MTECHTIPS Gold And S&P 500 Start 2016 Off On Right Foot

MTECHTIPS Gold And S&P 500 Start 2016 Off On Right Foot

With respect to our declared targets this year for gold (upper 1200s) and the S&P 500 (lower 1400s), both markets are directionally off on the right foot through these first two trading weeks of 2016. Given the Media Melodrama over the stock market, 'tis that as our opening act. The S&P settled yesterday (Friday) at 1880, not just down 8% in the young year, but also down 12% from its all-time closing high of 2131 on 21 May 2015. Again, we're targeting the S&P reaching down into the lower 1400s this year, some -25%, as perceived equity "savings account" gemstones turn into the reality of"Diamond Dogs". 'Course, that wouldn't happen to an actual savings account, (else your S&L manager would have some serious 'splainin' to do, Lucy). Moreover, at the year-to-date rate at which the S&P is falling, 'twould be in the lower 1400s come 01 March, a mere 31 trading days hence; however our good friends over at the "Nothing Moves in a Straight Line Dept." remind us there are still 242 trading days remaining in 2016, and thus there's plenty of time for the S&P's wiggling about within an overall -- and desperately overdue -- downside bias. That said as we turn to our main act, gold, whilst up not quite 3% year-to-date, still is being stickered with a "Rebel Rebel" label as more of an outcast alternative, rather than garnering the revered respect 'tis been accorded across so many millennia. However, at its rate of rise year-to-date, gold would rummage into the upper 1280s spot on at mid-year, with a full half year then in the balance to achieve said target, (again given that no straight line notion). And quite the target 'tis, for as you regular readers know, should gold clear the purple-bounded 1240-1280 resistance zone as below shown in our weekly bars chart, (along the way reclaiming the 300-day moving average, presently 1161, and turning the trend of that average upward), 'twill be "how we'll know the bottom is in". Yet despite the year's up-push thus far, those red-dots denoting the Short parabolic trend as still being in place are persistently pesky, non?"Mama? Get out the dynamite!" From dynamite to denial as we return for a moment to the stock market's act. Yesterday whilst swerving through the club locker room past its now perma-FinMedia television set, an onlooker remarked, "It'll go back up..."For you see, 'tis not really down, is it? Then emanating from the radio in this morning's wee hours came this strain, replete with the analyst's Wall Street accent: "If you're a 401k investor, it's probably best not to look at your statement in order to avoid being put into a bad mood." The level of (for lack of a better word) ignorance as to what's unfolding is incredible. For at the end of the day, things surely can only be good, right?Further, the Federal Reserve Bank's release (last Wednesday) of its "Tan Tome" found modest growth in most of the Fed districts.Whew! That was close. Why, for a moment I thought I was a lad insane, but am feeling better already. Aren't you? Here's the Economic Barometer: