Greek Commissioner warns about leaving euro

Capital anticipates while politicians talk of possibilities. Euro gold at new highs reflects capital voting with their feet about the future of the EU. The same can be said for U.S. dollar gold.

Euro Gold:

A Greek EU Commissioner warned that the country's participation in the euro was under threat, though the prime minister insisted Wednesday his government would see through new austerity measures and keep Greece in the joint currency.

The EU's Fisheries Commissioner, Greece's Maria Damanaki, warned that "The scenario of removing Greece from the euro is now on the table."

"I am obliged to speak openly. We have a historical responsibility to see the dilemma clearly: either we agree with our borrowers on a program of tough sacrifices with results ... or we return to the drachma," she said in a statement on her personal website.

Mark Haines Dies: CNBC Anchor Dead At 65

Mark Haines Dies: CNBC Anchor Dead At 65

Bearish Setup In U.S. Dollar Underway

Bullish setups in gold, silver, stocks, and commodities are confirmed by a bearish count (setup) in the U.S. dollar.

Ignore the newswire and follow the money.

U.S. Dollar Index and the Commercial Traders COT Futures and Options Stochastic Weighted Average of Net Long As A % of Open Interest


The long-term chart provides a better perspective of downside targets and forces.

U.S. Dollar Index

Court Orders New Jersey to Increase Aid to Schools

Public spending deemed a constitution right in NJ. QE cannot stop because the system is utterly dependent on it. The late run in gold and silver suggests the market understands this reality.

Headline: Court Orders New Jersey to Increase Aid to Schools

The New Jersey Supreme Court ordered the Christie administration on Tuesday to increase state education aid by $500 million in the coming school year, saying it had failed to meet its constitutional obligation to provide adequate educational resources for poor and minority children.

In a 3-to-2 ruling, the court directed that the additional aid be distributed among 31 school districts in historically poor cities like Camden, Newark and Paterson — the so-called Abbott districts at the heart of a school financing case, Abbott v. Burke, that has roiled state officials and courts for three decades.

Coffee price hikes will bring tough wake-up calls

The seeds of hyperinflation have been sown. Soon the public will have to deal with the harvest.

Coffee drinkers are facing a tough wake-up call: Retailers are finding it increasingly difficult to hold the line as rising commodities prices percolate through the system.

At the Coffee Tree Roasters shops in metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pa., prices have just increased for the first time in at least two years.

"We held out to try to see where the market was going to settle out," said Bill Swoope, co-owner of five coffee shops as well as Iron Star Roasting Co., a wholesale roaster in West Mifflin.

Things Not As They Appear In Equities

Flavor-of-the-day experts cite "Sell in May and Go Away" trading logic as the motivation for turning bearish.

My personal rebuttal to this argument would be hogwash!

Retail money, chronic tail chasers, has become increasing bearish into weakness (see table below). This counter-intuitive, negative swing in sentiment is bullish.

AAII Survey


A detail study of market internals also supports the bullish thesis. Statistical concentration of breadth, as illustrated by the red painted stick, tends to be generated at or near tradable bottoms.

NYSE Composition and Breadth Analysis:


Let’s not forget the bullish money flows into stocks.

Retail Money Chases Its Tail

Retail money chases its tail while connect players setup the market. Yesterday's commentary, Invisible Hand of Control In Crude Oil, discussed the setup well ahead of the newswire flash.

Headline: Crude Oil Rises as Dollar Slips, Goldman Sachs Boosts Brent Price Forecast

Oil rose the most in almost a week in New York as the dollar declined, boosting commodities’ appeal as an alternative investment, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley increased their oil-price outlooks.

Oil jumped as much as 2.3 percent as the Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against six major counterparts, slipped from a seven-week high and U.S. equities advanced. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley raised their estimates for Brent oil futures, saying the prolonged conflict in Libya is eating into OPEC spare capacity.

“The dollar’s under pressure and you’re having a bit of an equity market rebound,” said Gene McGillian, an analyst and broker at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. “The upward revisions to some of the investment-bank oil forecasts may be lending a certain positive sentiment to this market.”