Money Flow Trading Method along with Risk Management

http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc...e_election.png

NO SUPPORT UNDER 19,600 so we shall see !!!


Benjaminis

KeepCalmfx

I leave that up to you however my first suggestion would be a 4 hour Chart and maybe the next one up on the time frame. You decide that. Thanks.


Benjaminis

I took a 1 x $1 000 loss on the US30 so far.
I added another position, but took it off at a loss of $700.
I added another position just now.

And I currently have 2 positions on JPY, total loss of $1300 so far.

Set Your LIMIT OUT AT PROFIT OF $3000 US

Keep in mind what I said about 19,600

There was a reason why Dow went up today if you were watching CNBC or For News or MSNBC as great new discussions with Industry even if does not happen.


Benjaminis

https://dailyreckoning.com/david-sto...y+Reckoning%29

I will be back after 9 PM tonight !!! Tomorrow is another brand new day !!!


Benjaminis

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-0...ops+to+zero%29

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...isn-t-priority

 

1. Treasury nominee says he supports recent moves on transparency
2. House Republicans seek closer scrutiny of Fed policy actions

https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/...o/v0/-1x-1.jpg
Mnuchin during his confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 19, 2017.

Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin isn’t jumping on the Republican bandwagon to audit the Fed.

In written questions by senators following his confirmation hearing on Thursday, Mnuchin was asked about his thoughts on “politicizing decisions made by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the benefits of an independent central bank.”

Mnuchin’s answer was crafted carefully.
“The Federal Reserve is organized with sufficient independence to conduct monetary policy and open market operations,” Mnuchin responded to Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat. “I endorse the increased transparency we have seen from the Federal Reserve Board over recent years.”

The response appears to lean against legislation such as the Fed Oversight Reform and Modernization Act of 2015, or FORM Act, which was introduced in the House of Representatives but never became law, that would have subjected the central bank’s monetary policy decisions to greater congressional scrutiny.
As a candidate, President Donald Trump took aim at the Federal Reserve for playing politics, challenging its legitimacy as an independent institution. He accused the central bank of keeping interest rates low to benefit Barack Obama’s administration.

Mnuchin’s comments are “certainly endorsing the principle, if not every current detail of the practice of Fed independence,” said Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP LLC in Jersey City, New Jersey. “He does not want to make waves at this stage.”

Fed Vacancies

The seven-seat Fed Board in Washington currently has two vacancies, while Janet Yellen’s term as chair ends in February 2018 and Stanley Fischer’s term as vice chairman ends in June 2018. Trump can nominate his own choices for those positions, giving him significant scope to shape the Fed’s leadership and raising questions about the central bank’s future relationship with the Treasury and White House.

“People are asking questions and are curious if the Trump appointments could affect the conduct of policy,” said Paul Mortimer-Lee, chief economist for North America at BNP Paribas in New York. “I think it will be very tough to change very much” with the Fed’s mandate for stable prices and full employment so well established.


The FORM Act would have required the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed’s policy panel, to submit its policy rule to Congress. If the Fed deviated from its rule, it would be subject to review by the Government Accountability Office and potentially an audit.


Bogged Down
The bill got bogged down in the Senate. Yellen opposed the FORM Act in a letter to Congress in November 2015, calling some of its provisions “significantly flawed.” A bill with similar requirements for the Fed called the Financial Choice Act hasn’t proceeded since being introduced last year.

Mnuchin’s comments point to the fact that the Fed doesn’t have constitutional independence. That’s protected more by organization of the system, as Mnuchin highlighted, where the heads of 12 regional Federal Reserve banks are appointed by private citizens. That’s a check against the influence of the White House appointees on the Fed Board.


Mnuchin also limited his discussion of independence to monetary policy. That could be significant if it suggests that Fed decision-making on financial regulation and crisis management will be up for challenge and debate under Trump.


“There needs to be more democratic accountability at the Fed but he seems to be OK with the status quo,” said Jeff Hauser from the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.

COMMENTARY FROM BENJAMINIS: Ladies and Gentleman , The GAME IS RIGGED !!! We will see more on February 1, 2017 at the next FED rate Announcement.


Fascinating !!!

https://dailyreckoning.com/second-la...20Notification


Snippet:
How big is the current stock bubble?

How about the second-biggest stock bubble of the past 100 years! That’s the conclusion of veteran market technician Erik McCurdy, senior market technician for Prometheus Market Insight.

Based on current price-earnings (P/E) ratios, “Only the peak in 2000 during the dot-com bubble created a more overvalued market than the current one,” warns McCurdy.

The S&P 500 is up a blistering 240% from its March 2009 lows. Yet the overall economy creeps along at half-steam. The recovery — such as it is — is the weakest since the Great Depression.


What accounts for the discrepancy? Is it the Fed?

If you think it is, you’ve probably been reading lots of Jim Rickards and David Stockman.


And you’d also be right…


McCurdy: “Those gains have been fueled primarily by the Federal Reserve and its reckless stimulus policies… By holding short-term interest rates near zero for seven years, the Federal Reserve has encouraged malinvestment and speculation… creating massive market distortions and imbalances.”


Does he say when the bubble meets its inevitable end? No. No one can precisely. We know one brilliant analyst who’s predicted, to the date, hour and minute, 11 of the past two crashes. In the famous words attributed to John Maynard Keynes, “The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.”

But McCurdy says “at a current duration of nearly eight years, the latest cyclical top is long overdue and could form at any time.”

But this McCurdy fellow isn’t the only one eyeing straws in the wind…

Julian Emanuel is U.S. equity and derivatives strategist at UBS. From whom:
“The wall of worry which has supported stocks for eight years has given way to a deep sense of hope and optimism.”
Optimism. Isn’t that good? Not always


“Such optimism is often seen near the end of bull moves/beginning of corrections rather than at the early or midstages.”


Optimism? The S&P has gone 70 straight sessions without a single fall of 1% or more, and it’s working hard on 71 — its longest streak since 2006, when it hit 94, according to CNBC.


“And you can remember what happened in 2007 and 2008,” warns Boris Schlossberg of BK Asset Management.

Indeed, we can. More: “There’s definitely some sort of a storm coming. I don’t know if it’s going to be mild, or more severe, but it’s almost impossible for me to believe that we’re just going to have this… calm for much longer. Something’s going to trip the markets and they’re going to get corrected.”
Ah, yes, something. But what exactly?

China goes for a “maxi-devaluation” of the yuan, perhaps. Many think China could do it soon.

The market saw double-digit corrections the last two times China devalued a few percent, in 2015 and 2016. What would a 20% devaluation do?


Maybe something happens with Russia. Or maybe the media dig up something on Trump that roils markets. Or the Fed botches its way into another crash.

Whatever it is, the experts will probably miss it and then explain afterward how obvious it was at the time. And here’s a prediction, sure as sugar: They’ll try to pin it all on Trump. Even if he had zilch to do with it.

The establishments (plural), the globalists, the media all loathe Trump with a passion verging on lunacy. And what better way to discredit him and all the stump-toothed, gun-toting, beer-swilling deplorables from flyover country who put him in office?

Their cry will be this: “See what happens when those know-nothing, anti-globalist populists are allowed to call the shots? If we were in charge, none of this would have happened! (And under their breath: America first, we’ll see about that.”)


Many people will believe them. Then the elites can resume their places atop the pyramid. And the rest of us can resume our own places… far beneath.

Regards,
Brian Maher
Managing editor, The Daily Reckoning

http://news.goldseek.com/DollarCollapse/1485287936.php

Snippet:

Forget about NAFTA or OPEC or TPP or crowd size or hand size or any other acronym or stat or concept that obsesses the financial press these days. Only two numbers actually matter.


The first is $20 trillion, which is the level the US federal debt will exceed sometime around June of this year. Here’s the current total as measured by the US Debt Clock:
http://i1.wp.com/dollarcollapse.com/...17-2.jpg?w=557
To put $20 trillion into perspective, it’s about $160,000 per US taxpayer, and exists in addition to the mortgage, credit card, auto, and student debt that our hypothetical taxpayer probably carries. It is in short, way too much for the average wage slave to manage without some kind of existential crisis.


It’s also way more than it used to be. During his tenure, president George W. Bush (2000 – 2008) nearly doubled the government’s debt, which is to say his administration borrowed as much as all its predecessors from Washington through Clinton combined. At the time this seemed like a never-to-be-duplicated feat of governmental profligacy. But the very next administration topped it, taking the federal debt from $10 trillion to the soon-to-be-achieved $20 trillion. And the incoming administration apparently sees no problem with continuing the pattern.
http://i2.wp.com/dollarcollapse.com/...n-17.jpg?w=600
The other meaningful number is 6.620. That’s the average interest rate the US government paid on its various debts in 2000, the year before the great monetary experiment of QE, ZIRP and all the rest began. When talking heads at the Fed and elsewhere refer to “normalizing” interest rates they’re proposing a return to this 6% average rate.


But of course the last time that rate prevailed our debts were just a little lower. Run the numbers on today’s obligations and you get, well, let’s see:
$20 trillion x 6% = $1.2 trillion a year in interest expense. To put that in perspective…

1. It’s $15,000 a year per family of four, or about a fourth of what the typical American family earns.
2. It’s 31% of the federal budget, which would mean massive cuts in every other spending program.

The conclusion: It can’t happen without causing one of the following:

1. Government spending cuts and/or tax increases that impose Greek-style austerity on Americans who won’t respond well to their sudden demotion to Third World status.
2. A new round of monetary experiments involving the “forgiveness” of the government’s debts, financed with newly-created dollars. This will work – as long as dollars remain universally accepted as a store of value. History offers no examples of such a thing.
3. An overt effort to devalue the dollar, with the goal of paying the interest in full, but (again) with newly- created, much-less-valuable currency.

The resulting dilemma: If we hope to live within our means interest rates can never be allowed to rise. But if interest rates don’t rise, the Fed is forced to create a tsunami of new dollars to keep rates low, and must take its chances with inflation, currency war, crack-up boom, and all the other black swans that live in the land of monetary excess.

Which is why the sound money community keeps harping on gold. All the politically-acceptable policy options have inflation/devaluation at their core, and those things are always and everywhere great for real assets.

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/...e-world-20704/


The US dollar is now overvalued against almost every currency in the world
Simon Black

January 23, 2017

Sovereign Valley Farm, Chile

In September 1986, The Economist weekly newspaper published its first-ever “Big Mac Index”.

It was a light-hearted way for the paper to gauge whether foreign currencies are over- or under-valued by comparing the prices of Big Macs around the world.

In theory, the price of a Big Mac in Rio de Janeiro should be the same as a Big Mac in Cairo or Toronto.

After all, no matter where in the world you buy one, a Big Mac generally consists of the same ingredients– two all beef patties, special sauce, etc.
A Big Mac currently sells for 49 pesos in Mexico, for example; at the current exchange rate, that’s about $2.23 US dollars.

Meanwhile in Switzerland, a Big Mac sells for 6.50 francs, or roughly USD $6.35.

This means that a Big Mac in Switzerland costs 2.8x as much as the exact same burger in Mexico.

Obviously there are a LOT of differences between Switzerland and Mexico that would ordinarily lead to some difference in price.

But 2.8x is clearly excessive, suggesting that the Mexican peso is undervalued relative to the Swiss franc.

The most recent Big Mac Index was just released last week.

It shows that the US dollar is currently OVERVALUED against almost every currency in the world.

Canada. Russia. UK. South Africa. Turkey. Poland. Colombia. Philippines. Euro Area. Australia.

The average price of a Big Mac in each of these countries is dramatically cheaper than in the United States.

The Economist’s data show, for example, that the average Big Mac price in the US is $5.06.

(By the way, that’s 17% higher than the average US price of $4.37 that the newspaper reported in January 2013… not that there’s been any inflation.)

In Canada, however, the paper reports an average price of $6 Canadian dollars, or USD $4.51 at current exchange rates.

This suggests that the Canadian dollar is about 11% undervalued relative to the US dollar.

In the Euro area, the average price of a Big Mac is 3.88 euros, about $4.06 based on current exchange rates.

That implies the euro is 20% undervalued against the US dollar.

In places like Malaysia, South Africa, and Russia, it’s even more extreme, with local currencies 60%+ undervalued against the US dollar.

It’s important to understand what this means.

The fact that the dollar is overvalued isn’t some big prize. It’s not an indication that America is #1, the dollar is King, or that the US economy is strong.

This is a bubble.

Currencies, just like stocks and bonds, are assets traded in global financial markets.

And just like stocks and bonds, currencies can be in a bubble.

You may remember the dot-com bubble of the 1990s, when the stock prices of laughable websites (like Pets.com) soared to unimaginable heights

.
As with all bubbles, that one eventually burst, and stock prices crashed.

The US dollar has been in a bubble for more than two years.

Yes, there are clearly a number of fundamental differences between the United States and other countries that would lead to natural exchange rate imbalances.

But again, we’re not talking about the US dollar being overvalued by 5% or 10%. We’re talking about EXTREME differences that are completely irrational.
And it’s not just Big Macs either.

Nearly every shred of objective data suggests that the US dollar is overvalued.

The “US Dollar Index,” for example, which measures the US dollar’s value against an entire group of currencies like the euro, Japanese yen Canadian dollar, etc., is currently at its highest level in 14 years.


Politicians and policymakers hate this.

They ignore all the benefits of a strong currency, and instead claim that a strong dollar makes US goods and services too expensive for foreigners to buy, which hurts exports.


Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal last week that the US dollar is “too strong. And it’s killing us.”


On that single statement alone, the dollar index fell 1%.


Fed Chair Janet Yellen has also weighed in on the overvalued US dollar, calling it “a drag on U.S. growth”.


No one has a crystal ball, and it’s impossible to predict precisely WHEN this bubble starts to deflate.

In fact, it’s possible that the dollar becomes even stronger than it is today.

But when the two most powerful policymakers in the country both want the US dollar to get weaker, it’s pretty clear what’s going to happen.

This means that, right now, if you’re holding US dollars, you have an opportunity.

The evidence shows that the dollar is irrationally overvalued, and both the Federal Reserve and the US government want it to be weaker.

The evidence also shows that there are plenty of foreign currencies which are heavily UNDER-valued against the US dollar.

The old saying in investing is “Buy Low, Sell High.”

It also works the other way: “Sell High, Buy Low.”

And that is precisely the opportunity right now: to SELL overvalued US dollars at their 14-year high, and BUY top quality, undervalued foreign assets at their record lows.


Do you have a Plan B?

If you live, work, bank, invest, own a business, and hold your assets all in just one country, you are putting all of your eggs in one basket.

You’re making a high-stakes bet that everything is going to be ok in that one country — forever.

All it would take is for the economy to tank, a natural disaster to hit, or the political system to go into turmoil and you could lose everything—your money, your assets, and possibly even your freedom.

5 Minute Chart on US Dollar Index From Finviz

http://finviz.com/futures_charts.ashx?t=DX&p=m5

http://seekingalpha.com/article/4039...t-fiscal-spend

Summary
The Fed is talking about shrinking their balance sheet.


China and Japan are selling US Treasuries.


Fiscal policy is going to need higher rates to get funded. When it happens it's a weight on markets.


The US has plans to spend as much as $1T in new public works projects to help juice the economy. China has been backing out of US debt. Japan too. Now the Fed is talking about reducing its balances. To attract buyers the US Treasury is going to have to offer higher rates. When it happens it will be a risk to both stock (NYSEARCA:SPY) and bond markets (NYSEARCA:TLT).

Foreign Buyers Of US Debt Decreasing


Foreign holdings
Billions2016
MayJunJulAugSeptOctNov
Japan1133.21147.71154.611441136.41131.91108.6
M-to-M-0.8%1.3%0.6%-0.9%-0.7%-0.4%-2.1%
China12441240.81218.81185.111571115.71049.3
M-to-M0.1%-0.3%-1.8%-2.8%-2.4%-3.6%-6.0%
Source: US Treasury


Both Japan and China have been selling their US holdings. China has picked up the pace. Both of these countries are the two largest holders of US debt. They are each triple in size versus the next largest holder Ireland.

The US is losing buyers for their fiscal plans.

The Fed Is Looking To Shrink Their Portfolio
We recently reported that Fed Chair Janet Yellen said last week that,
"The end-date for reinvestment draws closer."

She was referring to ceasing the practice of reinvesting maturing principle amounts, letting the Fed balance sheet shrink.
That balance sheet is over $4T in assets. Shrinking exactly at the time when the US government will need funds removes a huge buyer.
In fact most of the Fed's balance run-off will coincide in the coming years exactly when fiscal spending is expected to pick up.
https://staticseekingalpha.a.ssl.fas...2712753313.png
Source: Bloomberg
Bloomberg shows the maturities of the Fed's balance sheet.

The Fed has hinted to starting the process of run-off this year.

That would mean about $1T would run off from 2018-2020 exactly when the government will need about $1T.

Assuming that it takes this year to pass the legislation the program would not begin until 2018. Then it would ramp up from there.

That is exactly the time the Fed will be backing off from investing.

Besides losing Japan and China, the US government has bad timing with the Fed.

How This Settles: Higher Rates
The US and Japan are going to simultaneously push major fiscal spending packages. If they pass, they will need funding.

If investors are already burdened with debt holdings, they will need to be enticed with higher rates.
Fiscal plans will increase market interest rates.


Market Impact
First we need fiscal plans to pass. That could take time. When they do pass, then governments will need to issue debt. Such a huge amount of debt coming to market will need buyers. Based on Japan, China, the Fed along with investors searching for yield many are already invested.

Governments will need to offer higher rates. That will cause investors to sell their own lower rate debt in favor of the higher debt.
Any way you look at it, more debt coming to market will add supply. That will force rates higher and weigh markets down creating downside risk.


Conclusion
Coming fiscal policy from Japan and the US will need to get funded. China, Japan and the Fed have been backing away from buying. China and Japan have been clearly selling. The timing of the Fed's run-off coincides with the treasury's need for funding. Market rates will need to go up to pay for big fiscal packages. That will be a weight on stocks and bonds when it occurs.


Disclaimer:
ETFs reported by Elazar Advisors, LLC are guided by our weekly and monthly methodologies. We have a daily overlay which changes more frequently which is reported to our premium members and could differ from the above report. Portions of this article may have been issued in advance to premium members. All investments have many risks and can lose principal in the short and long term. This article is for information purposes only. By reading this you agree, understand and accept that you take upon yourself all responsibility for all of your investment decisions and to do your own work and hold Elazar Advisors, LLC and their related parties harmless. Any trading strategy can lose money and any investor should understand the risks.

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

https://dailyreckoning.com/ice-nine-lockdown/ I don’t recommend running down and pulling all your money out of the bank. I would not have more than the insured amount, which in the U.S. is $250,000. You can spread it between your selected banks so that each is backed and insured up to the limit.
The thing about gold and silver is that it needs to be in physical form, in safe storage, and a non-bank. Putting it in a safety deposit box in a bank is troublesome because by the time you want it the most, that will be when the banks are going to be closed.
That’s Ice-Nine. In the world described, the dollar price of gold will be approach the $10,000-level if not much higher. Don’t wait on gold, because when all of this begins to play out, you’re not going to be able to get gold.
Ice-Nine is a freeze of the financial system, it’s something that’s happened before, it’ll happen again in the next crisis. Physical gold and silver is the answer to Ice-Nine, and you should get it while you still can.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dol...teid=rss&rss=1

Dollar shifts lower as scepticism over Trump policies abounds

The dollar was moderately lower against the yen on Wednesday, with investors reluctant to drive it higher amid caution about potential jawboning to stem a stronger dollar from Donald Trump and his administration.
The greenback USDJPY, -0.26% weakened to ¥113.65 after struggling to rise earlier in the session. That compared with ¥113.77 late Tuesday in New York.
The WSJ Dollar Index BUXX, +0.03% , a measure of the U.S. dollar against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.05% at 91.13. The euro EURUSD, -0.0839% was mostly flat at $1.0727 midday from $1.0733 late Tuesday.

Many worry that U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist approach on trade could hurt economic growth, as he kicked off his presidency this week by signing an executive order pulling the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But market sentiment has brightened a little, on news that Trump took steps to revive oil pipeline projects that had been rejected by the Obama administration.

The improved sentiment helped the Nikkei Stock Average NIK, +1.43% rise 1.4% at midday.
After touching a high of ¥113.99 early, the dollar drifted lower for the rest of the session, in a sign that many are still skeptical about Trump’s policy prescriptions.
“Basically, I expect upside momentum” for the dollar, said Toshihiko Sakai, senior manager of forex and financial products trading division at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking. “After all, the comprehensive policy stance of the Trump administration remains to be seen.”

Earlier Wednesday, government data showed Japan recorded its first trade surplus in six years in 2016, while its $60 billion trade surplus with the U.S. last year was its largest with any nation.
Trump has singled out the Japanese auto industry in his criticism. He said Japan has put up non-tariff barriers to U.S. auto makers, while benefiting from strong sales of its cars in the U.S.
For Tokyo, “diplomacy with the U.S. is extremely important,” said SMBC Nikko FX strategist Makoto Noji in a note. A fierce riposte could prompt the U.S. to embark on a major offensive, for example, by calling Japan a currency manipulator, he said. Likewise, when relations have been cosy between administrations and their respective currency officials, the pressure for the yen to rise has typically weakened.

The Australian dollar AUDUSD, -0.5671% fell to $0.7535 and AUDJPY, -0.83% ¥85.62, respectively, from $0.7582 and ¥86.27, as lower-than-expected inflation in Australia created room for the central bank to lower interest rates again if the economy loses momentum.
Australia’s consumer prices rose by 0.5% in the fourth quarter and were up 1.5% from a year earlier, compared with expectations for a rise of 0.7% in the quarter and 1.6% from a year earlier. The Reserve Bank of Australia targets annual inflation of between 2% and 3%.
Among other currency trades, the euro EURJPY, -0.34% was lower at ¥121.83 from ¥122.15 late Tuesday.

Good Morning Folks

I have good energy so have got up early. I have a great article to share and I will have comments at the end of the article. Thanks wayfarer for leading me into this new information.

http://deviantinvestor.com/8528/pens...nt+Investor%29

Snippet:
Pension Funds Need Gold
Posted on January 24, 2017 by Gary Christenson

Guest Post By Jp Cortez
Tens of millions of Americans and their employers pour money into pension plans each month, counting those funds to grow and to be there when needed at retirement.


But a time bomb awaits. The bulk of U.S. pension funds are dangerously underfunded, and the assets are often invested in securities that have bleak prospects for providing income that keeps up with a general decline in purchasing power.


A pension plan requires an employer to make contributions into a pool of funds set aside for a worker’s future benefit. In 1875, when the American Express Company established the first private pension plan in the United States, the face of retirement was fundamentally changed. Before that time, private-sector pension plans did not exist, as most employers were small “mom-and-pop” businesses.


The innovation at American Express caught on. By 1929, 397 private sector pension funds were in operation throughout the United States and Canada. As of 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 18% of private sector workers are covered by pension plans. At the end of 2015, the value of U.S. pension funds was $21.7 trillion.


Millions of Americans will rely on pensions once they’ve reached the age of retirement. Pension fund managers have a fiduciary duty to safeguard funds against foreseeable risk. With the practices of today’s Federal Reserve, there is no risk more foreseeable than inflation, but these fiduciaries are not fulfilling their duty to protect against this significant risk by investing in assets which are specifically suited to defend against the perpetual loss of the dollar’s purchasing power. Chief among these assets are physical gold and silver, the most reliable inflation hedges from time immemorial.


Nothing Is Certain, Except Death, Taxes, and Dollar Devaluation

In today’s uncertain times, few things are as certain as the devaluation of the dollar. Having lost more than 95% of its value since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, America’s unbacked fiat currency has a 100-year track record of declining value year after year. There is no reason to expect this trend to reverse, and the possibility of a total collapse of the dollar at some point cannot be ruled out. This is important because of the dollar’s inverse relationship to the price of gold.


As the unbacked Federal Reserve Note continues to be abused and devalued, it becomes clearer every day that pension funds should increase their precious metals holdings. According to the Asset Allocation Survey by the U.S. Council of Institutional Investors, only 1.8% of pension fund investments are in the broad commodities category, which includes monetary metals. That means only a fraction of 1% in pension assets are held in gold and silver. Instead, pension funds today focus their investments in U.S. Treasury securities, investment-grade bonds, stocks, real estate, and other interest-rate sensitive assets.


Gold Counter-Balances Other Investments
Whether it is an individual investing $100 or a fund manager in charge of investing millions of dollars, risk management is crucial.
Fund managers typically will not invest in extremely risky investments for fear of losing their investment, and potentially, their jobs. Conventional wisdom is that government bonds are paramount in safety and security.


These bonds, as well as the Federal Reserve Note “dollar” itself, are backed by nothing more than the full faith and credit of an insolvent U.S. government. Washington D.C. has accumulated astronomical debts of more than $20 trillion and total long-term entitlement obligations now top $100 trillion. Officials will only be able to “meet” these long-term commitments by inflating them away. That is why money creation at the Federal Reserve has become standard operating procedure. Gold, on the other hand, appreciates as the dollar’s value falls, not to mention offering resilience to financial and political crises.


The financial establishment remains hostile to gold, but influential people are making the case for larger gold holdings. Alistair Hewitt, head of market intelligence at the World Gold Council, said, “Unless investors are willing to accept a loss-making investment strategy, they may need to consider increasing their holdings of gold. We believe this should resonate especially well with pension funds and foreign managers whose investment guidelines are typically stricter and who hold a large portion of bonds in their portfolios.”


Getting fund managers to include physical gold in pensions is a difficult challenge. While they have a fiduciary responsibility to protect and grow their clients’ investment, most prefer to stick with the conventional wisdom and avoid bucking the system. Guy Christopher writes, “Precious metals in your possession have no counterparties and no continuing fees and commissions, unlike the thousands of investments brokers sell. Once you own gold, that part of your wealth and your future is out of Wall Street’s hands.”


Look to Texas for the Blueprint on Gold-Invested Pension Funds
The Texas Teacher Retirement Fund and the University of Texas own nearly $1 billion in physical gold, which will soon be transferred from Wall Street vaults to a brand-new depository in the Lone Star State thanks to the recently passed Texas Bullion Depository legislation.


Shayne McGuire, portfolio manager of the Gold Fund for the Teacher Retirement Fund of Texas said that “one of the main reasons we considered gold was the diversification benefits it provides to portfolios dominated by equities, as most pension funds are.”

While most pension fund managers shy away from gold, they do so at their own risk and the risk of their pensioners. As a non-correlated asset to bonds, stocks, and other paper-based investments, precious metals are key to true diversification. It’s time for pension fund managers to break out of their Wall Street groupthink and include a meaningful allocation to physical gold and silver bullion for protection against inflation and financial turmoil.


Jp Cortez is a graduate of Auburn University and a resident of Charlotte, North Carolina. He is the Assistant Director of the Sound Money Defense League, an organization working to bring back gold and silver as America’s constitutional money. Follow him on twitter, @JpCortez27


COMMENTARY FROM BENJAMINIS: All this makes perfect sense and that confirms my point of view as relates to our Trade Plan 3 which is LONG Gold 100 ounces and LONG SILVER 5000 ounces.

On that note please post the chart that we discussed yesterday KeepCalmfx when you are able to.

wayfarer , could you please post your normal charts as you do most days. I have much more to say which I will do shortly in my Morning Thoughts.

I have specific ideas now concerning US 30.


Benjaminis

Good Day

Hope everyone is doing well.
Glad to see you are online Benjamin, nice feeling to wake up feeling energized.

US 10 Yr Tnote & Gold - 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour & 4 hour.

Morning Thoughts - Daily

I just posted this reply on the EUR/USD thread and I share it here now.

Quoting TudorIoan
{quote} Also, Trump is expected to sign several executive orders today restricting immigration from Syria and six other Middle Eastern or African countries Good or bad for the USD? ...beats me {quote} Here there are, bulls! Breaking 1.0725. Let's see about the H1 Closing!

Good Morning

The position that President Donald John Trump finds himself in now is that he and his associates have NO CHOICE except to talk down the US Dollar. If he does not do that then the profits of the large multi national corporations will go down and the Equity markets in the USA will go down. However he has a MAJOR short term problem and we will see the scope more clearly on February 1, 2017 when the band of merry printers that now love to increase interest rates however doing that will collapse the Equity markets. So who is in charge here ? President Trump or outgoing FED chairwomen , Janet Yellen or The DEEP STATE.

This is like a real life mystery and the mystery is "Who Is In Charge"

The markets mainly the DJIA or better known as Dow 30 just might make it over 20,000 and then it will need to reverse based on many factors.

The next week will confirm many new Trends.

Chart on US Dollar Index - 5 Minute Chart

http://finviz.com/futures_charts.ashx?t=DX&p=m5

Thanks for doing this chart when you have time. There is no urgency.


Benjaminis

15 min charts