By Peter Aan.
Markets of all stripes are as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs as the Fed meets this week to ponder interest rates. The fireworks are expected to start Thursday at about 1:00 CST. Here’s what I see now:
Gold
Gold is showing substantial strength this morning, after failing to close below 1100.00 (December contract). If this strength does not dissipate during the trading day, we could see a close above Monday’s high of 1111.90, an early sign that the recent slump in prices has run its course. If we do start a new leg to the upside, the first resistance level that we will encounter is the 1147.30 level reached on September 1.
Silver
Silver is also strong, after a low volatility day yesterday. There is formidable resistance not far above us at the early-September highs in the 14.930 to 14.950 area. Beyond that—and the psychological 15.000 level–we have resistance at the August high of 15.770.
Platinum
Platinum is higher this morning, but with less enthusiasm that Gold and Silver. It’s possible that it may be trying to form a triple bottom with the July and August lows. On the other hand, we often see a market approach an obvious support or resistance, back away, and then turn right around and plow right through it. At any rate, a close above Tuesday’s high of 963.90 will be our first sign that a bottom may be forming.
Palladium
Tuesday saw Palladium flirting with a penetration of the August high of 605.00, but we are seeing some reluctance this morning. A close above 605.00 would be a strong signal in this market, which remains primarily a congested, sideways market.
Peter Aan joined Dillon Gage in 1983, and is currently a metals trader for our metals division. He is the author of numerous articles for Futures magazine and Stocks and Commodities magazine. He is the author of The Relative Strength Index: A Comprehensive Research Report and a co-author of Trading Tactics: A Livestock Futures Anthology, published by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.