-week high while the A/D line is not far from its January peak when GDX nearly hit $25. So while GDX has been relatively weak, its internals are showing more strength.
Silver and the gold stocks have yet to break important resistance as Gold once again was turned back at major resistance. If the US dollar, which closed at 90.07 on Friday, rallies up to its 200-day moving average at 92, Gold would likely test $1300-$1310.
Should Silver and the gold stocks hold up well in that scenario (which could be suggested by current breadth) then it would imply a good rebound from the sector back to resistance points. Lower prices in the juniors would be a welcome sign and another opportunity to accumulate ahead of a major breakout in the not too distant future. In anticipation of that breakout, we have been accumulating the juniors with 300% to 500% upside potential over the next 18-24 months.