Last week’s bounce in precious metals seems to have exhausted itself:

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I stumbled upon the Apple (AAPL) chart and was struck by how cleanly that trendline has changed roles. The stock bottomed on March 23rd (of course) at a low of 52.91 and, after peaking with a 160% gain (!!!) it has lost about 20% of its value. Click on the chart, and you will how, since September 17th, the exact line that was reliable support is now a ceiling.

Whether the market is foreign or domestic, equity, commodity or metal the grind is on. Speaking of grind, the one in gold has been expected as the metal builds out its big picture Handle to the bullish Cup with an objective that is much higher. Let’s take a look at a few NFTRH charts to gauge the grind in several markets and by extension, the grind many feel on their nerves these days. It’s not a time to make money. It’s a time to preserve gains and patiently position.
For gold the grind would be the making of a Handle after the Cup’s key higher high to the 2011 high.
(more…)I just happened to notice that Amazon, of all companies, is actually about 80% done with what could be a fantastic head and shoulders pattern. It isn’t complete until the neckline is broken, of course, but still, this merits close attention, particularly because there are some interesting options strategies that could be used to exploit a down-move.

I’m planning to drop some COVID-19 info and updates into some of my posts, hopefully in a way that won’t get people thinking that I’m taking a position in the US election, as it is of vital interest for the economy going forward, and there was a time when that mattered for stock markets too, though that seems less certain at the moment.
I was giving the best guess mortality stats for the virus on Tuesday, and just wanted to break those down a bit further. The bottom line really is that, subject to some variations depending on race, sex and existing co-morbid health conditions, and in the event that anyone is actually infected, as many may well never be infected, then the death rate for those in the 12 to 40 age range is about 0.01%, or one in ten thousand, the death rate for people in the 41 to 60 range rises to about 0.1%, or one in a thousand, and the mortality rate rises sharply for those 60 or over to about 2%, or one in a fifty. That last stat is heavily weighted towards the oldest and least healthy in the population, to the extent that the average age of death from COVID-19 among white people in the Indiana study I was referring to was 78.9, with over half of all COV-19 deaths in Indiana among nursing home residents.
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