From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

One day of buying pressure doesn’t change the situation with precious metals. 

Gold bugs were out in full force Friday, driving gold and silver to impressive gains that would excite even the least devout among them.

But don’t get your hopes up… 

Precious metals stopped falling at a logical level of support.

Good, old-fashioned price memory triggered a standard response – nothing magical.

More importantly, nothing bullish.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

One day of buying pressure doesn’t change the situation with precious metals. 

Gold bugs were out in full force Friday, driving gold and silver to impressive gains that would excite even the least devout among them.

But don’t get your hopes up… 

Precious metals stopped falling at a logical level of support.

Good, old-fashioned price memory triggered a standard response – nothing magical.

More importantly, nothing bullish.

Check out a custom index equally weighting gold, silver, and platinum:

The index is clinging to the lower bounds of a multi-year range as it retests its year-to-date lows, creating a logical place for buyers to support price across multiple timeframes.  

Beneath the surface: Platinum hit a fresh 52-week low, while gold and silver fell roughly 1% and 3% last week, respectively.

It’s not upbeat data, failing to entice a long position at these levels. 

Gold futures also hit the brakes at a potential support zone last week:

Gold slid into a critical retracement level, registering its lowest 14-day RSI...

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Precious metals no longer deserve the benefit of the doubt.

They no longer represent an opportunity cost, either.

No, gold and crew carry downside risk – nothing else!

What changed since last week? 

Gold futures undercut a critical level of interest…

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Precious metals no longer deserve the benefit of the doubt.

They no longer represent an opportunity cost, either.

No, gold and crew carry downside risk – nothing else!

What changed since last week? 

Gold futures undercut a critical level of interest…

That’s the former commodity supercycle peak marked by the 2011 high.

Check out the monthly candlestick chart of gold futures:

The impressive resilience that’s defined gold and precious metals for most of this year has given way to overwhelming weakness.

Sellers have cracked the 1,923 level and any bullish conviction for these shiny rocks.

We can’t own gold, gold mining stocks, or precious metals more broadly – at least not now.

Gold and silver triggered sell signals last week. I’ve highlighted critical areas of former and potential support.

Those levels stand. Review the chartbook below and today’s Gold Rush video for updates. 

It’s not all doom and gloom for the gold bugs, though. In fact, gold is likely carving out a multi-year base with a bullish bias:

Nevertheless, if that...

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

The US Dollar Index $DXY has posted its tenth week consecutive in the green. 

And with the dollar off to a solid start Monday morning, an eleventh looks promising.

This is excellent news for dollar bulls.

But it's a gloomy prospect for risk assets, especially precious metals…

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

The US Dollar Index $DXY has posted its tenth week consecutive in the green. 

And with the dollar off to a solid start Monday morning, an eleventh looks promising.

This is excellent news for dollar bulls.

But it’s a gloomy prospect for risk assets, especially precious metals…

Check out the performance chart anchored from DXY’s July 13 bottom:

US stocks ($SPY), international stocks ($EFA), emerging market stocks ($EEM), gold ($GLD), silver ($SLV), and even US T-bonds ($TLT) are falling under a rising dollar. (Crude oil $USO has 99 problems, but the dollar ain’t one.)

Yes, US T-bonds remain a risk asset from a price perspective. A strengthening dollar will accompany declining bond prices if the US dollar and interest rates continue to climb together.

Global risk assets and precious metals do not perform well when investors flock to the US dollar.

Bonds are skidding lower. US stock indexes are breaking down. And precious metals? Well, it could be worse.

GLD is outperforming global equities, including the S&P 500, over the trailing two months.

Last week,...

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Precious metals represent an opportunity cost.

The entire complex – gold, silver, platinum, and palladium – has gone nowhere for the past few years.

Yet I can’t overlook the resilience of gold and silver as interest rates and the US dollar rise – two significant headwinds for these shiny rocks. 

Perhaps they deserve the benefit of the doubt.  

I believe they do.

But extending these lackluster metals with a favorable outlook does not equate to taking a long position.

It’s far from it.

Price must prove buying precious metals offers a rewarding proposition.

The following two intermarket ratios will undoubtedly rise if and when it does.

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Precious metals represent an opportunity cost.

The entire complex – gold, silver, platinum, and palladium – has gone nowhere for the past few years.

Yet I can’t overlook the resilience of gold and silver as interest rates and the US dollar rise – two significant headwinds for these shiny rocks. 

Perhaps they deserve the benefit of the doubt.  

I believe they do.

But extending these lackluster metals with a favorable outlook does not equate to taking a long position.

It’s far from it.

Price must prove buying precious metals offers a rewarding proposition.

The following two intermarket ratios will undoubtedly rise if and when it does.

I covered these ratio charts in late July as they neared key inflection points or critical former support levels.

Fast-forward to today, and both are bouncing higher after posting fresh lows.

Check out the Gold Miners ETF $GDX versus the S&P 500 ETF $SPY:

Now is the time, and the shelf of former lows marks the place for gold miners to assume a leadership role.

That was the...

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Precious metals deserve the benefit of the doubt.

These shiny rocks are in the early stages of their next secular bull run. But I won’t let my bullish bias detract from the obvious: Gold has seen brighter days.

Overhead supply dominates the charts while risk appetite cools and prices fall toward critical support levels.

Is it time to buy the dip? 

No, especially as investors focus on more attractive investments…

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

Precious metals deserve the benefit of the doubt.

These shiny rocks are in the early stages of their next secular bull run. But I won’t let my bullish bias detract from the obvious: Gold has seen brighter days.

Overhead supply dominates the charts while risk appetite cools and prices fall toward critical support levels.

Is it time to buy the dip? 

No, especially as investors focus on more attractive investments…

The strongest trending assets outperform their alternatives. (Buy the strongest, sell the weakest.)

And every asset group has its strong man leading the way. For precious metals, it’s silver.

Gold and the gang benefit when their “strongest performing asset” is their crazy cousin – silver.

Silver often spearheads a proper risk-on rally in precious metals as it surpasses gold.

But that’s not what’s happening right now:

Instead, silver is lagging in the near term after failing to post a higher high in June.

Buyers are growing weary of gold’s sideways action. It not only shows in a falling silver-gold ratio but also in silver mining stocks...

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

It was do or die for the yellow metal a couple of weeks ago.

Gold chose “do.”

Buyers sprang into action, defending a critical former support level while driving prices higher. 

That valiant effort may have only prolonged the inevitable: a period of sustained weakness.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not playing the role of a Debbie Downer this week.

I still believe gold is in the early innings of a new secular bull run.

Why?

It’s pretty simple. All we have to do is switch the denominator to any other global currency.

Gold has already broken out versus every currency in the world – except the US dollar. 

And that, folks, is the crux of the problem.

The US dollar!

From the Desk of Ian Culley @IanCulley

It was do or die for the yellow metal a couple of weeks ago.

Gold chose “do.”

Buyers sprang into action, defending a critical former support level while driving prices higher. 

That valiant effort may have only prolonged the inevitable: a period of sustained weakness.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not playing the role of a Debbie Downer this week.

I still believe gold is in the early innings of a new secular bull run.

Why?

It’s pretty simple. All we have to do is switch the denominator to any other global currency.

Gold has already broken out versus every currency in the world – except the US dollar. 

And that, folks, is the crux of the problem.

The US dollar!

Yes, overhead supply remains intact for these shiny rocks and their associated stocks. 

Demand for gold must absorb supply before we witness new all-time highs, no question.

I just can’t envision that happening if the dollar continues to rise – which it is.

Check out the overlay chart of gold futures and the US Dollar Index $DXY inverted:

I flip the DXY chart to...